Fred Unger

International Livestock Research Institute

Livestock is a strategic part of the small-farm economy in Southeast Asia’s society, providing food income, clothing, fertilizer, and draught power. However, incidences or outbreaks of transboundary animal diseases (TADs) are due to converging factors such as the natural hazards’ aftermath, climate change, deforestation, urban growth, changing prod...

As COVID-19 has shown, pandemics and outbreaks of emerging infections such as Zika, Nipah, monkeypox and antimicrobial-resistant pathogens, especially emerging zoonotic diseases, continue to occur and may even be increasing in Southeast Asia. In addition, these infections often result from environmental changes and human behaviour. Overall, public...

Traditional pork value chains dominate the production and distribution of pork in Vietnam; however, the high level of microbiological contamination in pork may increase the risk of food-borne disease for consumers. There is limited evidence about how to feasibly and scalably reduce microbial contamination in pork sold in traditional markets. This s...

While evaluations play a critical role in accounting for and learning from context, it is unclear how evaluations can take account of climate change. Our objective was to explore how climate change and its interaction with other contextual factors influenced One Health food safety programs. To do so, we integrated questions about climate change int...

Traditional pork shops play an essential role in delivering pork, the most popular food in Vietnam, to consumers. Studies have shown the need for investment in training and equipment to improve the safety of pork sold at traditional shops. However, it remains unclear how consumers perceived improvement to the hygiene in pork shops and if they are r...

Introduction Food safety is an important public health concern globally. Risk communication is one of crucial element to manage food safety. While current food safety studies have focused on contamination of hazards or risk factors, limited research exists on consumer concerns, knowledge and perception about the actual risk food poses to their heal...

Salmonella is a globally important foodborne bacterial pathogen that poses a high risk to human health. This study aimed to estimate the risk to Cambodian consumers from acquiring salmonellosis after consuming chicken and pork salad, using a quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA). Chicken and pork salads are typical Cambodian dishes containi...

This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of Campylobacter spp. on fresh chicken carcasses at retail markets in four selected urban districts in Hanoi, Vietnam. A total of 107 chicken carcass samples were collected. Campylobacter spp. was found on 44 chicken carcasses and accounted for a prevalence of 41.1%. Among the Campylobacter speci...

The COVID-19 pandemic affected the food supply chain, retailers, and consumers owing to infection awareness. This study evaluated the impacts COVID-19 on ASF retailers’ businesses and consumers’ livelihoods, as well as their knowledge toward the disease, attitudes, and food safety practices to prevent infections. The study includes a cross-sectiona...

Gender influences participation in food value chains (VCs) with implications for VC upgrading. This study investigated roles as well as differences in production activities, awareness, training, and attitudes between men and women in Vietnam's smallholder pig VCs. Data were gathered from a survey of 1,014 actors in different nodes along the chain,...

Non-typhoidal Salmonellae are common foodborne pathogens that can cause gastroenteritis and other illnesses in people. This is the first study to assess the transfer of Salmonella enterica from raw chicken carcasses to ready-to-eat chicken salad in Cambodia. Twelve focus group discussions in four Cambodian provinces collected information on typical...

Trichinellosis and cysticercosis remain challenges to human health and animal productivity worldwide, especially in developing countries. While information on the occurrence of both diseases is infrequent, they are endemic in parts of Vietnam and mainly related to indigenous pigs kept by ethnic minorities. This study aimed to determine the seroprev...

Japanese encephalitis (JE) is the major cause of viral encephalitis (VE) in most Asian-Pacific countries. In Vietnam, there is no nationwide surveillance system for JE due to lack of medical facilities and diagnoses. Culex tritaeniorhynchus, Culex Vishnui, and Culex quinquefasciatus have been identified as the major JE vectors in Vietnam. The main...

Non-typhoidal salmonella (TS) remains a significant health burden worldwide. In Vietnam, pork accounts for 70% of the total meat consumed, and contamination with Salmonella is high. High levels of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) have emerged among porcine NTS and of particular concern is the emergence of colistin resistance, a “last defense” antibio...

