1. 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.