This project has been developed in response to concerns of livestock-keeping communities who have reported major mortality losses in sheep and goats due to an emerging disease problem, known locally as Ormilo. Our preliminary studies support a growing consensus that Ormilo is the disease cerebral coenurosis, a fatal, neurological disease of sheep and goats caused by a tapeworm infection (Taenia multiceps). Sheep and goats are infected by ingesting the parasite eggs shed in the faeces of dogs (the definitive host), with clinical disease occurring when the parasite larvae migrate to the brain and form cysts. Dogs are in turn infected when they consume the brains of affected sheep and goats. Current levels of coenurosis appear to be unprecedented and a cause of major concern among the poorest livestock-keeping families, particularly pastoralists who are increasingly dependent on sheep and goats for livelihoods and food security. Ormilo is now ranked as the highest priority disease in most pastoral communities of northern Tanzania. Several factors may be contributing to the current upsurge in cases including a shift to keeping of small ruminants in preference to cattle, a rapid increase in dog populations, and the practice of livestock-owners of feeding dogs the brains of affected animals. This project aims to develop simple, sustainable interventions that can be adopted easily by livestock-keepers and dog-owners to prevent infection and reduce the burden of disease. The project will focus on two interventions: (a) developing and disseminating culturally-approrpriate information to livestock-keepers on the life cycle of the parasite, and the importance of not feeding brain tissue to dogs (with burning a simple alternative); (b) anthelminthic treatment of dogs with praziquantel every three months. An important additional benefit of de-worming dogs would be the effective control of Echinococcus granulosus, the cause of human hydatid disease (cystic echinococcus), a potentially fatal disease which is known to be an important but neglected human health problem in pastoral communities of East Africa. With a similar life-cycle involving dogs and small ruminants, hydatid disease may also be increasing, but cases will not become apparent for several years. An effective intervention in dogs at this stage could avert a major future human health problem. The final output of the proposed project will be a business development plan, which charts a subsequent course of remedial Ormilo intervention. The plan will depend to a large extent on whether Ormilo is a localised or widespread/regional animal health issue and the willingness of farmers to pay for praziquantel treatment of dogs. Market research to better understand the scale of the Ormilo problem and demand for interventions will involve analysis of detailed Ormilo prevalence data being generated through other on-going studies, household econometric and wilingness-to-pay studies, as well as stakeholder workshops. Further work will involve development of materials for dissemination to livestock-keeping communities and training courses for NGOs and animal health professions. By working with project partners with experience of developing solutions for livestock interventions (GALVmed), we will explore both NGO-based delivery strategies and market-led approaches through which animal health supply chains could be developed for delivery of praziquantel to a large population of livestock-keepers, potentially extending to countries in the East African region (eg. Kenya and Ethiopia).

The emergence of the viral disease, peste des petits ruminants (PPR) across Asia and Africa, affecting some of the poorest and most challenged human communities on earth, demands urgent action to mitigate its immediate and ongoing insidious impacts on domestic and wild ruminants. PPR is a very severe disease of sheep and goats that is very common in East Africa causing high mortality of up to 100%, and loss of milk and meat. It threatens the food security and livelihoods of pastoralists and small-holder farmers. It also threatens wildlife resources, as die-off of rare and endangered wild caprines in Asia has shown. Over the past few years there has been much discussion at international and national levels about the control and possible eradication of PPR, and in early 2015 a global PPR eradication programme was launched. Since the emergence of PPR in Kenya and Tanzania in 2006-2008, there have been several vaccination campaigns to limit its impact on livestock keepers but outbreaks continue to occur, and lack of effective surveillance means that it is unclear how and where the virus is persisting. Vaccination is usually applied in response to outbreaks if funds are available, which helps to reduce livestock keepers' immediate losses due to the disease, but low levels of vaccination coverage could be contributing to virus persistence. A more pragmatic but research-driven approach is needed to halt PPR virus persistence and spread in East Africa, as well as in infected and at-risk areas of Africa, Asia and Europe. The project aims to study the wildlife and livestock populations in the Greater Serengeti ecosystem, how they interact with each other, and how the interaction of multiple susceptible species might contribute to persistence of PPR infection making disease control more challenging in a multi-host compared to a single host system. Based on our previous studies we know that some common wildlife species can be infected with PPR virus, such as buffalo, wildebeest, gazelles and others. We do not know whether they are becoming infected by contact with sheep and goats, or whether the virus is circulating independently among wildlife. The project will map the livestock and wildlife populations, their numbers, how they move and the type of contact between wildlife and livestock. It will measure the level of PPR infection in the wildlife by conducting a blood-sampling survey to test for PPR antibodies. It will measure the frequency of disease outbreaks in sheep and goat flocks as reported by farmers and through interviews with farmers and flock visits, in sites with different levels and patterns of livestock-wildlife contact. Putting all this information together, we will be able to plan the best way to carry out PPR vaccination in the sheep and goat population to eliminate infection in a short period of time, and the best way to carry out surveillance in both small stock and wildlife to monitor PPR infection and disease. The project will be carried out by researchers from the Royal Veterinary College, University College London and CIRAD, France, working together with Kenyan and Tanzanian veterinary services, researchers and wildlife authorities and local institutions, and the local livestock keeping communities. The valuable information gained from this study will be the first step towards eliminating PPR from this ecosystem and the lessons learned will be applicable in other parts of Africa and Asia. In addition to the new knowledge gained, reducing the impact of diseases like PPR will allow farmers, particularly women, in these areas to be more productive, to improve their food security and livelihoods. This comes at a critical time of transition to other livelihoods, with simmering tensions around land use, agriculture and biodiversity conservation, and the increasing effects of climate change and drought. Better disease control will allow people to be more resilient during this socio-economic transition.