Completed Projects

One Health One Caribbean One Love:
This project is implemented by the University of the West Indies and project partners include IICA, PAHO/WHO, the FAO, CIRAD and the Ministries of Agriculture of Guyana, St. Kitts and Nevis and Grenada. Funding for the project is through the European Union (EU) from the ACP Science and Technology Programme (S&T II), and is being supported by the European Union under the 10th European Development Fund – Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) Project being executed by the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA). The main objectives are:

To promote and entrench a “One Health” approach to zoonotic and food borne disease surveillance, diagnosis and response within the Caribbean region.
To strengthen the ability of Caribbean countries to recognise, diagnose and respond to animal / zoonotic diseases

Main activities of the project:

Creation of a Caribbean network of “One Health Leaders” comprised of medical, veterinary and environmental officials.
Building capacity in One Health approaches and leadership across the Caribbean region.
Establishment of national One Health working groups in 12 Caribbean countries.
Development and publication of a regional One Health strategic plan with national sub-plans
Information and communication on One Health
Exchange of information and best practices with other global One Health Networks
Introduction of new laboratory techniques and technologies to veterinary diagnostic laboratories across the Caribbean region
Promotion of quality assurance (QA), biosafety and inter-laboratory comparison tests to enable international accreditation of Caribbean veterinary diagnostic labs.
Strengthening the ability of field veterinarians, farmers and livestock producers (first responders) across the Caribbean region to recognize and respond to key endemic, exotic and zoonotic diseases.

For more information on the project please visit our website at:www.onehealthcaribbean.org

Leptospirosis in Trinidad and Tobago: Epidemiology and development of an effective vaccine for use in dogs.
Leptospirosis is a zoonotic disease with a worldwide distribution caused by pathogenic serovars of the genus Leptospira. In recent years in Trinidad and Tobago, as well as in other countries in the Caribbean region, there has been an increase in the incidence of human leptospirosis and fatalities causing anxiety in the various populations. There are also reports from field veterinarians in Trinidad and Tobago of observed increase in clinical leptospirosis in properly vaccinated dogs suggesting that the vaccines used in the country may have doubtful efficacy. These reports indicate that these vaccines may not contain the serovars of Leptospira responsible for canine leptospirosis in the country. The investigation in human and animal (dogs, livestock and wildlife) populations in the country is designed to identify important risk factors for exposure, to determine the prevalence and epidemiology of leptospirosis, to identify the predominant serovar(s) involved in subclinical and clinical leptospirosis, to establish temporal and spatial distribution of cases and serovars using geographical information system (GIS), to characterize the Leptospira isolates using molecular methods, to determine their virulence, pathogenicity and resistance to antimicrobial agents, and finally to develop an effective vaccine for use in dogs in the country.

Identification of the high-impact avian viruses within Trinidad and Tobago.
There is currently limited information on the circulation of avian respiratory viruses within Trinidad and Tobago (TTO). This study will involve conducting a broad based surveillance of avian populations (including poultry and wild birds), for the presence of various potentially high-impact viruses of significance. Viruses of interest include Avian Influenza virus, Newcastle disease virus, Infectious bronchitis virus, Avian pneumovirus, Infectious laryngotracheitis virus, Egg drop syndrome virus, Infectious bursal disease virus and Inclusion body hepatitis virus. Viruses of poultry naturally pose a significant veterinary and public health threat one which remains unknown within TTO. Through appropriate sampling and laboratory testing (antibody and antigen) presence of the selected viruses will be investigated, identified and characterized. The study will lead to an improved understanding of the risks posed by these viruses to the wildlife, livestock and human health sectors within T&T and will enable the implementation of improved control and prevention measures.

Evolution, population dynamics and phylogeography of dengue viruses in the Americas.
Dengue is the most important arboviral disease in humans and a major public health problem in the Americas. The aim of this project is to use phylogenetic and computational biology tools to infer the population genetic and spatiotemporal transmission histories of DENV genotypes within the Americas from genomic sequence data, and to investigate factors that influence the rate and intensity of DENV transmission within the region.

Seroprevalence of economically important viral pathogens in swine populations of Trinidad and Tobago, West Indies.
The main objectives of this study are (i) to evaluate the seroprevalence of Swine Influenza virus (SwIV), Porcine Parvovirus (PPV), Porcine Circovirus Type 2 (PCV-2), Transmissible Gastroenteritis virus (TGEV), Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome virus (PRRSV), Porcine Respiratory Coronavirus (PRCV) and Classical Swine Fever Virus (CSFV) in small and large scale pig farms in Trinidad and Tobago, and (ii) to identify the strains of Swine Influenza virus (SwIV) circulating in the swine populations in these farms.

Molecular analysis of salmonella enterica strains carried by poultry entering the food chain in Trinidad.
Risks of salmonellosis exist along the farm-to-fork production chain, posing a continuous threat to human health at all levels. To assess whether this threat is a consequence of antimicrobial-induced evolution resulting in new and more virulent strains in food-producing animals, the aims of the study are to identify the virulence and resistance profile and the genetic relatedness between the strains isolated from poultry of Trinidad