AVIA-GIS as part of VECAMP won the first ‘Janssen Open Innovation Award’ in the category Micro-enterprises. This award is an initiative from the ‘Kempense Innovatie Raad’.
To find out more about the VECAMP project, please download this document.
The Institute of Tropical Medicine Antwerp is one of the world’s leading institutes for training,research and assistance in tropical medicine and health care in developing countries. Internationally, the ITM participates in activities and collaborations all over the world.
The ITM seeks to fill a professorship position in veterinary entomology, with a focus on the eco-epidemiology of zoonotic and animal diseases. The candidate should be an promising or established entomologist with a strong background in veterinary sciences, and the biology, ecology and epidemiology of emerging global infections and/or zoonotic infections. She or he is expected to develop an innovative research portfolio in this field, to assume related duties in teaching and training (postgraduate, advanced Masters and PhD level) in veterinary, medical and public health courses of the ITM, and to contribute to international collaboration and capacity strengthening. Within ITM, she or he will work in close collaboration with other units of the vector biology research group (human entomology and veterinary epidemiology) and other units of the 3 departments, involved in zoonotic and animal diseases.
For more information please download the Information Pack or contact Prof. J-C Dujardin ().
To apply, please use the application form available to download from: www.itg.be/vacatures.
Epilepsy is twice as common in low and middle-income countries as it is in the developed world, according to an international team of researchers.
They say the higher incidence is linked to increased risk factors, including head injuries and infections such as pork tapeworm and river blindness.
And more than 60% of sufferers in those countries receive no appropriate treatment.
A Lancet editorial said epilepsy had to be a global health priority.
Read the full story at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-19746452
September’s Discussion Question:Recently, rabies is gaining more attention in developing countries. In your opinion what are the reasons for this increased attention?
(Increasing animal/human cases, improved surveillance, changes in habitats, availability of food sources, etc.)
Kindly share your experiences and insight at www.onehealthtalk.org/
Background: One Health was developed further after the highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5N1) outbreaks occurred on more than three continents. The response to the H5N1 outbreaks offered an opportunity for One Health to build on lessons learned and to develop more effective frameworks for primary response efforts to emerging zoonotic and high impact diseases. However, rabies, an often endemic and neglected zoonotic disease is currently being mentioned as the “One Health model disease”. Especially in developing and in-transition countries rabies remains highly under-reported in animals as well as in humans but estimates suggest that 55,000-77,000 humans die of rabies each year. The majority of these deaths occur in Asia and Africa as a result of dog bites. In order for countries to effectively reduce the burden of rabies multi-agency collaboration is key.
European researchers may now have less incentive to seek collaborators in Africa
From 2013, African scientists may be more likely to be left out of lucrative collaborations with European Union (EU) researchers, according to some policy experts.
A mandate for EU research groups to include African partners in projects was dropped from the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) 2013 calls for proposals for EU competitive research grant issued last month (9 July).
The calls cover 11 themes, including agriculture, water and energy, and are worth 8.1 billion Euros (US$10.2 billion).
In the FP7 grants for the period 2010–2012, researchers engaged in investigating a number of themes, including fisheries and biotechnology, were required to collaborate with at least one international group from Africa.
Some fear that in the absence of a specific mandate, EU researchers will be unwilling to collaborate with African peers. There are also concerns that the decision may affect calls for grants for Horizon 2020, the EU’s 2014–2020 framework programme for research and innovation to replace the FP7, worth around US$100 billion.
François Stepman, European co-manager of the Platform for African-European Partnerships for Agricultural Research for Development (PAEPARD), told SciDev.Net that without requirements for African collaborations, many EU researchers will be reluctant to work with African scientists, believing it will not help their careers to do so.
“There’s a decline [among EU researchers] in trying to include African researchers,” Stepman said.
Young scientists keen on building careers are more likely to collaborate with US researchers, because this is more likely to lead to publications in international journals, he explained.
Stepman told SciDev.Net that EU scientists also worry African researchers can lack the administrative support available in developed countries, leading to challenges in “getting the reports in on time and in getting the finance”.
“You have to do too much work to get them on board,” he said.
The decline in partnerships will affect the ability of scientists to research subjects of mutual interest, including food security and price hikes, climate change, biofuels and genetically modified organisms, he added.
For African scientists, the fallout could be severe.
“Many African experts don’t have access to research funding from their [own] countries,” Kevin Chika Urama, executive director of the Africa Technology Policy Studies Network (ATPS) in Nairobi, Kenya, told SciDev.Net. “The EU research funding has been a pivotal avenue to partnership with EU researchers.”
