A Serological Survey of Ruminant Livestock in Kazakhstan During Post-Soviet Transitions in Farming and Disease Control

The results of a serological survey of livestock in Kazakhstan, carried out in 1997–1998, are reported. Serum samples from 958 animals (cattle, sheep and goats) were tested for antibodies to foot and mouth disease (FMD), bluetongue (BT), epizootic haemorrhagic disease (EHD), rinderpest (RP) and peste des petits ruminants (PPR) viruses, and to Brucella spp. We also investigated the vaccination status of livestock and related this to changes in veterinary provision since independence in 1991. For the 2 diseases under official surveillance (FMD and brucellosis) our results were similar to official data, although we found significantly higher brucellosis levels in 2 districts and widespread ignorance about FMD vaccination status. The seroprevalence for BT virus was 23%, and seropositive animals were widespread suggesting endemicity, despite the disease not having being previously reported. We found a few seropositives for EHDV and PPRV, which may suggest that these diseases are also present in Kazakhstan. An hierarchical model showed that seroprevalence to FMD and BT viruses were clustered at the farm/village level, rather than at a larger spatial scale. This was unexpected for FMD, which is subject to vaccination policies which vary at the raion (county) level.     

我国兽用诊断试剂产业现状与未来趋势

兽用诊断试剂产业服务于动物疾病防控的技术需求,既是一个独立的产业,也是多学科交叉、技术密集、资金密集型产业。和国际兽用诊断试剂产业相比,我国兽用诊断试剂产业起步晚,底子薄,产品质量差距明显。通过对比和分析兽用诊断试剂产业的国内外现状,提出了我国兽用诊断试剂行业所面临的挑战,指出了未来的发展趋势,以期为我国兽用诊断试剂产业的发展提供有益的参考建议。     

The Economic Impact of Eradicating Peste des Petits Ruminants: A Benefit-Cost Analysis

Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) is an important cause of mortality and production loss among sheep and goats in the developing world. Despite control efforts in a number of countries, it has continued to spread across Africa and Asia, placing an increasing burden on the livelihoods of livestock keepers and on veterinary resources in affected countries. Given the similarities between PPR and rinderpest, and the lessons learned from the successful global eradication of rinderpest, the eradication of PPR seems appealing, both eliminating an important disease and improving the livelihoods of the poor in developing countries. We conducted a benefit-cost analysis to examine the economic returns from a proposed programme for the global eradication of PPR. Based on our knowledge and experience, we developed the eradication strategy and estimated its costs. The benefits of the programme were determined from (i) the averted mortality costs, based on an analysis of the literature, (ii) the downstream impact of reduced mortality using a social accounting matrix, and (iii) the avoided control costs based on current levels of vaccination. The results of the benefit-cost analysis suggest strong economic returns from PPR eradication. Based on a 15-year programme with total discounted costs of US$2.26 billion, we estimate discounted benefits of US$76.5 billion, yielding a net benefit of US$74.2 billion. This suggests a benefit cost ratio of 33.8, and an internal rate of return (IRR) of 199%. As PPR mortality rates are highly variable in different populations, we conducted a sensitivity analysis based on lower and higher mortality scenarios. All the scenarios examined indicate that investment in PPR eradication would be highly beneficial economically. Furthermore, removing one of the major constraints to small ruminant production would be of considerable benefit to many of the most vulnerable communities in Africa and Asia.     

从消灭牛瘟分析全球根除小反刍兽疫的可行性

根除,又称为消灭,是指某传染病的传播永远停止,不再发生。2011年,联合国粮农组织和国际兽疫局联合发布了全球根除牛瘟的消息。这两大国际组织的官方信息预示着,牛瘟病毒,正如天花病毒,将来只能在授权的实验室中保存了。牛瘟根除之后,相关学者不禁把目光投向了下一个目标-小反刍兽疫,因为从病原学和病理学等诸多方面考虑,二者最为相似。本文首先分析了前者根除的主客观因素,然后从正反两方面评述了后者全球性根除的可行性。     

