IndiaZooRisk+: Using OneHealth approaches to understand and co-develop interventions for zoonotic diseases affecting forest communities in India
Lead Research Organisation:
UK CENTRE FOR ECOLOGY & HYDROLOGY
Department Name: Biodiversity (Wallingford)
Abstract
Zoonotic diseases (that spread from animals to humans) disproportionately affect poor tropical communities and can lead to loss of life, impaired livelihoods, health and welfare. Forest habitats are a significant source of such diseases. For communities that depend on forests for food, fuel and income, accessing forests comes with the increased risk of being exposed to zoonotic pathogens. Although we know that zoonotic diseases are increasing globally, we still lack knowledge on how these diseases circulate between wildlife, livestock and people as they use forests, and how environmental changes like forest degradation interact with human migration, local culture and society (knowledge sharing), and policy (land tenure, disease prioritisation) to exacerbate emergence and spread. Focussing on India as a key global hotspot for endemic and emerging zoonotic diseases and bringing together a network of policy makers and practitioners from the human health, animal health and environmental sectors with experts (public and animal health, ecology, epidemiology and social science) - thereby following the One Health approach -, this project aims to reduce health, welfare and livelihood impacts of zoonotic diseases by (1) better understanding the impacts of different drivers on health outcomes and spread of zoonotic diseases (2) co-develop improved interventions, integrating traditional knowledge, with affected forest communities and, thereby building the capacity of local communities to be more resilient to zoonotic diseases. Three neglected zoonotic diseases, Leptospirosis, Kyasanur forest Disease and Scrub Typhus that are widespread across the Western Ghats forest communities and cause severe complications and death if untreated, yet have different transmission routes, will be taken as key case-studies for field research.
The research underpinning these improvements will include:
(1) understanding how local culture and policies, nutrition and environment factors affect community interventions, perceptions and health outcomes from zoonotic diseases.
(2) investigating how different communities share knowledge on diseases and health intervention, including traditional knowledge, both with each other and with practitioners and managers, to improve communication strategies.
(3) studying the role of different wildlife and livestock hosts and tick and mite vectors in transmission of disease to humans in different seasons.
(4) understanding how long distance seasonal migration of pastoralists may promote resilience or increase their exposure to diseases and environmental change.
(5) developing computer models and risk maps, integrating environmental and social data, for predicting the distribution and spread of diseases.
(6) building capacity in research, data analysis and cross-sectoral collaboration to underpin future One Health approaches in India.
Improved decision-support tools and Apps and prioritisation of traditional knowledge will help disease managers, policy makers and community workers to develop novel interventions and better target vaccination and communication efforts towards the communities that are most at risk and help managers in agriculture and environmental sectors to understand how, for these communities, disease impacts may coincide with other negative impacts of environmental change. The project platform and approach of co-developing research, training and decision support tools on zoonotic diseases with stakeholders across sectors, accounting for their needs and underlying ecological and social processes, will build significant capacity in science, policy and practitioners to respond to these emerging and endemic global threats in India and beyond.
The research underpinning these improvements will include:
(1) understanding how local culture and policies, nutrition and environment factors affect community interventions, perceptions and health outcomes from zoonotic diseases.
(2) investigating how different communities share knowledge on diseases and health intervention, including traditional knowledge, both with each other and with practitioners and managers, to improve communication strategies.
(3) studying the role of different wildlife and livestock hosts and tick and mite vectors in transmission of disease to humans in different seasons.
(4) understanding how long distance seasonal migration of pastoralists may promote resilience or increase their exposure to diseases and environmental change.
(5) developing computer models and risk maps, integrating environmental and social data, for predicting the distribution and spread of diseases.
(6) building capacity in research, data analysis and cross-sectoral collaboration to underpin future One Health approaches in India.
Improved decision-support tools and Apps and prioritisation of traditional knowledge will help disease managers, policy makers and community workers to develop novel interventions and better target vaccination and communication efforts towards the communities that are most at risk and help managers in agriculture and environmental sectors to understand how, for these communities, disease impacts may coincide with other negative impacts of environmental change. The project platform and approach of co-developing research, training and decision support tools on zoonotic diseases with stakeholders across sectors, accounting for their needs and underlying ecological and social processes, will build significant capacity in science, policy and practitioners to respond to these emerging and endemic global threats in India and beyond.
Technical Summary
Zoonotic diseases disproportionately affect poor tropical communities leading to loss of life, impaired livelihoods, health and welfare. Forests are a significant source of such diseases. Communities that depend on forests for food, fuel and income, incur an increased risk of being exposed to zoonotic pathogens. Social and environmental change appears to increase zoonotic diseases, but little is known on the drivers of change and how they interact. This project will (1) better understand the impacts of different drivers, such as forest degradation, land tenure, human mobility, power dynamics and knowledge systems, and seasonal ecology, on health outcomes and spread of zoonotic diseases and (2) co-develop improved interventions with affected forest communities and policy makers and practitioners from the human health, animal health and environmental sectors thereby building the capacity of local communities to be more resilient to zoonotic diseases. The research underpinning these improvements will determine (1) the contextual and biological factors that underpin vulnerability to zoonotic pathogens; (2) knowledge sharing impacts on zoonotic disease management; (3) seasonal exposure to zoonotic diseases and (4) human mobility interactions with disease ecology and integrate this understanding into predictive models and decision support tools.
