Bush Meat Zoonotic Disease Proactive Solutions for

Bush Meat & Zoonotic Disease Proactive Solutions for a Dynamic Environment College of African Wildlife Management Mweka, Tanzania July 2008

Overview • Bush Meat and Zoonotic Disease – The Link – Global Viral Forecasting Initiative – Solutions • Disease Prevention & Response – Monitoring & Surveillance – Diagnosis – Response

Bush Meat and Zoonotic Disease • The problem… from a public health perspective: – Wildlife populations frequently harbor, often silently, zoonotic disease pathogens – Bush meat hunting places people in intimate contact with wildlife blood/tissues and increases risks of disease transmission

Livestock and Zoonotic Disease • Livestock may serve as intermediaries of zoonotic disease transmission between wildlife and humans – Cases of Avian Influenza and Nipah virus • Livestock holders at-risk for zoonoses

Bush Meat and Zoonotic Disease • Zoonoses that have jumped from wildlife reservoirs to humans through bush meat hunting/consumption in Africa • • • HIV Ebola Virus Marburg Virus Monkeypox Virus Simian Foamy Virus

Wolfe, ND. Et al. Emerging Infectious Diseases. Vol. 11. No. 12. December 2005; 1822 - 27.

Bush Meat Consumption • In Cameroon: – new timber concessions – new roads to access the resources – increased demand for animal protein Increased Bush Meat Consumption • Across income classes in Cameroon, ~ 9% of meat budget is spent on bush meat (International Institute of Tropical Agriculture) • Western Serengeti, Tanzania: – Bush meat comprised 55 -95% of meat protein requirements (Barnett, R. TRAFFIC East/Southern Africa. 2000)

Bush Meat Consumption • Congo Basin: § Bush meat consumption estimated at >282 g/person/day; annual extraction > 4. 5 million tons (Fa JE, et. al. Conservation Biology 2002: 16: 232 -7) • Central Africa Overall: § Estimate: ~ 579 million animals off-take as bush meat (Fa JE, et. al. In: Conservation of Exploited Species. Cambridge University Press. 2003 203 -241)

Bush Meat: The Broader Context • Biodiversity Bush Meat Issue • Conservation Efforts • Economy • Global Public Health

Bush Meat and Zoonotic Disease Transmission • Risk Factors: 1) Pathogen Prevalence 2) Human and Wildlife Interaction via hunting, slaughtering and butchering 3) Environmental Change that facilitates human/wildlife interaction 4) Human Behavior A. Asamoah/GWS

Bush Meat and Zoonotic Disease Transmission • Pathogen Prevalence – Pool of available, circulating pathogens – Propensity for pathogen sustainability within wildlife populations (animal to animal) – Pathogen affinity for human host • RNA viruses • High mutation and recombination rates

Bush Meat and Zoonotic Disease Transmission • Human and Wildlife Interaction – Highest risks associated with hunting nonhuman primates, particularly chimpanzees – Risks increase associated with level of contact: • Opening the Carcass (Butchering/Dressing) • Preparing and Cooking Meats • Transport • Sale UWSC

Bush Meat and Zoonotic Disease Transmission • Environmental Change – Climate change – Natural resource extraction – Agricultural encroachment – Loss of habitat Human and Animal Population Dynamic Shifts

Bush Meat and Zoonotic Disease Transmission • Human Behavior – – Human Migration Population Growth Protein Poor Diets Social and Cultural Practices (traditional medicines) – Wildlife/Exotic Animal Trade A. Asamoah/GWS

Bush Meat and Zoonotic Disease Transmission • Global Viral Forecasting Initiative • Pilot project of Dr. Nathan Wolfe (UCLA/UCSF) • Goal: forecast potential viral outbreaks before they reach epidemic status (e. g. HIV) • Working collaboratively with hunters to identify previously unknown viruses – Animal blood samples (hunter-collected) screened for unknown viral gene sequences – Create data bank of animal viruses

Global Viral Forecasting Initiative • Screening at-risk populations (hunters, market vendors) for viral antibodies as sentinel of virus exposure – Simian Foamy Virus found in Cameroonian hunters; however no human-human transmission to date • Matching idiopathic human illness with possible viral etiologies

Global Viral Forecasting Initiative • “Viral Chatter” – Continual low-level interchange of genetic information amongst viral subtypes • Recombined viruses may acquire novel properties (human transmission) that make them particularly dangerous • Monitoring “viral chatter” and early identification of outbreak potential

Global Viral Forecasting Initiative • Overarching themes: – Where is the next infectious disease pandemic likely to originate? • What does the data tell us about global “hot spots” of emerging infectious disease: where should we concentrate our resources? – How might we expect it to behave? – Can we mobilize resources in advance to be proactive rather than reactive in our response? • Link viral characteristics (e. g. surface proteins) with pandemic potential • Establish disease surveillance systems focused at these “hot spots” that target the human/animal interface

Bush Meat and Disease Transmission • How can we limit § Decrease host density opportunities for (people and livestock) infectious disease available to the pool of transmission at the circulating pathogens human/wildlife interface? § Equip and protect populations at highest risk of exposure to pathogens

