ILRI hosts Ohio State University One Health Summer Institute

On 21 May, the Ohio State University- Eastern Africa Track II Certification training in collaboration with ILRI will commence in Addis Ababa, with courses also offered in other locations.  The training will run through July 27, 2012.

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New consortium to investigate environmental changes spreading diseases between animals and people in Africa

Malawi crop-and-livestock farmer (photo credit: ILRI/Susan MacMillan).

One of the drivers of disease in Africa, a continent with a particularly heavy disease burden, are environmental changes that help to spread infectious pathogens between animals (both wild and domestic) and people. That is why the start of a new research program, in which the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) is participating, to investigate these links is good news.

‘An innovative £3.2m research programme exploring the connections between ecosystems, health and poverty in Africa has begun at the STEPS Centre and 16 other research institutes in Africa, Europe and the US.

‘The Dynamic Drivers of Disease in Africa Consortium (DDDAC) brings together natural and social scientists in a unique partnership to embark upon an integrated approach to understanding zoonoses—those diseases which pass from animals to humans.

‘More than 60% of emerging infectious diseases over the past few decades have been zoonotic. While some quietly decimate poor people’s lives and their livelihoods, others have the potential to create dangerous global threats. . . .

”Through fieldwork and modelling work, DDDAC researchers will generate vital new knowledge on the impacts on zoonotic disease of ecosystem change such as climate change and habitat loss, ecology, and the interactions between humans and animals. . . .

‘Funded by Ecosystem Services for Poverty Alleviation (ESPA) for three and a half years, the DDDAC will see environmental, biological, social, political, and human and animal health scientists working on four zoonotic diseases, each affected in different ways by ecosystem changes and having different impacts on people’s health, wellbeing and livelihood.

These are:

• Lassa fever in Sierra Leone
• Henipa virus in Ghana
• Rift Valley fever in Kenya
• Trypanosomiasis in Zambia and Zimbabwe

The DDDAC partners are:
In the UK: STEPS Centre; University of Cambridge; Institute of Zoology, London; University of Edinburgh; and University College, London.
In Ghana: Wildlife Division of the Forestry Commission, University of Ghana.
In Kenya: International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Nairobi; Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI); and the University of Nairobi.
In Sierra Leone: Kenema Government Hospital; and Njala University.
In Zambia: the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries; and the University of Zambia.
In Zimbabwe: the Ministry of Agriculture; and the University of Zimbabwe.
The Stockholm Resilience Centre and Tulane University, US, are also DDDAC partners.

ESPA is funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID), the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC).

Read the whole article at the Institute of Development Studies website: ‘STEPS convenes multidisciplinary research team to tackle animal-to-human disease transmission’, 19 Mar 2012.

 

Could Rift Valley fever be a weapon of mass destruction? An insidious insect-animal-people infection loop explored

The Fifth Plague: Livestock Disease, woodcut by Gustave Doré, 1866 (public domain, via Wikimedia Commons).

Anthrax, bird flu , Ebola, HIV-AIDS, H1N1, H5N1, influenza, Rift Valley fever, SARS: What are the disease links between people, animals and environments? And what are we doing to protect ourselves against the next outbreak of a deadly infectious disease? A series being published in the Huffington Post is exploring such ‘living weapons’ and our preparedness, or lack thereof, in dealing with them. Keeping an eye on livestock diseases, experts agree, is a major way to prevent deadly outbreaks of human diseases. And these animal-human disease links, they say, are under-appreciated and under-funded.

Take Rift Valley fever, a disease transmitted between mosquitoes, livestock and people in Africa. Although considered by many experts to be a potential bioterrorist weapon, it remains underfunded.

As Lynne Peeples of the Huffington Post reports:

This emphasis on coordination among medical, veterinary and environmental health scientists, reflecting the global “One Health” movement, could also be employed in the development of vaccines and treatments for bioterror threats.

Rift Valley fever virus is a prime candidate for such collaboration, says BioProtection Systems’ [Ramond] Flick, an expert on emerging infectious disease, which can afflict both animals and humans. Creating a livestock vaccine would reduce the risk of human infection.

However, because the disease is not considered a priority human bioterrorism agent by the government, research funding is low. Jason McDonald, a CDC spokesperson, explains the agency’s exclusion of Rift Valley: humans typically contract the virus through bites of infected mosquitoes and just 1 percent of these victims die.