Bringing Conservation Medicine into the Veterinary Curriculum: The Tufts Example

The Center for Conservation Medicine at Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine (TuftsCCM), has helped to define the concept of conservation medicine as a new science that examines the interaction between human, animal, and environmental health. One the Center’s main objectives in pursuing this new science has been to incorporate conservation medicine and ecosystem health principles into the veterinary curriculum. Environmental influences on disease dynamics in animals has always had a place in veterinary medicine, but often has not been adequately explored. Many opportunities exist within a traditional veterinary curriculum to strengthen this perspective, and to bring depth and new meaning to the understanding of disease and the role of animals in ecosystem health. The Tufts program is designed to reach both the general veterinary student and the student interested in a career in conservation medicine through core teaching, elective opportunities, research opportunities, and extracurricular seminars and workshops. The core curriculum exposes every veterinary student to an ecosystem health perspective of veterinary medicine that helps them realize the impact that this approach can have on their professional lives, regardless of their chosen specialty. Committed conservation medicine students benefit from specialty courses, a wide range of experiential and field research opportunities and active mentoring. Future challenges call for development of more graduate opportunities, continued interdisciplinary collaboration with other educational institutions, and continued curricular integration of this new paradigm of health and disease into veterinary medical education.     

Elimination of foot-and-mouth disease in South America: lessons and challenges

Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is a highly transmissible and economically devastating disease of cloven-hoofed livestock. Although vaccines are available and have been instrumental in eliminating the disease from most of the South American animal population, viral circulation still persists in some countries and areas, posing a threat to the advances of the last 60 years by the official veterinary services with considerable support of the livestock sectors. The importance of the disease for the social and economic development of the American continent led to the establishment in 1951 of the Pan American Centre for Foot-and-Mouth Disease (PANAFTOSA), which has been providing technical cooperation to countries for the elimination of the disease. The first FMD national elimination programmes were established in South America around the 1960s and 1970s. To advance the regional elimination efforts in the 1980s, countries agreed on a Plan of Action 1988–2009 of the Hemispheric Program for the Eradication of Foot-and-Mouth Disease. The Plan of Action 1988–2009 did not reach the goal of elimination from the continent; and a new Plan of Action 2011–2020 was developed in 2010 based on the experience acquired by the countries and PANAFTOSA during the past 60 years. This plan is now being implemented; several challenges are still to be overcome to ensure the elimination of FMD from the Americas by 2020, however, the goal is achievable.     

Long-Term Sterilizing Immunity to Rinderpest in Cattle Vaccinated with a Recombinant Vaccinia Virus Expressing High Levels of the Fusion and Hemagglutinin Glycoproteins

Rinderpest is an acute and highly contagious viral disease of ruminants, often resulting in greater than 90% mortality. We have constructed a recombinant vaccinia virus vaccine (v2RVFH) that expresses both the fusion (F) and hemagglutinin (H) genes of rinderpest virus (RPV) under strong synthetic vaccinia virus promoters. v2RVFH-infected cells express high levels of the F and H glycoproteins and show extensive syncytium formation. Cattle vaccinated intramuscularly with as little as 10(3) PFU of v2RVFH and challenged 1 month later with a lethal dose of RPV were completely protected from clinical disease; the 50% protective dose was determined to be 10(2) PFU. Animals vaccinated with v2RVFH did not develop pock lesions and did not transmit the recombinant vaccinia virus to contact animals. Intramuscular vaccination of cattle with 10(8) PFU of v2RVFH provided long-term sterilizing immunity against rinderpest. In addition to being highly safe and efficacious, v2RVFH is a heat-stable, inexpensive, and easily administered vaccine that allows the serological differentiation between vaccinated and naturally infected animals. Consequently, mass vaccination of cattle with v2RVFH could eradicate rinderpest.     

An outbreak in France in the XVIIIth century: rinderpest

Long regarded as the major disease of cattle, rinderpest is now eradicated. It was inflicting from 60 to 90% mortality on livestock. Installed in Asia, it arrived in France in waves, but never became endemic there. Four outbreaks of rinderpest hit the country during the eighteenth century. Their geographical extension has been reconstituted. They forced the State to devise the consistent set of health actions the nineteenth century benefited before the advent of microbiology.     

