There has been a renewed focus on threats to the human-animal-environment interface as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and investments in One Health collaborations are expected to increase. Efforts to monitor the development of One Health Networks (OHNs) are essential to avoid duplication or misalignment of investments. This Series paper shows the global distribution of existing OHNs and assesses their collective characteristics to identify potential deficits in the ways OHNs have formed and to help increase the effectiveness of investments. We searched PubMed, Google, Google Scholar, and relevant conference websites for potential OHNs and identified 184 worldwide for further analysis. We developed four case studies to show important findings from our research and exemplify best practices in One Health operationalisation. Our findings show that, although more OHNs were formed in the past 10 years than in the preceding decade, investment in OHNs has not been equitably distributed; more OHNs are formed and headquartered in Europe than in any other region, and emerging infections and novel pathogens were the priority focus area for most OHNs, with fewer OHNs focusing on other important hazards and pressing threats to health security. We found substantial deficits in the OHNs collaboration model regarding the diversity of stakeholder and sector representation, which we argue impedes effective and equitable OHN formation and contributes to other imbalances in OHN distribution and priorities. These findings are supported by previous evidence that shows the skewed investment in One Health thus far. The increased attention to One Health after the COVID-19 pandemic is an opportunity to focus efforts and resources to areas that need them most. Analyses, such as this Series paper, should be used to establish databases and repositories of OHNs worldwide. Increased attention should then be given to understanding existing resource allocation and distribution patterns, establish more egalitarian networks that encompass the breadth of One Health issues, and serve communities most affected by emerging, re-emerging, or endemic threats at the human- animal-environment interface.

Background One Health is defined as an integrated, unifying approach that aims to sustainably balance and optimize the health of people, animals and ecosystems; this approach attracts stakeholders from multiple sectors, academic disciplines, and professional practices. The diversity of expertise and interest groups is frequently and simultaneously framed as ( 1 ) a strength of the One Health approach in the process of understanding and solving complex problems associated with health challenges such as pathogen spillovers and pandemics and ( 2 ) a challenge regarding consensus on essential functions of One Health and the sets of knowledge, skills, and perspectives unique to a workforce adopting this approach. Progress in developing competency-based training in One Health has revealed coverage of various topics across fundamental, technical, functional, and integrative domains. Ensuring that employers value the unique characteristics of personnel trained in One Health will likely require demonstration of its usefulness, accreditation, and continuing professional development. These needs led to the conceptual framework of a One Health Workforce Academy (OHWA) for use as a platform to deliver competency-based training and assessment for an accreditable credential in One Health and opportunities for continuing professional development. Methods To gather information about the desirability of an OHWA, we conducted a survey of One Health stakeholders. The IRB-approved research protocol used an online tool to collect individual responses to the survey questions. Potential respondents were recruited from partners of One Health University Networks in Africa and Southeast Asia and international respondents outside of these networks. Survey questions collected demographic information, measured existing or projected demand and the relative importance of One Health competencies, and determined the potential benefits and barriers of earning a credential. Respondents were not compensated for participation. Results Respondents ( N = 231) from 24 countries reported differences in their perspectives on the relative importance of competency domains of the One Health approach. More than 90% of the respondents would seek to acquire a competency-based certificate in One Health, and 60% of respondents expected that earning such a credential would be rewarded by employers. Among potential barriers, time and funding were the most cited. Conclusion This study showed strong support from potential stakeholders for a OHWA that hosts competency-based training with opportunities for certification and continuing professional development.

The case study summarizes our team’s engagement with communities in the Ruaha Landscape of Tanzania, a landscape with abundant protected areas that provides habitat for a wide variety of wildlife and frequent opportunities for human-wildlife interaction through daily livelihood activities, such as agriculture, livestock production, and hunting and wild meat consumption. The study was implemented by the Health for Animals and Livelihood Improvement (HALI) project, a One Health research and capacity-building program investigating health at human-animal-environment interfaces in Tanzania.We applied an integrated multidisciplinary and participatory approach with extensive community engagement to explore wild meat consumption and the associated value chain in several villages bordering protected areas. Working with communities, we investigated factors driving wild meat consumption and trade and designed participatory wildlife sampling approaches for species confirmation and infectious disease testing, including establishing safe sample collection and transport from remote field environments to our university laboratory. Through collaborations with local community members, wild meat samples were opportunistically collected for virus testing and interviews were conducted to explore hunting practices, trade, and socioeconomics in an environment where subsistence hunting and poaching were under considerable legal pressure in the wake of anti-poaching policies. Our findings correlated commonly hunted wildlife species with collected tissue samples and identified risks for transmission of zoonotic diseases associated with hunting practices. Furthermore, we collaborated with stakeholders from participating villages in developing and implementing educational outreach programs aimed at improving awareness of the risks of wild meat to human health through the transmission of zoonotic diseases.© The Authors 2023

