Global conference on One Health features ILRI research on antimicrobial use in developing countries

Vaccinating chicks in Thuy Phuong province, Vietnam (photo credit: ILRI/Nguyen Ngoc Huyen).

Livestock production is beset by many challenges. Animal diseases, in particular, can lead to reduced production of milk, meat and eggs. In some cases, animal disease infections may result in death, leading to loss of livelihoods for livestock keepers.

Livestock in developing countries suffer a high burden of preventable disease, and this burden is likely to increase as livestock systems become more intensive. Antibiotics and other antimicrobial drugs are often used to treat animal disease infections.

However, authors of a study published in March 2015 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS) warn that the use of antimicrobial drugs in livestock production could contribute to the spread of drug-resistant pathogens in both livestock and humans, posing a significant public health threat.

The study also projects that by the year 2030, global antimicrobial consumption will rise by 67% and nearly double in Brazil, China, India, Russia and South Africa.

In light of the global nature of the problem of antimicrobial resistance, the World Veterinary Association and the World Medical Association prioritized the topic during one of the sessions at their global conference on One Health held in Madrid, Spain on 21-22 May 2015. The conference was organized in collaboration with the Spanish medical and veterinary associations.

Over 300 delegates from 40 countries attended the conference which was aimed at achieving stronger collaboration between physicians, veterinarians and all relevant stakeholders to improve various aspects of the health and welfare of people, animals and the environment.

Delia Grace, veterinary epidemiologist and leader of the Food Safety and Zoonoses program of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), attended the conference and presented on antimicrobial use in developing countries, highlighting some results from research by ILRI.

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The other conference sessions were on zoonotic diseases, natural disaster management, One Health in food production, and veterinary education of the One Health concept. More information is available in the conference report (PDF).

 

Video highlights the lessons from a One Health approach in responding to foot-and-mouth disease in Japan

In April 2010, Miyazaki prefecture in Southwest Japan experienced an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease, one of the most contagious animal diseases. Although the outbreak was successfully contained in just four months, by July 2010 there were 292 cases and 300,000 cows and pigs had been slaughtered. This resulted in an economic loss of about 2 billion US dollars.

In addition to the economic impact of the epidemic, the mental and psychosocial well-being of individuals and the community at large was also affected. For example, the sudden death of large numbers of animals caused considerable mental stress among farmers as well as the veterinarians and municipal government teams involved in the slaughter and disposal of infected cattle and pigs.

Restrictions on movement were imposed as part of efforts to prevent the disease from spreading; this led to stress-related symptoms among some residents, particularly the elderly. In addition, many farmers experienced depression and anxiety about the future following the loss of their livelihoods.

Recognizing the multiple impacts of the disease epidemic, a coordinated multisectoral approach was adopted, under the One Health concept, to tackle the disease as well as manage the mental health and psychological well-being of the residents of Miyazaki.

In a video titled Responding to an animal disease epidemic: Lessons from Miyazaki, various stakeholders who were involved in responding to the epidemic reflect on the usefulness of a One Health approach in helping to successfully respond to and overcome the challenges of the disease outbreak.

Featured in the video is Kohei Makita, an associate professor of veterinary epidemiology at Rakuno Gakuen University who is on a joint appointment at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI). Makita and colleagues had earlier published work on the collaborative response of veterinary and psychiatry experts to the 2010 foot-and-mouth disease outbreak.

The video was produced by the World Bank Tokyo Development Learning Center, the United Nations University International Institute for Global Health, the National Center for Neurology and Psychiatry, Japan and Rakuno Gakuen University.

 

New ILRI report reviews the use of a Rift Valley fever decision support tool in Kenya

Orma Boran cattle crossing a river in Kenya. Rift Valley fever can infect both cattle and people (photo credit: ILRI /Rosemary Dolan).

The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) has published a discussion paper on a study carried out to identify the successes and challenges associated with the use of a Rift Valley fever decision support tool in Kenya.

The decision support tool was developed by various stakeholders from government and non-government sectors following the 2006-07 outbreak of Rift Valley fever in East Africa. It identifies events leading to the disease outbreak and matches them with interventions that could be implemented at each point.