Optimal time for vaccination against Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) disease in goats in humid tropical zone in southern Nigeria

Investigation of the incidence of peste des petits ruminants (PPR) disease in goats revealed seasonality in the natural occurrence of PPR disease in the environment. Tissue culture rinderpest vaccine was shown effective in protecting goats against the disease. The optimal time for vaccinating goats against PPR disease was when the least number of animals were incubating the disease. In the tropical humid zone, as in West Africa, the optimal time for vaccination against the PPR disease is from late November to middle of December.     

Primary structure of the F-gene from Rinderpest virus strain K

Synthesis, cDNA cloning, and nucleotide sequencing of F gene of rinderpest virus strain K was carried out. Analysis of nucleotide sequence showed the only open reading frame coding for protein from 546 a.o. with mol. weight 58.6 kDa. The mean percentage of identical nucleotide residues between F genes of strains K, Kabete O, and L is 76.4% for 5'-untranslated region and 90.5% for translated region, the share of similar amino acid residues in the respective proteins is 92.9%. The structure of restriction site of F0 precursor protein in rinderpest strains with different virulence is similar. Protein F of rinderpest virus strain K has 3 potential glycosylation sites and 13 cystein residues in positions identical to those of F protein of rinderpest strains Kabete O and L.     

Towards the endgame and beyond: complexities and challenges for the elimination of infectious diseases

Successful control measures have interrupted the local transmission of human infectious diseases such as measles, malaria and polio, and saved and improved billions of lives. Similarly, control efforts have massively reduced the incidence of many infectious diseases of animals, such as rabies and rinderpest, with positive benefits for human health and livelihoods across the globe. However, disease elimination has proven an elusive goal, with only one human and one animal pathogen globally eradicated. As elimination targets expand to regional and even global levels, hurdles may emerge within the endgame when infections are circulating at very low levels, turning the last mile of these public health marathons into the longest mile. In this theme issue, we bring together recurring challenges that emerge as we move towards elimination, highlighting the unanticipated consequences of particular ecologies and pathologies of infection, and approaches to their management.     

Morbilliviruses use signaling lymphocyte activation molecules (CD150) as cellular receptors

Morbilliviruses comprise measles virus, canine distemper virus, rinderpest virus, and several other viruses that cause devastating human and animal diseases accompanied by severe immunosuppression and lymphopenia. Recently, we have shown that human signaling lymphocyte activation molecule (SLAM) is a cellular receptor for measles virus. In this study, we examined whether canine distemper and rinderpest viruses also use canine and bovine SLAMs, respectively, as cellular receptors. The Onderstepoort vaccine strain and two B95a (marmoset B cell line)-isolated strains of canine distemper virus caused extensive cytopathic effects in normally resistant CHO (Chinese hamster ovary) cells after expression of canine SLAM. The Ako vaccine strain of rinderpest virus produced strong cytopathic effects in bovine SLAM-expressing CHO cells. The data on entry with vesicular stomatitis virus pseudotypes bearing measles, canine distemper, or rinderpest virus envelope proteins were consistent with development of cytopathic effects in SLAM-expressing CHO cell clones after infection with the respective viruses, confirming that SLAM acts at the virus entry step (as a cellular receptor). Furthermore, most measles, canine distemper, and rinderpest virus strains examined could any use of the human, canine, and bovine SLAMs to infect cells. Our findings suggest that the use of SLAM as a cellular receptor may be a property common to most, if not all, morbilliviruses and explain the lymphotropism and immunosuppressive nature of morbilliviruses.     

Bovine interleukin 2: production kinetics in normal and in vivo antigen-primed cattle

Conditions influencing production kinetics of bovine interleukin 2 (IL-2), viz. cell concentration, mitogen and its concentration, length of incubation, nutrient medium and in vivo antigen-priming were investigated. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBL) of outbred cattle of different age groups showed considerable variation in their ability to secrete IL-2 which possibly reflects their immune competence. Of the cultures initiated with PBL, 5 x 10(6) cells/ml cultured in serum free Iscove's medium and stimulated with 5 micrograms Con A/ml for 24 hr produced maximal amount of IL-2 activity. In vivo antigen-priming of bovine lymphocytes with the live attenuated rinderpest virus revealed that IL-2 production was not affected by rinderpest virus but the in vivo antigen-priming possibly resulted in concomitant production of suppressor factor(s) which suppressed the already produced IL-2. The implications of this factor(s) in relation to regulation of immune responses in the disease process are discussed.     

