International Livestock Research Institute One Health initiatives in Africa: Concepts and applications

The frequency and severity of zoonotic diseases, such as the current COVID pandemic, is increasing as humans encroach on wildlife habitats, and as food production systems intensify. The One Health approach (OH) offers the best chance for solving these challenges by overcoming institutional barriers by cross-sectoral collaboration and providing stronger evidence on effective, economical, and acceptable risk management. The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) has various ongoing OH initiatives in collaboration with national and international partners focusing on foodborne diseases, zoonoses, emerging infectious diseases and antimicrobial resistance. The CGIAR One Health initiative (Protecting Human Health Through a One Health Approach), aims to demonstrate how One Health principles and tools integrated into food systems can help reduce and contain zoonotic disease outbreaks, improve food, and water safety, and reduce antimicrobial resistance, benefitting human, animal, and environmental health. The One Health Research, Education and Outreach Centre in Africa (OHRECA) aims to improve the health of humans, animals, and ecosystems through capacity building, strengthening of local, regional and global networks and provision of evidence-based policy advice on One Health in sub-Saharan Africa. One of the capacity-building activities is the partnership with Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR) and includes co-supervision and research funding support to final year veterinary students. The CGIAR Antimicrobial Resistance Hub uses a OH approach to support efforts in low- and middle-income countries to mitigate risks of agriculture-associated antimicrobial resistance. The Hub supports the development of cost-effective interventions that are locally relevant and applicable. The CGIAR COVID 19 Hub provides a coordinated research response to the global pandemic threatening health systems worldwide, along with posing serious risks to food security; local businesses and national economies; and hard-fought progress by stakeholders at all levels towards the Sustainable Development Goals. The BUILD Uganda project supports existing livestock health initiatives by helping to scale solutions through a collaborative effort in research, extension and partnerships in Uganda. The Capacitating One Health in Eastern and Southern Africa (COHESA) initiative was set up to Increase the relevance of One Health research and policies in eastern and southern Africa, by enhancing national and sub-regional cross-sectoral collaboration, equipping educational and research institutes to train the next generation One Health workforce, and increasing the capacity to identify and deliver One Health solutions to key problems. While ILRI OH initiatives are promising and posed for success, challenges have been observed in mainstreaming ecosystem health and operationalizing OH. These are being addressed through strengthening existing research collaborations, engaging with stakeholders in food systems at all levels, and building new partnerships with ecosystem actors such as the United Nations Environment Programme

Detection of Brucella spp. in raw milk from various livestock species raised under pastoral production systems in Isiolo and Marsabit Counties, northern Kenya

Introduction Brucellosis is an important zoonotic disease in Kenya, and identifying the bacteria in milk is important in assessing the risk of exposure in people. Methods A cross-sectional study that involved 175 households was implemented in the pastoral counties of Marsabit and Isiolo in Kenya. Pooled milk samples (n = 164) were collected at the household level, and another 372 were collected from domesticated lactating animals (312 goats, 7 sheep, 50 cattle and 3 camels). Real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) testing of the milk samples was performed to identify Brucella species. Brucella anti-LPS IgG antibodies were also detected in bovine milk samples using an indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Results Based on the qPCR, the prevalence of the pathogen at the animal level (considering samples from individual animals) was 2.4% (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.1–4.5) and 3.0% (CI: 1.0–7.0) in pooled samples. All 14 samples found positive by qPCR were from goats, with 10 contaminated with B. abortus and 4 with B. melitensis. The Brucella spp. antibody prevalence in bovine milk using the milk ELISA was 26.0% (95% CI: 14.6–40.3) in individual animal samples and 46.3% (95% CI: 30.7–62.6) in pooled samples. Conclusion The study is the first in Kenya to test for Brucella spp. directly from milk using qPCR without culturing for the bacteria. It also detected B. abortus in goats, suggesting transmission of brucellosis between cattle and goats. The high prevalence of Brucella spp. is a significant public health risk, and there is a need for intervention strategies necessary in the study area

Antimicrobial usage and detection of multidrug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, including methicillin-resistant strains in raw milk of livestock from northern Kenya

The association of antimicrobial usage (AMU) with prevalence of antimicrobial-resistant (AMR) Staphylococcus aureus, including methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) in livestock raw milk consumed by pastoralists in Kenya remains unclear. We investigated the relationship between AMU and emergence of multidrug-resistant (MDR) S. aureus, including MRSA in raw milk of livestock. AMU data were obtained using sales records from veterinary pharmacies. S. aureus was isolated from 603 milk samples from various livestock species, including sheep, goat, cow, and camel reared in Isiolo and Marsabit counties in Kenya. Resistant phenotypes and genotypes were determined by disc diffusion and molecular methods, respectively. Correlation between AMU and occurrence of resistance was determined by Pearson's correlation coefficient (r) method. The consumption of various antimicrobial classes were as follows; 4,168 kg of oxytetracycline, 70 kg of sulfonamides, 49.7 kg of aminoglycosides, 46 kg of beta-lactams, 39.4 kg of macrolides, and 0.52 kg for trimethoprim. The S. aureus isolates were mainly resistant to tetracycline (79%), ampicillin (58%), and oxacillin (33%), respectively. A few isolates (5–18%) were resistant to clindamycin, cephalexin, erythromycin, kanamycin, and ciprofloxacin. Most of the MDR-S. aureus isolates were MRSA (94%). The genetic determinants found in the AMR isolates included tetK/tetM (96.5%/19%) for tetracycline, blaZ (79%) for penicillin, aac (6′)/aph (2′′)/aph (3′)-IIIa (53%) for aminoglycosides, mecA (41%) for oxacillin, and msrA/ermA (24%/7%) for macrolides. Oxytetracycline usage was correlated to tetK/tetM (r = 0.62/1) detection, penicillins to mecA/blaZ (r = 0.86/0.98), aminoglycoside to aac (6′)/aph (2′′)/aph (3′)-IIIa (r = 0.76/−13), and macrolide usages for detection of ermA/msrA (r = 0.94/0.77). AMU appeared to be associated with occurrence of MDR-SA and the tetM detection. Consumption of raw milk contaminated with MRSA could pose a serious public health risk in pastoral communities in northern Kenya