Epidemiological mapping of podoconiosis in Ethiopia . (360G-Wellcome-099876_Z_12_Z)

This Training Fellowship will enable documentation of the overall prevalence and distribution of podoconiosis in Ethiopia. Podoconiosis is a non-infectious Neglected Tropical Disease that affects an estimated 4 million people across tropical Africa, but no nationwide map is available in any endemic country. The Training Fellow will develop a nationwide mapping technique drawing on the expertise of the KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Malaria Public Health & Epidemiology group and the School of Public Health , Addis Ababa University. Following training in Spatial Epidemiology in Public Health at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, the Training Fellow will plan and carry out a nationwide survey, through which a representative sample of individuals will be selected for clinical examination, rapid antigen testing and (in a subsample) antifilarial antibody testing to exclude filarial lymphoedema. Information on topographic and environmental factors will also be collected, and GIS modeling used to identify factors associated with disease and (in a validation subset) predict disease presence. Information on podoconiosis prevalence and distribution will enable podoconiosis control policy to be generated in Ethiopia. The mapping technique developed will make possible control-orientated mapping of podoconiosis in other endemic tropical countries.