News Archive

ILRI clippings

‘Tip of the iceberg’: is our destruction of nature responsible for Covid-19?

A dead monkey sold as bushmeat hangs outside a villager’s house in north-east Gabon. Photograph: Christine Nesbitt/AP An article in The Guardian newspaper raises the question of whether human destruction of nature is responsible for mass pandemics like COVID-19. It quotes Eric Fevre , a principal...

ILRI News

We need a new approach, or another coronavirus is inevitable

‘Until we start thinking of human and animal health as linked, another coronavirus is inevitable’, warns Jimmy Smith , the International Livestock Research Institute’s (ILRI) director general in an op-ed published 26 February in the Independent (paywalled, registration required). ‘The coronavirus (...

ILRI News

Viral flash points? Poor urban settlements are highly vulnerable to the risk of the new coronavirus

Scene in Nairobi’s low-income Kibera settlement (photo credit: David Orgel/Flickr). A new guest blog article published yesterday (27 Feb 2020) on the website of the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) argues that: Weak infrastructure would leave urban settlements in low-...

ILRI Asia blog

Training on the economics of animal health to improve management of disease threats in India

More than 20 researchers from various institutes of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) have been trained on animal disease economics and frameworks for risk analysis and risk management to improve veterinary disease prevention and control in India. In India, 35% of the losses in...

ILRI clippings

What changes in temperature mean for Africa’s tsetse fly

Tsetse flies can pass on African sleeping sickness (photo credit: Shutterstock). Elisha Bayode Are , South African Centre for Epidemiological Modelling & Analysis (SACEMA) and John Hargrove , South African Centre for Epidemiological Modelling & Analysis (SACEMA) In a world of changing...

ILRI News

African swine fever ten years on: the lessons learned and the way forward

A pig in northwest Vietnam (photo credit: ILRI/Hanh Le). African swine fever is a highly contagious viral disease of domestic and wild pigs that has caused serious economic and production losses in Asia, where China has seen direct economic losses of an estimated USD141 billion. This transboundary...

AgHealth blog

New study develops forecasting tools for better detection and control of dengue in Vietnam

Dengue fever is a mosquito-borne viral disease that commonly occurs in warm, tropical climates. It is characterized by high fever and flu-like symptoms that can last for up to one week. In a small proportion of cases, severe dengue may occur, leading to bleeding and low blood pressure. There is no...

ILRI News

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

A boy feeding goats during the SLP crop residues project field trip to Ginchi in Ethiopia (photo credit: ILRI/Bruno Gerard). 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...

ILRI News

In Mali, an old vaccine can be a new way to fight poverty

Fishermen and Sahelian goats by the Niger River, in Segou, Mali (photo credit: ILRI/Stevie Mann). Scientists working at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) have found a way to significantly increase the vaccination coverage of goats and sheep in the Sahel against one of the most...

ILRI Asia blog

New statistical modeling study helps forecast dengue fever risks in Vietnam

In a study published on PLOS One , researchers at the International Livestock Research Institute ( ILRI ) and its partners have developed a statistical model for forecasting dengue fever incidence in Vietnam that could enhance prediction and control of the disease in the country. Dengue fever is a...

ILRI News

More vaccination, not antibiotics, needed for Kenyan livestock—Straight talk by Sidai Chair Christie Peacock

Christie Peacock, founder and chair of Sidai Kenya Ltd. (photo credit: Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship). This interview was conducted and written up by ILRI communications staff Paul Karaimu and Susan MacMillan. The following interview of Christie Peacock was conducted at the February...

AgHealth blog

Celebrating World Antibiotic Resistance Week 2019 with highlights of ILRI research on antimicrobial resistance

Each November, the World Antibiotic Awareness Week is commemorated to raise global awareness of antibiotic resistance and to encourage rational use of antibiotics to avoid further emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance. In collaboration with national, regional and international partners,...