This project will benefit human health sector policy makers and managers understand better contextual and mobility risk factors for zoonotic diseases thanks to co-developed predictive models, targeting of surveillance and diagnostic protocols, vaccination programs and risk communication strategies at District-to-State levels. Affected communities will benefit from co-developed interventions building on traditional knowledge, increased awareness of zoonotic diseases, protection measures and health care services reducing the likelihood of death, illness or loss of income due to zoonotic disease infection.
This project will benefit human health sector policy makers and managers understand better contextual and mobility risk factors for zoonotic diseases thanks to co-developed predictive models, targeting of surveillance and diagnostic protocols, vaccination programs and risk communication strategies at District-to-State levels. Affected communities will benefit from co-developed interventions building on traditional knowledge, increased awareness of zoonotic diseases, protection measures and health care services reducing the likelihood of death, illness or loss of income due to zoonotic disease infection.
Planned Impact
All beneficiaries will benefit through the creation of a long-term and effective science-policy-practitioner interface for zoonotic disease management building on more diverse and explicit cross-sectoral networks and governance systems. In particular, the impact will benefit practitioners, researchers and cross-sectoral stakeholders in the following ways:
Health, welfare and economic development impact: Benefiting practitioners
Our research addresses an area of economic development and welfare increasingly relevant to and important in Low and/or Middle Income Countries (LMICs) where threats from emerging and endemic zoonotic diseases are evolving in response to complex socio-political, ecological and environmental change drivers. The project will help human health sector policy makers and disease managers in India to target and prioritise interventions such as vaccination programs, risk communication strategies, and traditional knowledge, thereby reducing the disease burdens and impacts on livelihoods of tribal groups, resident and migratory farmers. Animal health sector policy makers will gain awareness of the social, political and ecological mechanisms underpinning zoonotic infection thereby providing the basis on which to develop national management and research agendas for other tick- and mite- borne diseases of livestock linked to forests. Forestry sector policy makers and managers will be able to improve the spatial planning of forests and reduce the risk of exposure to zoonotic diseases.
Scientific impact: Benefiting researchers
Academics will benefit from the baseline datasets and novel methodologies generated by this project. Relevant researchers from outside the project consortium will be involved from the start of the project through workshops and through a tailored training course in order to build long-term capacity and improve the inter-connectedness of researchers in India working on different aspects of zoonotic diseases. By the end of the project, researchers will be better aware of how data, surveillance and expertise can be leveraged across sectors to understanding disease dynamics and predict potential impacts of interventions. In addition, this project will strengthen the capacity of researchers in India and other LMICs through cross-sector scientific collaboration, post-doctoral mentoring and training and advance global scientific understanding of the biological and socio-economic drivers and management of zoonotic diseases.
Policy impact: Benefiting cross-sectoral policy stakeholders
This project will build on the successful implementation of co-production in the MonkeyFeverRisk project. The approach was chosen to address the common challenge of lack of mainstreaming in policy sectors often resulting in a disconnected and piecemeal approach to disease management, and ineffective interventions. We addressed this by identifying and engaging actively and genuinely with stakeholders across the public health, animal health, forestry and agriculture policy sectors and beyond. In this project, we will repeat the approach of jointly framing the problem and solutions from the start of the project through focussed and participatory workshops with all relevant policy stakeholders across sectors, and maintaining strong engagement throughout the project through a co-production of knowledge approach. We will, however, apply lessons learned from the MonkeyFeverRisk project to improve the cross-sectoral impact of this new project. Namely, we will ensure that the interventions are co-developed with all identified stakeholders from the start of the project to ensure their implementation and take-up by all relevant sectors.
The strong focus on cross-sectoral and cross-disciplinary working applied in this project will result in research that is more robust, with greater policy impact, and strengthened capacity of stakeholders across disciplines and sectors to respond to zoonoses using the One Health appr
Health, welfare and economic development impact: Benefiting practitioners
Our research addresses an area of economic development and welfare increasingly relevant to and important in Low and/or Middle Income Countries (LMICs) where threats from emerging and endemic zoonotic diseases are evolving in response to complex socio-political, ecological and environmental change drivers. The project will help human health sector policy makers and disease managers in India to target and prioritise interventions such as vaccination programs, risk communication strategies, and traditional knowledge, thereby reducing the disease burdens and impacts on livelihoods of tribal groups, resident and migratory farmers. Animal health sector policy makers will gain awareness of the social, political and ecological mechanisms underpinning zoonotic infection thereby providing the basis on which to develop national management and research agendas for other tick- and mite- borne diseases of livestock linked to forests. Forestry sector policy makers and managers will be able to improve the spatial planning of forests and reduce the risk of exposure to zoonotic diseases.
