The undebated issue of justice: silent discourses in Dutch flood risk management

Flood risk for all types of flooding is projected to increase based on climate change projections and increases in damage potential. These challenges are likely to aggravate issues of justice in flood risk management (henceforth FRM). Based on a discursive-institutionalist perspective, this paper explores justice in Dutch FRM: how do institutions allocate the responsibilities and costs for FRM for different types of flooding? What are the underlying conceptions of justice? What are the future challenges with regard to climate change? The research revealed that a dichotomy is visible in the Dutch approach to FRM: despite an abundance of rules, regulations and resources spent, flood risk or its management, are only marginally discussed in terms of justice. Despite that the current institutional arrangement has material outcomes that treat particular groups of citizens differently, depending on the type of flooding they are prone to, area they live in (unembanked/embanked) or category of user (e.g. household, industry, farmer). The paper argues that the debate on justice will (re)emerge, since the differences in distributional outcomes are likely to become increasingly uneven as a result of increasing flood risk. The Netherlands should be prepared for this debate by generating the relevant facts and figures. An inclusive debate on the distribution of burdens of FRM could contribute to more effective and legitimate FRM

Clostridium difficile infection in humans and piglets: A 'one health' opportunity

Clostridium difficile causes infectious diarrhoea in humans and animals. It has been found in both diarrhoeal and non-diarrhoeal pigs, horses and cattle, suggesting a potential reservoir for human insection, and in 20–40 % of meat products in Canada and the USA, suggesting the possibility, albeit not proven, of food-borne transmission. Although it is not yet completely clear, it is likely that excessive antimicrobial exposure is driving the establishment of C. difficile in animals, in a manner analogous to human infection, rather than the organism just being normal flora of the animal gastrointestinal tract. PCR ribotype 078 is the most common ribotype of C. difficile found in pigs (83 % in one study in the USA) and cattle (up to 100 %) and this ribotype is now the third most common ribotype of C. difficile found in human infection in Europe. Human and pig strains of C. difficile are genetically identical in Europe confirming that a zoonosis exists. Rates of community-acquired C. difficile infection (CDI) are increasing world wide, a fact that sits well with the notion that animals are a reservoir for human infection. Thus, there are three problems that require resolution: a human health issue, an animal health issue and the factor common to both these problems, environmental contamination. To successfully deal with these recent changes in the epidemiology of CDI will require a ‘one health’ approach involving human health physicians, veterinarians and environmental scientists