Melissa Leach¹, Bernard Bett², M. Said², Salome Bukachi³, Rosemary Sang⁴, Neil Anderson⁵, Noreen Machila⁶, Joanna Kuleszo⁷, Kathryn Schaten⁸, Vupenyu Dzingirai⁹, Lindiwe Mangwanya¹⁰, Yaa Ntiamoa-Baidu¹¹, Elaine Lawson¹¹, Kofi Amponsah-Mensah¹¹, Lina M. Moses¹², Annie Wilkinson¹, Donald S. Grant¹³ and James Koninga¹³
 

¹Institute for Development Studies, University of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9RE, UK
²International Livestock Research Institute, Nairobi, Kenya
³University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya
⁴Kenya Medical Research Institute, Nairobi, Kenya
⁵Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies and the Roslin Institute, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
⁶College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
⁷Geography and Environment, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
⁸University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
⁹Applied Social Sciences, University of Zimbabwe, Harare, Zimbabwe
¹⁰University of Zimbabwe, Harare, Zimbabwe
¹¹University of Ghana, Legon, Greater Accra, Ghana
¹²Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, USA
¹³Kenema Government Hospital, Kenema, Sierra Leone

 

Abstract

This article explores the implications for human health of local interactions between disease, ecosystems and livelihoods. Five interdisciplinary case studies addressed zoonotic diseases in African settings: Rift Valley fever (RVF) in Kenya, human African trypanosomiasis in Zambia and Zimbabwe, Lassa fever in Sierra Leone and henipaviruses in Ghana. Each explored how ecological changes and human–ecosystem interactions affect pathogen dynamics and hence the likelihood of zoonotic spillover and transmission, and how socially differentiated peoples’ interactions with ecosystems and animals affect their exposure to disease. Cross-case analysis highlights how these dynamics vary by ecosystem type, across a range from humid forest to semiarid savannah; the significance of interacting temporal and spatial scales; and the importance of mosaic and patch dynamics. Ecosystem interactions and services central to different people’s livelihoods and well-being include pastoralism and agro-pastoralism, commercial and subsistence crop farming, hunting, collecting food, fuelwood and medicines, and cultural practices. There are synergies, but also tensions and trade-offs, between ecosystem changes that benefit livelihoods and affect disease. Understanding these can inform ‘One Health’ approaches towards managing ecosystems in ways that reduce disease risks and burdens.

This article is part of the themed issue ‘One Health for a changing world: zoonoses, ecosystems and human well-being’.
 

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