Flick disagrees.

The public’s current awareness of Rift Valley fever and its perception of the West Nile virus threat before 1999 are strikingly similar, he says. West Nile had not been given much thought before it cropped up in New York City. Within a few years it had spread across the country.

Flick warns of even more devastating consequences with the relatively unknown bug. More mosquito species can carry Rift Valley than West Nile. It is also more virulent. And according to research in Arabia and Africa, the fatality rate may actually be increasing, killing more than 30 percent of people infected during recent outbreaks. Further, there does appear to be potential for human-to-human transmission.’

Scientists at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) have been working with partner organizations in eastern and southern Africa to better understand the spread of Rift Valley fever. They are developing a toolkit that will help decision-makers make timely and appropriate interventions to prevent the disease from jumping from cattle to the poor people who rear them. The toolkit includes advice on the conditions that suit the Rift Valley fever virus infecting cattle populations (e.g., following unusually heavy rains northern Kenya and other parts of the Horn’s drylands), at which point disease control agents should begin surveillance to diagnose and stop the spread disease in the infected animals before it has time to begin infecting human populations.

Efforts to better align the work of organizations researching Rift Valley fever were the focus this month (Feb 2012) of a workshop organized and hosted by ILRI at its Nairobi headquarters. Watch for a forthcoming post on the ILRI New Blog on that workshop and what it achieved.

The urgency of adopting a ‘one health’ approach to disease control is highlighted by the Huffington Post‘s Lynne Peeples.

‘. . . Biological weapons have a long and sordid history, from catapulting infected corpses to dropping bombs of plague-infected fleas. But what if a biological weapon were being developed and studied by scientists that had the potential to kill not a battalion or a city, but 150 million people? According to some public health and defense officials, that is exactly what we’re facing, following the cultivation of a highly contagious form of H5N1—a lethal bug better known as bird flu. The contagion, they fear, could escape the lab or its recipe could land in the wrong hands.

. . . A super flu is just one of a growing list of potential pandemics that could develop in the near future, either as a result of terrorism, of superbugs leaping from animals to humans, or both. In fact, nearly 80 percent of the bioterrorism agents recognized by the U.S. government started in animals. . . . And nature will spawn new agents continuously.’

‘This means a terrorist may need few tools, little training, minimal money and no published blueprint to harvest a superbug and then unleash it in food, water, air or via insect vectors such as fleas or mosquitos. . . .

The overlap of bioterrorism agents and emerging infectious disease also means that officials could defend against biological attacks and natural outbreaks in tandem.’

‘. . . Yet federal funding to prevent and respond to bioterrorism is plummeting. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s biodefense budget peaked in 2005 at about $1.2 billion. The 2012 budget is down to $800 million, with state and local programs—the country’s first line of defense—absorbing some of the most significant cuts. . . . The U.S. “remains largely unprepared for a large-scale bioterrorism attack or deadly disease outbreak.”

. . . Meanwhile, nature knows no rules or regulations and continues to create new viruses and alter old ones. And because animal-borne diseases may need no help spilling over into humans, outbreak investigations could easily confuse intentional and natural outbreaks.

“The government spends a lot of money developing biosensors,” says Princeton’s Kahn, referring to air sampling surveillance and other sophisticated systems. “But I would argue the best ones are flying around,” or in this case, hanging out on farms.

Zoos can be particularly good sources of sentinels, she adds, as they house a wide array of animals from around the world with different levels of susceptibility. Most zoos are also located near densely populated urban centers, which tend to be terrorism “hot spots.”

“There’s a possibility that the high-tech tools are not even in the right place,” says Rabinowitz. “By being constantly aware of new events in animals as well as in humans and the environment, we’re more likely to pick up a new threat.”. . .

This emphasis on coordination among medical, veterinary and environmental health scientists, reflecting the global “One Health” movement, could also be employed in the development of vaccines and treatments for bioterror threats. . . .

Researchers have discovered an average of 15 to 20 previously unknown diseases in each of the past few decades, including incurable diseases like HIV/AIDS, ebola and SARS, with new pathogens likely to emerge and spread faster due to the global population’s increasing size and mobility.’