Bush Meat and Disease Transmission • Decreasing host density available to pathogens – Low impact natural resource extraction (e. g. logging) that seeks to limit human/wildlife interaction – Limiting new road construction into wildlife habitat • Roads increase range of existing hunting areas and open new areas to hunting – Promote sustainable agricultural practices that meet nutritional demands and improve livelihoods • High yield crops • Irrigated agriculture where appropriate • Discourage clearing of new lands, particularly fringe areas and park boundaries ZSL

Bush Meat and Disease Transmission • Equip and protect populations at risk of exposure: – – Education Training Awareness Campaigns Personal Protective Equipment • Target At-Risk Populations: – Hunters – Market Vendors/ Middlemen – Park Rangers & Wildlife Officials – Timber Workers – Veterinarians/Animal Health Workers

Bush Meat and Disease Transmission • Keys to success: – Education • Including schoolchildren – Training/Outreach/Awareness – Enforcement – Adequate Nutrition – Alternative Livelihoods A. Asamoah/GWS

Best Policy: Avoid Contact with Wildlife N. Wolfe

Bush Meat and Disease: Education and Awareness • Messages must be carefully crafted and focused: – Reality of health risks as means of deterring bush meat hunting – Consideration of costs associated with bush meat hunting • • Medical and transportation costs to treat illness loss of income/productivity due to illness or death cultural ostracism fines/legal action – Active hunting will not control disease prevalence

Bush Meat and Disease: Education and Awareness • Provide information that will limit disease transmission opportunities UWSC • Hunters should: – Avoid visibly sick animals – Use personal protective equipment (gloves, masks, etc…) – Avoid high risk butchering practices – Seek medical help immediately upon signs of illness

Bush Meat and Disease: Education and Awareness • Locations for Outreach: – – – – Bush Meat Markets Urban Markets Livestock Markets Stops Along Trade and Transport Routes Schools Government Offices Veterinarians Hospitals • Campaigns Must: – Have Good Penetration to Target Audience – Be Easily Understood – Be Able to Respond to Community Needs – Be Culturally Sensitive – Flexible and Adaptable Based Upon Feedback

Bush Meat and Refugee Camps • Camps may be in environmentally sensitive areas, predisposing to bush meat hunting (Kagera & Kigoma camps, Tanzania) • Bush meat viewed as: – Source of cheap, often preferred, protein – Source of income for populations stressed & limited by displacement • Refugee camp populations at higher risk: – Inadequate nutrition/Protein poor diets – Higher rates of illness and poverty – High host density = rapid pathogen transmission

Bush Meat and Refugee Camps • Solutions: – Improving placement of refugee camps • Future camps should avoid wildlife migration routes – Ensuring nutritional/protein requirements of populations are met • Subsidized livestock based meats and eggs – Better wildlife management practices in bordering parks and game reserves – Providing livelihood solutions • Agricultural trainings and inputs • Increased emphasis on self-reliance

Addressing Disease Emergence Prevention and Response Solutions • Monitoring & Surveillance • Diagnosis • Response

Disease Monitoring & Surveillance • Surveillance: – The collection, analysis and interpretation of data to confirm disease presence, identify trends, and guide actions to control disease • Community Based Disease Surveillance – Utilizes trained community members to detect and report cases using standard diagnostic criteria

Community-Based Disease Surveillance • Allows surveillance under conditions of poor infrastructure, large coverage areas, and inadequate veterinary resources • Contributes to disease database compilation • Provides feedback to local community on disease trends, risks, outbreak prevention strategies • May be extended to include vaccination/treatment delivery by local community members

Community-Based Disease Surveillance • Strengths: – Improves diagnostic sensitivity – Allows real-time ongoing monitoring with minimal resources at minimal cost – Fosters community education and awareness • Weaknesses: – High error rate: requires clearly defined case definitions – First stage in outbreak detection: laboratory or health worker confirmation needed – Requires good communication/chain-of-command

CAHWs & Community-Based Disease Surveillance • Community-Based Animal Health Workers (CAHWs) – Community members trained in the prevention and treatment of common livestock illness and able to deliver services at the local level Practical Action

CAHWs & Community-Based Disease Surveillance • CAHWs may assist with community-based disease surveillance by: – Filling out regular disease monitoring forms – Reporting suspicious/suspect cases to veterinary authorities – Identifying disease outbreaks at earliest stages – Engaging in preventative activities (i. e. vaccination)

Allport, R. Et. Al. Rev. sci. tech. Offic. Int. Epiz 2005. 24. (3); 921 -932

CAHWs • • CAHWs generally bring an existing level of indigenous animal health and husbandry knowledge Added benefits beyond disease surveillance: Higher Meat/Milk Yields = Improved Food Security Improved Livestock Health Economic Self-Sufficiency Improved Nutrition & Human Health Decreased pressure on wildlife/bush meat

Diagnostic Capacity • Equipment – Infrastructure (i. e. generators, access to wells) – Basic Laboratory Diagnostic Equipment (microscopes, slides, incubators, reagents) – Diagnostic Assay Kits – Personal Protective Equipment/Biosafety Equip. • Training – Principles of Epidemiology – Equipment and Assay Use

Building Laboratory Diagnostic Capacity

… and Outbreak Response • Epidemiology and data analysis training • Rapid deployment to address disease outbreak incidents

Additional Resources • World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) www. oie. int • One World, One Health www. oneworldonehealth. org • Bush Meat Crisis Task Force www. bushmeat. org