01/08/2025 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 01/08/2025 12:51
The IAEA's Zoonotic Disease Integrated Action (ZODIAC) initiative, which was launched in June 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, is helping countries to enhance pandemic preparedness by providing countries with tools to identify zoonotic pathogens - organisms that can jump from animals to humans - before they spread. ZODIAC provides access to data on the impact of zoonotic diseases on human health and develops novel technologies for the detection of zoonotic diseases. The initiative also assists countries in detecting potential AMR in farm animal environments.
"Over the years, research has shown that a lot of people are becoming anti-microbial resistant, where even if they are taking antibiotics, they are not being cured, and that is not only in humans but in animals also," says Shariffa Joubert from the Animal Health Laboratory in the Seychelles. She took part in a regional AMR workshop in October 2024, organized under the IAEA's technical cooperation programme in collaboration with the Seychelles Government.
"Because we need to be mindful of what we eat, it is then important to diagnose animals that are resistant, to ensure that our livestock remain healthy and safe for consumption," says Joubert.
The ZODIAC initiative focuses on building global capacity, offering training for veterinary professionals and providing necessary equipment to laboratories worldwide. Regional ZODIAC training courses have been conducted at national laboratories in Argentina, Bulgaria, Ethiopia, Republic of Korea and Senegal.
Nuclear and nuclear-derived techniques such as isotopic and molecular methods can help assess how resistance genes are transferred between bacterial populations in animals, humans and the environment. This knowledge is invaluable for understanding how AMR spreads and for developing targeted interventions to contain it.