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Écoles inter-états de sciences et médicine vétérinaires de Dakar

En 1961, à l'occasion des journées médicales de Dakar et dans le cadre de l'Université de Dakar, l'idée de créer une faculté vétérinaire pour tous les pays africains francophones a été lancée.
En 1971, la Conférence des chefs d'Etat et de gouvernement de l'OCAL a adopté la Convention portant création et organisation de l'Ecole inter-Etats de sciences et médecine vétérinaires. Après avoir fonctionné comme institut dépendant de l'Université de Dakar de 1968 à 1976, elle a acquis son autonomie en 1976. Actuellement, l'EISMV est composée de 13 Etats Membres et son budget opérationnel se répartit entre ceux-ci.
En 1998, l'EISMV organisera des sessions de formation continue, la dernière de l'année, d'une durée de deux semaines, se tiendra à Dakar et aura pour thème: Réussir un projet d'élevage.
Les participants seront au nombre de 20 et le coût de la formation sera de 306 000 FCFA (transport et frais de séjour non compris).

Aide au financement

Les candidats stagiaires ont la possibilité de demander une prise en charge du coût de la formation en s'adressant aux partenaires œuvrant pour le développement dans leur pays d'origine: Mission française de coopération, Délégation de l'Union européenne, Allemagne, Agence canadienne de développement international (ACDI), Belgique, Danemark, Office allemand de la coopération technique (GTZ), Pays-Bas, Suisse, Agence des Etats-Unis pour le développement international (USAID), organisations spécialisées des Nations Unies, etc.
Pour tout renseignement complémentaire, s'adresser à la direction de l'EISMV (F.A. Abiola et J.P. Laporte).
EISMV
Tél.: (221) 825 23 31 - (221) 825 66 92;
Télécopie: (221) 825 42 83;
B.P. 5077 Dakar-Fann, Sénégal.
Mél.: [email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]

The International Meat Secretariat Prize for Meat Science and Technology

This prize has been established by the International Meat Secretariat (IMS) for the best essay submitted on a topic covering meat science, technology and human nutrition. The monetary value of the award is US$10 000.
There is no restriction on the age of participants but the IMS hopes that the competition will attract entries from the younger age groups.
The subject for the next prize, which will be presented to the winner during the 12th World Meat Congress in Dublin in the spring of 1999, is:

Meat safety: challenges for the future
The closing date for submissions is 1 October 1998. Full details are available from Dr David Lister, Chairman and Scientist/Secretary, International Meat Secretariat, 64 rue Taitbout, 75009 Paris, France.
Fax: +44 193 484 4163 or
e-mail: [email protected]

New Agriculturist

Browsing the World Wide Web takes on new meaning with the launch of a new Web site devoted to farming and food production and processing.
New Agriculturist on-line provides a bimonthly digest of topical information with an emphasis on the tropics and subtropics and connections to sites where more detailed information is available. The first three issues included: a review of research on crops of the semi-arid tropics; contrasting opinions on the genetic modification of crops; the debate on agrochemical use and misuse; a personal view of the role of vegetables in early mental development of children and its relevance to national development; and round-ups of news, books and forthcoming training courses and conferences. Future issues will focus on livestock research and the debate on livestock and the environment.
New Agriculturist on-line is produced by the same company that produces the weekly programme The Farming World for the BBC World Service and whose Agfax radio and news service is used by broadcasters and newspaper editors in Africa, Asia and Europe.
The Editor, Michael Pickstock, has been a radio and print journalist specializing in development issues since 1964. In 1995 he received the FAO Boerma Award "in recognition of his work to improve public awareness and understanding of issues related to agriculture and rural development".
New Agriculturist on-line can be found at: http://www.new-agri.co.uk/

 

 

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Regional assistance to control Trypanosoma vivax in Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay

Trypanosoma vivax is a blood parasite which has its origins in Africa where it is transmitted primarily through the tsetse fly host. It causes a disease in domestic livestock which, if not treated, leads to abortions, loss of productivity and death. In Africa the impact of the disease may be so severe that even drugs are not effective and such areas remain devoid of livestock.|The disease is recorded as having been introduced into the Andean region of Latin America in the early part of this century and, by 1972, of having reached as far south as the Amazon River estuary, where further progress was blocked presumably by the impenetrable forest. In this situation, in the absence of tsetse, the disease is suspected to be transmitted through other bloodsucking insects that may transfer infected blood from one animal to another during the course of interrupted feeding.
In 1995, unexplained deaths of livestock in the southwestern areas of Brazil were eventually diagnosed as T. Vivax and, since that time, the course of the disease has rapidly spread throughout the cattle rich areas of the Matto Grosso region extending down to the border with Paraguay and into the adjacent western regions of Bolivia.
FAO has consequently mounted a mission consisting of an entomologist, a veterinarian and their local counterparts to undertake an assessment of the situation in Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay, and to recommend appropriate action to contain and control the disease.
Foremost among these recommendations was the need to prevent further spread of the disease by controlling movement of animals out of infested areas through inspection and treatment with trypanocides. In Brazil and Bolivia epidemiological and entomological studies were identified as necessary to plan and implement effective disease control strategies at the farmer and national levels.
Further FAO assistance has been requested by the governments in order to put these recommendations into effect.

6th World Congress on Genetics Applied to Livestock Production

During the above congress, which was held in Armidale, Australia, from 11 to 16 January 1998, the Organizing Committee joined forces with FAO to stage a special symposium to pursue the challenges of Animal Genetic Resourses and Sustainable Development. A total of 28 scientists from the international science community and from national institutions in developing and industrialized countries were invited to contribute 12 papers on national, regional and global issues. The objective of the symposium was to give the scientists an opportunity to examine the role of animal genetic resources in the sustainable development of production systems and to identify specific priorities for action at the national, regional and country level.
The recommendations of the symposium were to:

· challenge the science community in both rich and poor countries to heighten their awareness of the important role played by animal genetic resources for sustainable development;
· stress the need to develop and exploit country-based but also regional mechanisms at a time of increased globalization of science and trade; and
· define clearer roles for the international community of the UN family (especially FAO, the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research and the secretariats of the Convention on Biodiversity) as well as donor countries with the aim of developing their involvement in animal genetic resources.

The Proceedings of the 6th World Congress on Genetics Applied to Livestock Production, Vol. 28 (Armidale, 1998), can be obtained from the Division of Animal Science and Animal Genetics and Breeding Unit, University of New England, Armidale, NSW 2351, Australia. The proceedings are also available on CD-ROM.

Workshop on New Developments in Biotechnology and their Implications for the Conservation of Farm Animal Genetic Resources, 1: Reversible DNA Quiescence and Somatic Cloning, Rome, 26-28 November 1997.

In February 1996, a paper published in Nature provided preliminary evidence based on sheep research at the Roslin Institute, Edinburgh, that DNA quiescence could be reversed in somatic (body) tissue of a mammal. Again in Nature, in March 1997 a second paper by the same institute reported the successful birth of a sheep derived from a somatic cell from a mature animal, thus demonstrating the reversibility of DNA quiescence, contrary to accepted thinking.
The numerous implications read into this work ranged from the sublime to the very controversial, but one practical implication was that there was the added possibility it offered for conserving domestic breeds of farm livestock species in danger of extinction.
To consider the parameters and potential of reversible DNA quiescence and somatic cloning as well as their applicability to the conservation of Animal Genetic Resources, FAO and the Istituto Sperimentale per la Zootecnia in Rome arranged a workshop which brought together professionals active in relevant fields.
The group came to the conclusion that the somatic cloning technique offered important potential for the future, while clearly acknowledging that it was something for the medium to long term. The potential had been demonstrated, but it remained highly experimental and had so far only been possible in one cell type (mammary tissue), one species (sheep) and one animal.
The meeting was unanimous in stressing that somatic cloning was still highly experimental and difficult - in effect an untried technique - and that all effort should be made to conserve breeds as live animals in situ, in their natural domestic environment, or failing that, ex situ, as breeding herds and flocks at designated locations.
The report of the workshop will be available shortly from the Animal Genetic Resources Group, Animal Production and Health Division, FAO, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00100 Rome, Italy.

