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