Serengeti Health Program
A major area of research activity in ecosystem health focuses on the Serengeti ecosystem, Tanzania. The Serengeti Health Program is working on several major diseases at the human-wildlife-domestic animal interface, including rabies, canine distemper, bovine tuberculosis, brucellosis, trypanosomiasis, anthrax and echinococcus. Key objectives have been to (a) to explore reservoir dynamics in complex, multi-host communities, (b) to identify risk factors for disease emergence, (c) to quantify disease burden, and (d) to optimise the design of disease control strategies.
The program operates under the auspices of the Tanzanian Wildlife Research Institute (www.tawiri.org) and Sokoine University of Agriculture, with collaboration of National Institute for Medical Research. The program works closely with government agencies in Tanzania (Ministry of Livestock Development and Fisheries, Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, TanzaniaNational Parks), conservation agencies (Frankfurt Zoological Society, Lincoln Park Zoo), academic collaborators (SheffieldUniversity, PrincetonUniversity, University of Minnesota, YaleUniversity) and industry (Intervet).