FMD warning: a variant strain of foot-and-mouth disease has spread in Iran and Turkey and is a threat to other countries in the region

In the December 1997 issue of The EMPRES Bulletin, the FAO/OIE World Reference Laboratory (WRL) for Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) reported that isolates of FMD virus, serotype A, received from Iran during 1996-97, were genetically and antigenically distinct from any other type A isolates in the WRL database.
In March of this year, the WRL identified a series of type A strains among samples from suspected cases of FMD in Turkey during 1997 and 1998. When a comparison was made between four Turkey A isolates from 1997-1998 and four isolates of the type A/Iran variant from 1996-1998, both sets of viruses were found to be almost identical in the 1D (VP1) gene coding region (nucleotides 475-639). Furthermore, the Turkey type A isolates, like the type A/Iran variant, were found to be genetically different by almost 20 percent from any other type A isolates in the WRL database. The Turkey type A isolates were collected from the provinces of Malatya in eastern Anatolia and Kutayha in western Anatolia, indicating that the strain is widely distributed in that country.
Antigenic analyses have shown that the type A isolates from Iran and Turkey are distinct from all of the FMD virus strains which are commonly included in FMD vaccines. This indicates that current vaccines are not likely to protect against challenge by the variant.
This conclusion is supported by observations in Turkey where disease has been seen in animals vaccinated with bivalent O/A vaccine in which the A component was strain A22 Mahmatli.
It can be concluded that the type A variant, first identified in Iran, has extended its geographical distribution into Asiatic Turkey and is now a threat to other countries in Asia and to Europe, especially those countries which are linked to Iran and Turkey by trade in livestock. In this regard, small ruminants pose a particularly high risk, since FMD in them is often clinically mild or even unapparent.
There is an urgent need for the development of vaccines incorporating antigenically suitable strains to control disease in countries where the type A variant is present and to prevent further spread. In this context the vaccine strains used in the FMD Buffer Zone in European Turkey should be reassessed and the strains stored in vaccine banks should be reviewed in the light of the emerging disease situation.
The unit responsible for FMD within FAO's Animal Production and Health Division is making all efforts to monitor the above situation.
Alex I. Donaldson, FAO/OIE WRL for FMD Institute for Animal Health Pirbright

Significant strides against FMD in 1997 in Latin America

· Brazil has applied to the OIE for FMD-free status with vaccination for the southern states of Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina.
· Argentina and Paraguay have been declared free from FMD with vaccination by the OIE in May 1997 with the effect of an increase in meat orders from overseas markets. Argentina's national Animal Health Service opened a bio-secure exotic disease section in the Central Laboratory for the diagnosis of FMD and other infectious diseases.

Both notes are extracted from the EMPRES Bulletin on transboundary animal disease, located at the following FAO Web address:
http://www.fao.org/waicent/faoinfo/Agricult/aga/agah/empres/empres.htm

 

 

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Application of quantitative methods in veterinary epidemiology

J.P.T.M. Noordhuizen, K. Frankena,
C.M. van der Hoofd and E.A.M. Graat, eds.
1997. Wageningen Pers, the Netherlands.
460 pp. ISBN 90-74134-35-1 (pbk).
Price: NLG 175.

