Akwongo Claire Julie

Self-presentation:

Dr. Claire Julie Akwongo is a Veterinarian, and a research fellow of the CRESCENDO Transdisciplinary Doctoral Programme in Microbiome Science co-funded by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, EU (Call H2020-MSCACOFUND-2020). Her research focuses on understanding patterns of spread and drivers of infectious diseases in the context of One Health. She obtained a Masters degree in Tropical Animal Health , with a focus on Epidemiology at the Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium, emerging as the best graduating student for which she was awarded the Global research prize of the Province of Antwerp, 2022. Prior to this, she obtained a Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine from Makerere University, Kampala,Uganda. She has served in different professional capacities, most notably as the Epidemiologist in the multi partner project “Boosting Uganda’s Investments in Livestock Development (BUILD)” where she led national surveillance and control of transboundary and zoonotic diseases, in addition to supporting national campaigns for the control of antimicrobial resistance.

Project:

The wild boar One Health chain approach: Food safety concerns and Antimicrobial resistance transmission

In the face of an ever increasing wild boar population , coupled with a hightened demand for its meat, a question of “how safe is it” arises. Antibiotic resistant bacteria, most especially ESβLs, are currently a major global public health challenge. Infections with such bacteria are often difficult to treat with common antibiotics, resulting in significant morbidities and mortalities within health care systems, as well as insurmountable economic losses. Edible wild game including wild boars, often overlooked in antimicrobial resistance research, represents a potentially significant player in the complex web of the AMR transmission pathway. Through a combination of traditional bacteriological methods and advanced sequencing technologies, the research project “The wild boar One Health chain approach: Food safety concerns and Antimicrobial resistance transmission” aims to investigate the potential for transmission of antibiotic resistant bacteria from wild boars to humans, with emphasis on the food safety and public health implications for consumers and handlers. This coupled with information from epidemiological Akwongo Claire Julie clairejulie.akwongo@unina.it modelling of data, will provide evidence to support policy and strategies formulation for meat inspection, consumer protection and One Health engagements on AMR control.

Supervisior:

Professor Nicoletta Murru, Department of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Production, University of Naples Federico II
Professor Kurt Houf, Department of Veterinary and Biosciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University
Dr. Maria Francesca Peruzy, Department of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Production, University of Naples Federico II