Dr. Sara Babo Martins (University of Geneva), Prof. Jonathan Rushton and Peregrine Rothman-Ostrow (University of Liverpool), of the GBADs programme, have had the chapter below accepted and published which you can find here. 

Abstract

Livestock food systems are changing rapidly with increasingly complex, dynamic, and globally connected production, harvesting, distribution, and consumption patterns. These changes carry new challenges from zoonotic diseases, which require an understanding of the socio-economic impact to develop, prioritize, and advocate for proportionate mitigation actions.

A full assessment of the socio-economic impacts of zoonotic diseases from a societal perspective can be challenging. Recognizing pathways for burden and loss and selecting appropriate tools, frameworks and data, form the foundation for that assessment. The value-add of this investment in understanding zoonotic impacts is the ability to recognize where the balance lies between costs of mitigation actions and avoidance of losses due to ill-health and poor animal welfare. This balance may equate to a wider economic efficiency view, which includes investments in research, education, and coordination that allows people and livestock keepers improved access to zoonotic disease mitigation options.

This chapter presents the case for better use of socio-economic impact assessments to improve our understanding of the burden and subsequent control of zoonoses.