Sabah PREVENT Visit

By Anton Schneider

May 8, 2012

Anton Schneider, Regional BCC Advisor for PREVENT, travelled to Sabah, Malaysia April 15-16 to visit the Sabah Wildlife Department in order to assist them in characterizing the human-wildlife interface and identify potentially risky behaviors that could allow transmission of zoonotic diseases from wildlife to people.

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April, 2012

My first trip to Sabah since vacationing there 15 years before, I found Sabah to be just as beautiful as I remembered it.  But unlike my vacation visit in 1997, this time I planned to meet with the Sabah Wildlife Department in the hopes we might assist them in characterizing the human-wildlife interface and identify potentially risky behaviors that could allow transmission of zoonotic diseases from wildlife to people.  

In some way, I hoped that my visit would contribute to keeping the beauty of this wilderness for the next generation, and learning important lessons that would protect both humans and wildlife from the risks posed by potentially dangerous pathogens that can cross the species barrier to cause a pandemic. 

Sabah is home to many species that exist nowhere else in the world in several protected areas and lush rainforests.   Even though my visit was just a short 36 hours, I was determined to not only visit with my hosts, but also to see some of this unique wildlife.  Since my host was the Sabah Wildlife Department, I was certain they would be able to introduce me to at least a small sample of the region's famed wildlife.    

Sunday, April 15 – Arrival

Approaching Kota Kinabalu airport in daytime offers a beautiful view of a sky-blue ocean that meets a clear blue sky and then a lush green landscape.  Toward the distant horizon Mount Kinabalu, the highest peak in South East Asia, could be seen covered in a light mist.   Even though we had cleared immigration in Kuala Lumpur, we passed through immigration again in Kota Kinabalu (referred to as “KK”) as Sabah is proud to be a semi-autonomous region of Malaysia and has its own immigration procedure.  

Sunday, April 15 – Filipino Market

Close to the hotel and downtown is the famed “Filipino” market, where vendors sell fish and seafood as well as arts and crafts, and foods of all kinds.  Over the years, this market has attracted fisherman and seafood lovers, many of whom come here from the islands between Sabah and Mindanao, such as Tawi-Tawi, Sulu, and others.  I asked whether any wildlife products, other than seafood, could be found in the market, and was told that due to strict regulation, I was unlikely to find wildlife being sold publicly.    

Monday morning, April 16 – Sabah Department of Wildlife

I was introduced to the Sabah Wildlife Department by Tom Hughes, the project coordinator for EcoHealth Alliance (EHA) in Malaysia.  Tom also serves as the focal person for PREDICT in Malaysia and PREVENT’s EPT partner.   Fortunately, Tom had already provided advance information about PREVENT to the Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD) so we were able during our very brief meeting with the SWD director and deputy to discuss important aspects of our proposed research work in Sabah.  Following this introductory meeting, I presented an overview of PREVENT and our proposed research plan to staff of SWD and key partner NGO’s who have been working in the area and closely collaborate with SWD. 

Left to Right, Rashid Saburi, Wildlife Department, Dr. Sen Nathan, Assistant Wildlife Director, Dr. Laurentius Ambu, Director of Sabah Wildlife Department, Anton Schneider, PREVENT.

Presentation to Sabah Wildlife Department

Dr. Laurentius, the Director of Sabah Wildlife Department opened and chaired the meeting. Following the brief 30-minute presentation Dr. Sen, the Assistant Director of SWD, invited the participants to give their comments on the work that PREVENT has proposed. A number of important issues were discussed, including how to ensure stakeholder involvement in both the design and preparation ("pre") of the research as well as the research dissemination and formulation of recommendations and next steps ("post").

In addition, several participants mentioned that MoH would need to be involved since the research would be conducted among human subjects and involved human health issues. At the end of the discussion, SWD asked participants for their opinion whether the research would be valuable and should be conducted. Opinions were completely positive, and the only question was timing. Although specific timing would be arranged at a later time, we agreed that EcoHealth Alliance should first conduct its sampling of wildlife, so that PREVENT research could follow in the same locations.

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