Skills in the application of quantitative epidemiological methods is a domain in animal health care where more training of both professionals and undergraduates is needed in developed as well as developing countries. This multi-author book is not a textbook in the classical sense, but a compilation of short theoretical sections followed by extensive case study elaborations and exercises for self-training. Various chapters refer to statistical software, which can be obtained commercially or through the Internet as public domain software. The book is based on material used in international courses over the last few years and is directed at professionals who already have a grounding in epidemiological concepts and principles.
The book comprises 12 chapters covering the following themes: current areas of application of epidemiology and perspectives, the design and analysis (including logistic regression and survival analysis) of epidemiological studies, disease modelling, veterinary epidemiology and food-borne disease, animal health economics and monitoring and surveillance systems. The chapters are written in a concise and clear form, contain tables and graphs where necessary, provide exercises and answers and conclude with a list of references for further reading. The only criticism that can be made regarding the contents of the book is that risk analysis is dealt with rather briefly in various chapters, while a chapter of its own would have seemed more appropriate given the increasing importance of risk analysis as a result of the World Trade Organization's Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS).
Overall, this book is currently among the best books dealing with quantitative methods in veterinary epidemiology, particularly as it expands into areas of growing importance such as animal health economics, food-borne diseases and surveillance systems. The only drawback is the book's high price, which puts it out of the reach of many colleagues from developing countries.
The book can be obtained from: Wageningen Pers, PO Box 42, NL - 6700 AA, Wageningen, the Netherlands, Tel.: +31 317 47 65 14; fax +31 317 42 60 44.

J.O.

Cría familiar del pollo

M. Arduin. 1992.
123 pp.
Ed. Real Escuela de Avicultura.
Barcelona.

This simple manual on family poultry breeding is a translation from Italian to Spanish. It was written to assist industrialized countries in the traditional rationalized form of animal breeding without the use of pharmacological treatment to obtain healthier, more genuine and tastier products.
This approach would make the manual also useful for less developed countries where family poultry breeding is still a very important way of producing for better nutrition and small incomes, and this will be so for a long time to come.
The figures give a clear picture of housing and its construction. They also illustrate simple equipment necessary for the disposal of eggs and meat processing. Probably the most useful chapter covers a topic that is often not properly treated, i.e. natural incubation by brooding females and the old artificial incubation systems used before modern incubators were invented.
The traditional methods must not be underestimated to avoid less developed countries becoming completely dependent on the industrialized ones, artificially creating poultry breeding systems that cannot be sustained in small rural production units.
The author is the director of a consortium in Veneto, Italy, which is active in the breeding of poultry, rabbits and game birds and is also involved in the conservation of species at risk of extinction.

A.F.

A rare breeds album of American livestock

C.J. Christman, D.P. Sponenberg and D.E. Bixby. 1997.
The American Livestock Breeds Conservancy (ALBC),
PO Box 477, Pittsboro, NC, USA.
132 pp. ISBN 1-887316-02-7.
Price: US$24.95 + US$4.

This is a full-colour guide to rare breeds of asses, cattle, horses, pigs and sheep. The book describes the history of each breed , its characteristics and uses as well as indicating the status of the breed: critical, rare or watch.
About half of the breeds included, such as the Hereford pig, Navajo-Churro sheep, San Clemente goat and the American Mammoth Jackstock are unique to North America. Others, such as the Dexter cow and Gotland horse, are found internationally with important populations in North America.
Through A rare breeds album of American livestock, the authors made a remarkable job of bringing a dear part of the American livestock development and heritage to the front of biodiversity and environment issues that are quite relevant to present development efforts.
The album is a good resource for animal breeders, educators, farmers, historians, veterinarians and those who are interested in animal biodiversity. It is a soft-cover book and includes 85 colour photographs, a list of association addresses, a bibliography of 23 references and an index.

S.G.

Herd Health and Production Management in Dairy Practice

A. Brand, J.P.T.M. Noordhuizen and Y.H. Schukken.
Wageningen Pers, Wageningen, the Netherlands.
ISBN 90-7413-34-3 (pbk).
Price: NLG 184 (outside the Netherlands: + NLG 30 for postage and packing).

