ILRI is launching an initiative to share, as broadly as possible, its research on issues related to COVID-19 with the media, policymakers and the public, and to make its experts available to comment on fast-moving developments in the field. Continue reading
ILRI and partners carried out a participatory mapping of livestock routes in the intervention areas in Somali and Oromia regions of Ethiopia as a first step in the planning of the HEARD and HEAL projects. Continue reading
ILRI’s Tick Unit has been selected as Africa’s first outpost for the Tick Cell Biobank. The parent Tick Cell Biobank at the Institute of Infection and Global Health, University of Liverpool, houses a collection of approximately 55 cell lines derived from argasid and ixodid ticks, which are of both veterinary and medical importance. Funded by the UK Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) Global Challenges Research Fund, the Biobank Outpost project will facilitate access of the tick cell lines by researchers in low- and middle- income countries in Africa, South East Asia and South America. The countries selected for the Outposts include Kenya, Malaysia and Brazil. Continue reading
A recent article by Katarina Zimmer in The Scientist examines how close we are to developing a vaccine to prevent African swine fever (ASF). It contains an extended discussion of the work of Lucilla Steinaa, an immunologist at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI). Steinaa has been focusing on the specific types of the swine … Continue reading
An interview with Dirk Pfeiffer, François Roger, Linda Dixon and Dieter Schillinger to better understand existing knowledge gaps between research findings managing the spread of African swine fever and actionable solutions. Continue reading
A ‘pitching’ challenge at ILRI helps young scientists explain what they do—and why it matters—to inquisitive friends, donors and policymakers Sometimes all it might take to prevent the spread of a contagious disease is to nail up a fence door left casually hanging open on its hinges. That’s one of the key lessons from Titus … Continue reading
Smaller than 100 nanometres in diameter—about 60 times smaller than the width of human hair and comparable in size to microscopic structures within cells—synthetically produced nanoparticles are readily incorporated into biological systems. These ‘ultrafine particles’, which can be produced using several methods, are of increasing scientific interest. Very stable and harmless to plants and … Continue reading
Peste des petits ruminants (PPR), also known as ‘goat plague’, is a viral disease related to rinderpest of sheep as well as goats. This contagious transboundary disease hurts the livelihoods of millions of small-scale livestock farmers, threatening food security with estimated economic losses exceeding USD1.5 billion per year. The disease threatens 80 per cent of … Continue reading
Scientists working at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) have found a way to significantly increase the vaccination coverage of goats and sheep in the Sahel against one of the most common and widely feared animal diseases—the peste des petits ruminants (PPR) or ovine rinderpest—a viral infection which is endemic to the region and kills … Continue reading
Over the past two months ILRI and Nanjing Agricultural University (NAU) have had a number of engagements that culminated in the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the two institutions on 30 October 2019. Continue reading
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