Network for Evaluation of One Health

Author: ibeange

  • One Health: competing perspectives in an emerging field.

    A new paper has been published by P Kingsley and EM Taylor:

    One Health: competing perspectives in an emerging field.

    Parasitology. 2016 Jan 28:1-8.

    Abstract

    Over the last decade, One Health has attracted considerable attention from researchers and policymakers. The concept argues that the fields of human, animal and environmental health ought to be more closely integrated. Amid a flurry of conferences, projects and publications, there has been substantial debate over what exactly One Health is and should be. This review summarizes the main trends in this emerging discussion, highlighting the fault lines between different perspectives on One Health. Some have shown that One Health’s call to synthesize knowledge from different disciplines can lead to better interventions. Others, however, argue that One Health’s challenge to existing practice must go further, and set out a vision that foregrounds the social and economic drivers of disease. Meanwhile, recent examples of One Health in practice highlight the potential but also the challenges of institutionalizing cooperation. We also discuss the promise and pitfalls of using complexity theory to tackle multifaceted problems, and consider how the One Health concept has been brought to bear on other issues, such as emerging new technologies. Ultimately, One Health is an important and worthwhile goal, and requires a debate that clarifies both the competing uses and the political nature of the project.

    Link to paper: http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=10142562&fileId=S0031182015001845

  • Pregnant mums hold key to disease control

    Pregnant women should be at the centre of new efforts to control one of Africa’s deadliest diseases, experts say.

    A form of sleeping sickness – which threatens around 70 million people – can spread to a child if its mother experiences stress or famine during her pregnancy.
    Scientists warn that the threat of famine could trigger an epidemic in Southern Sudan.
    They are urging that efforts to boost the nutrition and welfare of pregnant women should be urgently improved.

    Human transmission

    It has long been assumed that the most common strain of the disease - called chronic Gambian sleeping sickness - is spread solely through tsetse flies. But Gambian sleeping sickness is rarely detected in tsetse flies and now the scientists at the University of Edinburgh propose an alternative human to human mode of transmission. In humans, the disease can lie dormant for many years without causing symptoms. These ‘silent carriers’ have a natural tolerance to the disease, which women would ordinarily pass on to their baby if they become pregnant. But scientists at the University of Edinburgh suggest that in times of famine, changes occur in a pregnant women’s genetic profile that mean their tolerance is not passed on to her children - but the dormant infection is. The findings will help researchers develop new strategies to prevent and control the spread of the condition.

    Killer disease

    It is estimated that 70 million people in Africa are at risk of contracting Human African Trypanosomiasis (HAT) or sleeping sickness. The majority of these - 81 per cent - are at risk from the Gambian form (gHAT). This common strain a chronic disease that may take many years before becoming fatal. The WHO estimate it affects around 20,000 people every year.

    "Our priority should now be to concentrate on screening women of child-bearing age in high risk locations to ensure they receive adequate nutrition during periods of drought and famine.” Professor Sue Welburn, Professor of Medical and Veterinary Molecular Epidemiology at the University

    Diagnostic developments

    Professor Ian Maudlin, who co-led the research at the University of Edinburgh’s Division of Infection and Pathway Medicine, said that currently, patients cannot be treated for sleeping sickness unless key markers of the disease - called trypanosomes - are found in their blood.
    He said: "Current tests are simply not sensitive enough to detect disease in silent carriers. International efforts should now focus on creating new highly sensitive diagnostic tests that are fast, affordable, and accurate, rather than on tsetse fly control.”
    This study was supported by the UK Department for International Development, the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme, the Dynamic Drivers of Disease in Africa Consortium, NERC, and by a European Science Foundation Senior Investigators award. This is a copy of a Press Release from the University of Edinburgh - http://www.ed.ac.uk/news/2016/sleeping-sickness-100216 

  • ‘Mission possible’ to preserve wetlands in Spain

    Saving water thanks to decision support tools

    In 2009 the wetlands almost dried out, causing fires and deterring birds from staying in the area. This critical point led WWF Spain to launch the project Misión Posible (literally ‘a possible mission’) in cooperation with a major private investor. The project aimed to help farmers in the area to save water by providing them with three innovative decision support tools. These tools would help them to decide on how to use the available water resources to their advantage whilst ensuring enough supply to the wetlands.

    These tools were:

    • ACUAS: is a software tool that advises farmers on which crop to grow depending on the amount of legally available water by plotting and defining the suitable crop area in accordance with the crop type selected by the farmer and the annual Water Permit he has for each plot.
    • SITAR: is a software tool that helps the farmer to optimise his water allocation by providing easy access to official irrigation recommendations based on several parameters (e.g.. the irrigation system efficiency, the phenology of the crop, soil characteristics, etc.). The tool translates this information into irrigation data for the farmer, such as the watering duration in hours/minutes for each crop in a given period. This information is then sent to the farmers by an SMS message.
    • OPTIWINE: is a methodology that estimates the exact amount of water to apply to vineyards so as to improve grape quality whilst reducing water consumption. These calculations are made taking into account both satellite data and data gathered by sensors (weather, soil and plant data) installed on plots. Farmers can consult the watering recommendations on their phones and technicians are also available to answer their questions directly.

    WWF Spain is leading the project and coordinated the development of the tools by SERYSOL (ACUAS), CSIC-Ministry of Innovation and Industry, Spain (SITAR) and ALIARA (OPTIWINE). In addition, the project technicians carried out and supported the assessments with the tools among the local farmers. The collaboration of Daimiel and Manzanares Irrigation Communities in the project was particularly important. Up to another eleven Irrigation Communities have also taken part on the dissemination of the tools in the region.

    Read more at: http://ec.europa.eu/eip/agriculture/en/news/inspirational-ideas-mission-possible-preserve-wetlands-spain

  • One Health Radio Program

    NEOH Management Committe member Simon Ruegg  took part in a radio program on One Health which was broadcast on Swiss National Radio on Sunday 7th Febuary 2016

    Monsieur Jardinier is broadcast every Sunday morning , when a team of gardeners , veterinarians, biologists and nature lovers come to their studios . They have neither shears nor watering can in hand, but they handle the microphone and telephone. Once a month, veterinarians are invited in to talk about common conditions in pets (such as behavioural problems, diabetes etc). The public can call into the program to ask questions on air.

    On Sunday 7th February, the theme of the program was One Health.

    • We were able to show parallels between the way we tackle bovine TB in cattle and a current emerging disease in olive trees.
    • We talked about diversity as a determinant of health not only in ecosystems, gardens or ponds, but also the diversity of behaviour, of movement, of nutrition and of thought as an indicator for welfare in animals and people.
    • We illustrated possible links between plastic bags as breeding sites for mosquitoes and the emergence of Zika virus in Brazil (as was demonstrated for malaria in Tanzania), and talked about the threats neonicotinoids are posing to our food security.

    Overall, it was a great program with lots of exchange between the vets and the gardeners, a report on swimming with dolphins and a visit to a home for older people that has pets as collaborators.

    To listen to the program in French, please follow the link to the podcast: http://www.rts.ch/audio/la-1ere/programmes/monsieur-jardinier/7439021-monsieur-jardinier-07-02-2016.html