We’ve spoken in previous episodes about zoonotic diseases such as Leptospirosis and Echinococcus. The term zoonosis, which describes diseases that can affect both animals and people, was coined by a German scientist, Rudolf Virchow, working in the 19^th century. Virchow could be considered the founder of the One Health approach to medicine and research. He stated that “Between animal and human medicine there are no dividing lines – nor should there be. The object is different but the experience obtained constitutes the basis of all medicine”. This concept that human health is inextricably linked to that of animals is the central tenant of One Health which aims to design and implement research, programmes and policy to improve public health. This approach requires collaboration across a wide variety of disciplines from the medical and veterinary fields. The result is a series of large research projects involving multiple research institutes across several countries.

One Health projects can have a particularly big impact in areas where people’s income, welfare and opportunities are highly dependent on their livestock. One such area is the Horn of Africa, the north-eastern part of Africa that includes Eritrea, Djibouti, Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya. The One Health Regional Network for the Horn of Africa, or HORN project, was established to improve the health and wealth of people living in the Horn of Africa by creating a research network that will focus on the link between human and animal health. This research network connects scientists working at universities in Liverpool, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somaliland and Kenya who work together on projects to address the problems of developing countries. With funding from the Global Challenges Research Fund, the HORN project aims to build research capacity in target countries by training both academic and non-academic staff. The funding is also used to carry out research projects with local students who are mentored and supported by both local and UK academics.

With us this month to discuss the HORN project is Professor Matthew Baylis, the lead investigator on the project.