“A lot of African issues, such as the needs of the poor in rural areas, are under-researched,” Urama added. “Some of these issues are not of interest [to European researchers],” he said, adding that a solution may be for the EU to set up a specific grant programme aimed at African researchers.
The move to drop the mandatory collaboration with Africa from 2013 calls for proposals reflects European political leaders’ disquiet about the use of funds outside the EU generally, said Andrew Cherry, coordinator for the Network for the Coordination and Advancement of Sub-Saharan Africa-EU Science & Technology Cooperation (CAAST-Net).
However, Daan du Toit, minister counsellor for science and technology at the South African Mission to the EU said the move does not mean fruitful cooperation is not possible.
“All topics of this year’s FP7 calls for proposals are open for African participation. African researchers have to identify, which ones are relevant for them, and ones where they can add value to the work of the European or international consortia — then participation will follow. In many of the topics in this year’s calls African researchers are well placed to play an important part.”
Michael Jennings, a European Commission spokesperson for research, innovation and science, told SciDev.Net there was a need “to better articulate science and technology capacity-building initiatives” to be supported with “collaborative research activities that can be selected and funded through FP7 and the upcoming Horizon 2020 programme”.
Cherry told SciDev.Net that it remains to be seen how African researchers can participate in Horizon 2020.
Congratulations to Professor Susan Welburn, our ICONZ Coordinator, and Director of The Global Health Academy, on her appointment as Assistant Principal Global Health at the University of Edinburgh.
Please see http://www.onehealthinitiative.com/publications/…
Provided by:
Will Hueston, DVM, PhD
Executive Director, Global Initiative for Food Systems Leadership
Professor, College of Veterinary Medicine and Adjunct Professor, School of Public Health
University of Minnesota
St. Paul, MN (USA)
Prof Sue Welburn was presented with a teaching award by the University of
Edinburgh’s new Chancellor HRH The Princess Royal at a gala dinner on Monday
26th Sep 2011.
Sue Welburn, Professor of Medical and Veterinary Molecular Epidemiology, is
the Director of the University’s Global Health Academy, and has developed
research-led distance learning strategies to engage veterinarians and
scientists in developing countries.
She has also supervised more than 35 PhD and research masters students.
For more information see:
http://www.ed.ac.uk/news/all-news/chancellor-160911
http://www.ed.ac.uk/news/staff/chancellor-awards-270911
The 2nd joint call for transnational research projects of the EMIDA ERA‐Net initiative will open on March 7th, 2011 with a total budget in the region of €20 million.
The deadline for submitting pre‐proposals is May 3rd, 2011, 1p.m. (CET).
Invitations for full proposals will be sent to project coordinators by the end of June 2011.
The deadline for submitting full proposals will be September 7th, 2011, 1p.m. (CET).
The funding decisions are expected to be announced in December 2011.
Forms and guidelines will be available after March 7th, 2011 on https://www.submission-emida-era.net/.
The University’s Global Health Academy has been awarded 15 fully funded studentships across four online Masters programmes within the domain of One World, One Health:
Students enrolled on these Masters programmes become members of the Global Health Academy community which encourages both intra- and inter-disciplinary engagement and communication.
The Global Health Academy initiative cuts across the traditional vertical health structures moving to novel integrated health systems training. Our aim is to promote a global community of practice. For example, in the cases of emerging zoonotic infections, staff and our student vets who are treating these animals will have the opportunity to discuss with medical, nursing and environmental health staff and students who are dealing with the human consequences of these infections. Students taking these courses find them rewarding in the opportunity they present to engage with professionals from industry, medicine, policy and research.
Eligibility
The scholarships are open to candidates who are citizens of one of the following developing Commonwealth countries:
The scholarship includes full tuition fee and resources to enhance student participation, access and research skills. This includes participation in Uganda-based summer school; contribution towards student costs of internet access & printing (journal articles, etc); and a contribution to MSc project costs (materials, travel, etc).
Applying
Applicants who are eligible for these scholarships should apply for one of the four programmes in the first instance and notify the programme director of their intention to apply for the scholarship. The programme director will then give you further information on how to apply The closing date for scholarship applications is Monday 30 May 2011 at 0900 hours BST.
Notification
A Selection Committee will meet in June 2011 to select the winners. The winners of the scholarships will be announced in July/August 2011.