PETscan: measuring incidence of disease phenotypes to prioritize genetic studies in companion animals

Reliable incidence measurement of diseases is necessary for identification of hereditary diseases in companion animal populations. The data collection system ‘PETscan’ was developed to facilitate standardized registration of diagnoses in veterinary practice. In the development, we attempted to counter challenges known from other primary practice data systems. PETscan includes a comprehensive list of potential diagnoses and supports the veterinary professionals in the diagnostic process. Demographics, individual data and standardized diagnostic data are collected through practice management software in a central database for epidemiological analysis. A preliminary data analysis from PETscan showed specific health issues in four canine breeds. As a real‐time prospective monitoring tool, PETscan summaries can objectively assess the incidence of disorders in companion animal populations and can be used to prioritize disease–gene identification studies and evaluate the effects of breeding strategies, for example, after implementation of a new DNA test in the breeding strategy.     

Tackling animal diseases to protect human health

Veterinary research is gaining in importance not only because of the economic impact of animal diseases, but also because animals are a fertile reservoir of zoonoses; pathogens that could jump the species barrier and infect humans.In 1761, King Louis XV of France proposed that a veterinary school should be founded in Lyon. He had been troubled by the ongoing scourge of cattle disease and inspired by the Italian physician Giovanni Maria Lancisi, who recommended that medical education should include a specialization in animal health. The year 2011 marked the 250th anniversary of that event and was declared ‘World Veterinary Year'' (Vet2011) to celebrate the birth of the veterinary profession and veterinary science. The motto adopted was “Vet for health. Vet for food. Vet for the planet!”, evoking the key role that veterinarians play in protecting both animal and human health, and in enhancing food security. “The emergence of health risks associated with globalization and climate change creates an ever greater need for risk managers at international, regional and national levels. Among these, veterinarians already play and will continue to play a leading role […] for instance performing disease surveillance and providing a first level of alert, so that biological disasters, natural or deliberate and regardless of whether they threaten animals, humans or both, can be stopped at their source in animals,” said Bernard Vallat, Director General of the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), at the Vet2011 opening ceremony in Versailles, France, on 24 January 2011 (www.oie.int).In the same year, on June 28, delegates from the member countries of the United Nations'' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) officially announced the eradication of ‘rinderpest''—a German word for ‘cattle plague''—a highly contagious and deadly virus affecting cattle, buffalo and related species such as African zebu cattle. The mortality rate for rinderpest can reach up to 100% in susceptible herds, and recurring pandemics and outbreaks caused devastating losses to societies dependent on cattle (Fig 1). A severe outbreak of rinderpest in Belgium, in 1920, that originated from imported animals, was the impetus for international cooperation in controlling animal diseases, eventually leading to the establishment of the OIE in 1924.Open in a separate windowFigure 1Animal remains. Dead oxen, some partly buried, thought to have died from rinderpest, circa 1900, South Africa. Photo by Reinhold Thiele/Thiele/Getty Images. Reproduced with permission.After a long series of country-based eradication initiatives that relied on a mixture of quarantine, slaughter and vaccine mass inoculation, the FAO formed the Global Rinderpest Eradication Programme in 1994 to co-ordinate international efforts and to provide technical guidance and financial support, in close co-ordination with the OIE and other institutional partners and donors. The last known case of rinderpest occurred in Kenya in 2001, after which a prolonged phase of surveillance operations started. “This successful eradication shows that actions against animal diseases do not come within concepts of agricultural or merchant good but within the concept of Global Public Good because by alleviating poverty, contributing to public health and food security, and improving market access as well as animal welfare, they benefit all people and generations in the world,” Vallat said in a press release announcing the eradication declaration [1].The year 2011 […]was declared ‘World Veterinary Year'' (Vet2011) to celebrate the birth of the veterinary profession and veterinary science“Rinderpest is the first animal disease to be eradicated by mankind and the second disease in general after smallpox. We must also focus our attention on measures to be taken to ensure that this result is sustainable and benefits future generations. To do this, a post-eradication strategy should be put in place to prevent any recurrence of the disease”, remarked FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf in the press release [1]. “In the final stages of eradication, the virus was entrenched in pastoral areas of the Greater Horn of Africa, a region with weak governance, poor security, and little infrastructure that presented profound challenges to conventional control methods. Although the eradication process was a development activity rather than scientific research, its success owed much to several seminal research efforts in vaccine development and epidemiology and showed what scientific decision-making and management could accomplish with limited resources,” noted Jeffrey Mariner from the Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine in North Grafton (Massachusetts, USA) and colleagues, in a paper published in Science, which reviewed this remarkable achievement [2]. “The keys to success were the development of a thermostable vaccine and the application of participatory epidemiological techniques that allowed veterinary personnel to interact at a grassroots level with cattle herders to more effectively target control measures”.Potentially dangerous rinderpest virus samples are kept in several laboratories across the world, but not all of those laboratories are considered to work under a regime of sufficient biosecurity. To address this, immediately after rinderpest was stamped out, FAO and OIE member countries agreed to destroy the remaining virus stocks or to safely store them in a limited number of high containment laboratories, banning any research that used the live virus, unless approved by the two organizations. This recommendation came from an external committee composed of seven independent experts, convened by the FAO and OIE, which advised the use of measures similar to those used during the post-eradication period for smallpox; the virus, which might still prove useful for research or vaccine development, should be kept in a limited number of labs—two in the case of smallpox—under the tightest security measures, whilst all other stocks should be destroyed [3]. Monitoring and surveillance for rinderpest virus outbreaks will continue until 2020, and experts are already considering which disease should be the focus of eradication efforts next (Sidebar A).

