ILRI postdoctoral scientist awarded TWAS-DFG cooperation visit to Germany

Joseph Erume, a researcher at Makerere University, has been awarded a three-month cooperation visit to the Friedrich Loeffler Institute (FLI) in Jena, Germany starting June 2014.

Through this visit, he will continue his research work on seroprevalence and molecular characterization of Brucella suis in pigs in central Uganda which he started under the Safe Food, Fair Food and Smallholder Pig Value Chains Development projects.

Erume’s academic background in microbiology and swine health placed him in an excellent position to contribute to these projects during his research fellowship at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI).

His work was supported by the CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH) through an in-region postdoctoral fellowship by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).

The cooperation visit will also provide the opportunity to discuss research collaboration with German scientists, possibly including some preliminary experiments, with the ultimate goal of developing longer-term collaboration through other DFG programs.

The cooperation visit program of The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) and the German Research Foundation (DFG) provides postdoctoral researchers from sub-Saharan Africa (excluding South Africa) with the opportunity to make a three-month cooperation visit to a research institute in Germany.

We congratulate Erume on the successful application for this prestigious award and the placement at FLI Institute of Bacterial Infections and Zoonoses which also hosts the World Organization for Animal Health and national reference laboratory for porcine brucellosis.

Erume’s application was supported by ILRI scientists Danilo Pezo, Delia Grace, Fred Unger and Kristina Roesel.

 

ILRI graduate fellow to attend international training course on modelling of epidemiological data

John Muthii Muriuki, ILRI graduate fellow attached to the Dynamic Drivers of Disease in Africa project (photo credit: ILRI/John M. Muriuki).

The South African Centre for Epidemiological Modelling and Analysis (SACEMA) has invited John Muthii Muriuki, a graduate fellow at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), to attend its fifth annual clinic on the meaningful modelling of epidemiological data. The clinic takes place on 2-13 June 2014 at the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS) in Muizenberg, Cape Town, South Africa.

The highly competitive training course is offered in collaboration with the International Clinics on Infectious Disease Dynamics and Data (ICI3D) program and AIMS. Participants will include graduate students, postdoctoral students and researchers from Africa and North America.

The clinic focuses on the use of data in understanding infectious disease dynamics. Participants will work on epidemiological modelling projects that use real data to grapple with practical questions in a meaningful way.

Muriuki is studying for a Master’s degree in veterinary epidemiology and economics at the University of Nairobi. He was attached to the Kenya team of the Dynamic Drivers of Disease in Africa project that is exploring the drivers of Rift Valley fever in the country and took part in sampling and community surveys in Garissa and Tana River.

He is excited at the opportunity to take part in the clinic and expects to learn more about modelling the transmission dynamics of infectious diseases.

“This clinic could not have come at a better time because I’m now developing a malaria transmission model in an irrigated set-up. Through this training, I expect to get more ideas to refine the model,” said Muriuki.

“I have a lot of interest in epidemiological modelling. The knowledge and skills gained from the clinic will enable me further my research work in this noble area,” he added.

Bernard Bett, a veterinary epidemiologist at ILRI and one of Muriuki’s supervisors, is confident that the training will enable Muriuki to refine the malaria transmission model being developed.

“It will also be a good opportunity for him to build networks with other professionals working on infectious disease research,” said Bett, who also leads the Kenya team of the Dynamic Drivers of Disease project.

 

Vietnam hosts pioneer training course in One Health and EcoHealth

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

The first ever short course on One Health and EcoHealth in Vietnam – hosted by the Center for Public Health and Ecosystem Research (CENPHER) at the Hanoi School of Public Health (HSPH) and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) – took place on 27-30 May 2013 in Hanoi.

While Vietnam is a part of the EcoHealth network in the Southeast Asia region, no formal EcoHealth training program existed in the country before the launch of this course.

EcoHealth is an emerging, multi-disciplinary field of study that examines how ecosystem changes affect human health so as to prevent new diseases from emerging.

The participants were an international, multi-disciplinary and multi-sector group drawn from various countries across the globe, including Indonesia, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Singapore, Thailand, the United States of America and Vietnam.

The course, which was run by regionally based trainers, highlighted the conceptual framework of EcoHealth and One Health and its potential usefulness in advancing the agenda of public health. Specifically, activities generated from the workshop provided a chance to demonstrate how risk analysis can be used as a tool in developing strategies to prevent and control infectious diseases.

Through the introduction of concepts and didactic methods, application of case studies and participation in fieldwork, the course participants learned about the theory and major concepts of EcoHealth, and honed the skills necessary to apply the principles of One Health and EcoHealth in their respective fields of expertise.

Following the successful inception of One Health and EcoHealth training in Vietnam, CENPHER now plans to incorporate an EcoHealth course into a comprehensive and innovative public health training program. To do this, CENPHER will collaborate with various EcoHealth initiatives currently working in Southeast Asia, namely,

• the International Development Research Centre (IDRC)- funded project,  EcoHealth approaches to the better management of zoonotic emerging infectious diseases in the Southeast Asia region;
• the Ecohealth Field-Building Leadership Initiative in Southeast Asia; and
• two EcoHealth Resource Centres in Chiang Mai University, Thailand and Gadjah Mada University, Indonesia.

Beyond the immediate successes of expanding the scope of EcoHealth concepts and applications, the community at HSPH and CENPHER hopes that the output of this workshop will mark the start of continued growth, sustained partnerships and lasting opportunities for collaborative learning.

 

New publication on capacity development for wildlife health management

The 2012 annual scientific meeting of the Wildlife Disease Association featured a workshop on capacity development in wildlife health management.

The workshop consisted of presentations, table-top exercises and general discussion among over 60 participants from all over the world.

The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) was represented by Purvi Mehta-Bhatt, regional representative for South Asia, who gave a keynote presentation on capacity development in One Health and EcoHealth.

“Capacity development is an important pathway to achieving sustainable development. Limited capacity continues to be one of the most prominent hindrances to implementing projects in developing countries,” said Mehta-Bhatt.

“It is important to identify and leverage upon the role that different international, regional and local organizations can play in building capacities.”

ILRI’s research on One Health and EcoHealth is one of the key research activities within the prevention and control of agriculture-associated diseases theme of the CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health.

Access the workshop report

Citation: Leighton F A, Valeix S, Wall R, and Polachek L. 2012. Capacity development for wildlife health management in low and middle income Countries: A Workshop Work Book. Wildlife Disease Association, Lawrence, KS, USA.