Cross-sectional survey finds limited One Health readiness for Rift Valley Fever in Baringo County

A cross-sectional study involving 31 officers from One Health-related government departments in Baringo County, Kenya, found that the county lacked a structured governance system for operationalizing a One Health approach to Rift Valley Fever preparedness. The published abstract reports weak organizational culture, insufficient resource allocation and no coordinated implementation of interventions across sectors. It also identifies absent implementation research to assess intervention efficiency and no systems analysis within One Health interfaces.

Researchers used a structured questionnaire based on a One Health scorecard to assess four components: capacity, intervention science, risk management and impact. Responses were characterized as affirmative or negative, with affirmative responses representing good intervention practices assigned a value of one and negative responses assigned zero. Chi-square tests of association examined whether existing intervention practices were related to One Health preparedness. The findings indicate that Baringo County was not resilient to environmental drivers of Rift Valley Fever and had weak risk-mitigation strategies across the animal, human and ecosystem interfaces.

The abstract reports that Rift Valley Fever risk potential was highest in previous outbreak hotspots, where the impact was severe. The study characterized the county as lacking preparedness for operationalizing the One Health Approach in controlling Rift Valley Fever outbreaks. The authors recommend establishing a county One Health Unit with interdisciplinary experts from relevant sectors, strengthening capacity for One Health preparedness, conducting continuous systems analysis to identify vulnerabilities and changes in the three One Health interfaces, and planning integrated multisectoral interventions against Rift Valley Fever.

The evidence presented is limited to the study abstract, which describes a cross-sectional assessment based on interviews with 31 county government officers in one administrative county. The reported findings therefore apply to the surveyed departments and scorecard assessment in Baringo County; they do not establish the status of preparedness elsewhere in Kenya. The abstract does not provide details about participant selection, the full questionnaire, statistical estimates or uncertainty measures, and the binary characterization of responses limits the granularity of the reported preparedness assessment. No direct test of Rift Valley Fever outbreak incidence or intervention effectiveness was reported.

Subject of Research: One Health preparedness for Rift Valley Fever outbreaks in Baringo County, Kenya

Article Title: Stakeholder contribution to one health preparedness and operationalization for rift valley fever outbreaks in Baringo County, Kenya: the one health scorecard approach

Article References: Estambale, B., Mutua, E., Ochieng, A., Osok, D., Ong’amo, G., Oludhe, C., Oyugi, J., Olago, D., Ongore, D., & Nyamongo, I. K. (2026). Stakeholder contribution to one health preparedness and operationalization for rift valley fever outbreaks in Baringo County, Kenya: the one health scorecard approach. BMC Public Health. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-026-29833-5

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1186/s12889-026-29833-5

Keywords: Rift Valley Fever, One Health, outbreak preparedness, Baringo County, Kenya, cross-sectional study, governance, multisectoral coordination, risk mitigation, public health, Stakeholder, contribution