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Staphylococcus (S.) aureus in the dairy food chain in Zambia - combating foodborne disease and antimicrobial resistance in humans (SAD-Zambia)
Project
Project code: BfR-BIOS-08-1322-666
Contract period: 01.07.2016
- 31.12.2017
Purpose of research: Applied research
The project’s ultimate goal is to reduce the health risks experienced by consumers and producers related to Staphylococcus (S.) aureus in the dairy food chain in Zambia as a prerequisite to improve food security in the country. Specific objectives are risk assessment of milk/milk products as source of enterotoxigenic and/or methicillin-resistant S. aureus and adopting methods of monitoring zoonotic and antimicrobial resistant S. aureus in the dairy value chain to the Zambian situation. The duration of the project is three full years (01.07.2016-30.06.2019). Funding body of the project is the Federal Ministry for Nutrition and Agriculture (BMEL); funding is provided within the Bilateral Academic Exchange Programme. Funding agency is the Federal Office for Agriculture and Food(BLE). The eligible expenditures include salary and travel expenses of the PhD student. To run the field study, i.e. sampling and primary diagnostics of samples as well as in-depth characterisation of strains co-funding is received by the BfR-internal research budget. The project’s purposes are to understand to which extend the dairy value chain contributes to the burden of S. aureus induced foodborne disease. The milk value chain has been choosen as milk is a highly valueable food from the nutrition point of view however, may also pose a risk to consumers as source of pathogenic bacteria such as enterotoxigenic S. aureus/MRSA. The project will provide prevalence data on enterotoxigenic S. aureus/MRSA in Zambia and will set-up diagnostic tools both, needed as prerequisites to identify and implement suitable interventions and subsequent monitoring tools. These may also be of added value for other zoonotic pathogens. Moreover, the increased knowledge about S. aureus/MRSA in the Zambian milk value chain will help to prepare a better and more valuable risk assessment. Moreover, the project will enhance and consolidate networking and capacity building in research and development in Zambia which may be useful to overcome future challenges in the context of global food security.
Section overview
Subjects
- Animal health
- Toxicology