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In order to bring to the fore the wealth of unpublished research on zoonoses from studies carried out in Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda, the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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#IWD2015: Why do we need a gender perspective in research to improve food safety in informal markets?

A woman milks one of her goats in Ségou District, Mali (photo credit: ILRI/Valentin Bognan Koné).

Almost two-thirds of the world’s 925 million poor livestock keepers are rural women, and women often predominate in urban agriculture. In Africa, most livestock products are sold in traditional or informal markets which offer livelihood opportunities as well as affordable, convenient and nutritious food to millions of people.

Women and men often play different roles in animal production and in the processing, sale and preparation of animal food products. Women are more often involved in keeping poultry and small ruminants while men tend to have greater involvement in rearing of cattle. Almost everywhere in rural Africa, women are responsible for preparing and cooking food for home consumption.

Animal slaughter is also often differentiated by gender, with women being responsible for killing poultry, typically inside the homestead, but most slaughter of larger animals outside the home being done by men.

Small-scale processing of animal food products is often carried out by women while more modern, industrialized operations, such as dairy cooperatives, are often dominated by men, at least in managerial and ownership roles.

Traditional markets are particularly important for women. For example, in most African countries, the majority of street food processors and vendors are women, while the majority of customers are men. As well as being one of the few livelihood strategies open to poor women, the street food sector is of great importance to the economy.

The different roles of women and men in the production and processing of animal foods predispose them to different benefits as well as risks.

For example, in West Africa where men dominate milk production, they are more at risk from zoonotic diseases associated with direct contact with cows during milking. On the other hand, in smallholder farms in Kenya where women are often in charge of milking, the situation is reversed.

In Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, where artisanal coastal fishing is a key livelihood activity, men are in charge of fishing but women handle the on-shore smoking and selling of the fish.

Because of these variations in the roles of men and women in the production, processing and sale of animal food products, it is necessary to adopt a gender perspective in food safety research aimed at reducing health risks and improving the safety of animal products sold in the informal sector.

A study by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and partners on the microbial quality and safety of meat in Bodija market in Ibadan, Nigeria revealed that gender and group membership had an influence on meat quality.

Women were found to have significantly better food safety practice than men, though there was no significant difference in their knowledge of and attitude towards food safety. The study also identified butchers’ associations as promising entry points for interventions to improve food safety.

Another study investigated the social and gender determinants of the risk of exposure to Cryptosporidium from urban dairying in Dagoretti, Nairobi, Kenya. Cryptosporidium is a microscopic parasite that causes the diarrhoeal disease cryptosporidiosis.

Women were found to have greater contact with raw milk and this increased their risk of exposure to cryptosporidiosis infection. However, there was no significant difference between men and women as regards knowledge on symptoms of cryptosporidiosis or other zoonotic diseases associated with dairy farming.

These two examples show how a gender perspective in food safety research can ensure:

• men’s and women’s differential exposure to agriculture-related risks are better understood, particularly as it relates to health outcomes
• women have increased capacity to manage risks and are more involved in the surveillance of risks
• women directly benefit from interventions designed to reduce agriculture-associated diseases, taking into account roles and responsibilities that may put them at increased risk of exposure

Read more in this ILRI research brief: Poverty and gender aspects of food safety in informal markets in sub-Saharan Africa.

 

New book presents research findings on food safety in Africa’s traditional meat, milk and fish markets

Animal products – meat, milk, eggs and fish – are vital components of the diets and livelihoods of people across sub-Saharan Africa. However, these nutritious food products are also the most risky. Most food-borne disease is caused by perishable foods: meat, milk, fish, eggs, fruits and vegetables.

Food borne-disease can be serious. In a minority of cases, it can cause epilepsy, paralysis, kidney failure and death. In addition, the global economic burden of food-borne disease is significant. Annually, food-borne disease is estimated to cost US$78 billion in the United States of America, US$14 billion in China and US$3 billion in Nigeria.

Over 80% of the meat, milk, eggs and fish produced in developing countries is sold in traditional or informal markets. These markets are accessible, sell affordable food and provide market access to small-scale farmers. However, informal markets often lack adequate refrigeration, inspection and control of food-borne disease.

For over a decade, the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and partners have been conducting research on food safety in informal markets to support intensifying livestock production by building capacity for better management of the safety of animal food products.

