The impacts of the COVID-19 shock on sustainability and farmer livelihoods in Sri Lanka

Food security and its impact on growth among Sri Lankan children under five during the economic crisis in 2022

The recent economic recession has reportedly worsened food insecurity in Sri Lanka. We assessed food insecurity and its impact on the growth of children aged 6-59 months through a community-based, descriptive, cross-sectional study conducted in 2022. Food insecurity was measured using the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale, and anthropometric measurements (weight, length/height) were taken using standard techniques. Weight faltering was defined as inadequate or no weight gain (flattening) or a drop in weight gain, based on the trajectory of the weight curve over two points six months apart. Additionally, food insecurity, stunting, and wasting during crisis were compared with pre-crisis data. The study included 832 children, with half of the households experiencing moderate to severe food insecurity. One-fifth of the children showed growth faltering during the crisis, and 8.9% of those with growth faltering crossed one centile line (0.67 SD). Among children facing food insecurity, the rate of growth faltering had doubled, with the residential sector (i.e., estate) tripling the risk of weight faltering. The rates of food insecurity and growth issues were notably higher during the crisis compared to pre-crisis data. This study highlights the worsening food insecurity and its significant impact on growth faltering in children under five during the 2022 economic recession.

A global one health perspective on leptospirosis in humans and animals

Leptospirosis is a quintessential one health disease of humans and animals caused by pathogenic spirochetes of the genus Leptospira. Intra- and interspecies transmission is dependent on 1) reservoir host animals in which organisms replicate and are shed in urine over long periods of time, 2) the persistence of spirochetes in the environment, and 3) subsequent human-animal-environmental interactions. The combination of increased flooding events due to climate change, changes in human-animal-environmental interactions as a result of the pandemic that favor a rise in the incidence of leptospirosis, and under-recognition of leptospirosis because of nonspecific clinical signs and severe signs that resemble COVID-19 represents a "perfect storm" for resurgence of leptospirosis in people and domestic animals. Although often considered a disease that occurs in warm, humid climates with high annual rainfall, pathogenic Leptospira spp have recently been associated with disease in animals and humans that reside in semiarid regions like the southwestern US and have impacted humans that have a wide spectrum of socioeconomic backgrounds. Therefore, it is critical that physicians, veterinarians, and public health experts maintain a high index of suspicion for the disease regardless of geographic and socioeconomic circumstances and work together to understand outbreaks and implement appropriate control measures. Over the last decade, major strides have been made in our understanding of the disease because of improvements in diagnostic tests, molecular epidemiologic tools, educational efforts on preventive measures, and vaccines. These novel approaches are highlighted in the companion Currents in One Health by Sykes et al, AJVR, September 2022.

Assessing the Economic Impacts of COVID-19 on the Aquaculture and Fisheries Sectors in Relation to Food Security: A Critical Review

The aquaculture and fisheries sectors are critical sources of nutrition and employment generation in many developed and developing countries. Hence, any disruptions to these sectors due to the COVID-19 pandemic have a far-reaching impact, leading to a cascading chain of disorder affecting people’s food security and livelihoods. Relating to these fish sectors, we reviewed COVID-19’s implications for the food security of these vulnerable countries. The current study indicated that COVID-19 and its related preventive measures have severely disrupted the fish demand and supply chain by creating considerable fish price volatility. As a result, the vulnerable aquatic communities have adopted several short-term coping strategies, including fish overwintering, delayed fish stocking time, and feeding the overcrowded fish with low-priced food. Since the long-term coping strategies are still unclear, we recommended certain longstanding methods that are likely to safeguard food security and livelihoods if adopted.