The straw-colored fruit bat ( Eidolon helvum ) is a pteropodid whose conservation is crucial for maintaining functional connectivity of plant populations in tropical Africa. Land conversion has pushed this species to adapt to roosting in urban centers across its range. These colonies often host millions of individuals, creating intensive human-bat contact interfaces that could facilitate the spillover of coronaviruses shed by these bats. A better understanding of coronavirus dynamics in these roosts is needed to identify peak times of exposure risk in order to propose evidence-based management that supports safe human-bat coexistence, as well as the conservation of this chiropteran. We studied the temporal patterns of coronavirus shedding in E . helvum , by testing thousands of longitudinally-collected fecal samples from two spatially distant urban roosts in Ghana and Tanzania. Shedding of coronaviruses peaked during the second part of pup weaning in both roosts. Assuming that coronavirus shedding is directly related to spillover risk, our results indicate that exposure mitigation should target reducing contact between people and E . helvum roosts during the pup “weaning” period. This recommendation can be applied across the many highly-populated urban sites occupied by E . helvum across Africa.

The genome sequences of five strains of a mammarenavirus were assembled from metagenomic data from pygmy mice (Mus minutoides) captured in Sierra Leone. The nearest fully sequenced relatives of this virus, which was named Seli virus, are lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus, Lunk virus, and Ryukyu virus.

Host-virus associations have co-evolved under ecological and evolutionary selection pressures that shape cross-species transmission and spillover to humans. Observed virus-host associations provide relevant context for newly discovered wildlife viruses to assess knowledge gaps in host-range and estimate pathways for potential human infection. Using models to predict virus-host networks, we predicted the likelihood of humans as hosts for 513 newly discovered viruses detected by large-scale wildlife surveillance at high-risk animal-human interfaces in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Predictions indicated that novel coronaviruses are likely to infect a greater number of host species than viruses from other families. Our models further characterize novel viruses through prioritization scores and directly inform surveillance targets to identify host ranges for newly discovered viruses.

As part of a public health behavior change and communication strategy related to the identification of a novel ebolavirus in bats in Sierra Leone in 2016, a consortium of experts launched an effort to create a widely accessible resource for community awareness and education on reducing disease risk. The resulting picture book, Living Safely With Bats, includes technical content developed by a consortium of experts in public health, animal health, conservation, bats, and disease ecology from 30 countries. The book has now been adapted, translated, and used in more than 20 countries in Africa and Asia. We review the processes used to integrate feedback from local stakeholders and multidisciplinary experts. We also provide recommendations for One Health and other practitioners who choose to pursue the development and evaluation of this or similar zoonotic disease risk mitigation tools.

Forecasting the risk of pathogen spillover from reservoir populations of wild or domestic animals is essential for the effective deployment of interventions such as wildlife vaccination or culling. Due to the sporadic nature of spillover events and limited availability of data, developing and validating robust, spatially explicit, predictions is challenging. Recent efforts have begun to make progress in this direction by capitalizing on machine learning methodologies. An important weakness of existing approaches, however, is that they generally rely on combining human and reservoir infection data during the training process and thus conflate risk attributable to the prevalence of the pathogen in the reservoir population with the risk attributed to the realized rate of spillover into the human population. Because effective planning of interventions requires that these components of risk be disentangled, we developed a multi-layer machine learning framework that separates these processes. Our approach begins by training models to predict the geographic range of the primary reservoir and the subset of this range in which the pathogen occurs. The spillover risk predicted by the product of these reservoir specific models is then fit to data on realized patterns of historical spillover into the human population. The result is a geographically specific spillover risk forecast that can be easily decomposed and used to guide effective intervention. Applying our method to Lassa virus, a zoonotic pathogen that regularly spills over into the human population across West Africa, results in a model that explains a modest but statistically significant portion of geographic variation in historical patterns of spillover. When combined with a mechanistic mathematical model of infection dynamics, our spillover risk model predicts that 897,700 humans are infected by Lassa virus each year across West Africa, with Nigeria accounting for more than half of these human infections.

