Why does this matter?

Why Does this Problem Matter?

Over 260 million preschool-age children, 654 million school-age children, 108 million adolescent girls and 138.8 million pregnant women live in areas where these parasites/diseases are intensively transmitted, and are in need of treatment and preventive interventions.

Impact on Public Health

Bacterial pathogens, fungal toxins, parasitic infections

• Bacterial pathogens, such as Salmonella and E. coli, cause acute diarrhea, fever, and abdominal pain, and can lead to complications such as dehydration and kidney failure.
• Fungal toxins, such as aflatoxins, can accumulate in the liver and cause damage over time, leading to liver cancer and other health problems.
• Parasitic infections, such as those caused by hookworms and other nematodes, can lead to anemia, malnutrition, and cognitive impairments.

Impacts on Food Security and Society

Food Security

• When plants are infected with soil-borne pathogens, their yields are reduced or their quality compromised, reduced availability or affordability of food for consumers.
• Soil-borne illnesses can lead to the loss of soil biodiversity and ecosystem services, which can have far-reaching impacts on environmental health and social well-being.
• In most regions, soil-borne illnesses are particularly prevalent and pose a significant threat to public health and food security, exacerbating existing inequalities and poverty.

Soil-borne illnesses are a major threat to the food we grow and eat. These microorganisms cause plant diseases that lead to crop failures, reducing the availability and affordability of food for communities.

What Makes This Problem so Difficult to Solve?

Transmission and Detection

Transmission

• Time Persistence → Soil-borne pathogens can persist in the soil for long periods, making it difficult to eradicate them completely.
• Multiple Paths of Transmission → Soil-borne pathogens can be spread through various routes, including contaminated soil, water, plant material, or animal feces.
• Environmental Persistence → Soil-borne pathogens can survive in harsh environmental conditions, such as high or low temperatures, pH extremes, or low oxygen levels, making them resilient to many disinfection or sanitation methods.
• Complex Relationships → Soil-borne pathogens can also interact with other soil microorganisms, such as fungi and bacteria, and form complex relationships that may affect their persistence and transmission.

Detection

Transmission pathways of infection or pathogenic microbes

• Non-visible Markers → Soil-borne pathogens can be difficult to detect, as they may not always cause visible symptoms or damage to the plant or soil.
• Extensive Testing → Soil samples may need to be tested extensively to detect the presence of soil-borne pathogens, which can be time-consuming and expensive.
• Low Concentrations → Soil-borne pathogens may also be present in low concentrations, making them difficult to detect using conventional methods.

To overcome these challenges, it is important to adopt a multi-disciplinary approach that combines different strategies for prevention, detection, and management of soil-borne illnesses.

Specifically monitoring soil health and disease outbreaks through regular soil sampling and testing.

How do Farmers Detect Soil-borne Diseases in the Status Quo? / What are the Current Solutions?

1. Visual inspection: Farmers may observe their crops for signs and symptoms of disease, such as wilting, yellowing, stunting, or lesions on leaves, stems, or roots. These symptoms can help diagnose certain soil-borne diseases, such as Fusarium wilt or Rhizoctonia root rot.
2. Soil testing: Farmers may take soil samples from their fields and send them to a laboratory for analysis. Soil tests can provide information on soil properties, nutrient levels, and the presence of soil-borne pathogens or other pests.

For example, farmers may use a PCR (polymerase chain reaction) test to detect the DNA of specific soil-borne pathogens, such as Pythium or Phytophthora.

The ineffectiveness of current methods for detecting soil-borne diseases is the factor of convenience. Testing for soil-borne diseases can be time-consuming and expensive, and farmers may not always have the resources or incentives to do so regularly.

This can lead to a lack of awareness about the presence of soil-borne pathogens, which can then contribute to the spread of diseases.

For example, if farmers are not regularly testing their soil for soil-borne pathogens, they may not detect the presence of a disease until it has already caused significant damage to their crops. This can make it more difficult to control the disease and may result in lower yields or even crop failure.

This leads to incomplete detection. Some soil-borne pathogens may be difficult to detect using conventional methods, especially if they are present in low concentrations or have complex interactions with other microorganisms in the soil.

This means that even if farmers are able to identify certain diseases in their crops, they may not be able to detect all of the pathogens that are present in the soil.

Let’s narrow it down.

• Soil-borne diseases affect millions of people and surrounding communities.
• Its a problem that is difficult to solve, because current solutions are inconvenient, ineffective and expensive.

The WHO strategy for control is to control morbidity through the periodic treatment of at-risk people living in endemic areas. But..

What if we could detect soil-borne illnesses before they even spread?

Early detection is crucial in preventing soil-borne illnesses. It allows for prompt action to be taken to prevent their spread and minimize their impact.

For example: Contaminated water sources can be treated or alternative sources provided, and infected crops can be quarantined or rotated.

Early detection helps identify high-risk groups and improves surveillance and monitoring, informing public health policies and interventions to prevent future outbreaks.

Its the key strategy for protecting public health from soil-borne illnesses.

Worldwide, an estimated 20–40% of crop yield is lost to pests and diseases, and that’s because they go undetected.

Soil-borne illnesses are a silent yet deadly menace that wreak havoc on millions of lives worldwide. These illnesses, caused by tiny, but potent microorganisms that lurk in soil, water, and food, waiting to strike unsuspecting victims. Among the most prevalent soil-borne illnesses are salmonellosis, listeriosis, and E. coli infections, which can cause debilitating health problems and even death.

Given the grave and pervasive nature of soil-borne illnesses, there is an urgent need for innovative solutions to address this problem and improve public health outcomes

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