Sidebar A | Peste des petits ruminants: next in line for eradication?

Now that rinderpest has been stamped out, many experts believe peste des petits ruminants (PPR) is the next disease amenable to global eradication [11]. Also known as ‘goat plague'' or ‘ovine rinderpest'', PPR is a highly contagious viral disease of goats and sheep characterized by fever, painful sores in the mouth, tongue and feet, diarrhoea, pneumonia and death, especially in young animals. It is caused by a virus of the genus Morbillivirus that is related to rinderpest, measles and canine distemper. The disease has spread across Africa between the equator and the Sahara—with outbreaks in Morocco and Tunisia in 2008—through the Arabian Peninsula, the Middle East, south-west Asia, China and the Indian subcontinent, extending its range alarmingly during the past decade. PPR might cause serious production losses in the developing world—with a significant number of people relying on sheep and goats for their sustenance—and poses a major challenge to international livestock trade. “If one is looking to control the disease to the point of eradication, there are three basic questions: should we do it, can we do it and what is the best way to do it?” said Michael Baron, a leading expert in PPR control at the Pirbright Institute, formerly known as the Institute for Animal Health (Pirbright, UK). The question of whether we should eradicate PPR needs no discussion, Baron maintains, as there would be a large benefit to millions of people if the disease were gone. “Can we is a bit harder, but the example of rinderpest assures us that we can, since the viruses in question share the same properties, and all the main tools are in place,” Baron explained. These tools include a safe and reliable vaccine that stops all known PPR strains, together with simple and effective diagnostic tests. Moreover, the virus is spread by close contact only, has a short infectious period and there is no carrier or persistent state, all of which make its eradication possible. Finally, the virus seems to be primarily restricted to livestock, although some research on wildlife is needed to be sure that they cannot act as reservoirs of infection. “How should we is the bit that still needs work. Rinderpest was quite well studied before eradication was proposed—it had been known of for hundreds of years, whereas PPR has only been known about since 1942—and we need to know more about when we should vaccinate, how often, how much surveillance needs to be done, and how to adapt our control programmes to the fact that sheep and/or goats are simply so much more mobile, and people will insist on moving them around illegally,” Baron said. “We could throw a lot of money at the problem, but it might not get solved any faster than if we think about it and plan the campaign, and conduct some smaller scale pilot studies.”Peste des petits ruminants in the field. This photo, by the Indian photographer Somenath Mukhopadhyay, won the ‘Vets in your daily life'' photo contest in 2011, organized by the European Commission and the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE). “I accompanied this village veterinarian on his rounds when I came across this engaging image of him taking the temperature of a goat affected by peste des petits ruminants. On this third visit to the household, the goat was in recovery phase thanks to the medication it had been given. The photo to me is the ultimate portrayal of what a vet means to us,” commented Mukhopadhyay. Credit: CE/OIE. Reproduced with permission.In addition to fighting animal diseases, another front where veterinarians are deployed and where research is more active is the transmission of diseases from animals to humans; in fact, this is an area of growing concern. Some 60% of human epidemics are caused by animal pathogens found in the wild or in domestic animals. Among such ‘zoonoses''—diseases or infections that are naturally transmissible from vertebrate animals to humans—some can be considered as re-emerging diseases. Brucellosis, which is caused primarily by the bacterial pathogens Brucella melitensis and B. abortus, and which affects several farm animals including sheep, goats and cattle, is such a case. Brucellosis is characterized by the constant changing of the disease, with new foci emerging or re-emerging, as humans are infected through contact with diseased animals or by consuming unpasteurized dairy products. Although infections with Brucella are no longer fatal, they still represent a serious public health problem. 500,000 new human cases are reported each year worldwide with significant economic impact from both the loss of labour and the loss of animal production [4]. As such, research into brucellosis is active in several directions, such as the development of vaccines, vaccine delivery strategies, diagnostic testing for brucellosis in animals, mechanisms of intracellular survival of this persistent bacterial colonizer and research into how it circumvents the immune system [5].Various factors influence the re-emergence of zoonoses or the emergence of new pathogens from animal reservoirs. “To support the growing human population, we have an increasing demand for nutritional support, resulting in intensive agricultural practices, sometimes involving enormous numbers of animals, or multiple species farmed within the same region. These practices can facilitate infection to cross species barriers,” wrote Sally Cutler, from the University of East London (London, UK), and colleagues in a review on the topic [6]. The situation is made worse by the ever-increasing transnational transportation of animals and their products, the progressive encroachment of humans into natural habitats with direct exposure to new zoonotic pathogens, and climate changes that might influence the evolution of pathogens and their vectors. These and other elements represent a complex, multifactorial set of changing circumstances that have an impact on the dynamics of zoonoses [6].