News, Events and Blog Postings

Whole Genome Sequencing By Melissa Ward, CIIE Research Fellow

Whole Genome Sequencing By Melissa Ward, CIIE Research Fellow

Apr 14, 2015 | ,

We will be performing whole genome sequence analysis of bacterial samples collected through many strands of the Urban Zoonoses project, from humans, livestock, food, wildlife and the environment. I will use state-of-the art methods for integrating the bacterial genetic sequence data with information about the time, location and host from which the bacteria were sampled. By combining epidemiological and demographic information with the genetic data, we will be able to under-stand the E. coli diversity within Nairobi, and how this differs across socioeconomic groups, in different housing types and in relation to livestock keeping practices.

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Pork Tapeworm Causing Acquired Epilepsy

Pork Tapeworm Causing Acquired Epilepsy

Apr 14, 2015 | ,

A tapeworm found in humans but acquired through eating infected pork (Taenia solium), has been linked to acquired epilepsy in humans. The larvae stage of the tapeworm causes a disease called Cysticercosis both in pigs and humans characterised by formation of cysts in mus-cles. When people consume viable cysts from infected pork, the ingested larvae matures into adult tapeworm which again produces eggs that are released into the environment. Infection in both pigs and humans is acquired through accidental ingestion of human faeces containing T. solium eggs or consumption of contaminated food or water. The diagram below shows the life cycle of Taenia solium.

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A Time Spent With Camels By Dishon Muloi

A Time Spent With Camels By Dishon Muloi

Apr 14, 2015 | ,

Brucellosis is a zoonotic disease transmitted to humans mainly by consumption of raw milk and physical contact. Unfortunately, there is lack of quantitative understanding of the scale of the disease in camels in Kenya. This is further exacerbated by consumption of raw camel milk owing to the presumed associated health benefits and other social cultural believes. In this regard we undertook a study to explain this phenomena.

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New Project Launch-Zoonosis in Livestock in Kenya (ZooLink)

New Project Launch-Zoonosis in Livestock in Kenya (ZooLink)

Apr 14, 2015 | , ,

Our team is leading a new consortium of researchers involving many of the Urban Zoo partners (and more!), under a research pro-gramme called Zoonoses in Emerging Livestock Systems (ZELS). The programme is funded by the UK Department for International Development, (DFID), the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), the Medical Research Council (MRC), Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and the Defence Sci-ence and Technology Laboratory (dstl).

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Urban Zoonoses Team Participants In Workshops/Meetings

Urban Zoonoses Team Participants In Workshops/Meetings

Apr 14, 2015 | ,

On 23rd and 24th of October 2014, the value chain team (Patrick Muinde, Maurice Karani, James Akoko, Dishon Muloi and Stella Kiambi) attended the African dairy value chain workshop held at Intercontinental Hotel in Nairobi. The objective of the workshop was to share the experiences and lessons learnt from existing dairy value chain development models. The workshops had three main themes namely gender inclusiveness, smallholder participation and private sector investment in the dairy industry. The participants were of different nationalities but mainly drawn from African countries.

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Capacity Development of ZED team members

Capacity Development of ZED team members

Apr 14, 2015 |

The Urban Zoonosis Project is not only focused on research, but also very keen on developing the capacities of its team. This has been demonstrated in various activities the team has been engaged within the last quarter

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From Faeces To Phylogeny Training Workshop

From Faeces To Phylogeny Training Workshop

Apr 14, 2015 |

The main objective was to take the participants on a journey of analysing pathogen genetic sequence data (e.g. as will be generated from faecal samples in the UrbanZoo project) using molecular phylogenetics to test hypotheses about the spread of disease. The work-shop consisted of 4 half-day sessions over 2 days. Each session was an hour lecture, followed by a 1.5 – 2 hour computer practical. By the end of the work-shop, participants were required to be able to manipulate genetic sequence data, and produce and interpret phylogenetic trees from genetic sequences.

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Open Data Kit (ODK) SYSTEM

Open Data Kit (ODK) SYSTEM

Apr 14, 2015 |

Open Data Kit (ODK) is a free and open-source set of tools which help organizations author, field, and manage mobile data col-lection solutions. ODK provides an out-of-the-box solution for users to:
1. Build a data collection form or survey
2. Collect the data on a mobile device and send it to a server; and
3. Aggregate the collected data on a server and extract it in useful for-mats.

