Measuring, mapping, monitoring and mitigating drivers of the emergence of zoonotic and food-borne diseases: a case study

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Over 60% of human diseases originate in animals, many in domestic livestock. Infections that infect both animals and people are called zoonoses, and are caused by different groups of pathogens, including viruses, bacteria and parasites, and are transmitted in many different ways, including through the environment and via contaminated food. As a group, zoonoses are a very significant public health problem, especially in developing countries where this research is focussed. We are particularly interested in understanding what environmental, social, demographic, economic and climate variables come together to cause a pathogen to ?jump? in to the human population from domestic animals (we call these jumps ?disease emergence?). The study will be conducted in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, because previous work has identified urban and peri-urban (UPU) settings as important places where such a jump can take place, but few studies have examined the particular circumstances of the UPU environment that cause this to happen in any useful detail.This proposal aims to bring together diverse expertise, to think laterally about the problem of zoonotic and food-borne disease emergence in UPU settings, and to develop new approaches to tackling it. The most important aspect of our approach is the inclusion of a very wide diversity of expertise and backgrounds, covering the breadth of topics that matter in UPU environments. Our aim is to consider the issues, data needs and research opportunities from these different perspectives, supported by extensive analysis of the existing literature and a small pilot data collection exercise. The priorities and approaches that emerge from these activities will form the basis for a further application to gather complete data sets and provide the evidence-base for changes to policy.