Spatiotemporal epidemiology of rabies at an interface between domestic dogs and wildlife in South Africa

We characterized the spatiotemporal epidemiology of rabies from January 2009 through March 2014 across the interface between a wildlife reserve and communal livestock farming area in South Africa. Brain tissue from 344 animals of 28 different species were tested for lyssavirus antigen. Of these, 146 (42.4%) samples tested positive, of which 141 (96.6%) came from dogs. Brain samples of dogs were more likely to test positive for lyssavirus antigen if they were found and destroyed in the reserve, compared to samples originating from dogs outside the reserve (65.3% vs. 45.5%; odds ratio (OR) = 2.26, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.27–4.03), despite rabies surveillance outside the reserve being targeted to dogs that have a higher index of suspicion due to clinical or epidemiological evidence of infection. In the reserve, dogs were more likely to test positive for rabies if they were shot further from villages (OR = 1.42, 95% CI 1.18–1.71) and closer to water points (OR = 0.41, 95% CI 0.21–0.81). Our results provide a basis for refinement of existing surveillance and control programs to mitigate the threat of spillover of rabies to wildlife populations.http://www.nature.com/srepam2019Veterinary Tropical Disease

Path-breaking or history-repeating? Analysing the Paris Agreement's research and development paradigm for climate-smart agriculture

This chapter provides an initial exploration and analysis of agricultural research and development paradigms under the Paris Agreement for climate-smart agriculture. Drawing on diverse bodies of literature, this chapter provides an examination of agricultural socio-technical regimes with a focus on how problems, means and solutions are constructed by three broad archetypes: the intensive agricultural paradigm, the Life-Sciences Integrated paradigm, and the Ecological-Integrated paradigm. Re-conceptualisation of climate-smart agriculture in line with the Ecological-Integrated Paradigm is positioned as a critical step towards climate justice. Through an examination of the Paris Agreement and related documents, this chapter argues that the Paris Agreement creates an enabling environment for the development of an agricultural socio-technical regime more consistent with the existing intensive agricultural model than with genuine climate-smart agriculture