In an effort to strengthen global capacity to prevent, detect, and control infectious diseases in animals and people, the United States Agency for International Development's (USAID) Emerging Pandemic Threats (EPT) PREDICT project funded development of regional, national, and local One Health capacities for early disease detection, rapid response, disease control, and risk reduction. From the outset, the EPT approach was inclusive of social science research methods designed to understand the contexts and behaviors of communities living and working at human-animal-environment interfaces considered high-risk for virus emergence. Using qualitative and quantitative approaches, PREDICT behavioral research aimed to identify and assess a range of socio-cultural behaviors that could be influential in zoonotic disease emergence, amplification, and transmission. This broad approach to behavioral risk characterization enabled us to identify and characterize human activities that could be linked to the transmission dynamics of new and emerging viruses. This paper provides a discussion of implementation of a social science approach within a zoonotic surveillance framework. We conducted in-depth ethnographic interviews and focus groups to better understand the individual- and community-level knowledge, attitudes, and practices that potentially put participants at risk for zoonotic disease transmission from the animals they live and work with, across 6 interface domains. When we asked highly-exposed individuals (ie. bushmeat hunters, wildlife or guano farmers) about the risk they perceived in their occupational activities, most did not perceive it to be risky, whether because it was normalized by years (or generations) of doing such an activity, or due to lack of information about potential risks. Integrating the social sciences allows investigations of the specific human activities that are hypothesized to drive disease emergence, amplification, and transmission, in order to better substantiate behavioral disease drivers, along with the social dimensions of infection and transmission dynamics. Understanding these dynamics is critical to achieving health security--the protection from threats to health-- which requires investments in both collective and individual health security. Involving behavioral sciences into zoonotic disease surveillance allowed us to push toward fuller community integration and engagement and toward dialogue and implementation of recommendations for disease prevention and improved health security.

Background Bats provide important ecosystem services; however, current evidence supports that they host several zoonotic viruses, including species of the Coronaviridae family. If bats in close interaction with humans host and shed coronaviruses with zoonotic potential, such as the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome virus, spillover may occur. Therefore, strategies aiming to mitigate potential spillover and disease emergence, while supporting the conservation of bats and their important ecological roles are needed. Past research suggests that coronavirus shedding in bats varies seasonally following their reproductive cycle; however, shedding dynamics have been assessed in only a few species, which does not allow for generalization of findings across bat taxa and geographic regions. Methods To assess the generalizability of coronavirus shedding seasonality, we sampled hundreds of bats belonging to several species with different life history traits across East Africa at different times of the year. We assessed, via Bayesian modeling, the hypothesis that chiropterans, across species and spatial domains, experience seasonal trends in coronavirus shedding as a function of the reproductive cycle. Results We found that, beyond spatial, taxonomic, and life history differences, coronavirus shedding is more expected when pups are becoming independent from the dam and that juvenile bats are prone to shed these viruses. Conclusions These findings could guide policy aimed at the prevention of spillover in limited-resource settings, where longitudinal surveillance is not feasible, by identifying high-risk periods for coronavirus shedding. In these periods, contact with bats should be avoided (for example, by impeding or forbidding people access to caves). Our proposed strategy provides an alternative to culling – an ethically questionable practice that may result in higher pathogen levels – and supports the conservation of bats and the delivery of their key ecosystem services.

