Trypanosoma evansi control and containment in Australasia

Animal trypanosomosis caused by Trypanosoma evansi is endemic throughout Southeast Asia, where it is an important constraint on the productivity of smallholder livestock. In the past decade, T. evansi has emerged as a serious threat to the viability of smallholder livestock industries in the Philippines and causes severe disease outbreaks with high mortality. Trypanosoma evansi also poses a threat to livestock and native fauna in Australia and Papua New Guinea (PNG) where it is absent, but the risk of it spreading from Indonesia is high. Surveillance for T. evansi in PNG and Australia, and its control in the Philippines is restricted by the poor sensitivity and inadequate validation of existing diagnostic tests and lack of information on the determinants of infection.     

'The poor have the right to be beautiful': cosmetic surgery in neoliberal Brazil

Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in hospitals that offer cosmetic surgery to the poor, this article examines the causes of a rapid growth in plastic surgery rates in Brazil over the past two decades. It argues that problems with diverse social origins manifest themselves as aesthetic defects, which are diagnosed and treated by the beauty industry. But plastic surgery also incites the consumer desires of people on the margins of the market economy and mobilizes a racialized 'beauty myth' (a key trope in national identity) in marketing and clinical practice. Beauty practices offer a means to compete in a neoliberal libidinal economy where anxieties surrounding new markets of work and sex mingle with fantasies of social mobility, glamour, and modernity.     

New commercial opportunities for advanced reproductive technologies in horses,wildlife, and companion animals

As advanced reproductive technologies become more efficient and repeatable in livestock and laboratory species, new opportunities will evolve to apply these techniques to alternative and non-traditional species. This will result in new markets requiring unique business models that address issues of animal welfare and consumer acceptance on a much different level than the livestock sector. Advanced reproductive technologies and genetic engineering will be applied to each species in innovative ways to provide breeders more alternatives for the preservation and propagation of elite animals in each sector. The commercialization of advanced reproductive techniques in these niche markets should be considered a useful tool for conservation of genetic material from endangered or unique animals as well as production of biomedical models of human disease.     

Main animal welfare problems in ruminant livestock during preslaughter operations: a South American view

Animals destined for meat production are usually exposed to many stressful conditions during production and particularly during preslaughter operations. Handling animals on farm, loading into and unloading from vehicles, transportation, passing through livestock markets, fasting, lairage and stunning can all affect their welfare. How badly welfare can be affected will depend on both the intrinsic factors of the specific type of animal involved and the extrinsic factors of the environment where those animals live or are being handled, including the animal handlers. In South America (SA), it has been part of a strategy for improving animal welfare (AW) to address not only ethical aspects, but to emphasize the close relationship existing between handling ruminants preslaughter and the quantity and quality of the meat they produce. This has resulted not only in improvements in AW, but has also brought economic rewards to producers which in turn can lead to higher incomes for them and hence better human welfare. For producers with a high number of animals, considering AW during production and preslaughter operations can determine the possibility of exporting and/or getting better prices for their products. At smallfarmer level, particularly in some less developed countries, where human welfare is impaired, using this strategy together with education has also been relevant. It is important that education and training in AW are done not only considering global knowledge, but also including specific geographical and climatic characteristics of each country and the cultural, religious and socio-economical characteristics of its people; therefore, research within the context of each country or region becomes relevant. The aim of this review was to show the results of research dealing with AW of ruminant livestock in Chile and some other SA countries. Some of the main problems encountered are related to lack of proper infrastructure to handle animals; long distance transport with high stocking densities in the larger countries; long fasting times due to animals passing through livestock markets and dealers; bad handling of animals by untrained personnel in these and other premises; and finally the lack of knowledge and skills by operators in charge of stunning procedures. Interventions at these stages have considered training animal handlers and transporters by showing them the consequences of bad handling with audiovisual material prepared on site. Research results have helped to improve AW and support the development of new legislation or to make changes in the existent legislation related to AW.     

