Humans and primates: Closer than you may think

Humans and primates: Closer than you may think

Humans and primates: Closer than you may think

Scientists used to think that only humans used tools and language. But when chimpanzees were spotted making tools, and gorillas and orangutams learned sign language, the gap between humans and other primates narrowed. The scientists discovered that chimp and human DNA s nearly 99% alike. We’re more alike than different.

All primates use some form of communication, but humans are the only primates that communicate across the globe.

Hands are one way humans resemble other primates. With some primates we also share the ability to make tools, learn through discovery and pass on new-found knowledge.

What makes us different? humans walk upright, communicate with words, and practice a variety of beliefs and religions.

 

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Pandemic proofing the world

Pandemic proofing the world

Pandemic proofing the world

Really great read from Dr. Delia Grace of ILRI on tackling the root causes of zoonoses.

Specific highlights: 
1. 8 out of the 11 major pandemics since the 1980s have a common feature》they involve domestic animal hosts

2. Why are domestic animals playing a major role in transmitting disease? there are simply increasing numbers of them.

3. Currently, humans & their animals make up 96-98% of the planet’s mammalian zoomass and are genetically very similar

4. Homogenous genetics & confined spaces of industrial production systems→incubator for disease pathogens.

5. Many a times: a zoonotic disease erupts not when animals begin to die, but when people do.

6. Changing incentive structures to reward instead of punish would improve rapid responses to initial disease outbreaks

7. To prevent future emerging zoonoses there’s need to tackle the root causes of emergence e.g. anthropogenic drivers
https://howwegettonext.com/pandemic-proofing-the-world-98222a38782?gi=7ba6f2c47655#.7zqm49k09

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Wildlife markets are hotbeds of disease

Wildlife markets are hotbeds of disease

Wildlife markets are hotbeds of disease

Wildlife market

Wildlife market

In 2003, the world met SARS. The coronavirus wreaks havoc on a patient’s immune system, and even after treatment patients have gone on to suffer from long-term diseases like osteoporosis or lung disease. It’s thought that the virus jumped from animals to humans, facilitated by markets in southern China known for trading in wildlife and wildlife parts. The infection eventually spread to 29 countries on five continents. In all there were 8,098 human cases and 774 deaths. The outbreak cost China some $16.8 billion in lost tourism revenue.

The illegal trade in wildlife is not only devastating ecologically; it also has a real and measurable impact on human health and economics. And the problem is not just in China.

Laos, more properly known as the Lao People’s Democratic Republic or Lao PDR, is home to a stunning diversity of mammal, reptile, bird, and amphibian species. Many of them are endemic—animals found there and no place else—like the Phou Khao Khouay leaf-nosed bat, the Truong Son muntjac, and the critically endangered Saola. Like in China, there’s a tremendous amount of illegal trade in wildlife and wildlife parts in Laos. The extent of that trade, and its possible consequences for human health, were recently revealed in a study led by Zoe F. Greatorex and Sarah H. Olson of the Wildlife Conservation Society.

First, 375 basic surveys of 93 markets scattered across 15 of the 17 Laotian provinces were carried out over the course of three years. These surveys were simply to identify markets in which wildlife was sold, and they were carried out discretely by two Laotians who could blend in to the crowd.

Then, the researchers conducted detailed surveys in the winter and spring of 2012 at 44 markets. These surveys documented which species were being sold and how many individual animals per species were offered to buyers. In addition, researchers recorded the prices at which wildlife was sold, the origins of market visitors (information gleaned from license plates visible in the parking areas), and the hygiene of merchants and butchers. (For example: Did the butcher clean his or her equipment after every animal? Did the vendors wash their hands often enough?)

Finally, to assess the potential for the spread of zoonotic pathogens from wild animals to humans, the researchers focused on seven markets with a particularly high level of wildlife trade, using the data collected during the first two phases of the study. Each of these markets was observed selling more than 100 animals per day on at least four different days.

