Title: A Collaborative Interdisciplinary Approach to an Endemic Zoonotic Disease in Cameroon: Enhancing Capabilities to Prevent, Detect, and Respond to Brucellosis
Funding Institution: Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) of the United States Department of Defense (DoD)
Description: Texas A&M University will work with the Laboratoire National Vétérinaire du Cameroun (LANAVET) 
in Yaoundé, Cameroon to conduct brucellosis research and cultivate the Cameroonian Government’s capacity to better prevent, detect, and respond to brucellosis using a collaborative interdisciplinary approach.
The project team will work in 3 regions of the country (Far-North, North, and West) to:
- Evaluate brucellosis prevalence in major livestock including cattle, pigs, and small ruminants (sheep and goats) in the country using molecular and serological based approaches with the ultimate goal of reducing biothreat,
- Improve livestock diagnostic capacity in the country using molecular and serological based approaches,
- Develop and provide appropriate education, extension, and training capacity in the prevention, detection, and response to brucellosis for veterinary health, research, and public health personnel, and
- Publish and disseminate research findings to better inform future policymakers and veterinary and public health professionals.
The collaboration
includes a comprehensive study that will be done with appropriate sample sizes and diagnostic methods to determine the prevalence of specific strains of Brucella which will further the country’s vision of establishing a vaccination campaign to manage disease spread.
Additionally, the institutions will work together to build local awareness and diagnostic capacity which will increase the ability for Cameroon to accurately and promptly diagnose the disease with the intention of implementing rapid countermeasures which will stop disease spread, ultimately decreasing the pathogen prevalence and the risk of bacterial acquisition for nefarious acts.
