ILRI contributes chapters in new book on One Health approach to sanitation and institutional research

Hung Nguyen-Viet and Delia Grace, researchers with the Food Safety and Zoonoses program of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), are among several chapter authors of a new book “One Health: The Theory and Practice of Integrated Health Approaches” published by CABI in March 2015.

ILRI Asia

Researchers at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) are among the authors of a new book on One Health: The theory and practice of integrated health approaches published by CABI in March 2015.

ILRI’s Hung Nguyen and Delia Grace are among the contributors to this book

Hung Nguyen, a scientist with ILRI’s Food Safety and Zoonoses (FSZ) who is also a joint appointee of Hanoi School of Public Health (HSPH) and the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (TPH), and Delia Grace, program leader of FSZ at ILRI, have co-written, with colleagues from research institutes in Vietnam and Switzerland, chapters on ‘One Health perspective for integrated human and animal sanitation and nutrient recycling’ and ‘Institutional research capacity development for integrated approaches in developing countries: An example from Vietnam’.

The publication, which emphasizes the role of One Health approaches in sanitation and capacity development in Vietnam, says One Health adds ‘value…

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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.

 

ILRI joint appointee scientist reflects on John Dillon Fellowship experience

Hung Nguyen-Viet, researcher at the Center for Public Health and Ecosystem Research (CENPHER) and joint appointee of the International Livestock Research Institute (photo credit: CENPHER/Hung Nguyen-Viet).

Hung Nguyen-Viet, an environmental scientist at the Center for Public Health and Ecosystem Research (CENPHER) of the Hanoi School of Public Health and a joint appointee of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), was a John Dillon Fellow in 2014.

Under the fellowship, he spent six weeks in Australia during February to March 2014 on formal training in professional communication, leadership development and research management, coupled with field visits to farms and research institutions.

In this short video (3.26 minutes), Hung shares some of the highlights of his experience as a John Dillon fellow and his key learning points.

The John Dillon Memorial Fellowship of the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) was set up in recognition of Professor John Dillon, one of Australia’s leading agricultural economists, and his life-long support for international agricultural research.

The aim of the fellowship is to provide career development opportunities for outstanding young agricultural scientists or economists from ACIAR partner countries who are involved in a current or recently completed ACIAR project.

Hung works on an ILRI project that aims to reduce health risks and improve food safety in smallholder pig value chains in Vietnam. The project is funded by ACIAR.

He also reflects on his experience of the John Dillon Fellowship in an article in the December 2014 issue of the ACIAR in Vietnam newsletter (page 34).

 

ILRI researcher wins University of Queensland alumni award

Tarni Cooper with children from a livestock-keeping household in Morogoro, Tanzania (photo credit: ILRI/Tarni Cooper).

We are pleased to congratulate Tarni Cooper, a veterinary scientist at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), on being named as one of five recipients of the 2014 Distinguished Young Alumni awards of the University of Queensland (UQ). The award will be presented at a ceremony scheduled for 2 October 2014.

The award recognises outstanding alumni aged 35 years or younger whose early accomplishments inspire and provide leadership to students and alumni. She was a UQ valedictorian in 2010 when she was awarded her Bachelor of Veterinary Science degree with honours and also won the Dr John Gibb Biosecurity Memorial Prize that year.

In 2013, Cooper worked with ILRI’s Food Safety and Zoonoses program as an Australian Youth Ambassador for Development and was part of a research team that worked in rural Tanzania on a project to assess the presence of a range of potential pathogens in smallholder dairy cattle. She studied the use of various communication approaches to obtain informed consent during research.

An enumerator uses a poster to obtain informed consent for research in Morogoro, Tanzania (photo credit: ILRI/Tarni Cooper).

Livestock keepers in Morogoro, Tanzania examine a poster used to obtain informed consent for research (photo credit: ILRI/Tarni Cooper).

Previously, she spent time in Vietnam during a five-year project, working with smallholder pig farmers and using participatory video as an innovative communication approach to help the farmers learn from each other and improve their pig production methods. Earlier this year she returned to Vietnam and used participatory photography to study the long-term impact of the film.

Cooper is currently collaborating with ILRI on a Vietnam-based project on livestock competitiveness and food safety, as well as serving on the Institutional Research Ethics Committee. Her next career goal is to undertake a PhD in communication for social change.

 

ACIAR newsletter highlights ILRI project on risk assessment for improved food safety in Vietnam

Hmong butchers selling pig meat from the indigenous Hmong black pig, recognizable from its thick layer of fat below the skin, Bac Ha, Lao Cai Province, Vietnam (photo credit: ILRI/Jo Cadilhon).

The July 2014 issue of Partners Magazine, the flagship publication of the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), features an article on an ACIAR-funded project led by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) that uses a risk assessment approach towards improving the safety of pig and pork value chains in Vietnam.

Hung Nguyen-Viet, an ILRI scientist and deputy director of the Center for Public Health and Ecosystem Research (CENPHER) at the Hanoi School of Public Health, is playing a lead role in the project which is working to strengthen local capacity on risk assessment for effective management of food safety along the entire value chain.