The book provides all the methodological information necessary in order to implement herd health and production management programmes in dairy cattle operations. The principles and methodology could be adapted to other intensive livestock systems, including poultry and milking goats or sheep. The book discusses the use of the herd health and production management protocol, which the senior authors and others have applied in practice, and illustrates its use with case studies. Major "strategic business centres" of an intensive dairy farm, including housing, feeding and overall management, as well as the critical life stages of dairy cattle, including breeding, calf and replacement management, lactation and the dry period, are covered in the book. Thus, the book has something of significance for veterinary practitioners, dairy farm advisors of all types, dairy producers themselves and animal scientists.
The subject matter ranges from the physiology of ruminants (and pre-ruminant calves) to the practical aspects of feed bunk management, drawing on a wealth of experience from among 30 authors. The authors have endeavoured to teach how to translate pathophysiological and technical knowledge into dairy farm management, using structured observation and data plus clinical, financial and epidemiological tools. The use of numerous case studies illustrates principles and approaches. All chapters have an epilogue, which is an effective way for the senior authors to highlight and focus attention on text written by other experts. The last chapter places herd health and production management programmes into the context of dairy production and health in tropical developing countries.
Unfortunately, the text contains numerous annoying errors in hyphenation, occasional spelling and printing mistakes and even (perhaps) a missing page of references (222) in my copy. The index is not as complete as one would like. However, the book is well worth the cost for serious dairy practitioners and advisors because of its comprehensive technical detail from which applicable examples can be related to practical on-farm situations.
The book can be obtained from Wageningen Pers, Order Department, PO Box 42, NL-6700 AA Wageningen, the Netherlands. Tel.: +31 317 476514; fax: +31 317 6044; e-mail: [email protected]

D.W.

Ethnoveterinary research and development

C.M. McCorkle, E. Mathias and T.W. Schillhorn van Veen,
eds. 1996. Intermediate Technology Publications,
103/105 Southampton Row, London WC1B 4HH, UK.
338 pp. ISBN 1-85339- 326-6.
Price: £17.95.

This publication provides a wealth of useful information on this currently fashionable topic. Although the book is divided into three parts - Perspectives on ethnoveterinary R&D, Case studies in ethnoveterinary R&D and Methods and application of ethno-veterinary R&D - all papers essentially present case studies on their chosen topic. The volume is designed to provide researchers, development professionals and policy-makers working in agriculture and rural development with insights, ideas and approaches to the subject as well as its practical applications in agriculture, environment, human health and other sectors. While the above is true for most of the chapters, there are a number of papers in the volume that fail to live up to this rather grand promise. The introduction to the volume, written by the publication's editors, is comprehensive in its overview of issues related to ethnoveterinary research and development and provides useful guidelines and information for novices to the subject matter. It is, however, unfortunate that intellectual property rights and the wide array of contentious issues and ethical questions related to that subject have not received more attention. Nevertheless, the book should be an essential part of any agricultural or veterinary student's reading list and will form an indispensable reference for any professional interested in ethno-veterinary research and development.

J.D.

Improving goat production in the tropics, a manual for development workers.

C. Peacock. 1996. FARM-Africa and Oxfam (UK and Ireland).
ISBN 0 85598 268 3 (hbk), 0-85598-269-1 (pbk). 387 pp.

This book is written mainly for developmental workers and extension agents. The language is easy and there are several illustrations, tables, flow charts and decision aids. It deals with different goat production systems in the different tropics, for example pastoral, agropastoral, mixed farming in arid, semi-arid, subhumid, humid and highland production environments. The step-by-step problem diagnostic procedures and situation objective analysis explained in the book are a very desired feature. Chapters include Common problems of goats in the tropics, Assessing goat-production problems, Basic nutrition, Improved nutrition, Goat health, Breeds and breeds improvement, Management of large goat farms, Processing and marketing goat products and Goat improvement programmes. There is also a four-page glossary and an alphabetical subject index. The book draws extensively on the author's experience in Ethiopia with agricultural developmental aid organizations.
The book may be obtained from Oxfam Publishing, 274 Banbury Road, Oxford OX2 7DZ, UK.

S.G.

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