A comment on the distribution of historical and contemporary livestock grazing across Australia: Implications for using dingoes for biodiversity conservation

Summary Understanding the causes of faunal declines is important for preserving Australia’s threatened fauna. Both predation and livestock grazing have been investigated as potential causes of declines, but some studies struggle to account for historical grazing impacts due to the lack of historical information on livestock distribution and grazing intensity. This article summarises some trends in the extent of historical and contemporary livestock grazing on mainland Australia. The cumulative effects of historical livestock grazing are discussed in the light of studies investigating the influences of predation and livestock grazing on faunal declines.     

Grazing intensity is a poor indicator of waterborne Escherichia coli O157 activity

Contamination of watercourses with fecal matter represents a significant risk to public health due to the associated risk from human pathogens (e.g. Escherichia coli O157, norovirus). In addition, water contamination may also perpetuate the re-infection cycle of human pathogens within domesticated and wild animal populations. While diffuse pollution from agricultural fields has been identified as a major source of these pathogens, the relationship between livestock grazing intensity and subsequent pathogen persistence in water is not well established. Our aim was to critically evaluate the importance of land use management on the activity of E. coli O157 in freshwaters collected from a livestock dominated catchment in the UK. We inoculated replicate batches of both filter-sterilised and non-sterile freshwaters with a chromosomally lux-marked E. coli O157 and monitored pathogen survival and activity over a 5 d period. Our results indicate that the greatest risk for pathogens entering freshwater is probably associated with high intensity livestock areas, although their subsequent survival is greatest in waters from low intensity livestock areas. We ascribe this enhanced persistence in the latter to reduced competition and predation within these aquatic environments. These results have serious implications for the reliability of pathogen risk exposure maps which are based on grazing intensity alone.     

Ovine (Ovis aries) blastula from an in vitro production system and isolation of primary embryonic stem cells

Livestock embryo production in in vitro systems has been highlighted due to the emergence of interest in embryo stem cells (ESC). ESC potency and their wide potential applications have been recognized in medicine, fundamental research fields and commercial markets due to ESC totipotency or pluripotency and self-renewal. Ovine ESC probably is a useful technical platform for transgenic livestock and animal cloning, but ESC lines have not yet been founded because of difficulties in ESC isolation and the lack of blastula materials. We have established an IVP (in vitro production) system in our laboratory, including in vitro maturation, in vitro fertilization and in vitro culture, to produce sheep blastula using fresh ovaries and testes collected from livestock production. This system can achieve rates of mature eggs and blastulas of 65 and 50% respectively, and can provide enough blastulas for ICM (inner cell mass) isolation. Furthermore, ESC-like clones were isolated from the ICM on ovine embryonic fibroblast (OEF) feeder cells and in ES-DMEM supplemented with the cell factors LIF and SCF, and these survived to the third passage, which was primarily identified by AKP staining and morphology. This work provides a basis for ovine ESC isolation and foundation of ESC lines.     

A Review of Foodborne Bacterial and Parasitic Zoonoses in Vietnam

Vietnam has experienced unprecedented economic and social development in recent years, and the livestock sector is undergoing significant transformations. Although food animal production is still dominated by small-scale ‘backyard’ enterprises with mixed crop–livestock or livestock–aquatic systems, there is a trend towards more intensive and vertically integrated operations. Changes in animal production, processing and distribution networks for meat and animal products, and the shift from wet markets to supermarkets will undoubtedly impact food safety risks in Vietnam in unforeseen and complex ways. Here, we review the available published literature on bacterial and parasitic foodborne zoonoses (FBZ) in Vietnam. We report on clinical disease burden and pathogen prevalence in animal reservoirs for a number of important FBZ, and outline opportunities for future research.     

