To mark World Veterinary Day 2021, the International Livestock Research Institute joined a number of international organizations in signing an open letter calling on governments and international agencies to invest in animal health and welfare in order to prevent another pandemic. The letter, penned by the Action for Animal Health coalition, calls for an immediate injection of funding to map
There is a need for better understanding of how food systems operate in order to effectively address food safety and nutrition in low- and middle-income countries, says a new review paper. The review published in Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems (Apr 2021) proposes that countries and international institutions provide an atlas of food system maps for key food commodities. This
One Health is a concept that recognizes that the health of people is linked to the health of animals and their shared environment. A One Health approach in preventing and controlling diseases therefore involves the collaborative efforts of multiple disciplines and sectors. This approach is especially useful for managing zoonoses, diseases that are transmitted between animals and people. The International
To make garri, cassava roots have to be peeled. Traditionally, the peels have been dumped in huge heaps and burned, or allowed to rot — turning them into an environmental hazard, as toxic compounds in the raw peels leached into waterways. Some producers attempted to dry the peels in the open air for use as a livestock feed, but this
In the Nairobi laboratories of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), the organization’s scientists continue to contribute to the fight against COVID-19. Since mid-2020, ILRI—a CGIAR research centre—has been supporting Kenya’s Ministry of Health to process COVID-19 tests. Now, following a request from the Kenyan government, the institute’s labs, equipment and expert staff will be put to work sequencing the
Peter Jay Hotez, an American pediatrician and leading international vaccine advocate, spoke out against the harsh global inequalities in the vaccine rollout of COVID-19 at the institute’s weekly virtual meeting on the 26 March 2020. Hotez, an expert in the field of global health vaccinology and neglected tropical disease control, spoke in interview with Eric Fèvre, a joint appointee at
A research study led by the International Livestock Research Institute explored the impact of a growing and changing urban environment on the wildlife and livestock that live with people in Nairobi from 2013 to 2018. This is important because shrinking of urban green spaces increases the risk of spread of zoonoses (diseases that can be spread from animals to people). Photo
Hung Nguyen-Viet, co-leader of the Animal and Human Health program at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), was a member of the high-profile World Health Organization expert mission to China to investigate the origins of coronavirus disease (COVID-19). ILRI’s David Aronson interviewed Hung about his experiences on the mission, which garnered headlines worldwide, and on the broader lessons for ILRI