Slaughterhouse number 5 – examining zoonotic diseases in western Kenya

 

Annie Cook is a graduate fellow at the International Livestock Research Institute in Kenya. In this blog post she describes a day in the life of her PhD project.

“I am a veterinary epidemiologist which means I investigate the behaviour of diseases in animal populations. I am particularly interested in zoonoses: diseases that pass from animals to people.”

“The research project I am conducting was requested by the community. During a previous study that looked at zoonotic diseases in pigs at slaughter, our research group was asked to develop a project examining disease in the workers themselves. The workers wanted to know the occupational risks they faced at work.”

Read the full post on the CGIAR Development Dialogues blog

 

Arguing the case for massive investments in One Health

Emerging and neglected zoonoses have often been managed sectorally, but recent decades have shown, in case after case, the benefits of One Health management.

The growing body of evidence suggests the time has come to make the bigger case for massive investment in One Health to transform the management of neglected and emerging zoonoses, annually saving the lives of millions of people as well as hundreds of millions of animals whose production supports and nourishes billions of impoverished people.

Delia Grace, a veterinary epidemiologist and food safety expert at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) sets out a ‘Big 5’ framework for One Health:

1. Join up health resources: Share health resources across human and veterinary sectors
2. Control zoonoses in animal reservoirs
3. Detect disease outbreaks early
4. Prevent pandemics
5. Add value to health research and development

Read the full post on the CGIAR Development Dialogues blog

Read an earlier full version of this story on the ILRI News blog