“Rinderpest is the first animal disease to be eradicated by mankind and the second disease in general after smallpox”Zoonoses with a wildlife reservoir are increasingly recognized as a significant problem. “I think that this is a vitally important topic, as repeated studies have demonstrated that wildlife, collectively, are the major source of new and emerging diseases—and have been so for many years,” commented James Wood from the University of Cambridge in the UK. “Some of the most important human diseases have arisen from animals, including measles, which is derived from the recently eradicated rinderpest virus of cattle, whooping cough, which is derived from a common animal pathogen that causes diseases like kennel cough in domestic dogs, and smallpox, which was most closely related to a similar virus of camels. Examination of the list of the most feared and fatal human pathogens reveals that a significant number have arisen from bats; why this may be the case is the subject of active research in a number of major labs,” Wood explained. Wood and colleagues have proposed a new holistic and interdisciplinary investigation of zoonotic disease emergence and its drivers, by using the spillover of bat pathogens, including Ebola, Marburg, SARS coronavirus, Hendra, Nipah and several rabies and rabies-related viruses as a case study [7].“One of the key missing pieces of knowledge relates to how some of these infections, in particular those other than the immunodeficiency type viruses, transfer from wildlife to humans—and how human livelihood related activities and poverty impact on this risk,” Wood explained. “This is an area of active research for an international consortium named Dynamic Drivers of Disease in Africa [www.driversofdisease.org], considering henipaviruses from bats in Ghana, Rift Valley fever in Kenya, Lassa fever in Sierra Leone and Trypanosomiasis in Zimbabwe and Zambia. Interdisciplinary work in this consortium aims to unpick at least part of that particular puzzle”.Clearly, a better understanding of the complex interactions between ecological, evolutionary, biochemical and sociological mechanisms that enable animal pathogens to cross the species barrier would greatly expand our ability to predict future epidemics of zoonotic infectious diseases. Several approaches have studied the adaptation of pathogens to new hosts—where they have to face a new genetic and immunological environment—and the evolutionary dynamics of this process. These include cross-species infections of heterologous animals, heterologous cell lines and even the expression of single genes from one species in cell lines derived from a second species [8].New threats are looming on the horizon. A research team led by Joanne Devlin at the University of Melbourne, Australia, showed that different vaccine viruses used simultaneously to control laryngotracheitis—an acute respiratory disease occurring in chickens that is caused by a herpesvirus—have recombined to produce new infectious viruses (Fig 2) with significantly increased virulence or replication [9]. “The findings from our research show that we need to consider the risk of recombination when we use live viral vaccines, even for those viruses where the risk of vaccine recombination has traditionally been thought to be very low, such as herpesviruses,” Devlin said. “In Australia, the relevant regulatory body, the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA), is already considering measures to reduce the risk of recombination between different strains of vaccine viruses, including changes to product labels to prevent different strains of the same virus vaccine being used in the same population of animals. This will prevent recombination occurring between the vaccines. It is likely that similar measures will need to be considered elsewhere too.” Notwithstanding the alarming finding that the combined animal vaccines could create new, more dangerous viruses, the risk for human health is low. “Multiple strains of the same live vaccine (with different attenuating changes in their genomes) are required to be present in the one population in order for vaccine–vaccine recombination to occur and for this to generate more virulent viruses,” Devlin explained. “The use of multiple vaccine strains of the same virus in the one population is a feature of veterinary medicine, rather than human medicine.”Open in a separate windowFigure 2Veterinary vaccines might recombine to produce new virus strains. Different vaccine viruses, of European (left) and Australian (right) origin, used simultaneously to control laryngotracheitis infection in chickens, were found to have recombined to produce new infectious viruses [9]. Credit: Australian Science Media Centre. Reproduced with permission.Ultimately, given the increasingly close and frequent contact between humans and animals, both domesticated and wild, veterinarians are important in identifying and combating new potential theats to human health. However, to better understand and eventually defeat diseases at the animal and human interface, an unprecedented level of interdisciplinary collaboration is going to be needed [10].     

