‘A Day in the Life of the People, Animals and their Zoonoses (PAZ) Project’, is series of blog articles by several members of ILRI staff working on the PAZ project based in Busia. These staff members, share their first hand experiences, challenges, and highlights of the project, in this post Lorren Alumasa, a clinical technician … Continue reading »
A recent study on ‘Identification of virulence factors of Theileria parva’ has confirmed the existence of a low virulent strain and identified the mechanism that was at the basis of this low virulence, showing some promising new avenues to develop a product that could help in the control of Theileriosis. This low virulent strain, Chitongo … Continue reading »
The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), jointly with the University of Edinburgh (UK) and the Kenya Medical Research Institute, with additional support from the Kenyan Department of Veterinary Services, operates a laboratory in the town of Busia, in Western Kenya. It is here that the People, Animals and their Zoonoses (PAZ) project operates a joint … Continue reading »
In this article James Gachanja, who has just retired from ILRI, the place that has been his home for the past 23 years, looks back on his journey at ILRI as he excitedly goes to pursue his farming dream. From an early age, James Gachanja understood the value of livestock. He was educated and brought … Continue reading »
Busia County, in Western Kenya is the main research area for the People, Animals and their Zoonoses (PAZ) project. Farmers in this County and its environs are slowly adopting pig farming as an alternative way of earning their livelihoods. There is close interaction between pigs and people as they are either tethered within the homestead … Continue reading »
“Animal diseases make up 60 per cent of all human pathogens and have a significant impact on poverty. Yet for many years, the worst diseases were sorely neglected by the international community. Eric Fevre describes how this turned around, and what researchers are now doing to tackle it. ‘In the far west of rural Kenya, … Continue reading »
Contagious bovine pleuropneumonia (CBPP), caused by Mycoplasma mycoides subsp. mycoides, is an important livestock disease in Africa. The current control measures rely on a vaccine with limited efficacy and occasional severe side effects. Knowledge of the protective arms of immunity involved in this disease will be beneficial for the development of an improved vaccine. In … Continue reading »
Western Kenya is a part of the world with high human and livestock population densities, representative more largely of the whole Lake Victoria Crescent ecosystem. This is a rural area (around 95% of households depend on agriculture as their primary source of livelihoods) where farmers are mixed crop-livestock small-holders – families generally grow crops and … Continue reading »
On January 18, the Contagious bovine pleuropneumonia (CBPP) team at ILRI Nairobi had the pleasure of hosting Prof. Joachim Frey from the University of Bern in Switzerland. Prof. Frey, the current chair of the International Organization of Mycoplasmology, and one of the world’s leading experts on CBPP gave a seminar to ILRI staff on ‘Molecular epidemiology … Continue reading »
The Dairy Genetics East Africa (DGEA) project’s success hinges on the participation of small holders dairy farmers and their willingness to share their knowledge and practices. Selected project sites include Kaptumo, Siongiroi, Meteitei, Kabras, Butere/Khwisero in Kenya and Wakiso, Bushyenyi in Uganda. On 27th of June, a field trip in the Kenyan sites to monitor … Continue reading »
Causing up to 100 per cent mortality in previously unaffected animals, African Swine Fever (ASF) is a devastating disease of pigs. Endemic across much of Africa, the disease poses a wider threat to global food security, particularly in East Asia, where at least 50 per cent of the protein consumed is pork, much of it … Continue reading »
‘Highlighting our publications’ is a new blog series that will feature publications from the Biotech theme. The success of scientific research is greatly pegged on existing information and published scientific work to provide crucial information and knowledge that is important to the progress of science. Our publications represent the latest results in areas such as: … Continue reading »
As part of the reflection for the November 2011 liveSTOCK Exchange seminar at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Addis Ababa, Biotech scientists: Roger Pelle, Phil Toye, Steve Kemp and Okeyo Mwai share their reflections on some of the changes they have observed and have been part off over the years in a series of … Continue reading »
Nimmo Gicheru, one of the 2011 African Women in Agricultural Research and Development (AWARD) Fellows is a PhD student working with the Contagious Bovine Pleuropneumonia (CBPP) project at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) Nairobi, Kenya. CBPP is a disease that greatly impacts on livelihoods of livestock-dependent communities within Africa by restricting market access for … Continue reading »
Racheal Aye, one of the 2011 African Women in Agricultural Research and Development (AWARD) Fellows is a PhD student with the Contagious Bovine Pleuropneumonia (CBPP). CBPP is a severe, highly contagious respiratory disease of cattle and buffaloes caused by Mycoplasma mycoides subsp. mycoides (Mmm) small colony type (SC). The disease is characterized by high morbidity … Continue reading »
