Community-Based One Health Education at the Human-Livestock-Wildlife Interface, South Africa

Abstract

Using a community engagement-One Health approach, we implemented a training program to advance infectious disease risk assessment and mitigation skills among pastoralists living adjacent to conservation areas in South Africa. The program included professional development of local facilitators who then conducted workshops with community members. Workshops used a series of experiential, inquiry-based activities to teach participants the concepts of pathogen transmission and disease risk assessment and mitigation. Analysis revealed the implementation of risk mitigation strategies by 98 percent (60/61) of workshop participants during the three-month follow-up and included improved personal and domestic hygiene practices and enhanced animal housing. This program may be appropriate for consideration as a scalable approach by which to mitigate human and animal infectious disease risk in high-risk/low-resource communities.