In endemic African areas, such as Tanzania, Brucella spp. cause human febrile illnesses, which often go unrecognized and misdiagnosed, resulting in delayed diagnosis, underdiagnosis, and underreporting. Although rapid and affordable point-of-care tests, such as the Rose Bengal test (RBT), are available, acceptance and adoption of these tests at the national level are hindered by a lack of local diagnostic performance data. To address this need, evidence on the diagnostic performance of RBT as a human brucellosis point-of-care test was reviewed. The review was initially focused on studies conducted in Tanzania but was later extended to worldwide because few relevant studies from Tanzania were identified. Databases including Web of Science, Embase, MEDLINE, and World Health Organization Global Index Medicus were searched for studies assessing the diagnostic performance of RBT (sensitivity and specificity) for detection of human brucellosis, in comparison to the reference standard culture. Sixteen eligible studies were identified and reviewed following screening. The diagnostic sensitivity (DSe) and specificity (DSp) of RBT compared to culture as the gold standard were 87.5% and 100%, respectively, in studies that used suitable “true positive” and “true negative” patient comparison groups and were considered to be of high scientific quality. Diagnostic DSe and DSp of RBT compared to culture in studies that also used suitable “true positive” and “true negative” patient comparison groups but were considered to be of moderate scientific quality varied from 92.5% to 100% and 94.3 to 99.9%, respectively. The good diagnostic performance of RBT combined with its simplicity, quickness, and affordability makes RBT an ideal (or close to) stand-alone point-of-care test for early clinical diagnosis and management of human brucellosis and nonmalarial fevers in small and understaffed health facilities and laboratories in endemic areas in Africa and elsewhere.

In Nepal, rapid urbanization and rural-to-urban migration especially due to internal civil conflict have catalyzed the development of temporary settlements, often along rivers on undeveloped land. This study conducted surveillance for viruses in small mammals and assessed potential risks for virus transmission to people in urban settlements along rivers in Kathmandu, Nepal. We collected samples from 411 small mammals (100 rodents and 311 shrews) at four riverside settlement sites and detected six viruses from four virus families including Thottapalayam virus; a strain of murine coronavirus; two new paramyxoviruses; and two new rhabdoviruses. Additionally, we conducted surveys of 264 residents to characterize animal–human contact. Forty-eight percent of individuals reported contact with wildlife, primarily with rodents and shrews (91%). Our findings confirm that rodents and shrews should be considered a health threat for residents of temporary settlements, and that assessment of disease transmission risk coupled with targeted surveillance for emerging pathogens could lead to improved disease control and health security for urban populations. Additionally, interventions focused on disease prevention should consider the unique urban ecology and social dynamics in temporary settlements, along with the importance of community engagement for identifying solutions that address specific multi-dimensional challenges that life on the urban river margins presents.

Background Many ecologically important plants are pollinated or have their seeds dispersed by fruit bats, including the widely distributed African straw-colored fruit bats (Eidolon helvum). Their ability to fly long distances makes them essential for connecting plant populations across fragmented landscapes. While bats have been implicated as a reservoir of infectious diseases, their role in disease transmission to humans is not well understood. In this pilot study, we tracked E. helvum to shed light on their movement patterns in Tanzania and possible contact with other species. Methods Tracking devices were deployed on 25 bats captured in the Morogoro Municipal and Kilombero District area near the Udzungwa Mountains of Tanzania. Nightly flight patterns, areas corresponding to foraging bouts and feeding roosts, and new day roosts were determined from bat movement data and characterized according to their proximity to urban built-up and protected areas. Sites for additional environmental surveillance using camera traps were identified via tracking data to determine species coming in contact with fruits discarded by bats. Results Tracking data revealed variability between individual bat movements and a fidelity to foraging areas. Bats were tracked from one to six nights, with a mean cumulative nightly flight distance of 26.14 km (min: 0.33, max: 97.57) based on data from high-resolution GPS tags. While the majority of their foraging locations were in or near urban areas, bats also foraged in protected areas, of which the Udzungwa Mountains National Park was the most frequented. Camera traps in fruit orchards frequented by tracked bats showed the presence of multiple species of wildlife, with vervet monkeys (Chlorocebus pygerythrus) observed as directly handling and eating fruit discarded by bats. Conclusions Because we observed multiple interactions of animals with fruits discarded by bats, specifically with vervet monkeys, the possibility of disease spillover risk exists via this indirect pathway. With flight distances of up to 97 km, however, the role of E. helvum in the seed dispersal of plants across both protected and urban built-up areas in Tanzania may be even more important, especially by helping connect increasingly fragmented landscapes during this Anthropocene epoch.