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Our Work in Pictures

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October 22, 2012
March 25, 2015www.zoonotic-diseases.org goes live! [...]
March 25, 2015Applications open for post-doctoral position jointly with Achim Schnauffer’s group (IIIR, Edinburgh) and funded by CIIE The Zoonotic and Emerging Disease group studies a range of epidemiological issues revolving around the domestic livestock, wildlife and human interface [...]
March 25, 2015Article on the burden of Human African Trypanosomiasis published in PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases [...]
March 25, 2015Eric Fèvre speaking at the ‘Living with Climate Change (LWEC)” Health Workshop hosted by the Scottish Government (on globalisation, trade and animal disease) [...]
March 25, 2015Article on peri-urban brucellosis in Uganda published in the Annals of the New York Academy of Science [...]
March 25, 2015We co-authored an article reporting progress on the mapping of the population at risk of sleeping sickness, “Towards the Atlas of human African trypanosomiasis,” published in the International Journal of Health Geographics [...]
March 25, 2015We participated in the World Health Organization’s latest output on neglected zoonoses: “Integrated Control of Neglected Zoonotic Diseases in Africa: Applying the ‘One Health’ Concept.”  Now available with full text on-line here [...]
March 25, 2015We co-authored an article reporting the results of a pilot study on the epidemiology of cysticercosis (Taenia solium) in Uganda, published in the Journal of Parasitology Research [...]
March 25, 2015We are taking informal inquiries from interested parties relating to a research assistant post on quantifying the burden of communicable diseases in Europe [...]
March 25, 2015We welcome Cheryl Gibbons, who is working on estimating the burden of infectious diseases, to the group [...]
March 25, 2015Nicola Batchelor publishes key work on the spatial epidemiology of sleeping sickness in Uganda in PLoS NTD [...]
March 25, 2015Applications are no longer being accepted for the PhD position on the epidemiology of neglected, zoonotic diseases. The Zoonotic and Emerging Disease group studies a range of epidemiological issues revolving around the domestic livestock, wildlife and human interface [...]
March 25, 2015We welcome James Akoko, Omoto Lazarus, Alice Kiyonga and Edward Onkendi to the group.  [...]
March 25, 2015Our paper on the comparative value of diagnostic tests for animal trypanosomiasis in Western Kenya is published in PLoS ONE [...]
March 25, 2015Our jointly-authored paper on serological patterns of zoonotic infections in cattle in Cameroon is published in PLoS ONE [...]
March 25, 2015The British Veterinary Association newsletter for Feb 2010 features an article on Lian Doble’s research in Western Kenya [...]
March 25, 2015We welcome John Mwaniki, Hannah Kariuki, Fredrick Opinya and Jenipher Ambaka to the group, who come to use through our collaboration with the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI). See staff page [...]
March 25, 2015The Veterinary Record features the activities of the PAZ project on neglected zoonoses in Kenya [...]
March 25, 2015We are very pleased to announce the start of our latest project on the drivers of the emergence of zoonotic and food-borne diseases in urban environments, funded through the MRC/LWEC ESEI scheme [...]
March 25, 2015The International Livestock Research Institute features the work of the PAZ Project on the ILRI blog [...]
March 25, 2015We welcome Katie Hamilton to the group; Katie will be working on preparing a research programme on urban zoonotic diseases in Kenya [...]
March 25, 2015We welcome William de Glanville and Annie Cook to the group; Will and Annie are starting PhD programmes focussing in different aspects of zoonotic disease epidemiology [...]
March 25, 2015Our jointly authored publication, led by Lucas Matemba on the burden of human sleeping sickness in Tanzania is published in PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases [...]
March 25, 2015Our analysis of the risk of brucellosis transmission through the milk distribution network in Kampala, Uganda, led by Kohei Makita, is published in PLoS ONE [...]
March 25, 2015Our research group was part of the 3rd International Conference on Neglected Zoonotic Diseases at WHO, Geneva; this has resulted in a position statement on neglected zoonoses issued by WHO [...]
March 25, 2015We welcome Elijah Juma to the group, working on his MSc project at the University of Nairobi, on human behaviour and the risk of parasitic disease transmission. [...]
