Unpacking transdisciplinary research (the REALLY hard science)
A4NH / Africa / Agri-Health / Animal Diseases / Disease Control / Emerging Diseases / Environment / Epidemiology / Event report / FSZ / Human Health / ILRI / Opinion piece / Pests / Pro-Poor Livestock / Research / RVF / Trypanosomiasis / Zoonotic Diseases

Unpacking transdisciplinary research (the REALLY hard science)

The following excerpt is the beginning of a candid and thoughtful article by Ian Scoones, of the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), at Sussex University, about an international symposium, One Health for the Real World: zoonoses, ecosystems and wellbeing, that took place at the Zoological Society of London last week (17–18 Mar 2016). Continue reading

This March: ‘One Health for the Real World: Zoonoses, Ecosystems and Wellbeing’ symposium
A4NH / Agri-Health / Disease Control / Emerging Diseases / Epidemiology / Event / FSZ / Human Health / ILRI / RVF / Zoonotic Diseases

This March: ‘One Health for the Real World: Zoonoses, Ecosystems and Wellbeing’ symposium

One Health for the Real World: zoonoses, ecosystems and wellbeing
17–18 Mar 2016

This symposium will bring together leading experts from different fields to discuss the topic ‘Healthy ecosystems, healthy people’. Continue reading

African camels could hold a key to controlling the spread of the MERS virus
A4NH / Agri-Health / Article / Camels / CBPP / Diagnostics / Disease Control / East Africa / Emerging Diseases / Epidemiology / FSZ / Human Health / ILRI / Kenya / MERS / Middle East / Zoonotic Diseases

African camels could hold a key to controlling the spread of the MERS virus

African camels could hold important clues to controlling the potential spread of a respiratory disease transmitted by the animals. For many years African camels have lived with the disease and the risk of it spreading to humans is still low. But more research is necessary to understand the disease better. This is even more important given the confirmation that the chains of transmission of the human Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection originated from contact with camels. Continue reading

New Tanzania project launched to curb disease transmission from consumption of bushmeat
A4NH / Agri-Health / Article / Disease Control / East Africa / Emerging Diseases / Epidemiology / FSZ / ILRI / Southern Africa / Tanzania / Zoonotic Diseases

New Tanzania project launched to curb disease transmission from consumption of bushmeat

‘Members of communities that live in forests and depend on hunting for survival have been reported to be at risk because bush meat, widely used as their source of food, can be a source of deadly pathogens from wild animals to humans. The Arusha-based, Nelson Mandela University and the US Centre[s] for Disease Control have now entered into a project aimed at curbing the transmission of diseases from wild animals to human beings.’ Continue reading

Slum farming and superbugs—An ‘Urban Zoo’ science project tracks bacterial routes in complex environments
A4NH / Agri-Health / Article / Disease Control / East Africa / Emerging Diseases / Epidemiology / Food Safety / FSZ / Human Health / ILRI / Kenya / Zoonotic Diseases

Slum farming and superbugs—An ‘Urban Zoo’ science project tracks bacterial routes in complex environments

The Urban Zoo project is visiting 99 households across Nairobi, rich and poor, with livestock and without. They’re taking samples from people, their animals, and whatever wildlife they can find nearby (and catch): storks, mice, bats, et cetera. They’re sampling the ground around homes, yards and livestock pens with white paper booties. ‘The aim, says University of Liverpool veterinarian Judy Bettridge, is “to try and understand on a small scale how those bacteria are shared” among each household’s people, livestock and environment. “And then when we scale it up, are the bacteria here being shared with the household that’s 50 meters over there? Or 100 meters over there? So, how far can they actually spread?” . . . Continue reading

A4NH / Agri-Health / Animal Products / Consumption / Food Safety / FSZ / Human Health / ILRI / Nutrition / Opinion piece

Healthy foods must be nutritious, safe and fair–But what is good for the rich may be bad for the poor

Pork joints in Uganda (photo credit: ILRI/Martin Heilmann, Freie Universitaet Berlin). The following excerpts are taken from a guest commentary, Healthy foods must be nutritious, safe and fair, published on the Global Food for Thought blog of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs on 10 Apr 2015. The authors are John McDermott, of the International Food Policy … Continue reading

A4NH / AMR / Article / Chickens / Consumption / Food Safety / FSZ / Human Health / ILRI / Intensification / Pigs

New publication warns of rising use of antibiotics and other antimicrobial drugs in farm animals

Delia Grace, a veterinary epidemiologist colleague of Robinson’s at ILRI, was recently asked by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) to write a paper, now under external review, on antimicrobial resistance linked to agriculture. Continue reading