Scientific impact: Benefiting researchers
Academics will benefit from the baseline datasets and novel methodologies generated by this project. Relevant researchers from outside the project consortium will be involved from the start of the project through workshops and through a tailored training course in order to build long-term capacity and improve the inter-connectedness of researchers in India working on different aspects of zoonotic diseases. By the end of the project, researchers will be better aware of how data, surveillance and expertise can be leveraged across sectors to understanding disease dynamics and predict potential impacts of interventions. In addition, this project will strengthen the capacity of researchers in India and other LMICs through cross-sector scientific collaboration, post-doctoral mentoring and training and advance global scientific understanding of the biological and socio-economic drivers and management of zoonotic diseases.
Policy impact: Benefiting cross-sectoral policy stakeholders
This project will build on the successful implementation of co-production in the MonkeyFeverRisk project. The approach was chosen to address the common challenge of lack of mainstreaming in policy sectors often resulting in a disconnected and piecemeal approach to disease management, and ineffective interventions. We addressed this by identifying and engaging actively and genuinely with stakeholders across the public health, animal health, forestry and agriculture policy sectors and beyond. In this project, we will repeat the approach of jointly framing the problem and solutions from the start of the project through focussed and participatory workshops with all relevant policy stakeholders across sectors, and maintaining strong engagement throughout the project through a co-production of knowledge approach. We will, however, apply lessons learned from the MonkeyFeverRisk project to improve the cross-sectoral impact of this new project. Namely, we will ensure that the interventions are co-developed with all identified stakeholders from the start of the project to ensure their implementation and take-up by all relevant sectors.
The strong focus on cross-sectoral and cross-disciplinary working applied in this project will result in research that is more robust, with greater policy impact, and strengthened capacity of stakeholders across disciplines and sectors to respond to zoonoses using the One Health appr
Publications
Asaaga F
(2023)
'It doesn't happen how you think, it is very complex!' Reconciling stakeholder priorities, evidence, and processes for zoonoses prioritisation in India
in Frontiers in Public Health
Vanwambeke S
(2024)
Land system governance shapes tick-related public and animal health risks
in Journal of Land Use Science
Purse B
(2023)
A One Health Ecosystem Approach for Understanding and Mitigating Spill-Over of Tick-Borne Diseases in India's Degraded Forests
in One Health Cases
Asaaga FA
(2021)
The role of social vulnerability in improving interventions for neglected zoonotic diseases: the example of Kyasanur Forest Disease in India
in PLoS Global Public Health
Asaaga FA
(2022)
Co-production of knowledge as part of a OneHealth approach to better control zoonotic diseases.
in PLOS global public health
Asaaga FA
(2023)
The role of social vulnerability in improving interventions for neglected zoonotic diseases: The example of Kyasanur Forest Disease in India.
in PLOS global public health
Asaaga FA
(2021)
Co-production of knowledge as part of a OneHealth approach to better control zoonotic diseases
in PLoS Global Public Health
Hassall RMJ
(2023)
Using mechanistic models to highlight research priorities for tick-borne zoonotic diseases: Improving our understanding of the ecology and maintenance of Kyasanur Forest Disease in India.
in PLoS neglected tropical diseases
Asaaga FA
(2021)
'None of my ancestors ever discussed this disease before!' How disease information shapes adaptive capacity of marginalised rural populations in India.
in PLoS neglected tropical diseases
Description | Using household surveys, we have found out about the multiple factors that can make forest dependent communities in south India more vulnerable to the tick-borne Kyasanur Forest Disease. Households with poor access to land, that are at or below the poverty line and headed by an older person had higher perceived KFD vulnerability and faced greater disadvantage in leveraging adaptation pathways to KFD. Moreover, KFD vulnerability was also increased by important extra-household factors including proximity to private hospitals and main roads. By characterising small holders or tribal communities as homogenous in their vulnerability could lead to intervention pathways that might threaten or jeopardise the already 'precarious' livelihoods of certain social groups with weaker bargaining power. The paper can be found at this link https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgph.0000758 A second key finding arises from computer models of Kyasanur Forest Disease transmission, that incorporate existing knowledge of the habitat preferences and interactions of key wildlife and livestock hosts and tick vectors in transmission. This work shows that a process of transovarial transmission, where adult ticks pass infection to their eggs is much more important in KFD transmission that previously thought. It also shows that small mammals play the largest role in maintaining and amplifying KFD transmission compared to birds and monkeys and this finding holds across forest, paddy, around households and plantation habitats. This suggests that the current management focus on raising community awareness and treating tick habitats around the sites of monkey deaths is poorly supported by the evidence and needs to be reframed to take better account of the role of small mammals. |
Exploitation Route | Existing disease control frameworks, especially for neglected zoonotic diseases, need to be broadened to better capture underlying social attributes and circumstances that cause vulnerabilities and how differences in capabilities can inform targeted disease prevention and adaptation pathways. Increased focus on social vulnerability help national and international health planners improve health interventions and prioritise among diseases with respect to neglected endemic zoonoses like KFD. The model framework for KFD transmission, that looks at the role of different habitats, hosts and processes in maintaining transmission, is widely applicable to other ecologically complex zoonotic infections., especially those for which emergence may be linked to ecosystem change. The specific results of the model for KFD suggests that the current management focus on raising community awareness and treating tick habitats around the sites of monkey deaths is poorly supported by the evidence and needs to be reframed to take better account of the role of small mammals. |
Sectors | Communities and Social Services/Policy Environment Healthcare |
URL | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgph.0000758 |
