Health risks associated with urban wild meat in Nairobi, Kenya

Project: PhD

Project Details

Description

Poaching or hunting wild animals for meat is a global phenomenon that largely poses health risks to humans. Understanding the impact of wild meat handling and consumption on public health is difficult as there are no clear food safety guidelines for wild meat, unlike meat from domestic animals, in most countries. It is thought that mapping wild meat value chains to understand product flow, handling, practices, and informal governance structures will allow for the estimation of public health risks based upon hazards detected in wild meat and therefore assist disease prevention and outbreak preparedness. However, there are only a few reports on how wild meat is traded, the value chain structure, governance, and health risks it poses to the urban population. Therefore, this study intends to map the wild meat value chain, its governance, the actors involved and their practices, using qualitative data from key informants’ interviews (KIIs). Additionally, the study will isolate and identify pathogens from meat samples collected along the value chain; and finally, use Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment to estimate the risk of human exposure to pathogens at different nodes of the value chain. This study will be conducted in Nairobi, Kenya, that is highly populated and accessible to food supply chains from rural and small urban centres across the country. Information generated by this study will help stakeholders understand better the wild meat value chain, and trade within urban cities, and to estimate the risk to human of exposure to wild meat related pathogens. This information will be vital in enacting and implementing policies that will effectively regulate wild meat sale and consumption in urban cities with regards to human health and diseases control.
StatusActive
Effective start/end date1/06/22 → …

Countries

  • Kenya

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