Human contact with bats has been epidemiologically linked to several of the most recent Ebola outbreaks, including the 2014 West Africa epidemic and the 2007 Luebo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, outbreak. While fruit bats remain the likely primary reservoir for Ebola virus (Zaire ebolavirus), recent wildlife surveillance efforts have identified a new species of ebolavirus (Bombali ebolavirus) in microchiropteran insect-eating bats in West and East Africa. Given the role of bats as potential Ebola reservoirs and sources of spillover into human populations, it is critically important to understand the circumstances and behaviors that bring human populations into close contact with bats. This study explores two sites in Bombali, Sierra Leone, where human populations have had close contact with microchiropteran bats via household infestations and fruit bats by hunting practices. Through interviews and focus groups, we identify the knowledge, beliefs, perceptions, and behaviors that may potentially protect or expose individuals to zoonotic spillover through direct and indirect contact with bats. We also describe how this research was used to develop a risk reduction and outreach tool for living safely with bats.

Recurring outbreaks of emerging and re-emerging zoonoses, such as Ebola virus disease, avian influenza, and Nipah virus, serve as a reminder that the health of humans, animals, and the environment are interconnected and that early response to emerging zoonotic pathogens requires a coordinated, interdisciplinary, cross-sectoral approach. As our world becomes increasingly connected, emerging diseases pose a greater threat, requiring coordination at local, regional, and global levels. One Health is a multisectoral, transdisciplinary, and collaborative approach promoted to more effectively address these complex health threats. Despite strong advocacy for One Health, challenges for practical implementation remain. Here we discuss the value of the One Health approach for addressing global health challenges. We also share strategies applied to achieve successful outcomes through the USAID Emerging Pandemic Threats Program PREDICT project, which serve as useful case studies for implementing One Health approaches. Lastly, we explore methods for promoting more formal One Health implementation to capitalize on the added value of shared knowledge and leveraged resources.

