Objectives
The general objective of the project was to provide new insights
on the risks to public health caused by rodents living in close
association with humans in rural and peri-urban areas of south-eastern
Africa, and apply this information for the development of risk-management
strategies. Because of changes in rural ecology, previously
rare diseases could become more common. Because of increasing
connectivity between rural and urban areas, these diseases could
reach cities. Because of deteriorating hygiene and increasing
urban rodent pests, these diseases could easily spread and persist
in cities. In order to confirm these hypotheses, three rodent-vectored
diseases (plague, leptospirosis and toxoplasmosis) were studied
as model systems because of their different clinical manifestations
and different transmission routes in relation to designing predictive
models.
Activities
Within the proposed project, the disease prevalence and livelihood
constraints were measured for three major diseases, plague, leptospirosis
and toxoplasmosis. Ecological and anthropogenic factors responsible
for their spread and transmission were identified and evaluated.
Host ranges were investigated, and the infection dynamics within
the host populations and from the hosts to humans were studied.
EC Programme objectives on the rural urban interface sustainability
in water management, land use and sanitary risks were addressed
by developing predictive tools and control strategies which can
reduce the risks posed by rodent-borne diseases. The project aims
to help Southern African countries develop strategies for the
prevention of sanitary risks linked to the proximity of humans
and animals by ensuring that policy makers and extensionists are
provided with the appropriate tools and information to manage
rodent disease risks using cost-effective, sustainable and ecologically-based
strategies. Such predictive tools will help policy makers to support
rural and peri-urban communities to handle their natural and social
capital in a way that improves people's health as well as their
land and water management.
Expected outcomes
• Increase understanding of zoonosis prevalence in rural
and peri-urban African communities and of the impact of agro-ecological
and anthropogenic factors on the disease transmission pathways
of plague, leptospirosis and toxoplasmosis
• Establish the impact of rodent-borne diseases on sustainable
livelihoods
• Raise the profile of the effects of rodents on people's
health
• Inform and influence policy formulation at government,
institution and community levels
• Provide potential risk reduction strategies that can be
cost-effectively used to reduce the impact of zoonotic diseases
on people's lives
• Create predictive and simulation modelling tools to measure
the threats of zoonotic disease
A full description of the project activities is available under
Publications
