Behaviour change and biosciences necessary to tackle infectious zoonotic diseases – Uppsala Health Summit

CGIAR Research Program on Livestock

Photo credit: Fernanda Dórea

Research shows that six out of 10 emerging human infectious diseases are zoonoses. Thirteen zoonotic diseases sicken over 2 billion people and they kill 2.2 million each year, mostly in developing countries. Poor people are more exposed to zoonoses because of their greater contact with animals, less hygienic environments, lack of knowledge on hazards, and lack of access to healthcare. 80% of the burden of these zoonotic diseases thus falls on people in low and middle income countries.

A workshop at last week’s Uppsala Health Summit zoomed in on zoonotic diseases in livestock and ways to mitigate risk behaviour associated with their emergence and spread. Critical roles and behaviours of people and institutions in preventing, detecting and responding to zoonotic livestock diseases were identified – as well as necessary changes and incentives so we are well-prepared for infections long before they reach people.

These zoonotic infections…

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Africa must take the lead in addressing global health challenges

zimbabweland

Credit: ILRI/Niels Teufel, Tanzania, 2014

The new Director General of the World Health Organisation, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, is a former minister of health in Ethiopia. Africa – at last – is now at the centre of global health policy. This is good news, as persistent ill-health and threats of disease emergence remain, and a different approach to the standard western solutions is required. This must be centred on a One Health approach – where human, veterinary and ecosystem health are seen together. This will require new approaches to research, policy and practice, and must be a major priority for WHO and member states.

But realising these ideals is easier said than done. What might a One Health approach look like for Africa? Today a new Special Issue of the Royal Society’s Philosophical Transactions (Biology) journal is published. Across 12 papers, this offers some clues. The issue is called…

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An ‘urban zoo’ project in Kenya is helping unpack the spread of disease in urban environments

ILRI Clippings

A woman sorts through a heap of garbage at the Dandora dumping site among other people, cattle, pigs and storks, in Nairobi (photo credit: Simon Maina / AFP / Getty Images).

Written by Eric Fèvre

‘There are fears that Africa’s next major modern disease crisis will emerge from its cities. Like Ebola, it may well originate from animals. Understanding where it would come from and how this could happen is critical to monitoring and control.

‘Growth and migration are driving huge increases in the number of people living in Africa’s urban zones. More than half of Africa’s people are expected to live in cities by 2030, up from about a third in 2007.

‘The impact of this high rate of urbanisation on issues like planning, economics, food production and human welfare has received considerable attention. But there hasn’t been a substantive effort to address the effects on the transmission of the organisms—pathogens—that…

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ILRI scientist receives honorary professorship at Hanoi University of Public Health

Hung Nguyen-Viet (right) receives his award of honorary professor at the Hanoi University of Public Health. Also pictured are Le Nhan Tuan, Director of the HIV/AIDS Prevention Center of Hanoi (left) and Hoang Van Minh, Vice Rector of Hanoi University of Public Health (centre) (photo credit: ILRI/Hung Nguyen-Viet).

Hung Nguyen-Viet, a senior scientist at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), was awarded an honorary professorship by the Hanoi University of Public Health in recognition of his contribution to teaching and scientific research. The award was presented at a ceremony that took place on 18 Nov 2016 in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Hung holds a PhD in Life and Environmental Sciences from Besançon, France. His current research focuses on the link between health and agriculture, food safety, and infectious and zoonotic diseases with an emphasis on the use of risk assessment for food safety management with an integrative approach (One Health and ecohealth). He is also ILRI’s acting regional representative for East and Southeast Asia.

Congratulations, Hung!

 

Safe Food, Fair Food project research presented at tropical veterinary medicine conference

Safe Food, Fair Food

Serving of fried pork and raw relishes in a pork joint in Kampala, Uganda (photo credit: ILRI/Martin Heilmann).

Research findings from the Safe Food, Fair Food project were presented at the first joint international conference of the Association of Institutions for Tropical Veterinary Medicine (AITVM) and the Society of Tropical Veterinary Medicine (STVM) which was held in Berlin, Germany on 4–8 September 2016.

AITVM is a foundation of 24 veterinary faculties and livestock institutes based in Africa, Asia and Europe with the mandate to improve human health and quality of life by means of increased and safe food production in tropical regions through enhancement of research, training and education in veterinary medicine and livestock production within the framework of sustainable development.

STVM is made up of scientists, veterinarians and students from more than 40 countries with common interests in tropical veterinary medicine. It is a non-profit organization whose purpose is…

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Brucellosis in ruminants in two counties of Yunnan, China and the use of an integrated approach for effective control

Brucellosis (undulant fever) is a zoonotic disease of growing  public health concern in many Asian countries. Challenges in controlling the disease include lack of collaboration between sectors and uncontrolled animal movement.