Introducing One Health to the Ethical Debate About Zoonotic Diseases in Southeast Asia

Pandemic plans recommend phases of response to an emergent infectious disease (EID) outbreak, and are primarily aimed at preventing and mitigating human‐to‐human transmission. These plans carry presumptive weight and are increasingly being operationalized at the national, regional and international level with the support of the World Health Organization (WHO). The conventional focus of pandemic preparedness for EIDs of zoonotic origin has been on public health and human welfare. However, this focus on human populations has resulted in strategically important disciplinary silos. As the risks of zoonotic diseases have implications that reach across many domains outside traditional public health, including anthropological, environmental, and veterinary fora, a more inclusive ecological perspective is paramount for an effective response to future outbreaks.     

Interprofessional Education for Whom? — Challenges and Lessons Learned from Its Implementation in Developed Countries and Their Application to Developing Countries: A Systematic Review

Background

Evidence is available on the potential efficacy of interprofessional education (IPE) to foster interprofessional cooperation, improve professional satisfaction, and improve patient care. While the intention of the World Health Organization (WHO) is to implement IPE in all countries, evidence comes from developed countries about its efficiency, challenges, and barriers to planning and implementing IPE. We therefore conducted this review to examine challenges of implementing IPE to suggest possible pathways to overcome the anticipated challenges in developing countries.

Methods

We searched for literatures on IPE in PubMed/MEDLINE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and ERIC databases. We examined challenges or barriers and initiatives to overcome them so as to suggest methods to solve the anticipated challenges in developing countries. We could not conduct a meta-analysis because of the qualitative nature of the research question and the data; instead we conducted a meta-narrative of evidence.

Results

A total of 40 out of 2,146 articles were eligible for analyses in the current review. Only two articles were available from developing countries. Despite the known benefits of IPE, a total of ten challenges or barriers were common based on the retrieved evidence. They included curriculum, leadership, resources, stereotypes and attitudes, variety of students, IPE concept, teaching, enthusiasm, professional jargons, and accreditation. Out of ten, three had already been reported in developing countries: IPE curriculum, resource limitations, and stereotypes.

