CASE NOTES
African clinical veterinary app. Preliminary results of animal disease surveillance in Kiambu County, Kenya
Mike Howe and Ian Gill, National Animal Disease Information Service
This paper was first presented as a poster at the 11th International Sheep Veterinarians Conference, 2025. An abstract was published in the Australian Veterinary Journal (2025) 103: S4-S54
Posted Flock and Herd June 2026
INTRODUCTION
An African Clinical Veterinary Livestock App, which includes a Clinical Sign Recognition App and Authorised Medicine Compendium, has been designed by the National Animal Disease Information Service in the UK. This report includes preliminary results from a mini field trial run in Kiambu county, Kenya. The data were produced by a supervising veterinarian and three veterinary paraprofessionals (VPPs). Although the field trial was small, it gives an idea of what could be achieved if use of the app was scaled up across Kenya and other African countries.
DISEASE SURVEILLANCE FINDINGS
Figure 1. Raw disease data recorded over a three-week period showing the distribution and types of diseases identified
Figure 2. Production diseases diagnosed
Figure 3. Vital2 cattle diseases
Figure 4. A case broken down to show the clinical signs that were identified. These data could be used for syndromic surveillance.
DISCUSSION
Although we do not have epidemiological software to carry out further analyses, use of the Clinical Sign Recognition App during our field trial demonstrates that it is useful for collecting disease data based on clinical signs in the field. The feedback from users and VPP focus groups has been very positive:
"The app is friendly to use. It guided me in solving a complex case of grain overload. The differential diagnosis that pops out provided a wider look at the specific disease I was looking for. This hastened my time handling the case." Senior VPP
"We are moving into the 21st century where everything is going digital. This app will be a game changer for how we operate as VPPs in the field."
With sufficient coverage, disease trends could be monitored and variations in disease trends, like new variants of a disease or disease hotspots, quickly identified to enable targeted laboratory testing and further appropriate action. The African Clinical Veterinary Livestock App has been designed to support veterinarians and VPPs in their daily work with the intent of making it a sustainable infectious disease surveillance tool.