Epidemiology and effectiveness of interventions for Foot and Mouth Disease in Africa: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis

Review question / Objective: What is the epidemiology and effectiveness of control measures for foot and mouth disease in African countries?’ PICOS: Description of elements Population/ problem/Setting: Artiodactyla (cloven ungulates), domestic (cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs), camels and wildlife (buffaloes, deer, antelope, wild pigs, elephant, giraffe, and camelids) affected by Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) or Hoof and Mouth Disease (HMD) caused by the Foot and Mouth Disease Virus (FMDV) in Africa. Intervention: Prevention measures: vaccination, ‘biosafety and biosecurity’, sensitization of the public. Control measures: quarantine, movement control, closure of markets and stock routes, mouth swabbing of animals with infected materials (old technique that is no long applicable), culling, mass slaughter, stamping out and any other interventions or control measures generally accepted by the ‘community of practice’ of animal health practitioners. Comparator: areas that did not have any control activities for FMD, in head-to-head comparisons in the same study. Outcome: epidemiological outcomes: incidence, prevalence, patterns or trends, clinical symptoms, and risk factors. Effectiveness outcomes: success, and usefulness of the interventions measured as averted deaths, illness and infections, and costs associated with the interventions (cost–effectiveness). Study design: epidemiological designs include cohort design for incidence, cross sectional for prevalence and case-control for clinical symptoms and risk factors. Interventional designs include randomized controlled trials, cluster randomized trials, quasi-experimental designs – controlled before and after, interrupted time series, [regression discontinuity design, difference-in-difference, and propensity score matching]. Timelines: 1900 – 2022.