ILRI scientists Lillian Wambua and Abel Gari have received the Future Leaders – African Independent Research (FLAIR) fellowship award. Continue reading
Category Archives: Animal Health
The straw that might break the camel’s back: exploring the link between COVID-19 and antibiotic resistance in low- and middle-income countries
Antibiotics play a pivotal role in a pandemic both as prophylaxis – to prevent bacterial infections – as well as pre-emptive treatment. The emergence and rapid spread of COVID-19 highlights the importance of diagnostic testing, which is also important for antibiotic resistance and successful treatment outcomes Continue reading
Livestock route mapping for improved health of humans, animals and the environment
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 ‘eWeigh’ mobile phone app to help farmers accurately estimate live weight of their cattle
Researchers from the Mazingira Centre at ILRI have developed a mobile phone application (app) to help farmers better gauge the live weight of their animals. Continue reading
New Tick Cell Biobank Outpost at ILRI to support research in Africa on ticks and tick-borne diseases
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
African swine fever ten years on: the lessons learned and the way forward
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
As United States marks January as ‘National One Health Awareness Month’, public, veterinary and environmental health in Africa is bolstered by the start of a new ‘One Health’ centre
U.S resolution recognises that One Health is ‘essential to combating and strengthening the surveillance of emerging and reemerging disease’ and calls for integrating efforts by professionals from several disciplines—including health, science, technology and engineering—to address increasing threats posed by emerging diseases at the human-animal-environmental interface. Continue reading
Two animated shorts on practical steps to improve animal welfare and reduce drug resistance in poor countries
Start this new year (and decade) right. Watch these two little animated films for practical advice on how to prevent both animal suffering and the spread of drug resistance in germs of people and livestock. Continue reading
ILRI scientists are applying advanced ‘nanovaccinology’ in development of new vaccines against devastating tropical livestock diseases
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
Animal health experts on the ‘goat plague’ known as PPR chart ways forward for better controlling a widespread disease harming the world’s small-scale sheep and goats producers
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