An Engagement Impact Grant was recently awarded to a team of faculty and students, including Drs. Jeanette O'Quin, Bayleyegn Molla, Armando Hoet, and Wondwossen Gebreyes, all in the Department of Veterinary Preventive Medicine. The project also involves two professional students, Ally Sterman and Karissa Magnuson, as well as collaborators from the College of Public Health and the School of Environment and Natural Resources. The project is led by the Global Health Program in the College of Veterinary Medicine as part of the Ohio State Health Sciences and Ethiopia "One Health" partnership. The award supports a program that intends to raise rabies awareness in sub-Saharan Africa, focusing on Ethiopia. Ethiopia has high rabies incident rates, which makes it a One Health global preference location to address and eliminate the disease.
The program is "OSU-Ethiopia Outreach and Needs Assessment on Rabies Elimination: "One Health" Prototype for Zoonotic Diseases Control." To assess the knowledge and responsiveness of rabies in rural and urban communities, research must be done in the populations. Once the level of education on the disease has been recognized, researchers can design and improve the methods in providing information needed to raise appropriate awareness. This community outreach program benefits The Ohio State University and partner institutes in Ethiopia. The Office of Outreach and Engagement awarded seven Impact Grants across the university. Read more about all of the awards here.
The One Health initiative explores efforts to address the links between animal health, human health, and our environment. The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) supports One Health initiatives; you can read more here. The College of Veterinary Medicine also has several programs exploring One Health issues. Read more here.
