1. Unlocking livestock development potential through science,
inuence and capacity developmentILRI APM, Addis Ababa, 15-17 May
2013Developing capacity Inuencing decisionsMapping distribu.ons of
.cks and .ck-borne diseases in Africa: eects of climate change and
the implica.ons for human and animal health. This document is
licensed for use under a Crea3ve Commons
A6ribu3on-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License May 2013 3
strategic lessons on: ! Aiding .ck and .ck-borne disease control
protocols Rothen, J., Bishop, R., Mwaura, S, Pger, V.,
Daubenberger, C., Olds, C. Delivering scienceTHE PROBLEM Tick
distribu.ons are determined by clima.c factors such as temperature,
precipita.on and humidity. Tick distribu.ons are shiKing
drama.cally due to climate change. Consequently, the epidemiology
of .ck-borne diseasess are changing with far reaching implica.ons
for animal and human health. Maps ploMng current .ck distribu.ons
in Africa are needed to understand and predict .ck-borne diseases.
Matrix-assisted laser desorp.on/ioniza.on-Time of ight (MALDI-TOF)
mass spectroscopy is able to iden.fy .ck species cheaper and faster
than other molecular techniques. ! Mapping .cks for human and
livestock health ! Developing databases for .ck iden.ca.on !
Developing predic.on models for .ck and .ck-borne disease
distribu.on ! Training human and veterinary health professionals in
.ck iden.ca.on ! Mentoring students THE SOLUTION Collect .cks from
livestock, humans and companion animals as well as eld traps.
Iden.fy .cks using MALDI-TOF. Iden.fy any .ck-borne diseases
present in collected .cks. Create new distribu.on maps for .ck
species within Africa. Create models for further .ck and .ck-borne
disease distribu.ons. THE PROGRESS Reference MALDI-TOF proes have
been created for economically important .cks of livestock in
Africa. Field .ck species correctly iden.ed in a proof of concept
experiment. Large scale .ck collec.ons should be carried out
covering various geographic areas within Africa and the data used
to update .ck distribu.on maps. COLLABORATORS Claudia Daubenberger,
Swiss Tropical and Public Health Ins.tute, Switzerland. Valen.n
Pger and Julian Rothen, Mabritec, Switzerland.