Better lives through livestock
The One Health research-for-development
agenda: Enhance holistic health of people,
animals and environment
Jimmy Smith, Director General
International Livestock Research Institute, Kenya
The place of science in the COVID-19 story
Webinar, Friday 18 December 2020

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Overview
• A global view: pandemic and endemic diseases
• Impacts of COVID-19 in Kenya
• Key elements of a One Health approach

3
Scale and importance
of pandemic and endemic
diseases
Global

4
Costs of emerging zoonoses and pandemics
Graphics: Annabel Slater, ILRI

5
Warning! Increasing frequency of pandemics
Graphics: Annabel Slater, ILRI; adapted fromUnited Nations Environment Programme and International Livestock Research Institute (2020).
Preventing the Next Pandemic: Zoonotic diseases and how to break the chain of transmission. Nairobi, Kenya.

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Preventing the next pandemic
Seven major anthropogenic
drivers of zoonotic disease
emergence
1. Increasing demand for
animal protein
2. Unsustainable agricultural
intensification
3. Increased use and
exploitation of wildlife
4. Unsustainable utilization
of natural resources
5. Travel and transportation
6. Changes in food supply
chains
7. Climate change
United Nations Environment Programme and International Livestock Research Institute (2020). Preventing the Next
Pandemic: Zoonotic diseases and how to break the chain of transmission. Nairobi, Kenya.

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At least one billion people on the planet are also impacted because of
endemic livestock diseases
Over 1 billion people; two-thirds of rural livestock keepers are women; 40% agricultural GDP
Loss of animals; or their productivity impacts on multiple livelihood dimensions

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Kenya
Impacts in the livestock sector matter:
- Sector supports 10 million mostly pastoralists
- Half of agricultural workforce
- 13% GDP
- Resilience, food, income, etc

Expected effects of COVID-19 on the livestock value chain
(tested: phone survey in northern Kenya)
Inputs (agrovets
and other service
providers)
Reduced sales due to
limited demand by
producers
Producers/
Pastoralists
Reduced livestock
sales due to closure
of markets
Reduced income
from livestock sales
Limited access to
market information
Reduced labour
force from non-
family members
Aggregators
Reduced livestock
stocks
Reduced access due
to border , inter-
county restrictions,
curfew & market
closures
Processors
Fewer animals for
slaughter due to
border restrictions and
curfew
Abattoirs running
below capacity
Reduction in
quantities processed
Distributor-
w/sale &
retailers
Reduction in
livestock numbers
being sold
Increased cost of
international trade
due to closure of
borders and
movement
restrictions
Consumers
Reduced purchasing
power due to fewer
livestock sales,
unemployment
Reduction in
quantity of foods
consumed & food
security
Reduced use of
health and nutrition
services

Results: consumers
0
2,000
4,000
6,000
8,000
10,000
12,000
14,000
16,000
18,000
Isiolo Marsabit Garissa Wajir Turkana Total
mean
Income
(Kes)
Household mean income in KES by county
January February March April
• Significant reduction in household incomes across the 5 counties
• Reduction in consumption frequency of nutrient dense meat, eggs, fruits
and vegetables
• Reduction in number and quantity of
meals consumed per day
• Reduction in number of ante- & post-natal
visits: e.g. in Garissa, the % children 6-59
months getting micronutrient
supplementation dropped to 30% in May
2020 (71% May 2019)
• Frequent hand washing and sanitation as a
COVID-19 preventive measure could have
positive health/nutrition effects

Results: livestock markets and retailers
• Sharp reduction in meat sold
• Volumes of livestock sold started to decline in Feb across the counties and
plummeted in March and April with the closure of most livestock markets
• Improvement in May and June, but generally stagnated compared to the
period before the pandemic
0
5000
10000
15000
20000
25000
JA N- 20 F E B- 20 MA R- 20 A P R- 20 MA Y - 20 JUN- 20
NUMBER
SOLD
MONTH
VOLUMES SOLD BY SPECIES
Cattle Camel Goats Sheep
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
January February March April
Kilograms of meat sold by
month
Isiolo Marsabit Garissa
Wajir Turkana Total

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Prepare
Detect
Respond
One Health: key elements

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Pandemics and endemics: One Health approach needed
Prepare – detect – respond
United Nations Environment Programme and International Livestock Research Institute (2020). Preventing the Next
Pandemic: Zoonotic diseases and how to break the chain of transmission. Nairobi, Kenya.