March 25, 2015Applications are now CLOSED for the recently advertised Clinical Officer and Community Health Worker posts. [...]
March 25, 2015The Good Practice Guide for Quantitative Veterinary Epidemiology, which we have been involved with developing, is released this month [...]
March 25, 2015The work of our project on zoonoses in livestock and humans in Western Kenya features on the Catalyst Programme on Australia’s ABC television [...]
March 25, 2015We welcome Daniel Cheruiyot and Lorren Alumasa, both Clinical Officers, to the team in Busia [...]
March 25, 2015Congratulations to MSc student Elija Juma, who has been selected to attend ”Advances in knowledge of parasite resistance of ruminant hosts ” taking place in São Paulo, Brazil in September 2011 [...]
March 25, 2015Applications for the ILRI-AusAid-CSIRO sponsored PhD position on African Swine Fever epidemiology are now closed. [...]
March 25, 2015Lian Doble and Annie Cook participate in the Advanced Epidemiology Course at the South African Centre for Epidemiological Modelling and Analysis (SACEMA) [...]
March 25, 2015We welcome Hannah Johnson (University of Edinburgh UK) and Mason Jager (Cornell University USA), summer undergraduate students working on the PAZ project [...]
March 25, 2015We are participating in a World Rabies Day dog vaccination and rabies awareness activity in Kiambu West District of Kenya – this is managed by the Kenya Women’s Veterinary Association (KVWA) [...]
March 25, 2015Our group co-hosts (with ILRI) a workshop on developments in pen-side diagnostics for Taenia solium cysticercosis. [...]
March 25, 2015Results of studies investigating brucellosis in Kampala, Uganda, on herd prevalence/risk factors and spatial distribution of human cases, are published [...]
March 25, 2015Dorte Dopfer from the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine visits our Kenyan projects with a UW Global Health Institute award [...]
March 25, 2015The World Health Organization releases the Atlas of Human African Trypanosomiasis, which received contributions from our group [...]
March 25, 2015Our group is represented at a Joint Colloquium on Zoonoses and Neglected Infectious Diseases of Africa, in Johannesburg, South Africa [...]
March 25, 2015The PAZ Busia Laboratory molecular and serological diagnostic facility is built – in association with the ILRI/BecA AusAid-CSIRO African Swine Fever project [...]
March 25, 2015ILRI publishes a series of posts on the ILRI-BioLives blog, entitled “A Day in the Life of the PAZ Project” [...]
March 25, 2015We begin our work (with our many partners) on an ESEI-funded project on disease emergence in urban Kenya [...]
March 25, 2015The Wellcome Trust publishes a blog posting highlighting our work on zoonoses. [...]
March 25, 2015LCIRAH PhD opportunity on Campylobacter in Kenya and the UK, applications now CLOSED [...]
March 25, 2015Listen to the April edition of Edinburgh’s School of Biology ‘BioPod’ podcast, which features our PAZ project in Kenya [...]
March 25, 2015We are pleased to welcome Sonia Fèvre from Veterinarians Without Borders Canada (VWB/VSF), who visited our field sites in Kenya on a fact finding mission [...]
March 25, 2015Two funded PhD positions on 1) clinical epidemiology of diarrhoea b) role of peri-domestic wildlife in urban pathogen emergence – now closed [...]
March 25, 2015Statistical modelling PhD position now closed – we are no longer accepting applications [...]
March 25, 2015Postdoctoral research fellowship in statistical epidemiology – applications now closed [...]
March 25, 2015Congratulations to Annie Cook for winning the best poster prize at the recent International Society for Veterinary Epidemiology and Economics (ISVEE) meeting. Click to view  ISVEE2012 poster EAJ Cook [...]
March 25, 2015Sam Kariuki, our collaborator on the ‘Epidemiology, ecology and socio-economics of disease emergence in Nairobi’ project, wins the 2012 Royal Society Pfizer Award. Congratulations! [...]
March 25, 2015Nicola Wardrop, MRC Fellow at the Department of Geography, University of Southampton, visits our group at ILRI to discuss collaboration and presents a seminar. [...]
March 25, 2015Our work on urban zoonoses features in a news article from the US newspaper the “Global Post”: Urban farming: A lesson from Africa. [...]
March 25, 2015The laboratory technician job opening, through the International Livestock Research Institute in Nairobi, is now closed for applications. [...]
March 25, 2015We are recruiting two clinical officers (closing date 16 Jan) through the International Livestock Research Institute to support a project on urban zoonoses. [...]