Event Abstract Back to Event Zoonotic Rift Valley fever virus prevalence and risk factors in the Lake Zone of Tanzania Leah H. Streb1*, Brian H. Bird2, Happy R. Mkali3, George Makingi4, David J. Wolking2, Walter Magesa4, Grace Mwangoka3, Jennifer K. Lane2, Rudovick Kazwala4, Woutrina Smith2 and Jonna A. Mazet2 1 School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, United States 2 One Health Institute, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, United States 3 Ifakara Health Institute (COSTECH), Tanzania 4 Sokoine University of Agriculture, Tanzania Background: Rift Valley fever (RVF) is a mosquito-borne zoonotic threat to both humans and livestock globally caused by Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV). Outbreaks have resulted in hundreds of human deaths across Africa, and the mass abortion and death associated with ruminant outbreaks can cause considerable economic loss. RVFV circulates endemically at low-levels in its primary vector, Aedes sp. flood-water mosquitoes. Outbreaks in livestock and humans are usually associated with unusually heavy and extensive rainfall. Methods: PREDICT is a large collaborative project with aims to detect and discover viruses that are zoonotic and have pandemic potential. The presented project benefitted from this established framework. We focused efforts in the Lake Zone of Tanzania, where human and animal samples were being collected to test for other emerging infectious diseases using a broadly reactive consensus RT-PCR platform (cPCR) for a range of viral families. From 2015-2019, PREDICT collected human samples from 3 surveillance sites in the Kagera and Kigoma regions of the Lake Zone. Two of these sites were health clinics that enrolled patients with febrile illness of unknown origin. The third site was a constellation of villages adjacent to protected areas and a large international refugee settlement. Human data collection at all sites was done concurrently with animal sampling in the area These regions were selected due to the high prevalence of undiagnosed fevers in humans, intense human-animal contact, and shifting disease transmission drivers. This approach aimed to assess disease emergence and prevalence at high risk interfaces. Survey data were collected with samples to allow for the analysis of risk factors. Utilizing data and samples collected from the Kagera and Kigoma regions, we determined the seroprevalence of anti-RVF IgG immunoglobulins in humans. Then bivariate analysis and multivariable logistic regression were utilized to determine associations between risk factors, such as animal contact and livelihood exposures, and seropositivity. SaTScan was used to determine spatial clustering. Results: Of 463 individuals tested, 30 were positive, yielding a seroprevalence across sampling sites of 6.5%. Seroprevalence did not differ among sites, nor did it vary by sampling season or gender (p > 0.05). Bivariate analyses were performed to determine individual variable relationships with seroprevalence. Significant livelihood exposures included animal production/slaughter (OR = 2.26, 95% CI = 0.99-5.14, p = 0.047) and beekeeping (OR = 3.95, 95% CI = 1.57-9.92, p = 0.007). Individuals that had eaten sick livestock (OR = 3.13, 95% CI = 1.19-8.22, p = 0.028), found dead livestock (OR = 3.41, 95% CI = 1.20-9.69, p = 0.032), and slaughtered livestock (OR = 2.73, 95% CI = 1.22-6.09, p = 0.011) had increased risk of being seropositive for RVFV. Significant exposures from bivariate analysis were entered into a multivariable logistic regression model, which showed that most risk of exposure to RVFV could be explained by age (OR = 2.57, 95% CI = 1.41-4.69, p = 0.002). Conclusions: Previously, only limited data existed on Rift Valley fever virus for the Kagera and Kigoma regions of Tanzania, which have been thought to be outside of the expected or endemic RVFV zone. Most risk factors associated with seroprevalence for RVFV related to contact with livestock, which could reflect animal exposure risks or be a result of these factors being connected with working outside in high risk areas. Our study is contributing to the evolving understanding of RFV and other zoonotic diseases that occur at minimal endemic levels with sporadic, severe epidemics. Acknowledgements This study was made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Emerging Pandemic Threats PREDICT project (cooperative agreement number GHN-A-OO-09-00010-00), through the US Defense Threat Reduction Agency's Biological Threat Reduction Program (contract number: HDTRA1-14-1-0053), and by the Global Underserved Communities Fellowship from the Office of Global Programs at the University of California, Davis. References Anyangu, A. S., Gould, L. H., Sharif, S. K., Nguku, P. M., Omolo, J. O., Mutonga, D., et. al. (2010). Risk factors for severe Rift Valley fever infection in Kenya, 2007. Am J Trop Med Hyg., 83, 14-21. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.2010.09-0293. Bird, B. H., Githinji, J. W., Macharia, J. M., Kasiiti, J. L., Muriithi, R. M., Gacheru, S. G., et al. (2008). Multiple virus lineages sharing recent common ancestry were associated with a large Rift Valley fever outbreak among livestock in Kenya during 2006-2007. J Virol. 82, 11152-11166. doi: 10.1128/JVI.01519-08. Bird, B. H., Ksiazek, T. G., Nichol, S. T., Maclachlan, N. J. (2009). Rift Valley fever virus. J Am Vet Med Assoc. 234, 883-893. Cook, E. A., Grossi-Soyster, E. N., Glanville, W. A., Thomas, L. F., Kariuki, S., Bronsvoort, B. M., et. al. (2017). The sero-epidemiology of Rift Valley fever in people in the Lake Victoria Basin of western Kenya. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 11. doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0005731. Heinrich, N., Saathoff, E., Weller, N., Clowes, P., Kroidl, I., Ntinginya, E., et. al. (2012). High seroprevalence of Rift Valley fever and evidence for endemic circulation in Mbeya region, Tanzania, in a cross-sectional study. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 6. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0001557. LaBeaud, A. D., Pfeil, S., Muiruri, S., Dahir, S., Sutherland, L. J., Traylor, Z., et. al. (2015). Factors associated with severe human Rift Valley fever in Sangailu, Garissa county, Kenya. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 9. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0003548. Msimang, V., Thompson, P. N., Vuren, P. J., Tempia, S., Cordel, C., Kgaladi, J., et. al. (2019). Rift Valley Fever Virus Exposure amongst Farmers, Farm Workers, and Veterinary Professionals in Central South Africa. Viruses, 11, 140. doi:10.3390/v11020140. Mohamed M, Mosha F, Mghamba J, Zaki SR, Shieh WJ, et al. (2010) Epidemiologic and clinical aspects of a Rift Valley fever outbreak in humans in Tanzania, 2007. Am J Trop Med Hyg 83, 22-27. Nyakarahuka, L., Maurice, A. D., Purpura, L., Ervin, E., Balinandi, S., Tumusiime, A., et. al. (2018). Prevalence and risk factors of Rift Valley fever in humans and animals from Kabale district in Southwestern Uganda, 2016. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases,12. doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0006412. Sang, R., Arum, S., Chepkorir, E., Mosomtai, G., Tigoi, C., Sigei, F., et. al. (2017). Distribution and abundance of key vectors of Rift Valley fever and other arboviruses in two ecologically distinct counties in Kenya. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 11. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0005341. Sindato, C., Karimuribo, E., & Mboera, L. E. (2011). The epidemiology and socio-economic impact of Rift Valley fever in Tanzania: a review. Tanzania Journal of Health Research, 13. doi: 10.4314/thrb.v13i5.1. Sindato, C., Karimuribo, E. D., Pfeiffer, D. U., Mboera, L. E., Kivaria, F., Dautu, G., et. al. (2014). Spatial and temporal pattern of Rift Valley fever outbreaks in Tanzania; 1930 to 2007. PLoS One, 9. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0088897 Turell, M. J., and Bailey, C. L. (1987). Transmission studies in mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) with disseminated Rift Valley fever virus infections. Journal of Medical Entomology, 24, 11-18. Keywords: Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV), Tanzania Africa, seroprevalence, emerging disease, Zoonotic, Livestock keepers Conference: GeoVet 2019. Novel spatio-temporal approaches in the era of Big Data, Davis, United States, 8 Oct - 10 Oct, 2019. Presentation Type: Student Poster-session Topic: Real-time field data collection and visualization platforms Citation: Streb LH, Bird BH, Mkali HR, Makingi G, Wolking DJ, Magesa W, Mwangoka G, Lane JK, Kazwala R, Smith W and Mazet JA (2019). Zoonotic Rift Valley fever virus prevalence and risk factors in the Lake Zone of Tanzania. Front. Vet. Sci. Conference Abstract: GeoVet 2019. Novel spatio-temporal approaches in the era of Big Data. doi: 10.3389/conf.fvets.2019.05.00026 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 20 Jun 2019; Published Online: 27 Sep 2019. * Correspondence: Mx. Leah H Streb, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, Davis, California, CA 95616, United States, lhstreb@ucdavis.edu Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Leah H Streb Brian H Bird Happy R Mkali George Makingi David J Wolking Walter Magesa Grace Mwangoka Jennifer K Lane Rudovick Kazwala Woutrina Smith Jonna A Mazet Google Leah H Streb Brian H Bird Happy R Mkali George Makingi David J Wolking Walter Magesa Grace Mwangoka Jennifer K Lane Rudovick Kazwala Woutrina Smith Jonna A Mazet Google Scholar Leah H Streb Brian H Bird Happy R Mkali George Makingi David J Wolking Walter Magesa Grace Mwangoka Jennifer K Lane Rudovick Kazwala Woutrina Smith Jonna A Mazet PubMed Leah H Streb Brian H Bird Happy R Mkali George Makingi David J Wolking Walter Magesa Grace Mwangoka Jennifer K Lane Rudovick Kazwala Woutrina Smith Jonna A Mazet Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.

