Animals, not people, should serve as sentinels of infectious diseases of both–Delia Grace

A girl shares the entrance to her house with a family of chickens in Oyo State, Nigeria (photo credit: ILRI/Mann).

Researchers at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) argue in an opinion piece published yesterday on the Guardian‘s Poverty Matters Blog (11 February 2011) that the best way to reduce the threat of infectious diseases sweeping the world is to watch for their rise in animal populations. A remarkable 61% of all human pathogens, and 75% of new human pathogens, such as those causing bird flu and HIV/AIDS, are ‘zoonotic,’ that is, transmissible between people and animals.

‘Some of the most lethal bugs affecting humans originate in our domesticated animals,’ says Delia Grace, a veterinary and food safety scientist at ILRI. But, she warns, ‘there’s a dangerous disconnect between the agricultural and health sectors of most countries, with the former focused on increasing the production and profitability of crop…

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About Dr. Bukar USMAN, mni

I started as a field Veterinary officer with the Borno State Ministry of Agriculture and later joined College of Agric, maiduguri as a lecture & a researcher in the Department of Animal Health & Production. I was appointed the Provost of the College In 2003. In 2007 I was appointed Hon. Commissioner & Member Borno State Executive Council and later appointed Permanent Secretary with the Borno State Civil Service in 2009. I was the National Facilitator Animal Health, National Programme For Food Security of the Federal Ministry of Agric & Rural Development, Abuja. I am now the Director, Veterinary Medicine & Allied Products (VMAP) NAFDAC. I’m a ‘member of the National Institute’ (mni), Kuru SEC 40, 2018. I engaged myself in various aspects of the veterinary profession. I founded Sril Group Ltd, Nigeria.

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