March 25, 2015Nicola Wardrop et al publish a paper on landscape associated risk of human African trypanosomiasis, in BMC Infectious Diseases [...]
March 25, 2015Members of our research group share results and participate in the USDA-USAID-ILRI workshop on “An integrated Approach to Controlling Brucellosis in Africa” [...]
March 25, 2015Clinical officer posts now closed for applications.  Thanks for your interest. [...]
March 25, 2015Our University of Nairobi partners on the “Urban Zoo” project are recruiting a laboratory technologist and an enumerator for the project. [...]
March 25, 2015We welcome Pablo Alarcon from the Royal Veterinary College to our urban zoonoses project team [...]
March 25, 2015Pork tapeworms make headline news in Australia [...]
March 25, 2015All Kenya-based field activities in the group are put on hold for one week during the national elections which take place on 4 March 2013. [...]
March 25, 2015Lian Thomas, Will de Glanville, Annie Cook and Eric Fèvre publish the first study of free range domestic pig ecology, in BMC Veterinary Research [...]
March 25, 2015Eric Fèvre and Will de Glanville are at WHO, Geneva, for the Fifth Foodborne Disease Burden Epidemiology Reference Group (FERG) meeting [...]
March 25, 2015Annie Cook attends the 23rd European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases in Berlin, Germany [...]
March 25, 2015James Akoko, Velma Kivali and Alice Kiyong’a attend the Kenya Veterinary Association conference in Mombasa, Kenya [...]
March 25, 2015Our study of free range pig ecology in Kenya gets press attention, including at the Kenyan Standard newspaper (print only) and the The People newspaper [...]
March 25, 2015PhD opportunity: “Peri-domestic wildlife in urban Nairobi: ecology and epidemiological role in zoonotic pathogen emergence” Now closed – thanks for your interest The Zoonotic and Emerging Disease group studies a range of epidemiological issues revolving around the domestic livestock, wildlife and human interface [...]
March 25, 2015Our group has moved!  Our new institutional affiliation is the Institute of Infection and Global Health, University of Liverpool.  We are still physically based at ILRI, Nairobi [...]
March 25, 2015Velma Kivali attends a Leverhulme Trust sponsored workshop on “Molecular Systematics, DNA Barcoding and Bioinformatics” Sokoine University of Agriculture, Tanzania [...]
March 25, 2015We are presenting work on the livestock-human-wildlife interface at AITAM in South Africa [...]
March 25, 2015Paper published: “The dispersal ecology of Rhodesian sleeping sickness following its introduction to a new area” in PLoS NTD [...]
March 25, 2015The first Urban Zoonoses project Quarterly Newsletter is out! Urban Zoo Newsletter November 2013 [...]
March 25, 2015Annie Cook wins 3rd Prize at the Medical Research Council Centenary ‘Celebration of International Collaboration’ for early career researchers in London. [...]
March 25, 2015Paper published: “The global burden of foodborne parasitic diseases” in Trends in Parasitology [...]
March 25, 2015 UrbanZoo research technician posts now filled.  Thanks for your interest [...]
March 25, 2015 Will de Glanville publishes on “Spatial multi-criteria decision analysis to predict suitability for African swine fever endemicity in Africa,” in BMC Vet. Research [...]
March 25, 2015Our paper published: “Incorporating Scale Dependence in Disease Burden Estimates: The Case of Human African Trypanosomiasis in Uganda” in PLoS NTD [...]
March 25, 2015Output of our ECDC collaboration published. [...]
March 25, 2015Issue 02 of the Urban Zoo newsletter is Urban Zoo Newsletter Issue 02 Feb 2014 [...]
March 25, 2015Our team is at two Kenyan conferences during the week of 23rd April…. [...]
March 25, 2015Welcoming Maurice Karani and Patrick Muinde [...]
March 25, 2015We welcome postdoc molecular biologist Gemma Chaloner to the team in Liverpool. [...]
March 25, 2015 We are very pleased to announce our new major funding award: “Zoonoses in Livestock in Kenya (ZooLinK)”, funded by the ZELS programme [...]
March 25, 2015We are jointly hosting a workshop in Nairobi with CIIE Edinburgh on phylogenetics: “From Faeces to Phylogenetics” [...]
April 8, 2015Sam Kariuki, our collaborator on the ‘Epidemiology, ecology and socio-economics of disease emergence in Nairobi’ project, wins the 2012 Royal Society Pfizer Award. Congratulations! The Zoonotic and Emerging Disease group studies a range of epidemiological issues revolving around the domestic livestock, wildlife and human interface [...]
July 14, 2015
October 2, 2015

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