Project Approach

The research brings together a broad range of disciplines and includes:

(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, to improve communication strategies.

(3) studying the role of different wildlife and livestock hosts and tick and mite vectors in transmission of disease in different seasons.

(4) understanding how seasonal migration of pastoralists may promote resilience or increase their exposure to diseases and environmental change.

(5) developing computer models and risk maps for predicting the distribution and spread of diseases.

(6) building capacity in research, data analysis, diagnostics and collaboration to underpin future One Health approaches in India

The project will be delivered through 6 inter-disciplinary work packages

Socio-political drivers of vulnerability (WP 1/2)

Using One Health approaches to understand and co-develop interventions for zoonotic diseases affecting forest communities in India. The primary aim to evaluate aspects related to forest degradation, land tenure, human mobility and policy, power dynamics and knowledge sharing, belief system and seasonal practices that are prevalent in the study sites . . .

Human mobility & vulnerability (WP4)

An investigation into the impacts of human mobility on knowledge sharing, public health interventions and regional spread of zoonotic infections. The study looks at whether human mobility increases exposure to or offers resilience against zoonotic diseases by quantifying infection rates and diversity of zoonotic diseases in relation to human movement, host diversity and disease history.

Kyasanur Forest Disease Risk Explorer image

Integrated modelling of neglected diseases (WP5)

Integrating understanding and data on social and environmental drivers of risk and vulnerability into predictive models and decision support tools for zoonotic diseases.
The models we are developing include both correlative models of historical patterns in human spill-over for focal pathogens and mechanistic models that explicitly capture ecological processes underpinning transmission.

Stakeholder engagement and co-production process (WP6)

Tackling the threat of emerging zoonotic disease risks points towards the importance of advancing cross-sectoral collaboration as a plausible pathway for effective disease prevention and control.
Yet, most developing countries lack effective structures foresting and sustaining coordination and collaboration across the animal, human health and environment sectors.