From plants to animals; the role of plant cell death in ruminant herbivores

Plant cell death occurring as a result of adverse environmentalconditions is known to limit crop production. It is less wellrecognized that plant cell death processes can also contributeto the poor environmental footprint of ruminant livestock production.Although the forage cells ingested by grazing ruminant herbivoreswill ultimately die, the lack of oxygen, elevated temperature,and challenge by microflora experienced in the rumen induceregulated plant stress responses resulting in DNA fragmentationand autolytic protein breakdown during the cell death process.Excessive ruminal proteolysis contributes to the inefficientconversion of plant to microbial and animal protein which resultsin up to 70% of the ingested nitrogen being returned to theland as the nitrogenous pollutants ammonia and urea. This constitutesa significant challenge for sustainable livestock production.As it is estimated that 25% of cultivated land worldwide isassigned to livestock production, it is clear that understandingthe fundamental biology underlying cell death in ingested foragewill have a highly significant role in minimizing the impactof human activities. This review examines our current understandingof plant metabolism in the rumen and explores opportunitiesfor exploitation of plant genetics to advance sustainable landuse. Key words: Anoxia, cell death, environment, heat, plant–microbe interactions, proteolysis Received 7 September 2007; Revised 21 November 2007 Accepted 23 November 2007     

Determinants of short-run supply of small ruminants in Botswana

This study utilizes pooled agricultural region data for the 1982–1987 period to estimate the short-run supply of sheep and goats in Botswana. Elasticity estimates indicate that a 1% increase (decrease) in rainfall at year t leads to a 0.53% rise (fall) in goat marketing in year t+1, and that a 1% rise (fall) in goat population (inventory) leads to a 0.15% rise (fall) in goat sales. The sheep equation reveals that a 1% increase (decrease) in sheep inventory results in a 1.23% rise (fall) in the number of sheep marketed, and suggests that rainfall has no impact on sheep sales. It is argued that the inelastic response of goat sales to changes in goat inventory reinforces the general view that livestock in Botswana are treated as a store of wealth, rather than as primarily a commercial activity for generating cash incomes. This tendency seems to be reduced in the case of sheep, where an elastic response of sales to changes in sheep inventory is observed. Producer prices are found to have no impact on small ruminant sale. The lack of responsiveness of supply to prices may be revealing the existence of inadequate access by most producers to organized markets for small ruminants. It is further argued that without promoting the development of such markets, other developmental efforts, particularly those geared at improving farm-level productivity will yield no positive outcomes, as farmers lack the cash incentive to invest in improved management and husbandry practices.     

Potential for epidemic take-off from the primary outbreak farm via livestock movements

Background

We consider the potential for infection to spread in a farm population from the primary outbreak farm via livestock movements prior to disease detection. We analyse how this depends on the time of the year infection occurs, the species transmitting, the length of infectious period on the primary outbreak farm, location of the primary outbreak, and whether a livestock market becomes involved. We consider short infectious periods of 1 week, 2 weeks and 4 weeks, characteristic of acute contagious livestock diseases. The analysis is based on farms in Scotland from 1 January 2003 to 31 July 2007.

Results

The proportion of primary outbreaks from which an acute contagious disease would spread via movement of livestock is generally low, but exhibits distinct annual cyclicity with peaks in May and August. The distance that livestock are moved varies similarly: at the time of the year when the potential for spread via movements is highest, the geographical spread via movements is largest. The seasonal patterns for cattle differ from those for sheep whilst there is no obvious seasonality for pigs. When spread via movements does occur, there is a high risk of infection reaching a livestock market; infection of markets can amplify disease spread. The proportion of primary outbreaks that would spread infection via livestock movements varies significantly between geographical regions.

Conclusions

In this paper we introduce a set-up for analysis of movement data that allows for a generalized assessment of the risk associated with infection spreading from a primary outbreak farm via livestock movements, applying this to Scotland, we assess how this risk depends upon the time of the year, species transmitting, location of the farm and other factors.     