Description | The project has led to co-developed engagement materials that highlight the risks and adaptive measures for tick bites, tick-borne diseases and rodent-borne infections. These have been distributed among Primary Health Centres and other health department premises in key affected states. These have also been distributed in state level newspapers that reach affected communities during the surge of KFD cases in 2023/2024. The interactive online decision support tool developed to help target surveillance of and interventions for tick-borne diseases has been presented at a National Public Health Conference and is influencing how these tools are being developed for other zoonotic infections within the health system. |
First Year Of Impact | 2022 |
Sector | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Environment,Healthcare |
Title | Database of models and information systems for zoonotic diseases in india |
Description | A compilation of existing models and information systems to support the control and prevention of zoonotic diseases in India |
Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
Year Produced | 2021 |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | Ongoing |
Title | Database of priority zoonotic diseases in India |
Description | This is a compiled database of priority zoonotic diseases of public health concern in India |
Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
Year Produced | 2021 |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | Ongoing |
Title | Focus Group Discussion interview guide |
Description | A guide to understand how people's daily life make them vulnerable and/or safeguard for zoonotic diseases |
Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
Year Produced | 2022 |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | Improved working best practice |
Title | Key Informat Interview |
Description | A guide to understand local communities' experiences and perceptions from key individuals (Stakeholders) with respect to zoonotic diseases |
Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
Year Produced | 2022 |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | Consistent best practice across multiple project based social science interviews |
Title | Key Informat Interview guide |
Description | A guide to understand human and small mammals relationship in the community |
Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
Year Produced | 2022 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | Improved information and discussions when working with local stakeholders, improved knowledge and understanding on how to communicate differing understanding of species and reference approach. |
Title | Next generation matrix model for tick-borne diseases |
Description | A next generation matrix model for tick borne diseases that incorporates multiple vertebrate hosts |
Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
Year Produced | 2023 |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | NA |
URL | https://github.com/richhassall/KFD_NGM_models |
Title | Oral History Guide |
Description | A guide to collect information about local communities' experiences of land use and forest change, and their perceptions about their links to health and well-being. |
Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
Year Produced | 2022 |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | Improved project and social science research best practice |
Title | key informant interview |
Description | A guide to understand how the information is shared among and inbetween people and who are the key people when it comes to disease information or seeking health care |
Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
Year Produced | 2022 |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | Consistent methodology across working project group |
Title | Land Cover/Land Use maps (30m) for Shivamogga, Sindhudurg and Wayanad, India, 2018 |
Description | This dataset contains Land Cover/Land Use (LCLU) maps for Sindhudurg, Shivamogga and Wayanad, India. LCLU products are state-of-the-art statically stable and area weighted accuracy assessed products. The LCLU product was generated for Kyasanur Forest Disease (KFD), a Zoonotic disease. KFD is an "ecotonal" disease. Diverse forest-plantation mosaics, zone moist evergreen forest and plantation, and low coverage of dry deciduous forest will cause higher risks for KFD. Our LCLU product aimed to separate diverse forest types and plantation and we achieved high accuracy (>90%). The study covers Sindhudurg, Shivamogga, and Wayanad Western Ghats district which belong to Indian state Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Kerala respectively. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2023 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | Not currently known |
URL | https://catalogue.ceh.ac.uk/id/cacb66de-aea0-41d5-97b3-9eacd4683aaf |
Title | Radar derived seasonal surface water maps for three Indian districts (Shivamogga, Sindhudurg, Wayanad), 2017-2018 |
Description | Data provided are monthly surface water layers extracted from Sentinel1A SAR data for 3 districts in India (Shivamogga, Sindhudurg, Wayanad) for the year 2017 and 2018. Surface water body layers were mapped using an average monthly threshold value extracted from the image backscatter histogram. The average threshold value excluded the monsoon months due to the difference in water and not water area. The threshold value was slightly lesser than the mean threshold value. The end product was validated using field data which resulted in user and producer accuracies. Monthly surface water body layers were not produced for a few months due to the non-availability of Sentinel 1 data. The work was supported by MRC, AHRC, BBSRC, ESRC and NERC [grant number MR/P024335/1] and NERC - SUNRISE project [grant number NE/R000131/1] |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2022 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | These data layers will be available to researchers and practitioners in India who require information on surface water availability for biodiversity and health applications. The radar processing and ground-truthing methodology is also of value for other researchers mapping surface water in other contexts. |
URL | https://catalogue.ceh.ac.uk/id/3c23fea1-5b27-4b01-b9ef-fc13346cfedc |
Description | Aberdeen University, Dr M Moseley, new collaboration with IZR team on Leptospirosis diagnostics and ecology |
Organisation | University of Aberdeen |
Department | Institute of Biological and Environmental Sciences |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | We are providing the ecological stratified sampling design, for understanding Leptospirosis occurrence in environmental and animal samples in India, providing the opportunity to compare the occurrence and movement of strains between humans, animals and people in an additional global context where Leptospirosis burden is high. |
Collaborator Contribution | Dr Mark Moseley is a leading expert in leptospirosis diagnostics and transmission who has been developing new molecular techniques for detecting leptospirosis in environmental and animal samples, including identifying mixed infections, in south Africa. This expertise will enable us to develop capacity in diagnostic techniques for leptospirosis in India and to contribute our data and insights to a global analysis of strain diversity. |