Alex Shaw and Sue Welburn gave presentations at a breakfast session sponsored by the EU and chaired by Alain Vandersmissen, Coordinator Influenza, One Health, Emerging Diseases, Directorate General External Relations, Directorate Asia / Policy, Planning and Coordination, EUROPEAN COMMISSION
The forgotten zoonoses: overlooked, under-reported but cost-effective to control
Alexandra Shaw
Economist, AVIA-GIS, Belgium and Integrated Control of Neglected Zoonoses (ICONZ) Project
As the One Health movement has gathered huge momentum in the last 5 years, so has awareness of a particular subset of the forgotten diseases, which WHO terms the ‘neglected zoonotic diseases’ – an open-ended list which now includes: anthrax, brucellosis, bovine tuberculosis, brucellosis, cysticerosis/neurocysticercosis, cystic echinococcosis, fascioliasis, the zoonotic leishmaniases, leptospirosis, rabies, rift valley fever and zoonotic African trypanosomiasis. We are now mostly familiar with the evidence about the dual burden of these diseases – disabling, disfiguring or fatal – often affecting active adults. In livestock the effect is the same – leaching at productivity and incomes, occasionally killing – so undermining livelihoods and household coping strategies. For this cluster of diseases, studies show staggering under-reporting rates in people: ranging from 40% of cases and 92% of deaths for human African trypanosomiasis in endemic areas where the disease is well known, to 99% for rabies, to – well 100% – where studies of malaria patients have found prevalences of over 5% for brucellosis, rising to over 30% in butchers/abattoir workers, but no-one had been diagnosed or treated.
In Britain, where brucellosis was effectively eradicated in 1979, older members of the agricultural community still suffer its effects. It has only taken a few decades for the disease to be forgotten here and abroad. However, one the reasons these diseases have been forgotten is because – often – we have the technology – and in Europe and North America they have been controlled. Diagnosis can be complex, but treatments are often affordable. However, the cheapest and most effective strategy is usually the control of the animal reservoir. Once the total societal costs of these diseases are taken into account, the cost-effectiveness of intervening in this way is excellent, often falling below $25 per DALY averted. Where more than one disease is targeted and veterinary and medical services work together with rural development agencies, cost-effectiveness can be even higher. Making this happen is the challenge these diseases pose to One Health.
One Health beyond the confines of Emerging Disease: A Public Health template for dealing with the forgotten diseases?
SC Welburn
One Health in a changing world offers the opportunity to link people, animals and environment (physical, human and social). The 21st century of “health uncertainties” will require a “new culture of collaboration” that recognises the essential link between human, domestic animal and wildlife health and the threat disease poses to people, their food supplies and economies, and accepts that biodiversity is essential to maintaining health. Ecosystem health demands effective integration of ecology including disease ecology with the social and health sciences. This presents a challenge for low resource countries that require improved human, livestock and ecosystem health that will link improvements in livestock production to better human and community health. What are the effects of landscape configurations on the spread of certain diseases, particularly those associated with animal vectors? What landscape and human settlement patterns mitigate disease spread? What strategies can keep systems from becoming pathological?
There are positive indications that national platforms established as a result of HPAI investments may lead to long term intersectoral collaboration for other zoonotic diseases e.g. rabies and brucellosis. After 5 years of cooperation on emerging diseases, One Health is evolving towards the federation of vet and health services. In this vision for long term capacity building – Intervening to control the forgotten zoonoses can be the catalyst to link the drivers for change that have evolved from a ‘crisis response’ to a long term strengthening of public health systems. Recommendations that ad hoc inter-ministerial task forces formed in zoonotic disease outbreaks e.g. anthrax and rift valley fever, be formalised into long-standing platforms for risk analysis and prevention for a range of endemic disease support this evolution. ICONZ is pulling together Animal Health + Development + Human health people to achieve the necessary impact for change.
Anna officially began this post on the 1st Jan 2011 but has been part of ICONZ since 2009, when she began her PhD examining policy aspects of zoonotic disease control, and the feasibility of applying a the ‘One Health’ concept to the Neglected Zoonoses. Anna will now be working half-time for ICONZ and half-time continuing her PhD studies.
Anna is veterinarian from Australia, but now lives in Nairobi, Kenya. Anna has considerable experience of project management and has previously lived and worked in Morocco.