Nearly 7,000 animals were for sale for sale at these markets, weighing more than 2,000 kilograms combined. Across all 93 markets, they recorded 33,752 animals for sale, with nearly 7,000 of them belonging to species of conservation concern, including turtles, tortoises, deer, and lorises. This volume in wildlife trade is on par with some of the most prolific wildlife markets elsewhere, like in Equatorial Guinea, Myanmar, and China.

The mammals alone represented 12 taxonomic families ranging from rodents to primates, species previously documented to be capable of transmitting at least 36 pathogens, like Ebola, Lassa fever, Marburg virus, monkeypox, dengue, yellow fever, West Nile, and others. (Because their ability to transmit pathogens isn’t clear, carcasses that were smoked, dried, fermented, or frozen were omitted. The researchers concentrated instead on living animals or ones freshly slaughtered for this analysis.)

Though proper hygiene can limit the transmission of many of these pathogens, the researchers documented remarkable disregard for biosecurity. “In half-hour observations of 11 wildlife vendors in these seven markets, hand washing was only observed to be performed by one individual,” write the researchers. Only four of the markets even had running water available. And while five of the six markets that also sold domestic meat products had zoning regulations to keep livestock products and wildlife products separate, that didn’t seem to apply to poultry, fish, or produce—only to mammals. The possibility—likelihood, even—for cross-contamination in that sort of environment is mind-boggling.

To find out just who was purchasing all these wildlife products, the researchers compared the price of wild animals to that of fresh domestic pork. In most cases, wildlife generated a lot more revenue. In early 2012, one kilogram of pork could be sold for around 34,000 Kip, which is about $4. A kilogram of brush-tailed porcupine sold for four times as much. This suggests that urban consumers eat wildlife as a luxury, rather than for nutrition or subsistence. And since the average Laotian makes around $4 per day, there’s a high economic incentive to sell wildlife meat rather than livestock. A kilogram of pork represents around one day of income, while a kilogram of bat equates to three days’ worth of income.

The impacts of the Laotian wildlife trade are far-reaching. Not only does the study demonstrate the enormous potential for zoonotic spillover and the serious damage that the wildlife trade does to Laotian ecosystems, but it also reveals a challenge to food security to the poorest Laotians, who have historically relied on subsistence hunting for protein.

If wildlife is to be harvested, conclude the researchers, it needs to be done with serious oversight and enforcement, as per the Lao PDR Wildlife and Aquatic Law. Because it poses risks both to public health and to biodiversity, they say this form of wildlife trade provides a unique opportunity for public health officials, conservationists, law enforcement, and other groups to collaborate on addressing the underlying economic realities that drive the sale of wild animals. – Jason G. Goldman | 06 April 2016

Source: Greatorex ZF, Olson SH, Singhalath S, Silithammavong S, Khammavong K, Fine AE, et al. (2016) Wildlife Trade and Human Health in Lao PDR: An Assessment of the Zoonotic Disease Risk in Markets. PLoS ONE 11(3): e0150666. DOI: 10.1371/ journal.pone.0150666.

This article originally appeared on teh university of Washington, Conservation page on 6th April , 2016. Available at: http://conservationmagazine.org/2016/04/wildlife-markets-spread-disease/

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Vets urge Northern Ireland Assembly candidates to take ‘One Health’ action

Vets urge Northern Ireland Assembly candidates to take ‘One Health’ action

Vets urge Northern Ireland Assembly candidates to take ‘One Health’ action

With campaigning for next month’s election (5 May) in full swing, the British Veterinary Association (BVA) and BVA Northern Ireland Branch have launched a manifesto urging incoming parliamentarians to take action on animal health and welfare as part of a One Health government agenda.

BVA’s ‘The veterinary profession’s manifesto for Northern Ireland 2016–2021’ was developed drawing on the expertise and experiences of BVA’s members working throughout Northern Ireland and in all areas of the veterinary profession, and makes clear recommendations in three key areas: safeguarding animal health, promoting animal welfare and recognising the vital role of veterinary surgeons.

