Livestock Movements and Disease Transmission in the Chad Basin: Modeling Risks for Animals and Humans

Dr. Mark Moritz, Department of Anthropology
Rank at time of award: Assistant Professor

Abstract

Our team is seeking IPR seed grant funds to support a pilot study of the ecology of cholera
in the city of Maroua, Cameroon, which will allow us to write competitive proposals for NSF and NIH. The goal of the study is to examine why some neighborhoods have higher incidence rates of cholera than others and what the role of demographic, human health behavior, and environmental risk factors is. We will use an interdisciplinary approach, integrating spatial, ethnographic, epidemiological, and microbial analyses to better understand the ecology of infectious diseases in urban settings in sub-­‐Saharan Africa. Initially, we will focus on cholera, which is endemic in the Far North Province of Cameroon, but our study is designed such that we can use the same dataset – surveys of households and water management – in future studies of other diseases that spread through contaminated water, such as typhoid and hepatitis A. We are particularly interested in the research question whether cholera is endemic in Maroua due to environmental reservoirs or whether it is constantly reintroduced due to migratory movements of individuals traveling to and from the border regions of Nigeria (see also Dowell and Braden 2011; Piarroux et al. 2011). A greater understanding of the dynamics of the disease, will contribute to more effective control of cholera in the region.

 

Publications resulting from this seed grant   

2019. Pomeroy, Laura W., Mark Moritz, Rebecca Garabed. "Network analyses of transhumance movements and simulations of foot-and-mouth disease virus transmission among mobile livestock in Cameroon." Submitted to Epidemics Volume 28, September 2019, 100334. PMCID: PMC6776348

2018. Miranda R Bertram, Carla Bravo de Rueda, Rebecca Garabed, Simon Dickmu Jumbo, Mark Moritz, Steven Pauszek, Souley Abdoulkadiri, Luis L Rodriguez, Jonathan Arzt. Molecular Epidemiology of Foot-and-Mouth Disease Virus in the Context of Transboundary Animal Movement in the Far North Region of Cameroon. Frontiers in Veterinary Science, section Veterinary Infectious Diseases 5(320):1-14. PMCID: PMC6301994

2018. Oruganti, Pallavi, Rebecca Garabed, Mark Moritz. Hunters’ Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices towards Wildlife Diseases in Ohio. Human Dimensions of Wildlife. 23(4):329-340. doi.org/10.1080/10871209.2018.1435839. 

2017. Vougat Ngom, Ronald Romuald B., Tiédja Tomdieu, Roland Ziébé, Harquin Simplice Foyet, Mark Moritz, Lazare Vondou, Dwayne E. Schrunk, Paula M. Imerman, Wilson K. Rumbeiha, and Rebecca B. Garabed. Quality of veterinary pharmaceuticals and their use by pastoralists in the Far North Region of Cameroon. Pastoralism,  7(1):6. 

2017. Moreno-Torres, Karla I., Laura W. Pomeroy, Mark Moritz, William Saville, Barbara Wolfe, and Rebecca Garabed. "Host species heterogeneity in the epidemiology of Nesopora caninum." PloS one 12, no. 8 : e0183900. PMCID: PMC5574622

2016. Hyeyoung Kim, Ningchuan Xiao, Mark Moritz, Rebecca Garabed, Laura Pomeroy.  Simulating the transmission of foot-and-mouth disease among mobile herds in the Far North Region, Cameroon, Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation, 19(2):6.

2015. Laura W Pomeroy, OItar N Bj0mstad, Hyeyoung Kim, Simon Dickmu Jumbo, Souley Abdoulkadiri, Rebecca Garabed.  Serotype-Specific Transmission and Waning Immunity of Endemic Foot-and-Mouth Disease Virus in Cameroon. PLoS ONE. 10 (9). PMCID: PMC4556668

2015. Pomeroy, L.W., Bansal, S., Tildesley, M., Moreno Torres, K.I., Moritz, M., Xiao, N., Carpenter, T.E., and Garabed, R.B.  Data-driven models of foot-and-mouth disease dynamics: A review. Transboundary and Emerging Diseases. PMCID: PMC5205574

2015. Ningchuan Xiao, Shanshan Cai, Mark Moritz, Rebecca Garabed, Laura Pomeroy. Spatial and temporal characteristics of pastoral mobility in the Far North Region, Cameroon: Data analysis and modeling. PlosOne 10(7): e0131697. PMCID: PMC4495066 

2014 .Ludi A, Ahmed Z, Pomeroy LW, Pauszek SJ, Smoliga GR, Moritz M, Dickmu S, Abdoulkadiri S, Arzt J, Garabed R, Rodriguez LL.  Serotype Diversity of Foot-and-Mouth-Disease Virus in Livestock without History of Vaccination in the Far North Region of Cameroon.  Transbound Emerg Dis. PMCID: PMC4499489

2014. Carothers, Courtney, Mark Moritz, Rebecca Zarger. Introduction: Conceptual, Methodological, Practical, and Ethical Challenges in Studying and Applying Indigenous Knowledge. Ecology and Society. 19(4):3.

2014. Ronald Romuald B. Vougat Ngom, Foyet Harquin Simplice, Rebecca Garabed, Roland Ziebe.  Antioxidant activity and phytochemical constituent of two plants used to manage foot and mouth disease in the Far North Region of Cameroon. Journal of Intercultural Ethnopharmacology. Jan-Mar; 4(1): 40–46.

2014. Djaouda, Moussa, Thomas Njine, Song Liang, Daniel Ebang Menye, Bouba Gake, Serge Hubert, Zebeze Togouet, Moise Nola.  Bacteriological quality of well water in Garoua, North Cameroon. Water Quality, Exposure and Health.

2013. Healy, Jessica, Mark Moritz, and Rebecca B. Garabed.    What to do with chronically sick animals? Pastoralists' Management Strategies in the Far North Region of Cameroon. Pastoralism: Research, Policy and Practice 3:8. doi:10.1186/2041-7136 PMCID: PMC4193801

2012. Moritz, Mark, Daniel Ewing, and Rebecca B. Garabed.  On Not Knowing Zoonotic Diseases: Pastoralists' Ethnoveterinary Knowledge in the Far North Region of Cameroon. Human Organization. 72(1): 1-11 PMCID:PMC3754808. 

 

Grants resulting from this seed grant

National Science Foundation, 2012. Workshop: Challenges in modeling the spatial and temporal dimensions of the ecology of infectious diseases, Ningchuan Xiao (PI), Rebecca Garabed, Song Liang, and Mark Moritz (DEB-1242202) 6/1/2012-12/31/2012 

National Science Foundation, 2012, Mark Moritz (PI) with Jessica Healy and Rebecca Garabed. REU: What to do with sick animals? A study of pastoralists’ decision-making in the far north region of Cameroon 

National Science Foundation, 2010-2015. Livestock Movements and Disease Epidemiology in the Chad Basin: Modeling Risks for Animals and Humans, Rebecca Garabed (PI), Song Liang, Mark Moritz, and Ningchuan Xiao

National Science Foundation, 2016-2018, Supplement to EEID: Livestock Movements and Disease Epidemiology in the Chad Basin: Modeling Risks for Animals and Humans, Rebecca Garabed (PI), Song Liang, Mark Moritz, and Ningchuan Xiao 

 

Click here for Dr. Moritz's lab website

Click here for Dr. Moritz's NSF funding news!