Anna’s main mission will be to visit one case study team and case study flied site each month (for periods of up to a week at a time). While there Anna will work with closely with the case study teams – and especially with those who are doing the field work. Her remit will be to identify both the successes and difficulties that groups may be having, and to communicate these swiftly to the rest of the consortium. By visiting all case studies, Anna will gain a unique overview of our ICONZ activities and help identify common training and support needs. This will also facilitate the dissemination of good practice and information between members of our consortium.
Anna will be expected to write a monthly report (which will translate into two reports each year per case study). This will help provide the ICONZ consortium with feedback and enable us to deliver our objectives in a more comprehensive manner. It will also help with the accountability of the project.
For those of you currently working within the case study teams, Anna will be contacting you shortly to arrange suitable times to visit. Meanwhile, the rest of us can look forward to her monthly progress updates and to hearing about the successes of our colleagues.
Health & Living, November 3, 2010
On October 14, the World Health Organisation (WHO) launched the first ever global report on neglected tropical diseases titled: Working to Overcome the Global Impact of Tropical Diseases
NTDs are diseases that thrive in tropical areas and are closely linked with poverty. They are ancient diseases that plagued humanity but have since disappeared from most parts of the world save for those areas that are poor and are within the tropics.
Because they affect poor, disadvantaged people who have neither the resources nor the voice to draw attention to the diseases, they are usually ignored at both national and international levels. Yet some of the diseases are fatal, and sometimes maim their victims.
They also render the affected people less productive, perpetuating poverty amongst the affected communities and the countries in which these people live.
Given that the diseases impede poverty reduction, one of the Millennium Development Goals, WHO has moved to eliminate them by 2020 through scaling up interventions against them.
The interventions include: preventive chemotherapy (immunisation), using better, safer and simpler diagnostic methods and decentralising clinical management so that affected communities access treatment, among others.
NTDs in Uganda
The World Health Organisation lists 17 neglected diseases: Human African Trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness), elephantiasis, river blindness (onchoceciasis), bilharzia, leshmaniasis (kala-a-za), trachoma, Buruli ulcer, plague, intestinal parasites, dengue, leprosy, chagas disease (American trypanosomiasis), guinea worm, foodborne trematode infections, echinococcosis, cysticercosis, and rabies.
Of the 17, Uganda is encumbered with the first nine. Dr. Dawson Bob Mbulamberi, the assistant commissioner for Health Services at the ministry of Health says that so far, Uganda has managed to eliminate guinea worm, meaning it is capable of meeting WHO’s target of eliminating the nine NTDs that affect Uganda by 2020.
NTDs with no tools for control in Uganda
The diseases, sleeping sickness, kala-a-za, Buruli ulcer and plague are a problem because so far, there are no tools or strategies mapped for their control.
Sleeping sickness
Today, 10 million Ugandans are at risk of catching sleeping sickness and cases are confined to south-eastern Busoga, Tororo, Busia, Mbale, Mukono and some parts of Kayunga. Recently, cases cropped up in the Lango-Teso sub-region as a result of infected cows having been transferred from Kamuli to Teso.
Sleeping sickness is spread by tsetse flies. Tsetse flies, which have a preference for human blood, can pick parasites from sick animals and transmit them to people as was the case in Busoga. The West Nile sub-region, which includes Arua, Yumbe, Moyo and Adjumani also harbours cases of sleeping sickness since 1981, when Ugandan refugees, who had fled to Southern Sudan after the fall of Idi Amin returned with the disease that was common in Southern Sudan.
The West Nile sub-region has the chronic type of sleeping sickness which presents no symptoms until a year after infection. Meanwhile, Busoga sub-region has the acute type of sleeping sickness which brings fever and headaches. Sleeping sickness, unlike other NTDs, easily kills. If one gets infected, it is advisable to get treatment immediately.
Leshmaniasis (Kala-a-za)
Kala-a-za, which is spread by sand flies found in forests, caves or burrows of small rodents, presents itself with a fever, swollen lymph nodes and swellings. It mostly affects the skin, causing lesions which can disappear after some months, leaving scars; sometimes, the lesions are chronic.
This disease, a big problem in Kenya, affects only one county in Uganda, Pokot County in Amudat district. Since the Pokot of Uganda are in the habit of visiting the Pokot of Kenya, they pick it from there.
Dr. Mbulamberi says because such a disease is localised, it is difficult to draw attention to it or even make government commit resources because the unaffected cannot comprehend it.
Buruli ulcer
Buruli ulcer is caused by a germ that affects the skin. It presents itself with a big wound on the skin, which usually starts out as a swelling, though sometimes the wound can dig deep till it gets to the bones.