The study involved three activities:

• a review of literature to describe systems that could be used with the decision support tool and to identify how other frameworks have been used to support disease control policies
• focus group discussions and key informant interviews with farmer groups, local and international organizations and decision-makers in the Department of Veterinary Services
• a stakeholder workshop to validate the findings obtained and develop recommendations on ways to improve awareness and utilization of the framework

Download the discussion paper

Citation
Mbotha, D. and Bett, B. 2015. Utilization of the Rift Valley fever decision support tool in Kenya: Successes and challenges. ILRI Discussion Paper 28. Nairobi, Kenya: ILRI.

 

ILRI presents at inaugural regional conference on zoonotic diseases in eastern Africa

Farming scene in the highlands of Ethiopia (photo credit: ILRI/Apollo Habtamu).

 

Zoonotic diseases, or zoonoses, are diseases that can be passed from animals to people. Nearly two-thirds of emerging infectious diseases affecting people are zoonotic and about 60% of all human pathogens are zoonotic.

Zoonoses such as brucellosis, anthrax and rabies are endemic in eastern Africa and yet formally published research studies on zoonoses in the region are hard to come by; useful research findings remain tucked away in the libraries of universities and other research institutions in form of working papers and students’ theses: the so-called ‘grey literature’.

In order to bring to the fore the wealth of unpublished research on zoonoses from studies carried out in Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda, the first-ever regional conference on zoonotic diseases in eastern Africa was held in Naivasha, Kenya on 9-12 March 2015.

The conference brought together academicians, researchers and graduate students from across Africa who presented on topics such as the One Health approach to disease prevention and control, the global health security agenda, the recent Ebola outbreak and its control, and control of rabies in East Africa.

Some 80 oral and poster presentations covered a wide range of aspects of research on zoonotic diseases including epidemiology, antimicrobial resistance, diagnosis, surveillance, outbreak investigations, disease modelling and foodborne zoonoses.

Bernard Bett, a veterinary epidemiologist at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), gave a keynote presentation on behalf of the institute’s director general Jimmy Smith detailing how research by ILRI is contributing towards healthy people, animals and ecosystems.

Food insecurity remains a challenge for millions of people in the region. Animal-source foods can play a role in improving food and nutritional security, particularly in developing countries where demand for meat, milk and eggs is on the rise. Thus, food security is linked to the health of the livestock that produce these food products.

However, because of the threat of endemic and emerging zoonotic diseases, human health is influenced by animal health. Furthermore, changing patterns of land use, such as irrigation and intensified farming, can have an impact on the life cycles of vectors that spread diseases that affect both animals and people. Therefore, the impact of agriculture on ecosystem health also needs to be considered when tackling animal and human health challenges.

View the presentation “Healthy people, animals and ecosystems: The role of CGIAR research”
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Informing national Rift Valley fever control plans: An ILRI impact narrative

Rift Valley fever, a viral disease that is endemic in sub-Saharan Africa, Saudi Arabia and Yemen, causes abortion and stillbirth in livestock and can cause serious conditions such as haemorrhagic fever and encephalitis in humans.

Download a brief that illustrates how scientists at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) are working to identify key drivers for Rift Valley fever occurrence and transmission, and develop decision support tools to guide responses at various stages of the epidemic cycle of the disease.

Developed after the last devastating Rift Valley fever outbreak in Kenya in 2006-07, these research outputs are designed to enable decision-makers to take timely, evidence-based decisions to prevent and control future epidemics and reduce their impacts.

In particular, the Government of Kenya has incorporated the decision support tool in its Rift Valley fever contingency plan and local governments in the country regularly use outputs from ILRI’s work to assess their level of preparedness.

 

Mitigation of the impacts of Rift Valley fever through targeted vaccination strategies

The Rift Valley fever virus is a mosquito-borne pathogen that causes explosive outbreaks of severe human and livestock disease in Africa and Arabian Peninsula. The rapid evolution of outbreaks of Rift Valley fever generates exceptional challenges in its mitigation and control.

A decision-support tool for prevention and control of Rift Valley fever in the Greater Horn of Africa identifies a series of events that indicates increasing risk of an outbreak and matches interventions to each event.

This poster, prepared for the Tropentag 2014 conference, presents information from a study that assessed the effectiveness of targeted vaccination in mitigating the impacts of outbreaks of Rift Valley fever.

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Mitigation of the impacts of Rift Valley fever through targeted vaccination strategies

This week, ILRI staff are participating in the Tropentag 2014 International Conference in Prague, Czech Republic (17-19 September 2014). There is also a dedicated ILRI@40 side event on livestock-based options for sustainable food and nutritional security and healthy lives.  See all the posters.