Development of livestock production in the tropics: farm and farmers’ perspectives

Because of an increasing demand for animal-source foods, an increasing desire to reduce poverty and an increasing need to reduce the environmental impact of livestock production, tropical farming systems with livestock must increase their productivity. An important share of the global human and livestock populations are found within smallholder mixed-crop–livestock systems, which should, therefore, contribute significantly towards this increase in livestock production. The present paper argues that increased livestock production in smallholder mixed-crop–livestock systems faces many constraints at the level of the farm and the value chain. The present paper aims to describe and explain the impact of increased production from the farm and farmers’ perspective, in order to understand the constraints for increased livestock production. A framework is presented that links farming systems to livestock value chains. It is concluded that farming systems that pass from subsistence to commercial livestock production will: (1) shift from rural to urban markets; (2) become part of a different value chain (with lower prices, higher demands for product quality and increased competition from peri-urban producers and imports); and (3) have to face changes in within-farm mechanisms and crop–livestock relationships. A model study showed that feed limitation, which is common in tropical farming systems with livestock, implies that maximum herd output is achieved with small herd sizes, leaving low-quality feeds unutilised. Maximal herd output is not achieved at maximal individual animal output. Having more animals than required for optimal production – which is often the case as a larger herd size supports non-production functions of livestock, such as manure production, draught, traction and capital storage – goes at the expense of animal-source food output. Improving low-quality feeds by treatment allows keeping more animals while maintaining the same level of production. Ruminant methane emission per kg of milk produced is mainly determined by the level of milk production per cow. Part of the methane emissions, however, should be attributed to the non-production functions of ruminants. It was concluded that understanding the farm and farmers’ perceptions of increased production helps with the understanding of productivity increase constraints and adds information to that reported in the literature at the level of technology, markets and institutions.     

Pastoralist Decision-Making on the Tibetan Plateau

Despite a growing body of research about rangeland degradation and the effects of policies implemented to address it on the Tibetan Plateau, little in-depth research has been conducted on how pastoralists make decisions. Based on qualitative research in Gouli Township, Qinghai province, China, we analyze the context in which Tibetan herders make decisions, and their decisions about livestock and pastures. We refute three fundamental assumptions upon which current policy is premised: that pastoralists aim to increase livestock numbers without limit; that, blindly following tradition, they do not actively manage livestock and rangelands; and that they lack environmental knowledge. We demonstrate that pastoralists carefully assess limits to livestock holdings based on land and labor availability; that they increasingly manage their livestock and rangelands through contracting; and that herding knowledge is a form of embodied practical skill. We further discuss points of convergence and contradiction between herders’ observations and results of a vegetation analysis.     

Systems vaccinology: a promise for the young and the poor

As a child, the risk of suffering and dying from infection is higher the younger you are; and higher, the less developed a region you are born in. Childhood vaccination programmes have greatly reduced mortality around the world, but least so for the very young among the very poor of the world. This appears partly owing to suboptimal vaccine effectiveness. Unfortunately, although most vaccines are administered to the newborn and very young infant (less than or equal to two months), we know the least about their host response to vaccination. We thus currently lack the knowledge to guide efforts aimed at improving vaccine effectiveness in this vulnerable population. Systems vaccinology, the study of molecular networks activated by immunization, has begun to provide unprecedented insights into mechanisms leading to vaccine-induced protection from infection or disease. However, all published reports of systems vaccinology have focused on either adults or at most children and older infants, not those most in need, i.e. newborns and very young infants. Given that the tools of systems vaccinology work perfectly well with very small sample volumes, it is time we deliver the promise that systems vaccinology holds for those most in need of vaccine-mediated protection from infection.     