We present a literature review on poultry production, marketing, and consumption in Myanmar. The primary purpose of this review is to understand existing poultry production, marketing, and consumption practices and identify research and development gaps and opportunities in the country. The review shows that poultry production plays an irreplaceabl...

We present a literature review on poultry production, marketing, and consumption in Myanmar. The primary purpose of this review is to understand existing poultry production, marketing, and consumption practices and identify research and development gaps and opportunities in the country. The review shows that poultry production plays an irreplaceabl...

Many One Health programs are inherently complex, characterized by multiple perspectives from multiple sectors, delivery across various scales, and a focus on complex problems at the convergence of people, animals, and the environment. This complexity makes them difficult to conceptualize, requiring frameworks to organize the different program compo...

The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) has an ACIAR-funded project called ‘Asian Chicken Genetic Gains (AsCGG): a platform for exploring, testing and delivering improved chickens for enhanced livelihood outcomes in southeast Asia’. The project, implemented in Cambodia, Myanmar and Vietnam, aims to test and avail high-producing and fa...

This literature review is part of the project, implemented in Cambodia, Myanmar and Vietnam, aiming to test and avail high-producing and farmer-preferred chicken genotypes to increase smallholder production and productivity in the project countries. This paper presents the main finding of the review on poultry production, marketing, and consumption...

We present a review of literature on the overview of the poultry sector in Vietnam. The review highlights main findings on poultry production and consumption trends, smallholder chicken production and productivity, and marketing of poultry products. It also summarizes the contribution of smallholder poultry production to household nutrition, the ro...

A practical guide to the design, implementation and evaluation stages of food safety nudges

Extended Spectrum Beta Lactamase (ESBL)-producing Escherichia coli (E. coli) infections are a global health challenge resulting from human contact with infected animals and contaminated farm environments. This study aims to identify antimicrobial resistance patterns of ESBL-producing E. coli isolated from dairy farms in the Sleman District of Yogya...

Brucellosis is an important zoonosis occurring globally. In addition to the risk for disease in humans, the disease causes production losses, since the disease in livestock is characterized by abortion and other reproductive failures. The disease is a public health concern in China, but no information is available on knowledge, perception and aware...

In low-and middle-income countries, animal-source foods sold in traditional markets contributes to livelihoods and food accessibility. Better hygienic practices in these markets would improve food safety and increase consumers' trust. This study aimed at improving hygiene knowledge and practice of retailers to enable them to sell safer pork in trad...

Japanese encephalitis (JE) is the major cause of viral encephalitis (VE) in most Asian-Pacific countries. In Vietnam, there is no nationwide surveillance system for JE due to lack of medical facilities and diagnoses. Culex tritaeniorhynchus, Culex vishnui, and Culex quinquefasciatus have been identified as the major JE vectors in Vietnam. The main...

Cysticercosis and Trichinella spp. infection are parasitic zoonoses prevalent among pigs in Southeast Asia, where pork is the most important source of meat. In rural Cambodia, many pigs are raised extensively in family backyards, and information regarding the prevalence in rural small-scale pig production is very limited. This study was conducted i...

Leptospirosis is a zoonotic disease occurring worldwide with reproductive symptoms and production losses in livestock, while humans can suffer fatal renal failure. In Yogyakarta Special Province, Indonesia, there have been several outbreaks with high case fatality, demonstrating the public health importance, but there is limited understanding of th...

Japanese encephalitis (JE) is endemic in Cambodia, but circulation of JE virus (JEV) among domestic pigs has previously only been studied in the southern part of the country. The main purpose of this study was to determine the seroprevalence of JEV antibodies in smallholder pigs held in rural areas of Kampong Thom, Preah Vihear, Ratanakiri, and Stu...

Salmonella spp. and Staphylococcus aureus are two of the most common foodborne bacteria in animal-source foods (ASF) that cause illness worldwide. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of Salmonella spp. and S. aureus in chicken meat and pork in markets in Cambodia. Sampling was done in 52 traditional markets and 6 supermarkets in 25 provinc...

