Programs

PROGRAMS

Our primary objective is to help develop and test malaria vaccines. Besides conducting trials of candidate vaccines, our studies of basic immune response in infants give us knowledge that may be important in designing candidate vaccines. USAMRU-Kenya has operated an outpost in western Kenya since 1985 from the Centre for Vector Biology and Control Research (CVBCR), of the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI). More...

Leishmaniasis

Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is a very serious disease often affecting the poorest of the poor. In the Old World, VL, or kala-azar, extends from the border of Bangladesh and India to the Middle East and southward through the Great Rift Valley into Kenya. Recently, the World Health Organization estimated that more than 500,000 new cases occur annually, most documented in India and Bangladesh. The disease is caused by a microscopic parasite of blood tissue, Leishmania donovani, which is transmitted through the bites of sand flies. Endemic VL occurs predominately in Wajir, Baringo, Turkana, and West Pokot districts, in the Rift Valley Province, and Kitui, Meru, and Machakos districts, in Eastern province. Children are most severely affected. More...

HIV

By 2010, there will be 45 million new HIV infections for a total of 105 million worldwide. By 2020, more that 70 million deaths will be attributed to HIV which is more than all the soldiers killed during World War II. HIV/AIDS is one of the biggest threats to global health and stability. While the epidemic has reached a plateau in the developed countries, it is still on the increase in developing countries. Out of 42 million infected with HIV, 29 million are from sub-Saharan Africa accounting for 70% of all infections. The Demographic Health Survey (DHS) conducted by the Kenya Ministry of Health in 2003 revealed an overall HIV prevalence of around 6.7% with variation according to gender and location. Young women between the ages of 20-24 are almost four times as likely to be infected as men in the same age cohort (8.7 versus 2.4 %). Prevalence in urban areas is almost twice that in rural areas. More...

Entomology

Many of the most important infectious diseases in Kenya are vector borne: malaria, yellow fever, typhus, Rift Valley fever, leishmaniasis, Congo-Crimean hemorrhagic fever, trypanosomiasis and dengue are examples. Because the vectors - mosquitoes, ticks, sand flies - are cold blooded, free living arthropods, climate and topography play important roles in transmission, and are factors that can be used in prediction of epidemics and in control. The intensity of malaria transmission in many parts of equatorial Africa is the direct consequence of ecologies that promote the dissemination and longevity of the Anopheles mosquitoes that transmit it. The primary objective of USAMRU-Kenya vector studies is better understanding the effect of environment on malaria transmission. More...

Viral Diseases

Viruses, many of them vector borne (arboviruses) and not yet preventable with vaccines, are leading causes of human disease in East Africa. Kenya is endemic for yellow fever, Rift Valley fever, West Nile fever and Congo-Crimean Hemorrhagic fever, among others. Many are zoonoses, infecting both animals and humans. Because of the involvement of other mammals and of arthropods in transmission, human epidemics often follow sudden changes in climate or environment. We know little about assessing risk or preventing most of these viruses and there is mounting evidence that there are a number of pathogenic viruses in Kenya not yet known. The USAMRU and the World Health Organization Reference Laboratory for Hemorrhagic Viruses, also at KEMRI, conduct active surveillance to identify and characterize these viruses and the agents of typhus, the Rickettsia. More...

Malaria Drug Discovery & Surveillance

Although Plasmodium is adapted to wide areas of the world, today it's most serious effects are felt in the Tropics. More than 300,000,000 people are estimated to be infected globally and Plasmodium falciparum caused mortality may be between 1,000,000 and 1,500,000 annually (WHO), mostly among children pregnant women in equatorial Africa.

In the absence of a vaccine, anti-malarial drugs play an important role not only in treatment but in prevention. Therefore the consequences of drug resistance are especially profound. The Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, in Washington, DC, has long been in the forefront of malaria drug development. In Kenya, USAMRU has two main missions: to determine the nature and extent of drug resistance and to test candidate drugs for the prevention of malaria. More...

Enterics

In the Tropics, diarrhea is not only a significant cause of morbidity but the fourth leading cause of mortality. Worldwide, 4.6 million children die from severe diarrhea annually, or 12,600 deaths per day. The epidemiology of diarrheal disease is complex: viruses, bacteria or parasites may be responsible, while environmental and social factors modulate transmission. USAMRU-Kenya began its studies on enteric pathogens in 1998 in collaboration with the Center for Microbiology Research (CMR), of the Kenya Medical Research Institute. Our goal is to identify the causes of bacterial diarrhea, characterize the factors contributing to their virulence and dissemination, and to establish a surveillance system to detect epidemics and patterns of antibiotic resistance. More...

Global Emerging Infections System (GEIS)

GEIS sites (Click map to enlarge)