Livestock and feed water productivity in the mixed crop-livestock system

Recently with limited information from intensified grain-based farming systems in developed countries, livestock production is challenged as being huge consumer of freshwater. The smallholder mixed crop-livestock (MCL) system which is predominant in developing countries like Ethiopia, is maintained with considerable contributions of crop residues (CR) to livestock feeding. Inclusion of CR is expected to reduce the water requirement for feed production resulting improvement in livestock water productivity (LWP). This study was conducted to determine feed water productivity (FWP) and LWP in the MCL system. A multistage sampling procedure was followed to select farmers from different wealth status. Wealth status dictated by ownership of key farm resources such as size of cropland and livestock influenced the magnitude of livestock outputs, FWP and LWP. Significant difference in feed collected, freshwater evapotranspired, livestock outputs and water productivity (WP) were observed between wealth groups, where wealthier are relatively more advantaged. Water productivity of CR and grazing land (GL) analyzed separately showed contrasting differences where better-off gained more on CR, whereas vice versa on GL. These counterbalancing of variations may justify the non-significant difference in total FWP between wealth groups. Despite observed differences, low WP on GL indicates the need of interventions at all levels. The variation in WP of CR is attributed to availability of production factors which restrained the capacity of poor farmers most. A linear relationship between the proportion of CR in livestock feed and FWP was evident, but the relationship with LWP was not likely linear. As CR are inherently low in digestibility and nutritive values which have an effect on feed conversion into valuable livestock products and services, increasing share of CR beyond an optimum level is not a viable option to bring improvements in livestock productivity as expressed in terms of LWP. Ensuring land security, installing proper grazing management, improved forage seed supply and application of soil and water conservation are expected to enhance WP on GL. Given the relationship of production factors with crop biomass and associated WP, interventions targeted to improve provision of inputs, credit, extension and training support due emphasis to the poor would increase CR yield and reduce part of water use for feed production. Optimizing feed value of CR with treatment and supplementation, following water efficient forage production methods and maintenance of healthy productive animals are expected to amplify the benefits from livestock and eventually improve LWP.     

陕北黄土高原贫困农户生计策略对生计资本的敏感性——以佳县为例

陕北黄土高原自然环境严峻,是我国农村生活最贫困的地区之一,不同地理地貌村庄的贫困农户生计策略对生计资本的敏感性还缺乏相关的实证检验。基于佳县的调研数据,将样本划分为风沙区、丘陵沟壑区和土石山区三类村庄,在贫困户和非贫困户生计资本与生计策略对比分析基础上,结合二元logistic模型对贫困农户生计策略由纯农型向非农型转变的关键因素进行分析,研究发现：人力资本、金融资本和社会资本的增加对贫困农户非农型生计策略的选择有正向作用,而自然资本、物质资本的增加对非农型生计策略的选择有负向作用。风沙区和丘陵沟壑区的结果与总样本相似,土石山区贫困农户自然资本越丰富反而越倾向于选择非农型生计策略。不同类型村庄生计策略存在显著差异,不调整生计策略的贫困农户未来仍有70％选择扩大农业、林业生产。在进行可持续生计策略调整时,个体经营和外地打工是他们主要选择的方式,自然灾害和红枣市场不景气是他们未来愿意选择生计多元化的主因。     

利用畜禽粪便饲养家蝇的技术及应用

随着畜牧业的发展,粪便的污染和蛋白饲料的缺乏已成为养殖业中急待解决的两个突出问题。近些年来,利用蝇蛆转化畜禽粪便,蝇蛆作为饲料来养殖禽畜的技术渐趋成熟。文章归纳并综述了利用禽畜粪便养殖蝇蛆的理论和技术,对蝇蛆饲料和蛆粪有机肥的应用和效果做了简要的阐述。     

Spatial Predictions of Rhodesian Human African Trypanosomiasis (Sleeping Sickness) Prevalence in Kaberamaido and Dokolo,Two Newly Affected Districts of Uganda

The continued northwards spread of Rhodesian sleeping sickness or Human African Trypanosomiasis (HAT) within Uganda is raising concerns of overlap with the Gambian form of the disease. Disease convergence would result in compromised diagnosis and treatment for HAT. Spatial determinants for HAT are poorly understood across small areas. This study examines the relationships between Rhodesian HAT and several environmental, climatic and social factors in two newly affected districts, Kaberamaido and Dokolo. A one-step logistic regression analysis of HAT prevalence and a two-step logistic regression method permitted separate analysis of both HAT occurrence and HAT prevalence. Both the occurrence and prevalence of HAT were negatively correlated with distance to the closest livestock market in all models. The significance of distance to the closest livestock market strongly indicates that HAT may have been introduced to this previously unaffected area via the movement of infected, untreated livestock from endemic areas. This illustrates the importance of the animal reservoir in disease transmission, and highlights the need for trypanosomiasis control in livestock and the stringent implementation of regulations requiring the treatment of cattle prior to sale at livestock markets to prevent any further spread of Rhodesian HAT within Uganda.     