“Delivering positive change for animal health and welfare requires partnership working – and the announcement last year that Northern Ireland had been granted Officially Brucellosis Free status is testament to the effectiveness of that joined up working between government, farmers and vets to eradicate the disease. And we must continue to work together to tackle other endemic diseases, and health and welfare issues like the breeding and sale of dogs.”

Seamus O’Kane, President, BVA Northern Ireland Branch

The Northern Ireland manifesto sets out almost 20 policy recommendations that provide a clear pathway towards improving animal health and welfare, and challenges the next government to:* Support vets and farmers in combating endemic livestock diseases, for example through the compulsory bovine viral diarrhoea (BVD) testing scheme in Northern Ireland and the voluntary all-island control programme to tackle Johne’s disease.

* Protect the welfare of animals by requiring all animals to be stunned before slaughter to ensure they are insensible to pain: there is no non-stun slaughter currently carried out in Northern Ireland but, while non-stun is permitted under the EU derogation, the next government should introduce measures to label meat as stunned or non-stunned to allow consumers to make an informed choice.

* Review the outcomes of the Test and Vaccinate or Remove (TVR) project; moving towards a comprehensive programme to eradicate bovine TB that includes a regime of controls such as risk-based biosecurity measures, cattle controls, badger vaccination where appropriate and available, and the humane culling of badgers via cage trapping and shooting only.

* Increase collaboration and integration of the veterinary and medical professions to promote the responsible use of antimicrobials.

* Ensure robust enforcement of existing legislation to tackle illegal import of puppies across borders due to the associations with disease, dog welfare and behavioural problems.

Ban the keeping of primates as pets and the use of wild animals in travelling circuses, as their welfare needs cannot be met.

Embrace partnership working between government and the veterinary profession, recognising the unique skills, knowledge and expertise of veterinary surgeons across animal health and welfare and public health.

BVA Northern Ireland Branch President Seamus O’Kane said: “Delivering positive change for animal health and welfare requires partnership working – and the announcement last year that Northern Ireland had been granted Officially Brucellosis Free status is testament to the effectiveness of that joined up working between government, farmers and vets to eradicate the disease. And we must continue to work together to tackle other endemic diseases, and health and welfare issues like the breeding and sale of dogs.

“As vets, we carry out our roles for the public good and, as such, we are in a unique position from which to offer evidence-based and informed advice and policy recommendations. We are on the frontline caring for animals, detecting and treating disease, and undertaking pioneering research into animal and public health – and we look forward to working with the next government in Northern Ireland.”

BVA President Sean Wensley said: “Through our daily work, and these manifestos, we believe vets are in a unique position from which to offer the next government in Northern Ireland evidence-based advice and recommendations for animal health and welfare policy. The forthcoming elections affect us all and, as a nation that prides itself on high and continuously improving animal welfare standards, we urge the incoming government to put animal health and welfare on their agenda and champion the concept of One Health in recognition of the inextricable links between animals, humans and our shared living environment.”

BVA’s manifesto will be sent to all candidates who are standing for election, relevant animal health and welfare government groups, BVA honorary associate MPs, Peers & MEPs, and Chief Veterinary Officer Robert Huey. Following the election, BVA will also share the document with newly elected Members.

For more information about BVA’s ‘The veterinary profession’s manifesto for Northern Ireland 2016–2021’, please click here

This article originally appeared on Farming Life website on 5th April, 2016 : Available at: http://www.farminglife.com/news/farming-news/vets-urge-northern-ireland-assembly-candidates-to-take-one-health-action-1-7311699

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Presentations available from the One Health for the Real World symposium

Presentations available from the One Health for the Real World symposium

Presentations available from the One Health for the Real World symposium

STO05286KEN

The presentations from the international symposium, ‘One Health for the Real World: zoonoses, ecosystems and wellbeing’ which took place at the Zoological Society of London, 17-18 March 2016 are now available on the STEPS website: http://steps-centre.org/2016/blog/onehealth2016/

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