Impact | A training workshop, with participating researchers assistants from ATREE, NIVEDI and UKCEH, was provided by Dr Mark Moseley to build capacity in Leptospirosis diagnostics and ecology. |
Start Year | 2022 |
Description | Emory University (Ani B) collaboration with IZR team on agent based models |
Organisation | Emory University |
Country | United States |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Collaboration and sharing of ideas and practical techniques to enhance agent based modelling approaches for IZR |
Collaborator Contribution | Collaboration and sharing of ideas and practical techniques to enhance agent based modelling approaches for IZR |
Impact | Shared knowledge, enchancement of project outcomes and modelling outputs |
Start Year | 2022 |
Description | "An approach to One Health" at Institute of Public Health by Sangeetha |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | A seminar on One Health - a collaborative, multi-sectoral and transdisciplinary approach in public health aimed at understanding the interconnections between people, animal, plants and their shared environment. One Health is touted as an effective way to fight health issues at the human, animal, environmental interface including zoonotic diseases. Addressed on how this approach can be used by involving experts from human, animal, environmental health and other stakeholders like law enforcement, policy makers, agriculture, communities in monitoring and controlling public health threats and learn the spread of diseases among people, animals, plants and the environment. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | "One Health approach for Emerging Zoonotic Diseases" |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | A Talk on One Health with special reference to KFD - a collaborative, multi-sectoral and transdisciplinary approach in public health aimed at understanding the interconnections between people, animal, plants and their shared environment. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | 6th World One-Health Conference, France - Attended by Dr Abi Tamim Vanak |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Attended the one-health conference and participated in dialogue Social impact, dialogue and contribution on one-health, Idea dessimination |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | 7th World One-Health Conference, Singapore - Attended by Dr Abi Tamim Vanak and Irfan Shakeer (SRA, IndiaZooRisk+) [2022] |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Attended the one-health conference and participated in dialogue. Social impact, dialogue and contribution on one-health, Idea dessimination |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | A Video Conference between representatives from OneHealth Research Organisations and the State Health and Family Welfare Services, Government of Karnataka |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | "A presentation on the team's prior experience with Kyasanur Forest Disease (KFD) through the Money Fever Risk work since 2017 in partnership with VDL and State Health Department, Government of Karnataka was made by Dr Prashanth, Dr Tanya and Dr Abi. The presentation spoke about the significance of integrating human, animal, and environmental health into the 'One Health' framework and was explained through the KFD case study. The different methods and techniques used to study KFD including spatial disease modeling, tick surveillance, rodent trapping, walk-through surveys, etc were shown. A co-produced disease prediction model was shared along with its relevance. Insights into the project's social components, where the team studied social vulnerability in regard to KFD were shared. In the subsequent slides, decision support tools from the project including tick information cards, disease operational manuals, and spatial disease prediction models were presented. Dr Prashanth then concluded the presentation by discussing the future efforts by the team to use similar inter-sectoral and interdisciplinary approaches to study leptospirosis and scrub typhus using a similar 'One Health' approach through a new project IndiaZooRisk+. Among the three invited experts, Dr. Ravikumar commended Monkey Fever Risk for its efforts in unifying many sectors under the 'One Health' framework. He did, however, emphasize that the project's information and findings dissemination should reach a wider range of actors within the government health services at district and lower operational levels so that we can take forward the learnings. Additionally, he noted that given the impact on the community as a whole, leptospirosis and scrub typhus should be prioritized and studied since the study on these diseases are low even at national level. Additionally, he urged that KFD and the state's action plan on climate change and human health be integrated. Next, Dr. Giridhar Babu suggested forming a ""One Health Secretariat '' with the Karnataka state health department to be aware of the activities of various stakeholders that are currently working on zoonoses in isolated silos. Later, he added that the NCDC's participation within the secretariat will align the efforts of non-governmental and governmental institutions in the direction of one health. The final guest speaker, Dr. Sindura, discussed the Indian government's recent initiative to unite different stakeholders with the goal of collaborating efforts to combat zoonoses. He also raised queries about improving validation of the model and updating the model with latest data. Dr Sushil, emphasized on that proposal, should specify who has to do what and in what timeline, what is the money that is involved, who will be paying this money, who will be doing this task. With all these inputs from the project they can coordinate all these efforts together easily. Dr. Padma (in-charge JD Communicable Diseases) thanked the opportunity to listen to the outputs and communicated that they are looking forward to working together to strengthen zoonotic diseases surveillance and action on zoonotic diseases. She mentioned the Integrated Health Information Platform being used by IDSP and the need to move ahead linking such work with existing platforms. In summary, the One Health team's collective efforts were appreciated by those present. They suggested to outline specific steps forward and are open for collaboration in the future on the topics of (a) zoonotic disease surveillance strengthening, (b) inter-sectoral and inter-disciplinary collaborative research and capacity-building. An idea of formulating a non-financial Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that allows more frequent exchange of knowledge, skills and innovations between the research organisations involved in OneHealth research and department of HFW was discussed as a way forward for combating zoonotic diseases within the State." |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | Annual in-person Meeting (CEH, UK; ATREE, IPH, VGKK) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Annual meeting of whole team and collaborators. Discussions and dialogue and future work progress and deluiverables discussed PI and RAs meet and discusssions around roles and future deliverables were discussed. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | Attended a district level National Health Program review meeting held by regional deputy director in Chamarajanagar District |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | On 4th November - One health team working at Chamarajanagar district was invited by District Nodal Officer (Dr. Padma, Joint Director IDSP) for Chamarajanagar district National Health programs review meeting and to discuss potential engagement of stakeholder in the National health programs. Had a discussion on areas of collaboration and mutual support and provided insights where and how the surveillance on zoonoses diseases was lacking and need of strengthening health care services to mother and children of tribal community. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | Completed Literature Reviews on focal diseases Leptospirosis and Scrub Typhus |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Literature Reviews on Leptospirosis and Climate Change, and Overview of Scub Typhus and On Rodent abundance, movement and reproduction based on rice crop growth stage. Contribution to dialogue and discussions on focal diseases and further focus on publications An important exercise for discussions among WPs and leading to further publications of manuscripts |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
URL | https://wiki.ceh.ac.uk/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=568463643 |
Description | Continuing EO work and cordination of RA Abhishek Samrat's paddy monitoring work |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | Paddy monitoring based on Sentinel-1 passing time series. EO will supply spatial information on (i) long term changes in forest cover (regional scale) and land use (district scale) and (ii) the seasonal timing of rice cultivation (district scale) and forest tree fruiting (community scale) Earth observation (EO) helps determine forest loss and monsoon climate as environmental change drivers. Further interlinking with WP3 and other WPs |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022,2023 |
Description | Echo Network events on OneHealth |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Invited as an ambassador by the Echo Network to discuss major OneHealth challenges among academia and professionals. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
URL | http://www.echonetwork.in |
Description | Healthcare workers struggle to balance COVID-19 and Monkey Fever in Karnataka |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Article on The News Minute |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
URL | https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/healthcare-workers-struggle-balance-covid-19-and-monkey-fever-... |
Description | How Karnataka's Shivamogga became the hotbed of Monkey Fever |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Article on The News Minute |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
URL | https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/how-karnataka-s-shivamogga-became-hotbed-monkey-fever-158272 |
Description | Implementation Research brainstorming meeting at ICMR Jodhpur |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | A group of researchers who are involved in implementation research was invited by the DG, ICMR to give inputs to their ongoing strategy towards increasing the profile of implementation research in India. Experience of working with governments and co-production of knowledge under IZR was presented and discussed |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | Interview and article with journalist for BBC Future on "Why areca nut plantations are driving "monkey fever"" |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | The team engaged with the journalist to highlight research findings on how land use changes increase the risk of emergence of the tick-borne disease, Kyasanur Forest Disease. These changes include the replacement of primary forest with plantation, paddy and human settlements. The purpose was to highlight to the public and decision makers how changes in land management and human settlement can lead to unintended consequences such as the increased impact of zoonotic diseases linked to forests. This sparked further interest in our research findings within India and in collaboration. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
URL | https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20230315-how-the-addictive-areca-nut-drives-monkey-fever-in-india |
Description | Interview for Nature India leading to article focussed on research findings on "Why some communities are more vulnerable to Kyasanur Forest Disease" |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | The research team participated in an interview with a journalist from Nature India about our study in PLoS Global Public Health on the social factors that make some communities more vulnerable to Kyasanur Forest Disease. This resulted in a news article highlighting our findings that poor, landless or small-holders and households headed by elderly to be more vulnerable to the disease and the value of viewing disease vulnerability and adaptation through a social lens. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
URL | https://www.nature.com/articles/d44151-023-00044-w |
Description | Interview with journalist for Online Media outlet on links between KFD and deforestation |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Interview with journalist highlighting our findings around how landscape changes can precipitate Kyasanur Forest Disease outbreaks. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
URL | https://www.dandc.eu/en/article/where-natural-environments-are-healthy-zoonoses-nipah-and-kfd-are-le... |
Description | Invited talk and panel member for BBSRC COP-26 Climate change and vector-borne diseases webinar (Dr Beth Purse) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | In 2021 the UK hosted the UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) In Glasgow. UKRI councils including BBSRC supported and organised activities and events with the intention to inspire and engage people and promote positive climate action. On 21st October 2021 BBSRC hosted an interactive digital event "Climate Change Bites - How climate change is driving the emergence and spread of animals, human and plant diseases transmitted by insects and ticks". This digital event brought together internationally leading experts working on animal, human and plant vector biology and vector borne diseases (VBDs) to jointly discuss a One Health approach to understand, predict, prevent, and respond to these threats. Dr Purse highlighted the need for inter-disciplinary ecosystems approaches to understand climate change impacts on vector-borne diseases. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04Um2SAal08 |
