This project will generate knowledge on the current ecological environment of the Buvuma Islands with respect to interactions between non-human primates, humans, and domestic animals, while providing a framework in which to explore the potential for emerging infectious diseases in this island community of Lake Victoria.
The inhabitants of the Buvuma Islands live in close proximity to domestic animals and primates. The greater the extent of overlap between the non-human primate, human, and domestic animal ecosystems, the greater the risk of pathogen transmission across these species, and the greater the risk of an emergent infectious disease with deadly consequences.
Forest fragment assays and transects, primate observation, human surveys and interviews, human-fragment observations.
Generation of new knowledge for pathogen transmission ecology in southeastern Uganda, while providing a foundation from which to inform +50,000 island inhabitants of the risks and preventative measures against zoonotic infectious diseases.