Increasing livestock production to meet growing demands has resulted in greater interactions at the livestock–wildlife–human interface and more opportunities for zoonotic disease spread. Zoonoses impose enormous burdens on low-income countries like Nepal, where populations are largely dependent on livestock production and access to shared grazing lands, often near protected areas, due to population pressures. Several livestock-associated zoonoses have been reported in Nepal; however, little is known regarding Nepali farmers’ knowledge of zoonoses and opportunities for disease management. We conducted a cross-sectional study to investigate Nepali farmers’ awareness of zoonoses, assess current health challenges, and evaluate disease prevention and control practices. We found that awareness of zoonotic pathogens was limited, especially in informally educated and illiterate farmers; the majority of which were women. Further, farmers’ preventive herd health, food safety, and sanitation practices were not associated with their awareness. Several farmers reported high-risk practices despite being aware of zoonotic diseases, suggesting a disconnect between the farmers’ awareness and practice. Our study highlights the need for improving Nepali farmers’ knowledge of zoonoses and disease prevention measures. Closing these awareness-practice gaps will require an improved understanding of risk and effective drivers of behavior change, alongside engagement of farmers in development of zoonotic disease prevention programs that encourage participation of both male and female farmers across all levels of education.

Traditional media and the internet are crucial sources of health information. Media can significantly shape public opinion, knowledge and understanding of emerging and endemic health threats. As digital communication rapidly progresses, local access and dissemination of health information contribute significantly to global disease detection and reporting.