News Overview

Innovative wastewater management, an often-overlooked aspect of public and environmental health, could reduce pollution, prevent disease outbreaks and contribute to socio-economic development in Africa. This was stressed during a stakeholder workshop held on 26–27 February 2025 to discuss strengthening the capacity for sustainable wastewater surveillance and improvement of wastewater management across the continent. The workshop, held at the International Livestock Research

A One Health approach, coupled with community education and improved disease surveillance, can help to prevent future outbreaks of wild animal diseases in Southeast Asia, according to a recent research study published in Veterinary Quarterly (Mar 2025). The authors of the study reviewed a decade of published literature on wildlife zoonoses in Southeast Asia, a known hotspot for the emergence

In a significant step towards improving livestock feed availability and enhancing food security in Sierra Leone, the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) presented high-yielding forage seeds and stem cuttings to His Excellency Julius Maada Bio, President of the Republic of Sierra Leone. This presentation, underscores ILRI’s commitment to supporting sustainable livestock systems and year-round feed availability in the country. The

In October 2024, scientists from the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) facilitated a training workshop in Accra, Ghana on the use of the Interface for Marek’s Disease Economic Impact and Trade-off (i-MaDE-IT) tool, a farm-level decision-support tool for managing Marek’s disease in poultry. The i-MaDE-IT tool was designed to provide extension officers with a platform to support farmers with their

Researchers from the J. Craig Venter Institute, the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) have developed a reverse genetics system for the African swine fever virus. This new system will aid researchers in developing vaccines and in studying the pathogenesis and biology of African swine fever, a highly contagious, deadly viral disease affecting domesticated and wild pigs, especially

Stronger institutional partnerships and knowledge co-creation will accelerate the digital agricultural revolution towards global food security, according to speakers at a side event on digital agriculture during the inaugural CGIAR Science Week that took place in Nairobi, Kenya from 7–11 April 2025. Digital agriculture is the use of digital tools to collect, analyze, and share data and information in agriculture

The African Animal Breeding Network (AABNet), a new platform for animal breeding professionals to advance livestock genetic improvement in Africa, was unveiled at a side event during the inaugural CGIAR Science Week that took place in Nairobi, Kenya from 7–11 April 2025. Chinyere Ekine-Dzivenu, a statistical geneticist at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), moderated the session. Opening remarks In

A partnership between the first veterinary school in Malawi and international research experts has contributed new insights into tropical livestock diseases, following the publication of a scientific paper on the epidemiology of the parasitic flatworm Fasciola gigantica. The paper appears in the April 2025 issue of the journal Veterinary Research Communications and is the first published output from this collaboration