Pork and pork products are important staple food in the diet of Vietnamese consumers. The safety of pork, including biological contamination, is a concern to several public authorities and value chain actors. This cross-sectional study aimed to identify Salmonella and total bacteria count (TBC) contamination of cut pork sold in different outlets, a...

Poultry production plays a significant role in the overall economy and livelihood of smallholder farmers and other resource-poor households in Vietnam. This sector comprises smallholder production and the rapidly growing medium�and large-scale commercial and integrated production systems. However, smallholder production is the most common product...

(1) Background: Burkholderia pseudomallei is an environmentally mediated saprophytic pathogen that can cause severe disease in humans. It is well known that B. pseudomallei survives in tropical moist soil environments worldwide, but melioidosis is gaining recognition as a public and veterinary health issue in Vietnam. The contribution of animals to...

Interventions designed to reduce the burden of foodborne illness often require value chain actors to alter undesired and risky behaviours. This desired behavioural change may be supported by ‘nudge theory’, a sub-field of behavioural economics, which describes how individuals can be encouraged, or ‘nudged’, to act in ways which produce net societal...

Interventions designed to reduce the burden of foodborne illness often require value chain actors to alter undesired and risky behaviours. This desired behavioural change may be supported by ‘nudge theory’, a sub-field of behavioural economics, which describes how individuals can be encouraged, or ‘nudged’, to act in ways which produce net societal...

Background: The One Health concept promotes the enhancement of human, animal and ecosystem health through multi-sectorial governance support and policies to combat health security threats. In Vietnam, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in animal and human health settings poses a significant threat, but one that could be minimised by adopting a One Hea...

This book contains 18 chapters that describes the evolving and multi-faceted roles of ILRI in addressing these and other global challenges in nearly a half century of research. ILRI researchers and partners took leading roles, for example, in the following. This volume can serve as a reference and resource for all interested in the role of livestoc...

This book contains 18 chapters that describes the evolving and multi-faceted roles of ILRI in addressing these and other global challenges in nearly a half century of research. ILRI researchers and partners took leading roles, for example, in the following. This volume can serve as a reference and resource for all interested in the role of livestoc...

Pork is the most common and widely consumed meat product in Vietnam. The study aimed to assess nutrition and food safety risks and opportunities associated with pork value chains in Vietnam. Twenty-nine focus group discussions (FGD) were conducted in Hung Yen and Nghe An provinces with 164 participants who were both regular pork consumers and mothe...

Pigs in Lao People's Democratic Republic are important for income and food security, particularly in rural households. The majority of pigs are reared in smallholder systems, which may challenge the implementation of any disease control strategies. To investigate risk factors for pig production diseases in such farming systems in the country a sero...

Pork is the most commonly consumed meat in Vietnam, and Salmonella enterica is a common contaminant. This study aimed to assess potential S. enterica cross-contamination between raw and cooked pork in Vietnamese households. Different scenarios for cross-contamination were constructed based on a household survey of pork handling practices (416 house...

The objective of this study was to investigate the prevalence of, and risk factors for, Salmonella contamination along the smallholder pig value chain in northern Vietnam. Repeat cross-sectional (for farm and pork shops) and longitudinal (for slaughterhouses) studies were carried out in Hung Yen and Nghe An provinces in four sampling periods over a...

This paper evaluated the implementation of an initiative for promoting risk-based approaches to improve food safety management in Vietnam. A Taskforce of Risk Assessment for Food Safety (Taskforce) was formed and consisted of researchers working on risk assessment and food safety, and representatives of the related ministries of Health and of Agric...

Food-borne diseases are attracting a lot of attention in Vietnam as a result of repeated episodes of adulterated and unsafe food. In this paper, we provide some perspectives on food safety in Vietnam from the point of view of an international research institution working on food safety with partners in the country. We argue that one of the key issu...

In the context of animal health and food safety, economic impact assessment tools are increasingly important to quantify the probable impacts of risks and to aid in decision making in times of increasingly tight budget constraints (Rich and Niemi 2017). However, the risks and impacts associated with both food safety and animal health can take place...

