News, Events and Blog Postings

Multi-Institutional Collaboration at its best

Multi-Institutional Collaboration at its best

Oct 31, 2016 | , ,

The Epidemiology Ecology and Social-Economics of Disease emergence in Nairobi (ESEI) project has hosted a variety of studies each with different study designs since its conception. MSc students, Mercy Gichuyia, James Macharia and I had the opportunity to work within an aspect of this wider project which involved a cross-sectional study among livestock keeping house-holds in Korogocho and Viwandani informal settlements of Nairobi. We sampled blood and faeces from humans and different livestock species kept in the area and from the faecal samples, identified the prevalence and antimicrobial susceptibility patterns of Salmonella, Campylobacter and E.coli. This article will focus on the interaction with the different team members and partners during our field sample collection. The science we undertook is currently being prepared for publication.

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Urban Zoo Team-Breaking the barriers

Urban Zoo Team-Breaking the barriers

Oct 31, 2016 | , , , ,

Proper planning and efficient communication has been the key to ensuring that everything is well coordinated. Team leaders (management or PI’s) from all the collaborating institutions hold fort-nightly teleconferences to update, consult and agree on a unified way of moving forward. It is a common practice for staff to communicate through emails, phone calls, skype and one on one talks with each other. The group has a “WhatsApp group chat” that is used to share updates/progress including photos of both the labs and fieldwork. It is also the easiest and simplest way of sharing information with the entire group. Our active website www.zoonotic-diseases.org and the quarterly newsletters, publications and scientific conference presentations are some of the effective means used to ensure that the public is informed of the projects progress and findings.

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Co PI’s Letter: Planning and Policy Thread

Co PI’s Letter: Planning and Policy Thread

Oct 31, 2016 | , , , , , ,

In our work we have also sought to build on the decade-long efforts of APHRC in gathering a rich array of primary information on health in informal settlements. We also found that not much attention has been paid in the literature to the planning, policy and structural issues that would appear to play a significant role in reproducing and entrenching endemic pathogenic environmental conditions, conditions that make disease (including zoonoses) prevalent in these settlements. Part of our work has involved outlining the institutions, actors, norms, practices, interactions, their (in) adequacy and complexities around the provision of infrastructure (water, sanitation and solid waste management) that promotes and perpetuates such pathogenic conditions in many parts of Nairobi. We have also sought to examine how legal, policy and institutional realities have influenced urban and peri-urban land use in Nairobi, and how such practices and interventions help shape livestock keeping and farming activities.

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Sampling Kibera chickens-a look at urban farming in its most innovative form

Sampling Kibera chickens-a look at urban farming in its most innovative form

Jun 15, 2016 | , , , ,

Under the Urban Zoo umbrella, we have been sampling chicken farms as well as chicken meat retailers in Kibera, Nairobi, in order to investigate the prevalence of a food-borne pathogen, Campylobacter. Kibera, said to be the largest urban slum in Africa, is a surprising, challenging and rewarding environment to work in. The constantly evolving environment illustrates urban farming in its most inventive form. Densely populated and very low-income, the urban landscape goes from shiny newly-built roads, public toilets and other community spaces, often sponsored by donors, to muddy alleyways with open sewers and precarious living spaces.

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Human, Food and Environmental data collection

Human, Food and Environmental data collection

Jun 15, 2016 | , , , ,

Human, food and environmental data are among the wide range of data collected within the 99 households. The data are often collected by Clinical Officers. Human sampling involves among others, individual consenting to participate, questionnaire interviews administration, general physical examination and anthropometric measurements, biological data collection and offering feedback and health education on the outcome of the laboratory based investigations. Two sets of structured questionnaires are administered; a general household and individual participant questionnaires. Biological data that is collected includes fecal samples and nasal swabs. Fecal samples are assessed for E. coli and campylobacter bacteria while nasal swabs are assessed for antimicrobial resistance. Collection and transportation of human samples from the field to laboratories involves sterile techniques.

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Update: 99 Household study update

Update: 99 Household study update

Jun 15, 2016 | , , , ,

Well, time has flown since we sampled the first household in the 99 households study. On 7th June we visited our 66th household, meaning that after 8 months we are now two thirds of the way through. The project is taking us to all parts of Nairobi, as the maps illustrate. The field teams normally spend Monday to Wednesday collecting data, then use Thursdays and Fridays to recruit new households to the study, meet with local chiefs and county officials, give feedback to participants and keep on top of all the other jobs, such as vehicle maintenance, stock-keeping, accounting and paperwork. The wildlife team regularly go out on evenings and weekends to set and check traps for rodents and bats (who inconveniently refuse to venture out during normal working hours!) In some areas it has occasionally been necessary to conduct the study interviews in the evening, when participants return from work. Having to be flexible to fit around our human and animal participants’ needs, plus the perennial problem of Nairobi traffic, means early starts and long days.

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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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