DOVE Stop Cholera: A Look at the Past Year

Blog post November 6, 2015
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David A. Sack, MD

Professor | Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
The DOVE Team (2015).

The DOVE Team (2015). 

We recently held our annual DOVE project retreat to discuss project successes and pave the way for another year of activities to STOP Cholera. 

DOVE team members are currently conducting operations research, providing technical assistance, modeling alternative strategies for oral cholera vaccine (OCV) delivery, and advocating for the use of OCV in various countries, including Nepal, Cameroon, Malawi, South Sudan, and Uganda.  

Specifically: 

Cameroon: In Cameroon DOVE staff works with MA Sante to support the efforts of the Ministry of Health to control cholera by supporting surveillance, and developing new surveillance methods appropriate for remote areas including use of a rapid test for confirming cholera cases and the use of filter paper to preserve cholera DNA for further molecular characterization of the cholera strains.

Malawi: In collaboration with the Ministry of Health (MOH) and the World Health Organization (WHO), DOVE is working on a study to assess the safety of OCV in pregnant women in Malawi. The results will provide evidence needed to revise recommendations for the use of OCV in pregnancy.

Nepal: DOVE is working with the NGO, Group for Technical Assistance, to review the epidemiology of cholera in Nepal during the past five to ten years and support the National Enteric Disease Steering Committee.

South Sudan: DOVE works closely with the MOH and WHO to evaluate outbreaks and assist with vaccination strategies. The project is also piloting a new strategy called “comprehensive targeted intervention” (CTI) to limit the spread of cholera in neighborhoods.   This new strategy brings together the various components of cholera control (clinical, laboratory, water/sanitation, vaccination, health education) into a more coordinated team approach.   

Uganda: DOVE staff are conducting environmental cholera surveillance in collaboration with the Ugandan Ministry of Health and Makerere University in coordination with Africhol.  Uganda continues to have cholera outbreaks in scattered areas of the country. These activities are intended to assist the Ministry to manage these outbreaks throughout the country.  

We also recently published the first two modules of the StopCholera Toolkit ­- a package of technical documents to support the planning, implementation and evaluation of the use of oral cholera vaccine (OCV). We look forward to another year of project activities and working towards our goal to STOP Cholera. Work Together. Stop Transmission. End Deaths.