In Uganda, cases have been recorded in only Sembabule district though it is said that further research could present cases in other parts of the country. The fact that people who usually suffer from NTDs are isolated means it is hard to register cases.
Plague
Plague, which is spread by fleas, presents itself with flu-like symptoms at the onset and these are followed by chills, fever, headaches, body aches, weakness, nausea and vomiting. In Uganda, it is found in Nebbi and Arua districts. It has been hard to control because of porous borders between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Plague is transmitted to Uganda from DRC.
NTDs under control in Uganda
Uganda has made some progress with elephantiasis, river blindness, bilharzia, intestinal parasites and trachoma.
Elephantiasis
Fourteen million Ugandans, especially those in Northern Uganda, are at risk of catching elephantiasis. Elephantiasis is spread by the culex mosquito and it presents itself with endema of the breasts, vulvar (this is for the women and a woman with this disease leaks from the vagina and gives off a foul smell).
The men suffer hydrolysis (mpanama). It is dangerous in that it has the potential to end marriages. Dr. Mbulamberi says that the infection, which one catches when still young, only manifests in early adulthood (20-25 years), a time when people are getting married.
Now when a man’s private parts are affected by hydrolisis or a woman’s vulvar is affected, the marriage disintegrates because the young woman or man cannot remain married to someone who is sexually incapacitated.
River blindness (onchoceciasis)
River blindness is spread by the black fly and it mostly affects individuals near fast running water bodies or those that live in swampy areas. People in Fort Portal and Mbale are the most affected by this disease though 2.6 million Ugandans are at a risk of catching it. Apart from causing blindness, river blindness can also destroy the patient’s skin giving it a “monitor lizard skin” look.
Intestinal parasites
These are rather common and symptoms include diarrhoea, foul breath and circles under the eyes, among others. Anyone can catch them and almost everyone has them though they only become a threat when too many of them exist in the body.
Trachoma
Trachoma mostly afflicts people in Busoga and Karamoja. It is a disease that thrives in areas with poor hygiene. It is spread by flies; individuals usually get infected when they are young. If not treated, it can result in blindness later in life. Seven million Ugandans are at risk of catching it.
Actions Uganda has taken
Elephantiasis, river blindness, intestinal parasites and trachoma are under control. One of the tools used to control these diseases, with the aim of eradicating them within five or six years, include preventive chemotherapy where drugs are given out once a year to affected communities.
Because the affected are poor, they are usually treated for all the NTDs that affect them on the same day so they do not waste meagre resources moving to and from the treatment area. Some efforts are being made to treat those diseases for which interventions have not been found.
Health centres were set up in areas like Iganga, Kaberamaido, Adjumani, Tororo to avail treatment to those affected by sleeping sickness. Screening services are also at hand at the health centres to test those that suspect that they have sleeping sickness. Kala-a-za is also being treated.
The department of Pathology at the College of Health Sciences at Mulago Hospital is carrying out research on Buruli ulcer. The Uganda Virus Institute is in charge of research and control of plague.
Challenges
Dr. Mbulamberi says the challenges faced in fighting NTDs include the indifference to the diseases because they affect people who are not so visible. As such, it is difficult to have resources committed to fighting the diseases. Also, members of the affected communities sometimes do not care to get treatment.
– last update:4 November 2010
The Observer (Guardian/Observer), November 7, 2010
“… Experts say governments treat ‘big name’ ailments like Aids and malaria when many which kill far more people in the developing world could be eradicated cheaply …”
Newsletter http://www.rabiescontrol.net/EN/Newsletter.html
Newsletter French language http://www.rabiescontrol.net/RageInfoSept10.pdf
The World Rabies Day website
http://www.worldrabiesday.org
French language http://www.worldrabiesday.org/fr/acceuil.html
World Health Organization, October 14, 2010
“… Neglected tropical diseases blight the lives of a billion people worldwide and threaten the health of millions more. These close companions of poverty weaken impoverished populations, frustrate the achievement of health in the Millennium Development Goals and impede global public health outcomes.
Wider recognition of the public health significance of neglected tropical diseases and better knowledge of their epidemiology have stimulated necessary changes in public health thinking to approach and achieve control.
This report presents evidence to demonstrate that activities undertaken to prevent and control neglected tropical diseases are producing results – and that achievements are being recognized.
