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
Tag Archives: John McDermott
New findings of human-animal disease burden carried by world’s poor–IRIN and Reuters
This transmission electron micrograph (TEM) depicted a number of Nipah virus virions that had been isolated from a patient’s cerebrospinal fluid. Nipah virus, related but not identical to Hendra virus, was initially isolated in 1999 upon examining samples from an outbreak of encephalitis and respiratory illness among adult men in Malaysia and Singapore (image credit: Microbe … Continue reading
Livestock production in developing countries – Globally significant and locally relevant
In September 2011, the deputy director general-research for the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), John McDermott, made a keynote presentation at the Swedish Research Network: Sustainable Agriculture and Forestry for Development (Agri4D) conference on ‘scales and diversity.’ Titled ‘Livestock production in developing countries—Globally significant and locally relevant, ‘ McDermott’s presentation begins with the global significance … Continue reading
Livestock experts to raise profile of livestock and human health research
Livestock experts reflect on livestock research over the past decade and trends that will drive future livestock research during the ‘Livestock Exchange’ held 9-10 November 2011 at ILRI in Ethiopia (picture credit: ILRI/Ewen Le Borgne). Livestock researchers, meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, say that managing livestock diseases of developing countries can save lives as well … Continue reading
ILRI scientists put livestock squarely on the (human) health table
For the November 2011 ‘liveSTOCK Exchange’ event at ILRI, Delia Grace will lead a one-hour session on some of the urgent, complex and fascinating issues at the interface of human and animal health … Watch this 3-minute photofilm with commentary by Delia Grace and small-scale butchers and consumers interviewed along Langata Road in Nairobi, Kenya. Dying … Continue reading
Betting on modern sciences and technologies – and a more balanced approach to livestock research for development
For the November 2011 ‘liveSTOCK Exchange’ event at ILRI, John McDermott, the outgoing deputy director general and director of research, reflects on the evolution of ILRI’s research over the past eight years and the future of livestock research for development. ‘Some of what I’m most pleased about us doing in the past few years is … Continue reading
Livestock veterinary research director to head new global research program on agriculture for improved nutrition and health
John McDermott, currently deputy director general-research of the International livestock Research Institute has been appointed head of CGIAR Research Program 4, on Agriculture for Improved Nutrition and Health (photo credit: ILRI/Susan MacMillan). Shenggen Fan, director general of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) announced on 6 Sep 2011 that John McDermott has been named … Continue reading
Animal surveillance needed to stop bird flu and other human epidemics–World Bank
ILRI has worked with Indonesia to control bird flu using participatory disease surveillance and control approaches (photo credit: ILRI/Jost). The World Bank this week reports that since the beginning of this year, the H5N1 bird flu virus has re-emerged, killing people in Egypt and across Asia. Experts say we need to invest in stronger human … Continue reading
IFPRI agriculture, nutrition and health conference in Delhi: ‘At a glance’
The 1,000 participants that gathered in Delhi last week for an international conference organized by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) came from 65 countries and from the agricultural, health, nutrition, and related sectors and represented governments, non-governmental organizations, the private sector, research organizations and academia alike. Some 150 chairpersons, speakers and rapporteurs engaged themselves … Continue reading
Get local livestock keepers involved in disease surveillance–ILRI’s John McDermott
Participants at a conference on ‘Leveraging Agriculture for Human Nutrition and Health’, which has just ended in New Delhi, heard that livestock intensification in developing countries, especially in Africa and Asia, may increase the incidence of epidemics that kill both humans and animals. ‘”The increase in density leads to increased contact between humans and animals—leading … Continue reading