HALI Project featured in University of Vermont’s “UVM Today” e-newsletter!

Michel Masozera and Jon Erickson of the HALI Project (Photo by Sally McKay)

HALI Co-Principal Investigator and University of Vermont (UVM) Professor Dr. Jon Erickson, and HALI team member Michel Masozera, a graduate student at UVM, were featured in a story by the UVM e-newsletter UVM Today. The story, entitled “When Rivers Run Dry” by Joshua Brown, provides a nice overview of HALI, including project background and objectives.

Read “When Rivers Run Dry”

Jon Erickson having a chai break with Maasai pastoralists (Photo by Michel Masozera from the UVM Photostream)

View HALI field photos  from the UVM Today Photostream on Flickr!

World Rabies Day – September 28, 2009

Every day more than 150 people die of rabies, and more than 100 of them are children.

Over 95% of human deaths due to rabies occur in Africa and Asia where exposure to infected domestic dogs is the most common source of disease for people.

BUT… Rabies can be prevented through vaccination and education!

The Alliance for Rabies Control is a non-profit organization working to fight rabies all over the world through education and prevention.

To learn more about rabies and the Alliance for Rabies Control visit: http://www.rabiescontrol.net/

To hear a radio podcast from the HALI team about rabies click here.

HALI Co-Principal Investigators Erickson and Kazwala present at the GL-CRSP End of Program Conference

HALI Co-Principal Investigators, Professors Jon Erickson of the University of Vermont and Rudovick Kazwala of the Sokoine University of Agriculture, presented findings from the HALI project during the Agriculture, Health and  Nutrition theme of the Global Livestock CRSP End of Program Conference “From Problem Models to Solutions” on June 17th 2009 in Naivasha Kenya.  The presentation was an engaging look into HALI’s research and programming, especially the socio-economic and livestock sampling components.  Slides from the presentation are posted below with audio, HALI’s first Slidecast!

Questions from the conference are listed below, and the full presentation will be included as an article in the upcoming GL-CRSP End of Program Conference Proceedings, to be released in early 2010…

Questions

What did you mean by the environment, as to where the diseases come from?  Why?

The environment largely concerns water, but also other vectors, like flies, wildlife and so on.  As to why we are seeing a resurgence of disease due to a water scarcity, we need to consider the wetlands, which serve as a sponge. If the wetlands were not there, the water would flow out and dry up the entire ecosystem.  During the dry season the water slowly trickles out of the wetlands and provides water for the ecosystem.  And so one of the driving factors is the effect of grazing pressure on compromising these wetlands.  After the removal of pastoralists from these areas, they’ve seen a rebound in wetlands and also in water provision during the dry season.

Given evidence for the linkages, how do you propose to tackle them?

We propose to tackle them through a One Medicine [One Health] approach.  The concept is to create a bridge across the three populations: veterinary teams, medical teams, and other teams integrated to deal with the questions.  The diseases [zoonotic diseases] in the lab are all the same diseases.  Teams need to work in the same environment and in the same lab on the same diseases.  We need better integration and common interest.  This is the case of the One Health approach.  Other things to look at are landscape and bio-regulatory function.  Eco system services for example are very critical in this role, and water and health are very intertwined at the landscape scale.

HALI Hosts 2009 Envirovet course in Tanzania

Special report by guest author Liz VanWormer

Farmers gather from the fields as Envirovet participants, faculty members, and village residents cluster by a long farm fence to discuss elephant conflict near a wildlife management area. The cool dry-season breeze sends dark rectangles of chili oil and grease soaked cloth (an elephant deterrent) swinging above the conversation as participants share experiences of coexisting with elephants in India, South Africa, and Cameroon.

Envirovet participants learn how to safely capture giraffe in Mikumi National Park. (Photo by Jenny Mitchell)

This is the core of Envirovet, building new ideas and connections while exploring ecosystem health challenges and opportunities. HALI Project team members had the pleasure to host Envirovet Tanzania 2009 for three weeks thissummer, offering 26 veterinarians, ecologists and vet students from 13 countries the opportunity to experience diverse facets of the human- domestic animal-wildlife-environment health interface.

With Tanzania National Parks, participants conducted a giraffe capture in Mikumi National Park, giraffe skin disease surveys and fire ecology assessments in Ruaha National Park, and hiked to waterfalls while learning about forest conservation in Udzungwa National Park. In the villages where HALI conducts its research, participants learned how to track animals, identify plants, and test Maasai cattle for bovine tuberculosis. Along with the Wildlife Conservation Ruaha Landscape Program, participants delved into issues of wildlife conflict, livelihoods, and water resource use by visiting farmers, pastoralists, and local village officials.

