Biography
Dr. Mathew Muturi is a field epidemiologist and co-lead at the Kenya Zoonotic Disease Unit. He holds a Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine (University of Nairobi) with postgraduate training in Applied Epidemiology from the Kenya Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training Program.
He has a Ph.D. in Epidemiology of Tropical infectious diseases from Freie University, Berlin, Germany, and the International Livestock Research Institute where he is supervised by Prof.Ard Nijhof (Freie University), Prof.Thumbi Mwangi (CEMA) and Dr.Bernard Bett (ILRI). In addition to his in-country public health experience, he has served as a One Health expert and consultant in seven countries for multiple agencies. These include the World Health Organisation, U.S. Sandia National Laboratory, Washington State University Global Animal Health Program in Kenya, the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation, and U.S. Global Implementation Solutions. His main interests are in linked zoonotic disease studies, global health programs, and one health.
Research Interests
COVID 19| Human Rabies | Epidemiology | Data Science
Recent Publications
2025
Background
Kenya launched a Rabies Elimination Strategy in 2014, aiming to end human rabies deaths by 2030. In March 2022, Lamu County reported increased cases of human dog bites and suspected rabies deaths to the Ministry of Health (MoH). We aimed to establish the extent of the rabies outbreak in humans and animals and determine the challenges to achieving rabies elimination by 2030.
Methods
We extracted dog bite reports from the Kenya Health Information System (KHIS), national surveillance database system, and reviewed medical records at health facilities in Lamu County for suspected human rabies deaths from 2020 to 2022. We obtained information about animal bites and illnesses in deceased persons, checked the availability of anti-rabies vaccines in health facilities, and administered rabies knowledge and practice questionnaires to health workers. For categorical data, frequencies and proportions were determined.
Results
There were 787 dog bite cases and six human rabies cases. Only a third (2/6) of the rabies cases were uploaded to the KHIS. The county used targeted dog vaccination, and samples were not collected from the biting dogs. Regarding the availability of human rabies vaccines, half (8/16) of the facilities had the human rabies vaccine, and 19% (3/16) had both the human rabies vaccine and rabies immunoglobulin (RIG). Rabies vaccine stock-outs were common at 73% (11/16). Only 25% (18/73) of the health workers reported their first action would be to clean the bite wound with running water and soap for 15 min. Additionally, 86% (54/63) did not know the recommended human rabies vaccine and RIG dosage and schedule, while 25% (18/73) of healthcare workers were satisfied with the existing information-sharing mechanisms between veterinary and human health departments for rabies prevention and control.
Conclusions
There was underreporting of rabies cases, a lack of awareness of bite wound management at health facilities, and persistent stockouts of human rabies vaccines. We suggest training healthcare workers on animal bite case management and improving One Health information exchange. |
