Community-led data collection using Open Data Kit for surveillance of animal African trypanosomiasis in Shimba hills, Kenya

Abstract

Objective: In Sub-Saharan Africa, there is an increase in trypanosome non-susceptibility to multiple trypanocides, but limited information on judicious trypanocide use is accessible to smallholder farmers and agricultural stakeholders in disease endemic regions, resulting in widespread multi-drug resistance. Huge economic expenses and the laborious nature of extensive field studies have hindered collection of the requisite large-scale prospective datasets required to inform disease management. We examined the efficacy of community-led data collection strategies using smartphones by smallholder farmers to acquire robust datasets from the trypanosomiasis endemic Shimba hills region in Kenya. We used Open Data Kit, an open-source smartphone application development software, to create a data collection App. Results: Our study provides proof of concept for the viability of using smartphone Apps to remotely collect reliable large-scale information from smallholder farmers and veterinary health care givers in resource poor settings. We show that these datasets can be reliably collated remotely, analysed, and the findings can inform policies that improve farming practices and economic wellbeing while restricting widespread multi-drug resistance. Moreover, this strategy can be used to monitor and manage other infectious diseases in other rural, resource poor settings.