A newly published book launched two weeks ago (27 Jan 2015) at ILRI’s Nairobi headquarters presents a review of food safety in informal markets and 25 case studies of the meat, milk and fish sectors in eight countries in East, West and southern Africa, as part of the Safe Food, Fair Food project.

A key finding from the book is that in low-income countries it is important to distinguish between the potential food-borne hazards (such as harmful bacteria, chemicals and toxins) and the actual risks they are likely to present to consumers.

For example, data from East Africa show that although the raw milk available from street vendors and traditional markets may contain many health hazards, the actual risks to consumers may be negligible due to the common practice of boiling milk before consuming it.

“Food safety policy should be guided by rigorous research to understand the ways food is produced and consumed in different societies so we can devise strategies that are most likely to reduce the risks, particularly to poor consumers,” said Kristina Roesel, coordinator of the Safe Food, Fair Food project.

“Improving food safety in informal markets will require policies that are guided by an understanding of producer and consumer behaviour, local diets and customs, and interventions that can reduce illness without imperilling food security or increasing poverty,” said Delia Grace, program leader for food safety at ILRI.

Download the book, Food Safety and Informal Markets: Animal Products in Sub-Saharan Africa, edited by Kristina Roesel and Delia Grace.

 

Despite contamination concerns, Africa must embrace ‘wet markets’ as key to food security

ILRI news

At the Xipamamime traditional market, in Maputo, trader Augusta Thomas sells chickens (photo credit: ILRI/Mann).

A new compilation of 25 studies in Africa finds that informal markets provide essential sources of food and income for millions of poor, with milk and meat that is often safer than supermarkets.

Misguided efforts to control the alarming burden of food-related illnesses in low-income countries risk intensifying malnutrition and poverty — while doing little to improve food safety. Blunt crack-downs on informal milk and meat sellers that are a critical source of food and income for millions of people are not the solution.

That’s a key finding of a new book released today by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and partners — Food Safety and Informal Markets: Animal Products in Sub-Saharan Africa—that probes the complicated world of traditional or ‘informal’ markets in livestock products. These are often called ‘wet’ markets because they use so much water in cleaning due…

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Livestock and healthy lives: Past trends and future predictions

This poster, prepared for the ILRI@40 series of events, highlights past trends and future predictions of emerging zoonotic infectious diseases using a conceptual framework of the causal links between livestock keeping, nutrition and health outcomes among the poor.

ILRI@40: Livestock and healthy lives from ILRI

 

Visit ilri.org/40 for more information.

Follow #ilri40 on Twitter.

 

ILRI research on animal health and food safety featured at the 6th All Africa Conference on Animal Agriculture

ILRI scientist Silvia Alonso presents at the 6th All Africa Conference on Animal Agriculture held at Nairobi, Kenya on 27-30 October 2014 (photo credit: ILRI/Tezira Lore).

Scientists from the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) yesterday (28 Oct 2014) presented some of their recent research findings from studies on animal health and food safety in East Africa at the 6th All Africa Conference on Animal Agriculture. The conference is being held from 27 to 30 October 2014 at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre in Nairobi, Kenya.

Some 300 participants from all over Africa and beyond are attending the conference whose theme is Africa’s animal agriculture: Macro-trends and future opportunities. The five conference sub-themes are:

• Youth: The future hope?
• Which way for smallholder production systems?
• Pastoral systems: Options for tomorrow
• Market access: Opportunities for enhanced access to local, regional and global markets
• Africa’s human capacity challenge for animal agriculture: Which way now?

Silvia Alonso, a postdoctoral scientist with ILRI’s Food Safety and Zoonoses program presented the following two papers:

• Smallholder pig producers and their pork consumption practices in three districts in Uganda (presented on behalf of lead author Kristina Roesel, an ILRI graduate fellow at Freie Universitaet Berlin and coordinator of the Safe Food, Fair Food project)
• Vaccination as a way forward? A case study on how a poultry vaccination intervention influences poultry keeping in Kenya (presented on behalf of lead author Johanna Lindahl, an ILRI postdoctoral scientist)

Results from a study on Kenyan milk consumers’ behaviour and perceptions of aflatoxin were also presented. This study was a joint output of the CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health and the CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions and Markets.