‘. . . The ability to detect and identify diseases as they initially emerge can go a long way in thwarting an outbreak, [Scott Lillibridge] says. It can provide the time to prepare, including upgrading quarantines at the border, researching a vaccine and identifying what drugs might successfully combat the infection.

‘”A couple weeks can be critical,” says Lillibridge. “It can make an administration look foolish or like they’re in control.”

‘Overall, the U.S. government spent approximately $60 billion on biodefense from 2001 to 2009. Only 2 percent of that was dedicated to preventive measures such as programs to discover and reduce biological threats overseas, according to Koblentz.

To protect Americans, we must look at what is going on in the rest of the world,” says Khan.

ANSER’s Gursky, recently returned from hosting a NATO meeting in Central Europe: “The most important strategy is to build up the capabilities that we share, which means reaching across borders and politics,” she says.’

‘Coalescing efforts might also allow the government to do more with less. “We’re looking at not only man being a terrorist, but nature can be a terrorist as well,” says Henderson. “The natural occurrence of a disease gives us similar problems, so whatever we’re doing to prepare for one, prepares us for the other.”‘

Read the whole article, by Lynne Peeples, in the Huffington Post: Bioterrorism funding withers as death germs thrive in labs, nature, 10 Feb 2012; this article is part of a series, ‘The Infection Loop,’ investigating the complex links between human, animal and environment.

Read more on ILRI’s News Blog and Clippings Blog about recent research advances in better control of Rift Valley fever.

 

New film ‘Contagion’ warns about the global nature of new disease threats

The march of the West Nile virus (illustration on Flickr by A J Cann: Present and future arboviral threats. Antiviral Res. 2010 85[2]: 328–345).

Laurie Garnett, a scientific consultant on Steven Soderbergh’s new film ‘Contagion’, wrote the popular science book The Coming Plague in the 1990s. In a piece on CNN last week, she warns that ‘there is no governing structure for a pandemic, and little more than vague political pressure to ensure limited access to life-sparing tools and medicines for more than half the world population. . . .

‘ . . . [T]he days when epidemics could be tackled locally had long passed. I argued that the movie had to demonstrate that disease threats in the 21st century are global threats, but the world lacks an appropriate system of governance and trade to permit a genuinely equitable response.

‘Without equity, pandemic battles will fail. Viruses will simply recirculate, and perhaps undergo mutations or changes that render vaccines useless, passing through the unprotected populations of the planet.

Those who see ‘Contagion’ will recognize these themes in its plot: Chinese villagers clamor for vaccines, Internet users gravitate to false claims and order anything they think may help, the entire world sees the pandemic unfold on TV and the Internet and grows universally fearful. Fear spreads globally, even as governments fail in their ineptitude and exhaustion, with police, fire, public health and political leaders themselves falling victim to the virus. . . .

‘What audiences see is the best rendition of events likely to unfold in such a pandemic as can be estimated, based on how governments, public health leaders, scientists, drug companies, communities, law enforcement and international agencies have responded to recent outbreaks of less virulent germs. . . .

‘Internationally, mechanisms of global health governance are very weak. The World Health Organization is running a $1 billion budget deficit, laying off more than 20%, or 300, of its employees this year. . . .

‘In the United States, politicians post-2001 grew tired of our Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, long the world’s premier disease-fighter. . . . Under the Obama administration, the CDC is led by the very able Dr. Thomas Frieden, but congressional mandates have shifted its resources and focus from epidemics and outbreaks to obesity management and chronic disease issues. . . .

‘In these recessionary times, public health budgets are falling to budget axes from Maine to Manila. . . .

‘”Contagion” should serve as a wake-up call not only about the germs, but perhaps more importantly about the frailty of governance, nationally and worldwide.’

Read the whole article on CNN: ’Contagion’ is part reality, part fantasy, totally possible, 14 Sep 2011.

 

One Health: the 21st century challenge

In this month’s Veterinary Record, Edinburgh University’s Sue Welburn assesses recent progress in developing the One Health concept, and where the challenges remain.

She argues that “One Health offers a paradigm shift in our approach towards zoonotic diseases, and is essential to meet 21st century challenges arising from globalisation, climate change and population growth. It goes beyond comparative medicine to link animal and human health together with the ecosystems in which they live, focusing on the current and potential movements of zoonotic diseases among human, domestic animal and wildlife populations and recognising that human, animal and ecosystem health are inextricably linked. The intimate connectivity between animals, humans and the environment requires cooperation and collaboration between medical, veterinary, public health, environmental and ecosystem professionals.”