In China, Yunnan Province is at particular risk as ruminants are increasingly introduced to the province from other parts of the country in response to increasing demand for milk.

To better control the disease, new approaches are needed to support cross-sector collaboration in China’s animal health control system.

The transdisciplinary ‘ecohealth’ approach to prevention and control of zoonoses was used in an International Livestock Research Institute-led project, Ecosystem approaches to the better management of zoonotic emerging infectious diseases in Southeast Asia.

The project’s findings on the ecohealth approach to control of brucellosis in Yunnan were presented at this year’s Tropentag conference which took place in Vienna, Austria on 19-21 September 2016.

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Edited by Tezira Lore

 

Taenia solium cysticercosis: Risk factors, perceptions and practices in smallholder pig production systems in Uganda

This week’s (4-8 September 2016) first joint international conference of the Association of Institutions for Tropical Veterinary Medicine and the Society of Tropical Veterinary Medicine featured a presentation on results on a survey of Taenia solium cysticercosis risk factors, perceptions and practices in smallholder pig production systems in Uganda.

Scientists from the National Livestock Research Resources Institute (Uganda), Makerere University and the International Livestock Research Institute conducted the survey in 1096 households in the rural and urban pig production systems in districts of Masaka, Mukono and Kamuli.

The study found that 63% of interviewed farmers were aware about taeniosis but less than 1% were able to make the link between taeniosis and cysticercosis in people and pigs.

Most farmers (94%) dewormed their pigs and 55% had clean water near the latrines designated for washing hands. Of these, 41.9% used water with soap to wash hands after latrine use.

The findings of the study point to a need to raise awareness among the pig farmers on the transmission cycle of pig-borne diseases like taeniosis and Taenia solium cysticercosis to help improve smallholder pig production and management.

Edited by Tezira Lore

 

World Water Week seminar highlights the role of livestock in sustainable agriculture

Fishermen and Sahelian goats by the Niger River, in Segou, Mali (photo credit: ILRI/Stevie Mann).

World Water Week in Stockholm is organized annually by the Stockholm International Water Institute and brings together experts from around the world to discuss pertinent issues around water and development.

At the start of this year’s World Water Week, taking place from 28 August to 2 September 2016, the University of Gothenburg, the Swedish International Agricultural Network Initiative, the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and the Swedish Ministry of Enterprise and Innovation convened a seminar on antimicrobial resistance and linkages between humans, livestock and water in peri-urban areas.

Among the speakers at the seminar was Delia Grace, a veterinary epidemiologist and food safety expert at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI). Her presentation was based on a report published in July 2016 by the Committee on World Food Security High-Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition. Grace was a member of the project team that wrote the report.

The presentation begins with an overview of the key role of the livestock sector in sustainable agricultural development and the global rise in demand for animal-source food, a phenomenon dubbed the ‘Livestock Revolution’. Some agriculture-associated challenges of livestock production are then discussed; these include antimicrobial resistance, foodborne diseases and zoonoses. Cross-cutting and specific recommendations to address these challenges are then put forward.

View the presentation: Sustainable agricultural development for food security and nutrition: what roles for livestock?

 

South–South exchanges on One Health/EcoHealth: Capacity-building practices in India and Vietnam

ILRI Asia

ILRI scientists Hung Nguyen and Johanna Lindahl (fifth and sixth from right) at a One Health/EcoHealth seminar on capacity building in India (photo credit: Public Health Foundation in India).

One Health and EcoHealth approaches have gained a foothold in Southeast Asia in recent years, especially in Vietnam. In India, One Health/EcoHealth approaches have also been adopted, and the goal of the agencies and research institutes in the country is to strengthen capacity building for those involved in the livestock sector, particularly smallholder farmers, to respond to threats of zoonotic diseases.

To promote One Health/EcoHealth mainstreaming in India, two scientists from the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) recently participated in two seminars in New Delhi to share their research experiences that can be useful for India’s efforts at mainstreaming One Health/EcoHealth capacity building in the country.

Hung Nguyen-Viet, ILRI acting regional representative for East and Southeast Asia, food safety scientist and…

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Pandemic proofing the world: View point on tackling emerging zoonotic diseases

An Ethiopian woman breeds sheep for a living (photo credit: ILRI/Zerihun Sewunet).

On the matter of global health and tackling the looming threat of emerging infectious disease pandemics, Delia Grace, a veterinary epidemiologist at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) shares her views in a recent blog post, Pandemic proofing the world, published by How We Get To Next.

The post argues the case for greater attention to diseases that can be transmitted to people through livestock, better incentive structures for reporting of livestock disease outbreaks so that timely disease reporting is rewarded rather than punished, and the need to tackle the root causes and not just the symptoms of emerging zoonotic diseases.

Read the post, Pandemic proofing the world by Delia Grace, How We Get To Next, 29 June 2016