By 2008, preventive chemotherapy had reached more than 670 million people in 75 countries. …”
Blueprint for Canine Rabies Elimination and Human Rabies Prevention
Manhattan, KS, June 24, 2010
In an effort to help countries find and implement realistic solutions to reduce the burden of rabies throughout their territory, the Global Alliance for Rabies Control, Partners for Rabies Prevention and FAO’s Regional Central Animal Health in Bamako, under the coordination of Dr Tiziana Lembo, have launched the new on-line “Blueprint for Canine Rabies Elimination and Human Rabies Prevention” (www.rabiesblueprint.com).
“Rabies continues to be an active threat in many countries throughout the world”, said Global Alliance for Rabies Control’s Executive Director Dr Deborah Briggs. “The Blueprint is a breakthrough for the global rabies community and serves as a guide for countries that want to prevent human rabies by eliminating canine rabies within their borders.”
The Blueprint is applicable for countries where rabies is present and also for countries where rabies has been re-introduced. It brings together recommendations from international health organizations and other global stakeholders involved in rabies control. Published data from the field and case study reports are also incorporated into the groundbreaking document.
“The Blueprint is not meant to replace existing material or national guidelines”, said Briggs. “It has been developed to serve as an easy-to-use guide and a one-stop website where national stakeholders can find up-to-date normative and practical information on how to prevent and control rabies.”
Currently, the Blueprint is available in English and French. Additional languages are soon to follow and will help increase the website’s usage in other countries. More chapters addressing wildlife rabies control will also be added in the future.
The Lancet Infectious Diseases is pleased to announce the launch of original research publication.
From June 1, 2010, the journal will consider primary research submissions that are likely to influence clinical practice; we will not consider any such articles submitted before this date. We will give highest priority to randomised clinical trials, followed by-but not limited to-meta-analyses, case-control and cohort studies, and epidemiological investigations. In vitro and animal studies are unlikely to be considered. Papers should be submitted via – http://ees.elsevier.com/thelancetid/default.asp.
All submissions judged eligible by the journal’s editorial team will be fast-track peer reviewed within 72 h. If accepted, a research article will be published within 4-8 weeks. We will aim to publish all accepted articles online before they appear in print. We plan to publish the first research article online in July and in print in the August issue.
The Lancet Infectious Diseases will continue its comprehensive coverage of infectious diseases by publishing Review and Personal View papers, editorials, commentaries, letters, news, and media reviews. Revised information for authors will be published next month on the journal’s website.
By adding fast-track peer review for original research, we intend to build on the position of The Lancet Infectious Diseases as the most highly rated in the field in terms of impact factor, and provide a competitive service for authors who wish to rapidly communicate their research findings to the worldwide infectious diseases community.
To find out more – http://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(10)70056-6/fulltext.
I once heard a seasoned politician in Uganda tell a gathering that being poor is next to sin and that we should be prosecuting the lazy people keeping this country in poverty.
I thought this was very harsh. Poor people often get trapped in a never ending cycle of problems which in some sections is known as “the devil’s circle of poverty.”
As if being poor is not bad enough, poor people are more likely to be exposed to zoonotic diseases than their well-to-do counterparts. Zoonotic diseases are those that are common in animals but can also be transferred to people.
Poor communities are more likely to suffer from zoonotic diseases because of:
Lack of education
This is the yoke that keeps many in the strangling position of poverty. If one does not know that certain diseases exist, they will not care or even have the motivation to prevent them.
Poor sanitary conditions
This stems from lack of education or common knowledge. Poor people are bound to be ignorant of basic primary health practices. This is worsened by the lack of money to build good sanitary systems.
Purchase of unhealthy animals or animal products
When poor, one can only afford cheaper animals. Cheaper animals are often less healthy. They are the ones being sold after suffering several diseases and being less productive. Cheap meat on the other hand, is never the healthiest of meats. It is often not inspected by animal health experts and it therefore has a greater risk of harbouring disease-causing agents.
Lack of veterinary and public health services
Lack of free veterinary services worsens situations in rural communities that cannot pay for private services. Their animals may suffer from diseases which, if untreated, can affect the animal owners.
Poor people are often undernourished and less healthy. They are, therefore, are more susceptible to infectious disease in general and zoonoses in particular. This is made worse by the fact that they lack money to set up good health systems for themselves and their animals.
Diseases like tuberculosis, typhoid, brucellosis, sleeping sickness and jigger infestations that are common in poor communities, cause disabling situations in humans.
A sick or disabled person cannot work as much or as well as they would when healthy. They cannot work the garden to get food or earn enough money to buy food and healthy livestock.