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Prepare: invest in One Health
Detect: early detection

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Detect: evaluate impacts and opportunities of lockdown
measures
Underway: One Health Regional Network for the Horn of Africa - ‘HORN’ project (UK
funded, ILRI, University of Liverpool):
• Partnership with University of Nairobi, Moi University
• Status of practicing public health actions against COVID-19 in an urban slum in Nairobi
• Team of young multidisciplinary coinvestigators (Moi)
• COVID-19 impacts and mitigation measures on dietary diversity and health outcomes (Uasin
Gishu County)
• Repurposed funding:
• Telephone surveys of formal and informal value chain actors: business implications of
lockdown, diversification, financing issues and impacts on farmers
• Analysis of respiratory virus and bacteria shedding in exhaled breath and mass
masking behaviour in a Kenyan community
• Knowledge, attitudes and perceptions influence the behaviour and practices of mass mask
wearing in individuals across different socio-economic strata
• Pilot study to determine presence of SARS-CoV-2 virus on masks

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Respond: repurpose facilities and support COVID-19 testing and research
• ILRI One Health Research, Outreach and
Education Centre (OHRECA) established
(German funding)
• ILRI bioscience laboratories supporting MoH for
COVID-19 testing
• New research
• Capacity development

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ILRI bioscience laboratories supporting MoH for COVID-19 testing
Since 1 June 2020:
• 22,446 tests
• 2,965 positive

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OHRECA: new research
• Evaluation of alternative COVID-19 testing method using saliva samples
• Monitor the circulation of SARS-CoV-2 in communities through
sewerage water surveillance
• Study the genetic evolution and transmission dynamics of SARS-CoV-2
virus isolates from different parts of the country through whole
genome sequencing
• Profile B cell receptor repertoire from patients showing varied disease
outcomes and identify neutralizing antibodies for production of
recombinant antibody therapeutics

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OHRECA: capacity development
• January 2021: Regional workshop to review training strategy for One Health
• Graduate fellowships – 12 PhDs across east Africa from February 2021
• Training of public and animal health workers on One Health principles to support
surveillance and zoonosis control
• Initial training on behaviour change communication on food safety (training of
trainers)
• Completed in Uganda
• scaled up in Kenya and Ethiopia through VSF Germany
• Communication and sensitization messaging on good practices on antimicrobial use

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Respond: the need for biological sciences in pandemics
 Understand viral populations:
 Smart molecular surveillance
 Whole genome sequencing
 Understand the process of infection:
 Molecular interactions that
permit host species jumps
 Identify potential animal
reservoirs of pandemics
 Develop universal vaccines to viral
families with pandemic potential to
control animal reservoirs
A 3-D model of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, developed by Annabel Slater, ILRI

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Respond: Minimize food-borne risks and hazards
Improve not prohibit
Enabling (regulatory)
environment
Training and simple
technology
Incentives
Fresh food markets all around the
world: 80% of the food for most people

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Respond: coordination and action at every level
(Figure 5, p26 World Bank. 2010. People, Pathogens and Our Planet. Volume 1: Towards a One Health Approach for Controlling Zoonotic Diseases. Report No. 50833-GLB)
From
grassroots…..to
ministries…to
regional and global

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Key messages
• The devastating effects of COVID-19 impact every dimension of society globally and
in Kenya
• Such multi-faceted impacts have raised the profile of One Health
• One Health research and development agenda covers wide spectrum from research,
capacity development and stakeholder engagement across animal, human and
environment health sectors to:
• Prepare
• Detect
• Respond
• Addressing the present and preventing future pandemics requires focus and
investment in One Health that must not be relented on

THANK YOU