Additionally, the following ILRI posters on smallholder dairying in Tanzania and pastoralism in Kenya and Tanzania featured in the poster session:

• Smallholder dairy farming in Tanzania: Farming practices, and animal health and public health challenges and opportunities
• Pastoralism in Kenya and Tanzania: Challenges and opportunities in animal health and food security
• Creating novel approaches to mitigate aflatoxin risk in food and feed with lactic acid bacteria – mold growth inhibition and aflatoxin binding

 

Posters by projects in ILRI’s Food Safety and Zoonoses program featured at the 6th All Africa Conference on Animal Agriculture held at Nairobi, Kenya on 27-30 October 2014 (photo credit: ILRI/Tezira Lore).

 

 

 

Healthy lives: Tackling food-borne diseases and zoonoses

Agriculture imposes large burdens on human health. Three million deaths a year and one-quarter of all deaths from infection are agriculture-associated, and almost all of these occur in developing countries.

Zoonotic and food-borne diseases kill 2.2 million people and sicken 2.4 billion people annually; poor people are most affected by these diseases. For 70% of agriculture-associated diseases, proven and cost-effective agricultural solutions exist.

The presentation below, made at the Tropentag 2014 conference, gives an overview of the global burden of zoonotic and food-borne diseases and some research-based interventions that can be used to prevent and control these diseases.

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Healthy lives: Tackling food-borne diseases and zoonoses

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.

 

Managing the health risks associated with agriculture: An overview of research by ILRI

Over 60% of the newly identified infectious diseases that have affected people over the past few decades have been caused by pathogens originating from animals or animal products.

In agricultural areas that use more water, people face increased risk of infectious diseases, especially through zoonotic diseases (diseases transmissible from animals to people) as well as water-borne and vector-borne diseases.

The CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH) carries out research to maximise the nutritional and health benefits of agricultural development. The programme has four research themes: value chains, biofortification, control of agriculture-associated diseases, and integrated programs and policies.

The poster below, prepared for the Tropentag 2014 conference, presents an overview of a research carried out by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), which leads the research theme on the prevention and control of agriculture-associated diseases within A4NH.

This research theme generates evidence on the prevalence, dynamics and burdens of agriculture-associated diseases by developing and testing the tools and approaches needed to better manage such diseases.

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Managing the health risks associated with agriculture: An overview of research by the International Livestock Research Institute

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.

 

Pastoralism: Animal health and food safety situation analysis in Kenya and Tanzania

Pastoralism is a farming system practised in arid and semi arid lands by societies that derive most of their food and income from livestock production. About 70% of the land mass in the Horn of Africa is dry land. In Kenya 80% of the land mass is classified as arid and semi-arid while approximately half of Tanzania consists of dry land. These dry lands can only be effectively used for livestock rearing, supporting wildlife resource harvesting and tourism.

The poster below, prepared for the Tropentag 2014 conference, presents findings of a situation analysis of animal health and its implication on food safety in Kenya and Tanzania. The study reports on livestock diseases with high prevalence and their likely effects on food safety and food security in pastoral communities in the two countries. The extent of species rearing diversification, pastoralist trade orientation and practices that may expose the community and their trading partners to animal and zoonotic infections are also explained.

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Pastoralism: Animal health and food safety situation analysis, Kenya and Tanzania

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.

 

Aflatoxins: serious threat to food safety and food security, but is it related to livestock?

Aflatoxins are cancer-causing mycotoxins produced by the mould Aspergillus flavus. Aspergillus can grow in a wide range of foods and feed and thrives under favourable conditions of high temperature and moisture content.

Aflatoxin contamination can occur before crops are harvested when temperatures are high, during harvest if wet conditions occur and after harvest if there is insect damage to the stored crop or if moisture levels are high during storage and transportation.

Aflatoxins in contaminated animal feed not only result in reduced animal productivity, but can also end up in milk, meat and eggs, thus presenting a health risk to humans.

The poster below, prepared for the Tropentag 2014  conference, presents an overview of a research project led by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) aimed at measuring and mitigating the risk of aflatoxins in the feed-dairy chain in Kenya.

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Aflatoxins: serious threat to food safety and food security, but is it related to livestock?

This week, ILRI staff are participating in the Tropentag 2014 International Conference in Prague (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.