Read more … (Veterinary Record)

 

A conceptual framework to support one-health research for policy on emerging zoonoses

From The Lancet:

“In the past two decades there has been a growing realisation that the livestock sector was in a process of change, resulting from an expansion of intensive animal production systems and trade to meet a globalised world’s increasing demand for livestock products. One unintended consequence has been the emergence and spread of transboundary animal diseases and, more specifically, the resurgence and emergence of zoonotic diseases. Concurrent with changes in the livestock sector, contact with wildlife has increased. This development has increased the risk of transmission of infections from wildlife to human beings and livestock. Two overarching questions arise with respect to the real and perceived threat from emerging infectious diseases: why are these problems arising with increasing frequency, and how should we manage and control them? A clear conceptual research framework can provide a guide to ensure a research strategy that coherently links to the overarching goals of policy makers. We propose such a new framework in support of a research and policy-generation strategy to help to address the challenges posed by emerging zoonoses.”

Read more … (The Lancet)

 

Global veterinary vaccines market to reach US$5.6 billion by 2015

Given the frequent outbreaks of animal diseases such as bird flu, avian influenza, anthrax, and other viral and bacterial infections, animal healthcare has gained tremendous significance across the globe.

The global veterinary vaccines market waned in 2008 and 2009, as a result of the global meltdown. The market, nevertheless, recovered in 2010 and is expected to post substantial growth in ensuing years. Growing demand for the vaccines from Asia, Latin America and Eastern European countries and increased vulnerability of animals to the diseases is steering the demand for veterinary vaccines. Rapidly changing patterns of the diseases among the animals and increased development of resistance to the currently used antimicrobials is compelling the manufacturers to invest heavily in new product developments. Adoption of novel animal husbandry techniques and different farming conditions are attributed as the major factors for emergence of newer diseases. Growing awareness on animal health and benefits of early detection and preventive medicines will drive the demand for veterinary vaccines over the next few years. Technology innovations, in particular DNA-related vaccines, and introduction of new products that are capable of ensuring greater production and immune responses than traditional vaccines also augurs well for the future of veterinary vaccines market.

Read more … (PRweb)

 

South-East Asia still pandemic hotspot, says study

The next global pandemic is likely to arise in South-East Asia where factors ranging from weak surveillance to the increasing proximity of humans and animals continue to make it vulnerable to emerging infectious diseases, according to experts.

The region’s population has soared in the last decade and, together with an increase in livestock production, particularly poultry, has led to people living closer to each other and the animals they rear, said a team writing in The Lancet last week (25 January).

Read more … (AlertNet)

 

Washington State University to construct global animal health research facilities

An American billionaire who built his fortune as co-founder of software giant Microsoft has given a university $26 million to find ways of improving Africa’s ability to respond to animal-borne diseases.

Paul G. Allen, an investor and philanthropist, has made the largest gift to Washington State University in the school’s history — $26 million to support programmes and fund construction in WSU’s School for Global Animal Health.

Read more … (WSU)

 

USAID PREDICT Programme releases a new forecasting framework for disease emergence

USAID’s PREDICT project, part of the Emerging Pandemic Threats program, seeks to proactively identify disease-causing organisms in wildlife before they spread to humans. Local capacity is being established and enhanced in global geographic hotspots which have high potential for disease transmission among animals and humans. Currently, about 24 countries in Africa, Latin America and Asia are engaged in the program.

PREDICT’s efforts establish targeted and adaptive health infrastructure and skill sets with standardized surveillance methods, technical expertise, and timely communication networks to link human, domestic animal, and wildlife health workers locally, regionally, and globally. This will allow for more effective epidemic control approaches that anticipate and respond to potential disease threats rather than solely reacting to them.

Researchers at EcoHealth Alliance, a member organization of the PREDICT coalition, have now refined predictive modeling systems which can identify areas of greatest risk.  Using a framework of factors associated with infectious disease potential and spread, the models geographically convey the most likely hotspots for disease emergence down to a scale of one kilometer (see map below).  This tool allows for targeting of surveillance activities to improve cost effectiveness and provide for earlier action in responding to outbreaks.

Read more … (EcoHealth Alliance)