Integrating market chain assessments with zoonoses risk analysis in two cross-border pig value chains in Lao PDR.

Objective: Lao PDR's recent accession to the World Trade Organization necessitates a greater understanding of the patterns and risk of livestock production in order to better align national policy with the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures. This eco-health study was conducted to improve understanding of the interrelations between market chains and zoonotic infection risks at two strategic cross border points between Lao PDR, Thailand and Viet Nam.

Methods: Information gained from smallholder farmer/trader interviews was integrated with serological surveys for pig-associated zoonoses-including hepatitis E virus (HEV), Taenia solium (T.