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By 2006, the acute and zoonotic Tripanosoma brucei rhodesiense sleeping sickness in Uganda was spreading northward, leading to fear of a merger with the chronic Tripanosoma brucei gambiese type that affects people in the northwest of the country. Eliminating infection in cattle was urgent because they had been confirmed to be spreading the zoonotic type, and eliminating infection would reduce the animal reservoir and subsequently reduce transmission of sleeping sickness. In this article, we describe how the staff and students of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Makerere University, adjusted their approach to training veterinary students who could provide the urgently needed manpower to enable the community to halt the disease's spread. Because it was not usual for university staff and students to implement disease control activities, the government of Uganda had to delegate this responsibility to Makerere University. In turn, the university had to explore available opportunities in its training and outreach mandates. A model was developed that proved to be an effective hands-on training strategy while helping to control a disease that was threatening the health of people in a community that was just recovering from an armed rebellion. In total, 66 students and supervisors participated in the 10-week-long mass treatment activities in the target area and treated more than 190,000 out of 220,000 targeted (>86%) cattle with diminazene aceturate and deltamethrin. Also, the graduates' performance improved, as indicated by 43.5% of graduates securing employment within less than a month after completing the course.

AbstractSince January 2008, five young veterinarians have been engaged in promoting drugs and chemicals that can help control sleeping sickness, a disease that affects the rural poor in Uganda. The framework involves veterinary service provision at a small fee and has evolved into young graduates setting up veterinary drug shops and practices in the villages, resulting in the promotion of use of products known to help reduce the spread of sleeping sickness. This manuscript describes how fresh graduates who participated in the Stamp Out Sleeping Sickness campaign a public good implemented by the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at Makerere University led to the establishment of small businesses in a community that was just recovering from armed rebellion. The article explains through the use of tables and figures the performance in terms of sales of the small businesses and benefits of the owners in a community that was short of the vital services. The young veterinary graduates have established veterinary drug shops, including the promotion of key people in these small villages trading in chemicals helpful in the control of sleeping sickness by training them to serve as spray persons. The paper discusses the successes and challenges of strengthening the small business model as a sustainability measure in the control of neglected zoonotic diseases like sleeping sickness. The experiences gained have showed that sustainability of disease control in rural communities can be achieved through helping professionals establish a network of small businesses that increase the accessibility of the innovative technologies developed.