Review: Sustainability of crossbreeding in developing countries; definitely not like crossing a meadow…

Crossbreeding, considering either terminal or rotational crossing, synthetic breed creation or breed replacement, is often promoted as an efficient strategy to increase farmers’ income through the improvement of productivity of local livestock in developing countries. Sustainability of crossbreeding is however frequently challenged by constraints such as poor adaptation to the local environment or lack of logistic support. In this review, we investigate factors that may influence the long-term success or the failure of crossbreeding programs, based on the scientific literature and country reports submitted for The Second Report on the State of the World’s Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. Crossbreeding activities vary widely across species and countries. Its sustainability is dependent on different prerequisites such as continual access to adequate breeding stock (especially after the end of externally funded crossbreeding projects), the opportunity of improved livestock to express their genetic potential (e.g. through providing proper inputs) and integration within a reliable market chain. As formal crossbreeding programs are often associated with adoption of other technologies, they can be a catalyst for innovation and development for smallholders. Given the increasing global demand for animal products, as well as the potential environmental consequences of climate change, there is a need for practical research to improve the implementation of long-term crossbreeding programs in developing countries.     

A multi-stakeholder participatory study identifies the priorities for the sustainability of the small ruminants farming sector in Europe

The European small ruminants (i.e. sheep and goats) farming sector (ESRS) provides economic, social and environmental benefits to society, but is also one of the most vulnerable livestock sectors in Europe. This sector has diverse livestock species, breeds, production systems and products, which makes difficult to have a clear vision of its challenges through using conventional analyses. A multi-stakeholder and multi-step approach, including 90 surveys, was used to identify and assess the main challenges for the sustainability of the ESRS to prioritize actions. These challenges and actions were identified by ESRS experts including farmers, cooperatives, breeding associations, advisers and researchers of six EU countries and Turkey. From the 30 identified challenges, the most relevant were economy-related challenges such as ‘uncertainty of meat and milk prices’, ‘volatility of commodity prices’, ‘low farm income’, ‘high subsidy dependency’ and ‘uncertainty in future changes in subsidies’ resulting in ‘a sector not attractive to young farmers’. Most of these challenges were beyond the farmer’s control and perceived as difficult to address. Challenges were prioritized using an index, calculated by multiplying the relevance and the feasibility to address measures. The identified challenges had a similar priority index across the whole sector with small differences across livestock species (sheep vs goats), type of products (meat vs dairy) and intensification levels (intensive vs semi-intensive vs extensive). The priorities were different, however, between socio-geographical regions (Southern vs Central Europe). Some of the top prioritized challenges were linked to aspects related to the production systems (‘low promotion of local breeds’ and ‘slow adaptability of high producing breeds’) and market practices (‘unfair trade/lack of traceability’). The majority of the priority challenges, however, were associated with a deficient knowledge or training at farm level (‘poor business management training’, ‘lack of professionalization’, ‘slow adoption of innovations’), academia (‘researchers do not address real problems’) and society as a whole (‘low consumer education in local products’, ‘low social knowledge about farming’, ‘poor recognition of farming public services’). Thus, improved collaboration among the different stakeholders across the food chain with special implication of farmers, associations of producers, academia and governments is needed to facilitate knowledge exchange and capacity building. These actions can contribute to make ESRS economically more sustainable and to adapt the production systems and policy to the current and future societal needs in a more region-contextualized framework.