Read the article, Food safety from farm to fork

Read more about CENPHER in their new report, CENPHER five year report 2009–2014: From a research project to a research center

 

ILRI gives ‘one health’ training to support pig health project in the Philippines

ILRI Asia

ILRI’s Fred Unger (back row with glasses) and Jackie Escarcha (second left, front row) with the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development team and other participants of an ‘ecohealth’ and ‘one health’ seminar held in Pampanga, Philippines in July 2014 (photo credit: ILRI).

On 30-31 July 2014, Fred Unger, a veterinary epidemiologist and Centre for International Migration and Development (CIM) expert with the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), visited the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCAARRD) project site in Pampanga, Philippines and served as a resource speaker for a ‘seminar on ecohealth and one health: An introduction‘. Unger was accompanied, at the seminar, by Jackie Escarcha from ILRI’s office in Los Banos.

The PCAARRD project, represented by Edwin Villar, the director for livestock division, held the introductory seminar for the project team to gain basic understanding of ‘ecohealth’ and ‘one health’ approaches…

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ILRI publishes three policy briefs on ecohealth approaches to managing zoonoses in Southeast Asia

A live chicken vendor weighs a chicken in Hung Yen province, Vietnam (photo credit: ILRI/Nguyen Ngoc Huyen).

More than 6 out of 10 human infectious diseases are zoonotic (can be passed from animals to people). Southeast Asia is considered one of the hotspot areas for the emergence of zoonotic diseases. The rapid growth of economies and human populations have led to livestock intensification, land use changes and disruption in wildlife habitats, all of which are ideal for the emergence of zoonotic diseases.

From 2008 to 2013, the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) led an action research project on zoonotic diseases in six countries in Southeast Asia: Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam.

Each country team comprised individuals and institutions with knowledge of ecohealth, representing multiple disciplines carrying out research on zoonotic emerging diseases. The project aimed to build ecohealth capacity and learn about the process of adopting the ecohealth approach in the country contexts.

The project has published three new policy briefs that highlight some of the key outcomes on stakeholder engagement processes, raising awareness of zoonotic diseases, and capacity building in One Health and ecohealth in Southeast Asia.

• Engaging stakeholders to manage emerging zoonotic diseases in Southeast Asia
• Increasing awareness of zoonotic diseases among health workers and rural communities in Southeast Asia
• Outcomes in building capacity and strengthening networks: Ecohealth in Southeast Asia

The International Development Research Centre (IDRC) funded the project.

Visit the project website for more information

 

The next global pandemic: Can we predict it?

Live chicken on sale in Hung Yen province, Vietnam (photo credit: ILRI/Nguyen Ngoc Huyen).

Can we predict the next global pandemic? How can we ensure that we are prepared to tackle the next global disease epidemic?

Ten years after the SARS pandemic, Alok Jha, a science correspondent at The Guardian, examines a new human-animal virus surveillance project in Vietnam as part of his investigation into the possibility of predicting the next global pandemic.

Read his article in The Guardian: A deadly disease could travel at jet speed around the world. How do we stop it in time?

Listen to his science documentary on BBC Radio 4: The Next Global Killer

 

ILRI joint appointee scientist awarded John Dillon Fellowship on agricultural research

Hung Nguyen-Viet, researcher at the Center for Public Health and Ecosystem Research (CENPHER) and joint appointee of the International Livestock Research Institute (photo credit: CENPHER/Hung Nguyen-Viet).

We are pleased to congratulate Hung Nguyen-Viet for being among 10 recipients of the 2013 John Dillon Memorial Fellowship of the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR).

Hung is an environmental scientist at the Center for Public Health and Ecosystem Research (CENPHER) at the Hanoi School of Public Health and a joint appointee of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI).

The fellowship was set up in recognition of Professor John Dillon, one of Australia’s leading agricultural economists, and his life-long support for international agricultural research.

It provides career development opportunities for outstanding young agricultural scientists or economists from ACIAR partner countries who are involved in a current or recently completed ACIAR project.

Hung is currently involved in an ILRI project on reducing disease risks and improving food safety in smallholder pig value chains in Vietnam. The project is funded by ACIAR.

Through this fellowship, he will spend six weeks in Australia during February to March 2014 and take part in formal training in professional communication, leadership and research management, and visit various Australian research organizations.

 

ILRI-supported student successfully defends thesis on Salmonella in pork markets in Vietnam

Sinh Dang Xuan defends his Master of Veterinary Public Health thesis at the Chiang Mai University, Thailand. His research study was co-funded by the ILRI-led project “Ecosystem approaches to the better management of zoonotic emerging infectious diseases in Southeast Asia” (photo credit: ILRI/Fred Unger).

Congratulations are due to Sinh Dang Xuan on the successful defence of his Master of Veterinary Public Health thesis on 9 September 2013 at the Veterinary Public Health Centre for Asia Pacific, Chiang Mai University in Thailand. The course is a joint program of Freie Universität Berlin and Chiang Mai University.

His research study on quantifying Salmonella spp. in pig slaughterhouses and pork markets associated with human health in Hung Yen, Vietnam was co-funded by a project led by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) on ecohealth approaches to managing zoonoses in Southeast Asia.

It is one of the first studies carried out in Vietnam combining quantitative and qualitative research methods on ecohealth approaches to food safety in pork value chains.

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