Highland scientists research global health risks for animals and humans
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With climate change, Covid-19 and avian influenza posing risks, scientists at Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) are expanding their focus to help assess future public health threats.
Researchers at the newly named Centre for Epidemiology and Planetary Health (CEPH), which forms part of SRUC’s northern faculty in Inverness, are conducting research into disease links between animals, humans and the environment.
The CEPH team is engaged in national and international scientific studies to improve the health of livestock in agriculture and aquaculture, as well as being involved in a range of studies investigating the health of wild animal populations.
The centre is also a major focus for research excellence in disease surveillance including zoonoses – diseases which can be transmitted from animals to humans – with the aim of providing integrated solutions through an overarching ‘one health’ approach.
Professor John Berezowski, chairman of disease surveillance at CEPH, said: “Accelerating climate change also threatens the sustainability of food production, economies and ecosystems worldwide.
“Within the next 10-20 years, we can expect many new and potentially devastating threats to these systems to emerge at an increasing rate.
“This new centre will provide much-needed applied research and information systems to help the affected sectors to become more nimble and able to respond quickly to these unexpected challenges, ensuring their sustainability into the future, while at the same time protecting the integrity and sustainability of our planet.”
Social science, data, statistics and quantitative epidemiology also form part of the large-scale field studies conducted by the centre to investigate the epidemiology of infectious and non-infectious diseases.