Economic impact assessments are increasingly important in the context of animal health and food safety, although much of the existing literature does not address the broader systems context in which disease transmission takes place. In this paper, we discuss the role of system dynamics modeling in addressing the value chain impacts associated with...

Food-borne diseases and food poisonings are attracting a lot of attention in Vietnam due to repeated episodes of adulterated and unsafe food practices, which have been receiving widespread media attention. Various food scares have happened including cyanides and phenol residues in seafood in central coast of Vietnam since an environmental disaster...

[This corrects the article on p. 123 in vol. 3, PMID: 28119919.].

Maintaining high vaccination coverage is key to successful rabies control, but mass dog vaccination can be challenging and population turnover erodes coverage. Declines in rabies incidence following successive island-wide vaccination campaigns in Bali suggest that prospects for controlling and ultimately eliminating rabies are good. Rabies, however...

Many developing countries lack sufficient resources to conduct animal disease surveillance. In recent years, participatory epidemiology has been used to increase the cover and decrease the costs of surveillance. However, few diagnostic performance assessments have been carried out on participatory methods. The objective of the present study was to...

Objectives: To quantify salmonellosis risk in humans through consumption of boiled pork in urban Hung Yen Province, Vietnam, using a quantitative microbial risk assessment. Methods: We collected 302 samples along the pork value chain in Hung Yen between April 2014 and February 2015. We developed a model in @Risk, based on microbiological, market...

Objective: This study assesses the risk of exposure to hazardous chemical residues in pork meat, liver and kidney collected at wet markets in Nghe An and Hung Yen provinces and discuss health impact implication. Method: 514 pig feed, kidney, liver and pork samples were pooled and qualitatively and quantitatively analysed for tetracyclines, fluoroq...

Pork safety is an important public health concern in Vietnam and is a shared responsibility among many actors along the pork value chain. We examined the knowledge, perceptions, and practices regarding food safety, disease, and health risk among selected pork value chain actors (slaughterhouse owners and workers, people living around slaughterhouse...

In Lao People’s Democratic Republic pigs are kept in close contact with families. Human risk of infection with pig zoonoses arises from direct contact and consumption of unsafe pig products. This cross-sectional study was conducted in Luang Prabang (north) and Savannakhet (central-south) Provinces. A total of 59 villages, 895 humans and 647 pigs we...

STROBE checklist. (DOC)

Pork represents more than 70% of meat consumption in Vietnam, and pig production provides livelihood for more than 4 million small farmers in the country. Understanding pork consumption behavior is thus important for upgrading the pig value chains in Vietnam. The study is conducted with 416 households in Hung Yen and Nghe An provinces. The results...

Streptococcus suis is a leading cause of bacterial meningitis in Vietnamese adults, and the major risk factors have been identified as consumption of raw pig blood (Tiet canh), and occupational exposure to pigs. Previous studies of S. suis prevalence in pigs sampled from southern Vietnam have indicated very high levels of commensal infection in ton...

Previously free of rabies, Bali experienced an outbreak in 2008, which has since caused a large number of human fatalities. In response, both mass dog culling and vaccination have been implemented. In order to assess potential community-driven interventions for optimizing rabies control, we conducted a study exploring the relationship between dogs,...

Salmonella is a major food-borne pathogen worldwide, including Thailand, and poultry meat plays a role as a vehicle for the spread of the disease from animals to humans. The prevalence and characteristics of Salmonella isolated from 41 small scale poultry slaughterhouses in Chiang Mai, Thailand were determined during July 2011 through May 2012. Sal...

In Asian countries, small-scale rural poultry meat production can face challenges due to food safety policies that limit economic growth and hinder improvement of sanitation and disease prevention. In this study, an integrative, participatory research approach was used to elucidate the sanitation and disease prevention practices in small-scale poul...

The traditional pig sector plays a significant role in Vietnam’s economy from production, especially for farmers in rural areas, to consumption (more than 90% of pork consumed is supplied by conventional wet markets). At the same time, the traditional pig sector is under threat from animal health and food safety risks that impact both its profitabi...