By Murimi Gitari
ANIMAL diseases pose significant threats to both animal health and welfare in Africa, with annual losses exceeding US$4 billion in sub-Saharan Africa alone, equivalent to a quarter of the continent’s total livestock production value.
Close interaction between humans, domestic animals, and wildlife in Africa’s animal production systems has led to a rise in emerging and re-emerging diseases, many of which are zoonotic. The 20132016 Ebola epidemic in western Africa underscores the far-reaching consequences of zoonotic diseases, including their potential to devastate economies. According to a 2022 WHO report, the incidence of diseases transmitted from animals to humans in Africa has surged by 63 percent over the past decade compared to the previous 10 years. Prompt action is imperative to prevent, prepare for, detect and rapidly respond to these threats, necessitating a collaborative, multisectoral approach involving human, animal, and environmental health disciplines.
The One-Health approach, aligned with global, continental, and regional frameworks such as Agenda 2063, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Malabo/Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Program (CAADP), Global Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance, and the Livestock Development Strategy (LiDeSA), has gained momentum in Africa. There is a growing recognition of the need to enhance governance and management to effectively address the emergence and re-emergence of zoonotic diseases and transboundary animal diseases (TADs). TADs and zoonoses pose significant threats to food security and public health, and the lack of coordination among the relevant sectors has exacerbated the situation.
From the perspective of the animal seed industry, ensuring the dissemination of clean and safe genetic material across the region is crucial. A consortium built around MAGMA Consultants International and Patira Data Science by the Centre for tropical Livestock Genetics and Health (CTLGH) – International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), the African Animal Breeding Network (AABNet), The Africa Union – InterAfrican Bureau for Animal Resources (AUIBAR)
and Green Gold Agroventure has demonstrated the integration of a web-based geographical information system (GIS) for tracking genetic materials and pathogen surveillance in relationship to One-Health, and its inclination to the development and delivery of innovative and sustainable solutions to agricultural challenges, through customised development and adoption of technologies and research output, continuous education and rural academy.
Web-GIS platform
Here, we present a prototype tailored for efficient real-time livestock seed and genetic tracking and their potential associated pathogen surveillance in Kenya through a Web-GIS platform — dashboard. Our approach aims to track the movement of genetic materials while simultaneously
surveilling zoonotic pathogens, and a situation room supporting rapid decision making and efficient emergency response when needed. Dashboard features and functionality The interactive dashboard encompasses counties, livestock species, breeds and types of livestock seed, potential associated zoonotic pathogens, source of pathogens, and a real-time mapping board, connectable to a situation room at any potential surveillance and response centre.
Each category plays a pivotal role in providing a holistic view of the dashboard. This dashboard is a valuable tool for breeders, veterinarians, researchers, policymakers, and animal care, national gene banks, animal seed users (inseminators), breeder’s associations, one health platform and more. It serves as a powerful tool by offering valuable insights across multiple aspects, including a map, county selection, animal seed information, livestock details, zoonotic pathogen data, pathogen sources, specific breeds, and navigation instructions professionals to analyze and explore data across multiple counties.
How to navigate the zoonotic dashboard
To navigate the data specific to Kakamega county, for example, users should navigate to the “County” section and locate Kakamega. From there, they should select “Livestock” and then narrow down to “Cattle.
” Within the “Cattle” section, they can further refine their search by choosing the “Breed” option and selecting “Jersey.”
Next, they should specify the “Animal’s sex” by opting for “Sires” (male breeding cattle). The results reveal that the identified pathogen’s source is “human”, with the zoonotic pathogen itself being fungi. Expanding on this information may provide deeper understanding into the implications for cattle breeding practices and potential measures to address any associated risks.
Impact of the dashboard
The GIS web-based dashboards described are comprehensive and versatile tools designed to assist researchers, policymakers, and healthcare professionals in their animal seeds, and zoonotic pathogens data exploration and analysis efforts.
They offer a wide range of functionalities and aims to provide valuable insights specifically focused on multiple counties. By utilising the dashboards, users can access and examine various datasets relevant to their respective fields. These datasets may include information related to livestock, breeds, zoonic pathogens, source of pathogens, and animal’s seeds.
The dashboard acts as a centralised hub, aggregating and organising these datasets for easy access and analysis. Researchers can leverage the dashboards to delve into the available data, perform complex queries, and conduct in-depth analyses. They can explore patterns, trends, and correlations across different counties, facilitating crosscounty comparisons and enabling the identification of similarities and differences. Policymakers, veterinarians, and animal care, national gene banks, animal seed users (inseminators), breeder’s associations can benefit from the dashboards by utilising the insights gained from the data to inform their decision-making processes.
They can examine the impact of different policies or interventions in specific counties, evaluate the effectiveness of existing strategies, and identify areas that require attention or improvement. Breeders, researchers, and related professionals can also leverage the dashboards to gain a better understanding of animal seeds and zoonotic pathogens and other relevant metrics across multiple counties. This knowledge can contribute to the development of evidence-based practices, policies, and interventions aimed at improving animal seeds delivery and pathogen outcome.
Overall, these dashboards act as powerful tools that empower researchers, policymakers, and animal professionals to explore, analyse, and derive valuable insights from available animal seed datasets pertaining to multiple counties. Its broad scope and functionality make them valuable assets in the pursuit of knowledge, evidence-based decisionmaking, and improvement of animal seeds’ distribution worldwide.