While visiting Tanzania’s veterinary school at Sokoine University of Agriculture in Morogoro, students delved into the diverse roles of Tanzanian veterinarians in domestic animal and wildlife health. Hands on laboratories on village chicken health, using TB sniffing rats to diagnose disease, and evaluating catfish as indicators of pollution.

Envirovet participant Boris Pfaender shares photos with Tanzanian children at a chicken farm. (Photo by Valentina Colodro)

Zanzibar’s dramatic coastline provided the backdrop for the final section of the course. With the Institute of Marine Sciences, students explored seaweed and pearl farming enterprises for sustainable livelihoods, discussed pollution challenges and visited Jozani National Park to see the island’s endemic Zanzibar red colobus monkey and learn about community-based mangrove conservation.

The Tanzania session was an inspiring finally to a fantastic Envirovet Summer Institute!  We know the connections among this growing network of ecosystem health practitioners will continue to develop, and that the 2009 Envirovet alumni will carry forward their experiences to be the next generation of leaders in wildlife and ecosystem health.

Envirovet participants learn how to dance with Maasai (Photo by Valentina Colodro)

To learn more about Envirovet visit:  http://vetmed.illinois.edu/envirovet/

HALI Field Coordinator, Harrison Sadiki receives AHEAD Beyond Boundaries journal award!

We are excited to announce that HALI Field Coordinator, Dr. Harrison Sadiki received the  “AHEAD Beyond Boundaries’ journal award“. These awards are for researchers and managers conducting promising work at the interface between wildlife health, domestic animal health, and human health and livelihoods.

Harrison  and eight of his dedicated colleagues will receive a one-year electronic subscription to the journal “Transboundary and Emerging Diseases“. The award is generously sponsored by Wiley-Blackwell Publishing.  Access to the latest peer-reviewed science literature is often difficult  and cost-prohibitive for scientists working in developing countries.  We are thrilled that Harrison has received this award and grateful to both Wiley-Blackwell and the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Animal & Human Health for the Environment and Development (AHEAD) program.

Dr. Harrison Sadiki (middle) discusses livestock and wildlife health with Maasai elder Mzee Selendu (right) while a young girl also listens attentively.

Hongera sana (Congratulations) Harrison!

“Risk at the Noxious Nexus of Unintended Consequences:” HALI Project Team Members participate in a panel discussion at the GL-CRSP Conference in Naivasha, Kenya

Drs. Pete Coppolillo and Rudovick Kazwala, and David Wolking of the HALI team participated in a panel discussion on zoonotic disease and risk during the recent Global Livestock CRSP “End of Program Conference: From Problem Models to Solutions,” in Naivasha, Kenya.  The discussion, which also included Dr. George Aning from the University of Ghana, Legon and team member of the GL-CRSP Avian Flu School project, featured discussions on the challenges facing an integrated veterinary and medical response to emerging infectious diseases and zoonoses in developing countries.  The discussion, entitled “Risk at the Noxious Nexus of Unintended Consequences: Livestock, Wildlife, People, Disease, and Development,” will be availabe as a Podcast soon from the GL-CRSP website, and will be linked here for quick reference.

In addition to the panel, HALI project Principle Investigtors Dr. Jon Erickson and Dr. Kazwala gave a presentation on the HALI project approach, as well as an update on project findings and practical implications.  The presentation slides, including audio, will be featured as a “Slidecast” in early July, and will also be linked here for reference.

Envirovet Summer Institute Starts Today!

The 2009 Envirovet Summer Institute starts today, June 16th!

Our Goal is to educate, inform, engage and inspire veterinarians of all backgrounds and nationalities to become integral members of teams protecting animal, human and ecosystem health in the one living world we share.

Envirovet will provide seven weeks of intensive lecture, laboratory, and field experiences to 27 veterinarians, veterinary students and wildlife biologists in the areas of terrestrial and aquatic wildlife and ecosystem health, addressing both developed and developing country contexts.

Envirovet aims to create a force of scientists with unique perspectives, knowledge, skills, and expertise required to implement an efficient approach to ecosystem repair that will enable synchronous gains in wildlife, domestic animal, human, and economic health.

