Endemic zoonoses in the tropics: a public health problem hiding in plain sight

Halliday, Jo E. B.; Allan, Kathryn J.; Ekwem, Divine; Cleaveland, Sarah; Kazwala, Rudovick; Crump, John A.

doi:10.1136/vr.h798

Cited by 93 publications

(98 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…The presence of a cat in the household significantly reduced the risk of household rodent sightings in our study. Endemic zoonoses such as leptospirosis can present with nonspecific symptoms, thus posing a challenge to human and veterinary clinicians in resource-poor areas (Halliday et al, 2015). Thus, regionally-specific risk factors such as these may be very helpful in refining diagnostic and treatment algorithms, leading to improved disease management.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

One Health profile of a community at the wildlife-domestic animal interface, Mpumalanga, South Africa

Berrian

Rooyen

Martínez‐López

et al. 2016

Preventive Veterinary Medicine

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1 Highlights  Developed profile of a rural community bordering wildlife using One Health approach  Education on animal health was desired despite limited understanding of zoonoses  Domiciliary rodent sightings associated with animal ownership and household size  Frequency of consumption of animal source foods associated with animal ownership  Favorable towards conservation but strong preference for separation from wildlife AbstractWe used a community engagement approach to develop a One Health profile of an agropastoralist population at the interface of wildlife areas in eastern South Africa. Representatives from 262 randomly-selected households participated in an in-person, cross-sectional survey.Questions were designed to ascertain the participants' knowledge, attitudes, and practices with regard to human health, domestic animal health, and natural resources including wildlife and water. Surveys were conducted within four selected villages by a team of trained surveyors and translators over four weeks in July-August 2013. Questions were a combination of multiple choice (single answer), multiple selection, open-ended, and Likert scale.The study found that nearly three-quarters of all households surveyed reported owning at least one animal (55% owned chickens, 31% dogs, 25% cattle, 16% goats, 9% cats, and 5% pigs). Among the animal-owning respondents, health concerns identified included dissatisfaction with government-run cattle dip facilities (97%) and frequent morbidity and mortality of chickens that had clinical signs consistent with Newcastle disease (49%). Sixty-one percent of participants believed that diseases of animals could be transmitted to humans. Ninety-six percent of respondents desired greater knowledge about animal diseases. With regard to human health issues, the primary barrier to health care access was related to transportation to/from the community health clinics. Environmental health issues revealed by the survey included 2 disparities by village in drinking water reliability and frequent domiciliary rodent sightings positively associated with increased household size and chicken ownership. Attitudes towards conservation were generally favorable; however, the community demonstrated a strong preference for a dichotomous approach to wildlife management, one that separated wildlife from humans.Due to the location of the community, which neighbors the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Conservation Area, and the livestock-dependent lifestyle of the resource-poor inhabitants, a One Health approach that takes into consideration the interconnectedness of human, animal, and environmental health is necessary. The community profile described in this study provides a foundation for health research and planning initiatives that are driven by community engagement and consider the multitude of factors affecting health at the human-domestic animal-wildlife interface. Furthermore, it allows for the determination and quantification of the linkages between human, animal, and environmental health.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

One Health profile of a community at the wildlife-domestic animal interface, Mpumalanga, South Africa

Berrian

Rooyen

Martínez‐López

et al. 2016

Preventive Veterinary Medicine

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“…This predictable burden falls heavily on the global poor—poverty being the major risk factor for most zoonoses, which in turn causes some communities to suffer disproportionately from the burden of zoonotic disease [97]. The neglect of such diseases includes diagnostic neglect (and confusion with other conditions such as malaria [98]) and historic and current research neglect; all of which feeds into therapeutic neglect.…”

Section: Endemic Zoonoses From Wildlifementioning

confidence: 99%

One Health, emerging infectious diseases and wildlife: two decades of progress?

Cunningham

Daszak

Wood

2017

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

429

341

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Infectious diseases affect people, domestic animals and wildlife alike, with many pathogens being able to infect multiple species. Fifty years ago, following the wide-scale manufacture and use of antibiotics and vaccines, it seemed that the battle against infections was being won for the human population. Since then, however, and in addition to increasing antimicrobial resistance among bacterial pathogens, there has been an increase in the emergence of, mostly viral, zoonotic diseases from wildlife, sometimes causing fatal outbreaks of epidemic proportions. Concurrently, infectious disease has been identified as an increasing threat to wildlife conservation. A synthesis published in 2000 showed common anthropogenic drivers of disease threats to biodiversity and human health, including encroachment and destruction of wildlife habitat and the human-assisted spread of pathogens. Almost two decades later, the situation has not changed and, despite improved knowledge of the underlying causes, little has been done at the policy level to address these threats. For the sake of public health and wellbeing, human-kind needs to work better to conserve nature and preserve the ecosystem services, including disease regulation, that biodiversity provides while also understanding and mitigating activities which lead to disease emergence. We consider that holistic, One Health approaches to the management and mitigation of the risks of emerging infectious diseases have the greatest chance of success.This article is part of the themed issue ‘One Health for a changing world: zoonoses, ecosystems and human well-being’.

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“…As is the case with rabies, livestock zoonoses occur widely in LMICs, but remain largely ‘invisible’, with frequent mismanagement of animal and human cases contributing to a vicious cycle of ill-health and poverty [4]. …”

Section: Zoonoses Causing Human Febrile Illnessmentioning

confidence: 99%

One Health contributions towards more effective and equitable approaches to health in low- and middle-income countries

Cleaveland

Sharp

Abela-Ridder

et al. 2017

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

160

162

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Emerging zoonoses with pandemic potential are a stated priority for the global health security agenda, but endemic zoonoses also have a major societal impact in low-resource settings. Although many endemic zoonoses can be treated, timely diagnosis and appropriate clinical management of human cases is often challenging. Preventive ‘One Health’ interventions, e.g. interventions in animal populations that generate human health benefits, may provide a useful approach to overcoming some of these challenges. Effective strategies, such as animal vaccination, already exist for the prevention, control and elimination of many endemic zoonoses, including rabies, and several livestock zoonoses (e.g. brucellosis, leptospirosis, Q fever) that are important causes of human febrile illness and livestock productivity losses in low- and middle-income countries. We make the case that, for these diseases, One Health interventions have the potential to be more effective and generate more equitable benefits for human health and livelihoods, particularly in rural areas, than approaches that rely exclusively on treatment of human cases. We hypothesize that applying One Health interventions to tackle these health challenges will help to build trust, community engagement and cross-sectoral collaboration, which will in turn strengthen the capacity of fragile health systems to respond to the threat of emerging zoonoses and other future health challenges. One Health interventions thus have the potential to align the ongoing needs of disadvantaged communities with the concerns of the broader global community, providing a pragmatic and equitable approach to meeting the global goals for sustainable development and supporting the global health security agenda.This article is part of the themed issue ‘One Health for a changing world: zoonoses, ecosystems and human well-being’.

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Endemic zoonoses in the tropics: a public health problem hiding in plain sight

Cited by 93 publications

References 33 publications

One Health profile of a community at the wildlife-domestic animal interface, Mpumalanga, South Africa

One Health profile of a community at the wildlife-domestic animal interface, Mpumalanga, South Africa

One Health, emerging infectious diseases and wildlife: two decades of progress?

One Health contributions towards more effective and equitable approaches to health in low- and middle-income countries

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