Unhealthy livestock produce less food. The result is little food to eat and less food to sell. This leads to less income gains and not enough money to buy medicines or to even pay for proper education and healthy livestock.
http://www.observer.ug/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=9208
Daily Monitor, Uganda, April 23 2010
Daily Monitor, April 28 2010
The World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) has recognised the University of Pretoria Department of Veterinary Tropical Diseases (DVTD) and its consortium partners [University of Pretoria (Centre for Veterinary Wildlife Studies, Department of Animal and Wildlife Sciences, Department of Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Development); Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute (OVI), SA; Animal Health Department of the Institute of Tropical Medicine (ITM), Antwerp, Belgium; National Institute for Communicable Diseases, SA; National Department of Agriculture, SA] as a Collaborating Centre for Training in Integrated Livestock and Wildlife Health and Management. One of the major roles of the Collaborating Centre is to assist the OIE in developing and offering training in the management and health of livestock and game with special emphasis on sub-Saharan Africa. The training will follow an integrated approach linking animal and human health, animal production, marketing and trade of animals and their products, land-use options, rural development, conservation and environmental health. For more information, please contact Koos Coetzer () and Renè Perridge ().
Collaboration among scientists from OIE Reference Laboratories around the world and other relevant experts has led to an updated compilation of 33 technical disease cards, including cards on 32 OIE-listed priority diseases including Trypanosomiasis. The cards are currently available online in English (http://www.oie.int/eng/maladies/en_technical_diseasecards.htm) and will be translated into French and Spanish.
For non-technical audiences, the OIE has also published Animal Disease Information Summaries which that include the following zoonoses; Anthrax, Brucellosis, Bovine TB, Ecinococcosis and Rabies, in a “Questions and Answers” format online in three languages at http://www.oie.int/eng/ressources/en_diseasecards.htm.
A £13M research programme to tackle the significant and growing threat posed by livestock diseases to global food security and livelihoods in developing countries was launched in London on the 15 February.
Combating Infectious Diseases in Livestock for International Development (CIDLID) is a collaboration between three UKCDS members: the Biological and Biosciences Research Council (BBSRC), Department for International Development (DFID) and the Scottish Government.
A total of 16 research projects are being funded by the initiative, which aims to address some of the most prevalent, damaging and costly diseases of livestock in developing countries, such as Goat Plague, African swine fever and liver fluke.
Over the next four years, UK researchers will work with more than 20 overseas institutions across India, Uganda, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Tanzania, South Africa and Kenya to find sustainable solutions to animal disease threats and help to build scientific capacity in developing countries.
CIDLID research projects include:
Development of vaccines against multiple diseases to save sheep and goats; Dip-stick test for ‘Goat Plague’; Looking at midge control to tackle bluetongue virus; Reducing chicken disease in Ethiopian villages; Comparing foot and mouth disease in wildlife and livestock; Developing rapid tests to prevent pig deaths from African swine fever; Tackling wildebeest disease to save cattle; Looking at traditional healing methods for Ethiopian livestock; Controlling worms to increase production of sheep and goats; Developing a vaccine to control deadly liver fluke; Diagnosing and treating contagious bovine disease; Preventing East Coast fever with improved vaccine; Improving the quality of foot and mouth disease vaccines; Saving chickens by uncovering the genetic diversity of a killer parasite; Looking at ticks in the spread of lumpy skin disease virus; Using community based interventions to beat sleeping sickness.
Veterinary, medical, agricultural and socio-economic researchers met in Nairobi in October 2009 to review their research information on porcine cysticercosis/taeniosis and plan how to translate this information into intervention research for control of this serious but neglected zoonotic disease
The sixth General Assembly meeting on cysticercosis/taeniosis was held at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) in Nairobi, Kenya from 21 – 23 October 2009. The meeting was organised by the Cysticercosis Working Group in Eastern and Southern Africa (CWGESA) in cooperation with the Faculties of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine of the University of Nairobi in Kenya, ILRI, and the FAO/WHO Collaborating Centre for Parasitic Zoonoses and DBL-Centre for Health Research and Development in Denmark and was financially supported by DBL and the Global Alliance for Livestock Veterinary Medicines (GALVmed) based in Edinburgh, Scotland. The CWGESA was established in 2002 to promote communication, collaboration and coordination of integrated research and control activities to combat cysticercosis, a serious and sometimes fatal disease transmitted between pigs and people by the zoonotic tapeworm, Taenia solium. The sixth CWGESA General Assembly provided a forum to reflect on the progress of implementing the Regional Action Plan for Combating Cysticercosis in Eastern and Southern Africa formulated during the International Action Planning Workshop onTaenia solium cysticercosis/taeniosis held in Arusha, Tanzania in August 2002, and in particular to focus on translating research information into intervention research for control.
