Description
The centerpiece of the Serengeti Health Initiative is the carnivore disease project, which
incorporates wildlife surveillance, design and evaluation of vaccination programs, and
research on how wild animals, domestic animals, and humans interact. The program
focuses on the protected park area as well as the areas bordering the park that provide
homes to millions of people and domestic animals. The program recognizes that fluid
boundaries and close contact between domestic animals, humans and wildlife enable the
spread of disease, and is designed to protect animals and people in Serengeti National
Park from transmissible diseases.
Purpose
The Serengeti Health Initiative aims to preserve the wildlife of the Serengeti region
while also benefiting local people. This collaborative conservation effort is dedicated to
building a better understanding of the Serengeti ecosystem that can help keep it healthy
and whole.
Scope Regional - Serengeti, Tanzania
Primary Funders
Lincoln Park Zoo, University of Glasgow, University of Minnesota, Princeton
University (through grants from the Wellcome Trust, NSF Ecology of Infectious
Diseases Program, Google.org, BBSRC and DfID) and Intervet
Participants & Key Collaborators
Primary Funders as well as University of Illinois at Chicago, National Institute of
Medical Research (Tanzania), Sokoine University of Agriculture (Tanzania), Tanzania
National Parks, Tanzania Wildlife Research Institute, Ministry of Health and Social
Welfare (Tanzania), Ministry of Livestock Development and Fisheries (Tanzania).
Definition of One Health
None. The program's vision includes humans, wildlife, and domestic animals as
interrelated players for ecosystem health
Monitoring & Evaluation Strategy
An informal M&E strategy includes an annual review, which monitors progress against
key health indicators (vaccination coverage, human and animal rabies incidence, human
animal bite-injury data), cost-effectiveness of the program (including cost-sharing with
local authorities), professional development of staff (training Tanzanian vets and field
assistants), scientific outputs (publications, presentations) and broader outreach (e.g.
impact on national and international rabies policy and advocacy).
Targets include attaining a vaccination coverage of at least 70% in the dog population,
with the ultimate goal of rabies elimination in the Serengeti ecosystem.
Sources of Information
Website: http://www.lpzoo.org/conservation-science/projects/serengeti-health-initiative
Contact Dr. Sarah Cleaveland
Professor of Comparative Epidemiology
University of Glasgow