Conclusion

This study found ten important challenges on implementing IPE. They are curriculum, leadership, resources, stereotypes, students'' diversity, IPE concept, teaching, enthusiasm, professional jargons, and accreditation. Although only three of them are already experienced in developing countries, the remaining seven are potentially important for developing countries, too. By knowing these challenges and barriers in advance, those who implement IPE programs in developing countries will be much more prepared, and can enhance the program''s potential success.     

Recombinant rinderpest vaccines expressing membrane-anchored proteins as genetic markers: evidence of exclusion of marker protein from the virus envelope

Rinderpest virus (RPV) causes a severe disease of cattle resulting in serious economic losses in parts of the developing world. Effective control and elimination of this disease require a genetically marked rinderpest vaccine that allows serological differentiation between animals that have been vaccinated against rinderpest and those which have recovered from natural infection. We have constructed two modified cDNA clones of the vaccine strain RNA genome of the virus, with the coding sequence of either a receptor site mutant form of the influenza virus hemagglutinin (HA) gene or a membrane-anchored form of the green fluorescent protein (GFP) gene (ANC-GFP), inserted as a potential genetic marker. Infectious recombinant virus was rescued in cell culture from both constructs. The RPVINS-HA and RPVANC-GFP viruses were designed to express either the HA or ANC-GFP protein on the surface of virus-infected cells with the aim of stimulating a strong humoral antibody response to the marker protein. In vitro studies showed that the marker proteins were expressed on the surface of virus-infected cells, although to different extents, but neither was incorporated into the envelope of the virus particles. RPVINS-HA- or RPVANC-GFP-vaccinated cattle produced normal levels of humoral anti-RPV antibodies and significant levels of anti-HA or anti-GFP antibodies, respectively. Both viruses were effective in stimulating protective immunity against RPV and antibody responses to the marker protein in all animals when tested in a cattle vaccination trial.     

When counting cattle is not enough: multiple perspectives in agricultural and veterinary research

A traditional approach in agricultural and veterinary research is focussing on the biological perspective where large cattle-databases are used to analyse the dairy herd. This approach has yielded valuable insights. However, recent research indicates that this knowledge-base can be further increased by examining agricultural and veterinary challenges from other perspectives. In this paper we suggest three perspectives that may supplement the biological perspective in agricultural and veterinary research; the economic-, the managerial-, and the social perspective. We review recent studies applying or combining these perspectives and discuss how multiple perspectives may improve our understanding and ability to handle cattle-health challenges.     

Does competition regulate ungulate populations? Further evidence from Serengeti,Tanzania

Summary Changes in populations of several ungulate species in the Serengeti-Mara region of East Africa over the past 30 years suggest several hypotheses for their regulation and coexistence. Recent censuses in the 1980s have allowed us to test the hypotheses that: (1) there was competition between wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus) and Thomson's gazelle (Gazella thomsoni). This predicted that gazelle numbers should have declined in the 1980s when wildebeest were food limited. Census figures show no change in gazelle numbers between 1978 and 1986, a result contrary to the interspecific competition hypothesis; (2) wildebeest and African buffalo (Syncerus caffer) populations were regulated by intraspecific competition for food. Since both populations reached food limitation in the 1970s, the hypothesis predicted that the populations should have been stable in the 1980s. The results confirm these predictions for wildebeest and the buffalo population in the Mara reserve. In the Serengeti the buffalo population declined 41% over the period 1976–1984. The decline was not evenly distributed over the park, some areas showing an 80–90% decline, others no change or an increase in numbers. The decline was associated with proximity to human habitation; (3) an outbreak of the viral disease, rinderpest, in 1982 may have been the cause of the drop in buffalo population. Blood serum samples to measure the prevalence of antibodies were collected from areas of decreasing, stable and increasing populations. If rinderpest was the cause of decrease there should be a negative relationship between the prevalence of rinderpest and the instantaneous rate of increase (r). The results showed no relationship. We conclude that rinderpest was not the major cause of the drop in buffalo numbers. Elephant (Loxodonta africana) numbers dropped 81% in Serengeti in the period 1977–1986. In the Mara there was little change. The evidence suggests that extensive poaching in northern and western Serengeti during 1979–1984 accounted for the drop in both elephant and buffalo numbers.