Description | Labwork for rodent species molecular ID training and processing of Monkey Fever Risk Project samples ongoing. |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Molecular identification of rodent species from tissue and blood samples collected during MFR project Training and Capacity building, RA lab training and expertise honed |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | Literature reviews for publications in preperation |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Literature reviews on Leptospirosis and Scrub Typhus working towards publication Disease modelling and application of ABMs discussed based on Leptospirosis epidemiology Manucript under progress to be complested by April, expected to be working towards publication of the same. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022,2023 |
Description | Lower species richness in deforested landscapes tied to high Kyasanur forest disease risk: study |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | News article |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
URL | https://india.mongabay.com/2021/09/lower-species-richness-in-deforested-landscapes-tied-to-high-kyas... |
Description | Online workshop on qualitative data collection, principles and Methods. 2 days on (13/04/2022 & 14/04/2022) training for Research assistants and PDRAs of WP 1 ,2 & 4 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
Results and Impact | "1. Qualitative workshop started with the introduction to the research in which research is broadly classified into two main categories i.e. quantitative (numbers) and qualitative research (non- numerical) 2. Definition, methods of data collection, examples were explained in the table format by giving the examples of How many ice-creams brought (quantitative) and the reason for buying ice-cream (qualitative) 3. Then activities involved in data collection in which important step is ethical consideration which id the key to all researches. Other activities involved are locating the sites, gaining access and rapport building, getting permissions, researchers' positionality etc., purposive sampling, data collection, recording, addressing field issues and data storage after the data collection. 4. Three main principles of qualitative research were explained briefly by resource person, they are purposive sampling, maximum variation and saturation 5. A detailed discussion held on the methods used in the qualitative research such as Interviews, focus group discussions, Objects and Physical Artifacts, Documents, Photos, Videos, Letters, Email chats, Observations, Social media posts, Posters, Reports, Court judgments, Parliamentary debates, Music tapes etc. these were explained by showing some of pamphlets, brochure and pictures 6. Comments were made by participants that to use these method's we need initial exploration to use suitable photos and pictures and also quality of method and the richness of the information which we gather 7. In another section of the session was methods such as interviews in which procedures for preparing and conducting interviews, some tips were given to conduct focused group discussions and procedure in preparing for observation were described thoroughly by the resource person. 8. At the end of the day, few books' details for reference and 2 video links were given for the next day session discussion. 9. The second day session was started with the discussion about the video which was on demo of qualitative interviews in which one is with good interview and another is with mistakes during the interview. 10. After the discussion, presentation on IndiaZooRisk+ project FGD, key informant interview tool was made by the WP1&2 team member for the feedback from the resource person." |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
Description | Oral presentation at the British Ecological Society Annual Meeting |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | 15 minute presentation on the modelling work that has been complete as part of the IndiaZooRisk and IndiaZooSystems projects. The presentation focused on the recently developed next generation matrix models to understand the maintence of KFD in India. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
URL | https://www.britishecologicalsociety.org/events/bes-annual-meeting-2022/ |
Description | Participatory Rural Appraisal with the Dhangar community of migratory pastoralists (Anthra) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
Results and Impact | The objective of this exercise was to get an insight into the problems faced by the community particularly with respect to animal health. An attempt was made to understand livestock diseases prevalent in the area especially of sheep , causes of disease as understood by the community and approaches used to prevent and cure remedies from the perspective of the shepherds . This was also the first time any agency -Government or NGO had had an engagement of this nature with this community |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
Description | Pilot Fieldwork in Baramati, Maharashtra |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Field training, setting traps and retriving, rodent capature and release, hands on training in invasive sampling and rondet handling and collection of blood and tissue samples An important exercise for trainingof RAs in invasive sampling and rodent handling, blood and tissue sample collection and fieldwork. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
Description | Posters, Flyers and Tick removal tools/education material distribution (ongoing/in preperation) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Distribution of awareness and education materia/outreach programme at endemic PCHs in Karnataka, Kerala and Maharathtra states on the countr Social impact, awareness and education in focal disease hotspot regions Information to be distributed to PHCs and individuals and communities in hotspot regions of focal disease, KFD |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
URL | https://indiazoorisk.ceh.ac.uk/ |
Description | Presentation at Ento21 conference - Royal Entomological Society |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | Stefanie Schafer invited to give a 20-minute presentation at the Royal Entomological Society's Ento'21 conference. Overview of the MonkeyFeverRisk project and presentation of some of our preliminary findings formed part of the session on Vectors of human and animal pathogens. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
URL | https://www.ento2021.com/ |
Description | Presentation on decision support tool and co-production approach at National Public Health India Conference, New Delhi, India, February 2024 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Dr Darshan Naryanaswamy presented a talk entitled "Enhancing preparedness of Kyasanur Forest Disease through cross-sectoral co-production of risk maps and decision support tools" to an audience including health decision makers, health and health systems researchers and practitioners. The aim of the engagement was to present the co-produced decision support tool for Kyasanur Forest Diseases as well as other key outcomes of the research including community educational materials and to highlight value of the One Health co-production approach and gain further feedback on value for decision making. The talk and tool was extremely well received leading to requests for further information and activities from key health system actors. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