The sixth General Assembly meeting of the CWGESA was attended by 38 delegates from 19 countries: Angola, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe in the ESA region as well as Australia, Denmark, Gambia, Nigeria, Sweden and United Kingdom. The aims of CWGESA remain the improvement of human health and economic development through prevention and control of this human and pig disease by increased awareness, better surveillance and more support for upgrading pig production to increase domestic food supply and export opportunities for pork. The group also aims to facilitate investigation of the link between the high prevalence of epilepsy in the region and neurocysticosis. Since its inception in 2002, members of the CWGESA and many other colleagues have been involved in research that has significantly increased the amount of information available about cysticercosis/taeniosis in the region. The time has come to use this information to formulate and evaluate control interventions that are likely to succeed in greatly reducing and eventually eliminating cysticercosis and taeniosis in the region.
Meeting participants provided updates on the status of porcine and human cysticercosis in the 13 endemic countries in the ESA region, including Madagascar, represented at the meeting, as well as in Nigeria and Gambia/Senegal. There were also updates on the Global Campaign for Combating T. solium cysticercosis, in the form of a report on the WHO Experts Meeting on Cysticercosis Elimination held the week before the 6th General Assembly meeting of the CWGESA; on the ground covered during a meeting of the CWGESA Technical Advisory Group in September 2008; and on ongoing and commencing regional projects, as well as more general aspects such as progress in developing a vaccine for pigs, the schistosomiasis control initiative in the region, and the activities of GALVmed.
The principal risk factors for cysticercosis and the high rate of infection in people and pigs in rural communities in eastern and southern Africa are well established. Pig husbandry systems that permit access to human waste in settlements where sanitary facilities do not exist or are poorly managed, lack of meat inspection and consumption of under-cooked pork, poor personal hygiene, and ignorance of how cysticercosis and taeniosis are transmitted are major risk factors that are linked to poverty. Information available from research undertaken in various countries in eastern and southern Africa reveals a similar pattern of unhygienic pig exploitation, lack of human hygiene and high levels of neurocystocercosis. Although cyst-infested pork is condemned at meat inspection, resulting in financial loss to the owner of the pig and depriving the formal market consumers of pork, which is an excellent and affordable source of high quality protein, unscrupulous dealers may sell such meat clandestinely, thus perpetuating the disease. Papers presented at the meeting indicated that creating awareness and providing education in communities at risk are critical in the campaign against this long-neglected zoonosis.
In regions where the zoonoses overlap, the integration of schistosomiasis and taeniosis control through human treatment with anthelmintics appears feasible and is already being done in some countries, including Madagascar, although concerns about the possible effect on persons with undiagnosed and dormant neurocysticercosis were raised. The potentially high contribution that raising awareness and providing information on prevention of cysticercosis can make to control and elimination was highlighted in particular in reports from Tanzania and Zambia, where a measure of success has been achieved in target communities. The importance of improving pig husbandry was also reflected in reports, and initiatives in Kenya, Mozambique and Tanzania as the focus of ongoing and commencing projects were described. Working groups considered the theme “Moving from securing the evidence base to intervention research”. They proposed various integrated control approaches. Ideally these would consist of improving pig husbandry, ensuring good sanitation and hygiene including meat inspection, and providing education and training in good practices, but recognising that not all of these could be achieved in the short term, interventions such as mass vaccination and/or treatment of pigs and mass or targeted treatment of humans at risk were also incorporated. Participants were reminded that the CWGESA website is available at http://www.cwgesa.org/. It was concluded that the status of cysticercosis as a neglected zoonosis remains unchanged, and that innovative approaches that integrate a variety of options for control of the disease in people and pigs will be needed to change that situation.
The next General Assembly will be held in Mthatha, Eastern Cape, South Africa in 2011.
Maria Vang Johansen, – last update:1 December 2009
It has been a long trek for Nassebawanga Fausta, and her 14-month-old baby girl, Nakirangwa, from the island of Bugala on Lake Victoria, where they live, to a sleeping sickness centre on the mainland Uganda. Read the full report by Nik Wood on the BBC News website.