‘One Welfare’ complements ‘One Health’

Image: Leroy Skalstad, Pixabay.com One of a series of blogs written by CABI editors for One Health Day on November 3rd 2016 While ‘One Health’ is a well-established concept, a new term ‘One Welfare’ is also emerging, extending the One Health theme beyond physical health and recognising that animal welfare and human wellbeing are intrinsically…
Read Further

One Health working will improve health and well-being of us all: plant, animal, human and ecosystem!

For One Health Day November 3, 2016, CABI editor Wendie Norris blogs about "One Health beyond early detection and control of zoonoses" an RSTMH 2016 talk by CABI author Esther Schellling (Swiss Tropical Public Health). Describing research projects on nomadic pastoralists in Chad and Rift Valley Fever (RVF) control in Kenya, Esther drew attention to the need for interdisciplinary studies to include an evaluation of One Health working, involvement of social scientists, engagement of key stakeholders. Tellingly she provided a cost-benefit analysis to society of controlling zoonoses when the disease is in its animal host before it infects human beings.
Read Further

Excessive use of antimicrobials in intensive livestock farming as One Health issue

Most antibiotics in livestock farming are used in aquaculture, but significant amounts are also used in terrestrial livestock species, particularly in poultry and pigs. Approximately 70% of antibiotics are used for non-therapeutic purposes, i.e. many antibiotics are used in sub-therapeutic doses and over prolonged periods, which leads to the development of genes that confer antimicrobial resistance to animal pathogens. These genes can subsequently be transferred to human pathogens and it is estimated that 75% of recently emerging diseases in humans are of animal origin. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) problems are further exacerbated by the fact that antibiotic resistance genes were found in bacteria long before antibiotics were ever used on super-pathogens in farm animals. AMR is a worldwide problem, which clearly affects both animal and human health, and hence it is truly One Health issue.
Read Further

Why Latin America is nearer elimination of rabies than Africa

Latin America is doing far better at controlling and ultimately eliminating rabies from the region than Africa. Latin America uses dog vaccination; Africa relies on post-exposure prophylaxis. Can the lessons learned in Latin America be applied or adapted to Africa? At RSTMH “Challenges in Disease Elimination”, [September 12-16th, 2016], Dr Katie Hampson described the PAHO surveillance & management framework operating in Mexico and Brazil, devised to support the elimination of rabies in 25 PAHO countries, which could be adapted. Tanzanian researchers have developed a targeted surveillance system to improve case detection for the African setting where resources are constrained.
Read Further

Author of the Month Blog: Equine Thermography in Practice, Dr Maria Soroko

About the author My interest in equine thermography started during my Equine Science Masters degree studies at Aberystwyth University, Wales in 2008. The initial research in equine thermography was for my Masters dissertation on the application of thermography in diagnosing injuries of racehorses (fig. 1). The main objective of the investigations was to assess thermography…
Read Further

Buzzing activity around pollinator health

Yesterday I cherished the start of spring in England by attending an event devoted to pollinators and pollination at the University of Reading. Most presentations at this meeting organised by the Royal Entomological Society were understandably about bees, but we also heard a few talks highlighting the importance of other pollinator groups. For about five…
Read Further

Workshop on “Food Security: Infectious Diseases in Farm Animals”- Invited Lectures, Day 2

St. Catherine’s College, Manor Road, Oxford,  UK,  4-7th April 2016  Attended by M Djuric, CAB International, Wallingford, UK, on 5th April 2016 (Day 2) This workshop meeting was jointly organised by the Pirbright Institute, Woking, UK and Cairo University, Egypt and was sponsored by the British Council Research Links Programme. The aims of the workshop…
Read Further

Workshop on “Food Security: Infectious Diseases in Farm Animals” brings together animal and veterinary scientists from Egypt and the UK

St. Catherine’s College, Manor Road, Oxford, UK,  4-7th April 2016  Attended by M Djuric, CAB International, Wallingford, UK, on 5th April 2016 (Day 2) This workshop meeting was jointly organised by the Pirbright Institute, Woking, UK and Cairo University, Egypt and was sponsored by the British Council Research Links Programme. There were 50-60 delegates in attendance…
Read Further

Gail Tulloch reviews ‘The Animal Trade’

“The Animal Trade” is a book of major importance that will make groundbreaking contributions to the fields of animal welfare and ethics, husbandry, and  government policy, nationally and, hopefully, internationally – as befits the expertise of its author, Clive Phillips. It is scholarly and comprehensive in its sweep, as well as being tightly written, so…
Read Further

Author of the Month Blog: Mason’s World Encyclopedia of Livestock Breeds and Breeding, Valerie Porter

A tall, spare, bearded, lively, modest, quietly humorous and gentle man, the animal breeding consultant Ian L Mason was known and respected worldwide for his encyclopaedic and authoritative knowledge of livestock breeds and breeding. It was said of him by a friend in Israel: ‘It is known in Asia that Dr Mason has a beard,…
Read Further