Description | SAMAYU OneHealth accelerator program |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | Invited to join an expert group/working group of OneHealth professionals looking at intersections of food systems with health/diseases systems. Participated in a day long panel discussion and events organised by a OneHealth policy thinktank that brings together policymakers, practitioenrs and community groups. Shared the approach towards intersectoral collaboration ongoing in IZR. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
URL | http://www.samayu.org |
Description | Shepherds Video |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | A team from Anthra ( one of the partners of the Indo- zoo risk project ) , went on a fact finding mission and spoke to several shepherds . A small video clip was made of the interviews and a report was written. These were presented to the Minister for livestock .The Minister has taken note of the situation and has said that the requests made by the shepherds for better health and insurance facilities will be attended to |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
Description | Stakeholder engagement event for Cop26 on climate change adaptation: Stand on "Inter-disciplinary One Health approaches to improve resilience to zoonotic diseases" Dr Beth Purse |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Stand was presented by IndiaZooRIsk team members on "Inter-disciplinary One Health approaches to improve resilience to zoonotic diseases", summarising how social and ecological factors can modulate zoonotic disease risk, the importance of mapping and understanding how key policies and actors impact on zoonotic disease systems and understanding adaptation and vulnerability of local communities, leading to outcomes that strengthen health systems such tailored risk guidance and decision support tools and risk models. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
Description | Thematic global network on climate change urbanisation an health at Institute of Tropical Medicine Antwerp |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | A presentation of IZR as a case/example of a successful project on OneHealth/intersectoral action for health was made to academia/members of a working group at ITM, Antwerp who are interested in understanding how public health practitioners are responding to climate change challenges |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | Training course in qualitative research (VGKK, ATREE, UKCEH) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | Capacity was built in qualitative research methods (including oral histories, key informant interviews, surveys, photo-elicitation) in research assistants, post-docs, investigators at partner institutes including (both project team members and external participants) via an online training course. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | Training of RAs in tick ID completed at VCRC. |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Mar-21 IZR+ Ishwarya Lakshmi and Divya Srinivasan Training of RAs in tick ID completed at VCRC. Event, workshop or similar 2 National 4. Professional Practicioners 4. Professional Practicioners 2022 Attended tick morphological ID training and general overview of vector borne diseases workshop at VCRC, Pondicherry, India Plans made for future related activity https://wiki.ceh.ac.uk/display/INMAIN/VCRC+Tick+ID+Training n/a Yes Training and Capacity building RAs training in vector genus and spcies identification |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
URL | https://wiki.ceh.ac.uk/display/INMAIN/VCRC+Tick+ID+Training |
Description | Uplift Work - Human-Small mammal relationship |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Photo Elicitation Interviews (PEI) will be conducted across individuals, communities and farmers in focal regions, Karnataka and Kerela to understand the relationship between small mammals and humans. Ongoing work, pilot and data collection to begin by mid-March 2023. Resources for PEI being prepared Social impact, ethnozoological understanding of small mammal ecology for futher WP3 research |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022,2023 |
Description | Webinar investigating complex systems using an agent based modelling approach |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Webinar and live presentation giving an overview of investigating complex systems using an agent based modelling approach. Audience of UK CEH staff and global project team members involved in the IndiaZooRisk and IndiaZooSystems projects |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
URL | https://youtu.be/h74gTW7GAE4 |
Description | Workshop (Face to face) on Qualitative data analysis. Two days on 25/07/2022 & 26/07/2022 for Ras & PDRAs of WP 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6 (VGKK, ATREE & ANTRA) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
Results and Impact | "Discussion on qualitative data analysis- Principles and methods, presentation on research project and Group work on coding the transcripts. Workshop started with the introduction to qualitative data which is non-numerical in nature and collected through FGDs, interviews and through observations. Suitable examples were given to define quantitative and qualitative research such as describing cake and hair colour which indicates qualitative study and number of cakes which indicates quantitative study. Qualitative data collection methods which involve one to one interview, focus groups, record keeping, observation, longitudinal studies and case studies. Next, mainly data analysis approaches i.e. inductive, deductive and abductive were taught in which steps were explained and after that, data analysis in which thematic, content, discourse, critical discourse and grounded theory approach were described with examples. Then codes, categories and finding pattern and themes were practised manually by using few previous study transcriptions and presented by each participant in the group. 2nd day of qualitative data analysis started with orientation to the features in NVivo Software, which is a qualitative data analysis software. Creating new project, and creating separate folders were taught initially to familiarize with the software and then other features such as giving coding and classifying the nodes, rearranging the nodes, categories which were showed practically. All the team members worked on the software and practised to give nodes to the sentences and Same previous day transcriptions were used for practising analysis part and later discussions were made based on the software. " |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |