This case study addresses the impacts of Nipah Virus (NiV) and Japanese Encephalitis Virus (JEV) management at national, provincial and municipal levels in Cambodia. It is contributing to a better cross-sectorial management of Encephalites in South East Asia and Cambodia with a focus on Nipah and Japanese Viruses for communities and at a provincial level.
- The epidemiology of Japanese Encephalitis virus has been studied by collaborators at the Institut Pasteur du Cambodge, to understand the risk in rural area, the role of domestic birds and if a pig to pig transmission is plausible. The results were the subject of a scientific article published in PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases (Cappelle J & Al. (2016)). The article can be found in the communications and publications tab.
The study estimated the Force of Infection (FOI) of JE in 2 cohorts of sentinel pigs settled in a peri-urban area of Phnom Penh. The model estimated that during that period for the first cohort, a susceptible pig had a 3.19% probability of acquiring JEV infection each day. For the second cohort, a susceptible pig had a daily probability of 4.64% of acquiring JEV infection during that period.
The comparison of the peri-urban and rural FOI showed that the rural ROI (8.4%) was higher than the peri-urban one (6.6%)
After estimating the risk of JE transmission to humans associated with a peri-urban pig slaughterhouse of Phnom Penh, they concluded that the number of human clinical cases due to this abattoir is not null and is highly influenced by the mosquito population size and the proportion of infected pigs arriving thus the epidemiological situation of JE in the country.
The model set to study the role of domestic birds in the transmission of JE showed no significant association between the pigs and birds JE sero-prevalence.
About the pig to pig transmission, a previous study has experimentally demonstrated the direct transmission, but the model used by the collaborators from IPC and applicate to real life condition, showed that the contribution of the pig to pig transmission could be around 10%.
- A role Playing Game has also been developed by the project for this case study where local stakeholders had to play their own role and activities regarding livelihoods and agriculture. It addressed the issue of the transmission of JE and Nipah Virus, which, as encephalites, are perceived by locals as the same disease. The RPG allowed collecting semi-quantitative data and qualitative data, important to set the context and the possible paths of transmission but also to understand the knowledge of the local population about these diseases.
The RPG can be used as a tool for prevention and communication among local stakeholders and researchers, by sharing, collecting knowledge, and helping local populations to understand and manage the disease.
For more information about all the results, see regional workshop’s power point presentations through this link or the website page.