The United States portion of the course takes place at White Oak Conservation Center and Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute in Florida.  This year, the developing country portion of the course is again being directed by the HALI Project, and will take place from July 20-August 10th at various locations throughout Tanzania.

This year represents our most international class ever, with ten participants from African nations, and participants from Myanmar (Burma), India, Indonesia, Switzerland, Chile, Canada, and the United States.

Two HALI team members from Tanzania, Dr. Harrison Sadiki (HALI Field Coordinator) and Mr. Ole Meing’ataki (Chief Ecologist Ruaha National Park) are amongst this years participants.

Envirovet is a truly life-changing opportunity for many young career professionals from all over the world. The course is entirely supported (as is the HALI Project) through grants and donations.

To see the course itineraries and pictures from last year’s class visit: http://vetmed.illinois.edu/envirovet/index.html

HALI researchers traveling to Kenya for GLCRSP Conference

HALI researchers Prof. Rudovick Kazwala (Sokoine University), Prof. Jon Erickson (University of Vermont), Dr. Peter Coppolillo (Wildlife Conservation Society), and David Wolking (HALI Master’s student – UC Davis) are traveling to Kenya for the final conference of the Global Livestock Collaborative Research Support Program from June 16-19th in Naivasha, Kenya.

Key items on the conference agenda will include presentations on findings and lessons learned from GL-CRSP projects over the last eleven years, poster sessions, and panel discussions on multidisciplinary research, project design, community mobilization and zoonotic diseases.

Prof. Kazwala and Erickson will be updating the group on HALIs research findings, while Pete Coppolillo will participate in interactive panel discussions regarding pastoralism, conservation, land-use and disease.  In addition, HALI team members Michel Masozera (PhD candidate – University of Vermont) and Deana Clifford (HALI Project Coordinator – UC Davis Wildlife Health Center) created posters for the conference.

More information can be found at: http://glcrsp.ucdavis.edu/news/?article=105

Hot Off The Press–New HALI Research Briefs Available

Three new HALI research updates are available from our sponsor, the Global Livestock Collaborative Research Support Program.  These brief papers detail our investigation into livestock losses from disease, gender roles in pastoralist society, and highlight the exciting training course called Envirovet!

Just click on the links to download a pdf version of the brief.

HALI 09-01:  Landscape Factors Associated with Livestock Disease Deaths in Idodi and Pawaga Divisions, Tanzania

HALI 09-02:  Building Human Capacity to Solve Ecosystem Health Challenges in Developing Countries

HALI 09-03:  Capturing Women’s Voices: Socioeconomics and Gender-Roles in Pastoralist Households in the Ruaha Landscape, Tanzania

Focus on Training Part Deux – HALI Honor’s student Enos Kamani

In part 2 of the series about HALIs Honor’s students at Sokoine University, we highlight Enos Kamani’s project.

Enos is a 5th year veterinary student from the Mwanza region of northern Tanzania near Lake Victoria. Enos’s research project is a dirty job – he is working to determine how frequently young cattle  in pastoralist households shed the protozoa Giardia and Cryptosporidium. These organisms are shed in the feces and can be passed from livestock to people, causing diarrhea. The illness can be particularly severe in young children and those affected by HIV/AIDS. Enos is using state-of-the-art detection methods to detect these disease causing parasites in feces and water. HALI project has transferred these technologies to Tanzania as part of our efforts to increase in-country disease diagnostic capacity.

Enos places processed fecal and water samples onto slides. He will examine them microscopically using a flourescent antibody test to detect diarrhea causing Giardia and Cryptosporidium.

While in Tanzania I also sat down with Enos and asked him a few questions about his interests and the project:

Why did you decide to become a veterinarian? ” I love the animals and they are friends of mine. Thus I need to make them live in happiness.“

What have you learned from or enjoyed about conducting your Honor’s research? ” The very interesting part of my project is on performing the IMS (immunomagnetic separation) and DFA (direct flourescent antibody) techniques. I have learned and understand these techniques very well. Also, I know now very well how the Giardia and Cryptosporidia cysts looks like under the fluorescent microscope as well as how to take their photos under the microscope. Also a very important part on how to handle and roperly store reagents for IMS, DFA and samples (Water and Fecal samples).”

Like Khadija, Enos also hopes to find an opportunity to conduct graduate study after completing his Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine.

MICROSCOPE CHALLENGE - Can you see the small apple-green Giardia cysts in the fecal sample?