Faculty of Veterinary Medicine
Office for Intemational
Cooperation
P.O. Box 80.163
3508 TD Utrecht
The Netherlands
Tel.: 31.30.2532116
Fax: 31.30.2531815
E-mail: bic@vet.uu.nl

Subscription is free of charge.
For changes in address and
termination of subscription
please return the corrected label
to the editorial office.

For a number of reasons the editorial
board decided to make this change in
the name of the Newsletter at the start
of the new millennium. In fact the
change is a result of an on-going phe-
nomenon and not of a sudden event.
The words \'development cooperation\'
mean cooperation aiming at develop-
ment. This implicitly means, devel-
opment of and assistance to \'the
South\'. However, as \'the South\'
stands for countries in the (sub) tropi-
cal region, we can no longer speak of
a whole region that requires assistance
for its development. Some countries
have made significant economic, cul-
tural and scientific progress over the
last decade, while others have not yet
gone that far. Even when comparing
veterinary institutions worldwide
there is no longer a clear division
North-South, but rather a range of
institutions, each with its strengths
and weaknesses.

EQUATOR would like to bring to the
attention of its readers the strong
points of veterinary education and
science, in relation to tropical animal
health, as these emerge from collabo-
ration between veterinary institutions
worldwide.

The second change is a more practical
one. EQUATOR is a bimonthly publi-
cation, but due to time constraints it
was not easy to produce 6 issues each
year. The last 2 years only 5 issues
were published. Moreover, the costs
for printing and mailing have sub-
stantially increased. For these reasons
we have decided to publish EQUA-
TOR from 2000 onward as a quar-
terly, with issues coming out in
March, June, September and Decem-
ber. As this has consequences for the
columns \'Calendar\' and \'Vacancies\',
we will make regular up-dates avail-
able on the intemet (www.vet.uu.nl.
search for: Equator).

Those of you who have a sharp eye for details, and veterinarians are known for
that, will have noticed some changes on the cover page of EQUATOR.
The main change is in the subtitle; from a \'Newsletter on veterinary aspects of
intemational development cooperation\' EQUATOR has become a \'Newsletter
on scientific cooperation in tropical animal health\'.

\'MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING\'
SIGNED BETWEEN THE VETERINARY
FACULTIES OF THE UNVERSITY OF
PRETORIA AND UTRECHT UNIVERSITY

After a period of about 2 years of informal contacts, the veterinary faculties of
the universities of Pretoria and Utrecht have formalised their collaboration and
laid down the objectives and the specific areas of their collaboration for the next
5 years in a \'Memorandum of Understanding\'. The Memorandum was signed
by the Deans of the faculties, Prof Dr. N. Kriek and Prof Dr. A.W.C.A. Cor-
nelissen during a ceremony in Pretoria on 14 January, 2000. The emphasis of
the collaboration will be on scientific co-operation and co-operation in educa-
tion.

The scientific collaboration will in-
volve: Exchange of scientists; Ex-
change of staff and postgraduate stu-
dents for research training; Exchange
of postgraduate students for research
towards MSc and PhD degrees; Joint
supervision of postgraduate students
(MSc and PhD); Joint research proj-
ects, preferably involving other part-
ner institutes in the European Union
(EU) and the Southem African De-
velopment Community (SADC); Or-
ganisation of and participation in sci-
entific conferences, symposia, semi-
nars and courses (e.g. for continuing
education and MSc); Exchange of
research findings and materials; Joint
applications for fellowships and
fiinding for research; Development of
comparable research policies in rele-
vant scientific fields.

Co-operation in education and train-
ing will be developed through: Con-
sultations on the veterinary curricu-
lum and teaching methodologies;
Exchange of teaching materials; Ex-
change of lecturers; Exchange of un-
dergraduate students and residents
with recognition of the study pro-
gramme.

Prof. Dr. N. Kriek and Prof
Dr. A.W.C.A. Comelissen
signed the MOU.
Standing behind: Prof. Dr.
T. Erasmus, Vice-Principal
of the University of Pretoria
Inbsp;(photo: University of Pretoria)

Press release in South Africa

The Faculty of Veterinary Science of
the University of Pretoria presented,
on the occasion of the signing, the
following press release to inform the
South African society about the event.

quot;The recent signing of a Memoran-
dum of Understanding with the Fac-
ulty of Veterinary Medicine of
Utrecht University in the Netherlands
considerably strengthened the impor-
tance of the Faculty of Veterinary
Science\'s position as a strategic force
in the agricultural economy of South
Africa as well as the sub region. The

Utrecht Faculty has over many years
developed close links with the veteri-
nary faculties of Harare and Maputo.
The Veterinary Faculty at Onderste-
poort has historic links with the Fac-
ulty in Maputo having played a lead-
ing role at the time of its inception
and has also more recently established
firm ties with Harare. Thus apart fi-om
the mutual benefits the signing of the
memorandum holds; the partnership
agreement will have important re-
gional implications as well.

In terms of the memorandum of un-
derstanding the scientific collabora-
tion between these two strong institu-
tions will be broadened through the
exchange of scientists, technical per-
sonnel and students at both the post-
graduate as well as the undergraduate
level. Joint research projects involv-
ing partnerships with other institutions
in the European Union and Southem
African Development Community

(SADC) that will evolve from this
agreement will play a significant role
in the bolstering of the scientific ca-
pacity of the sub region. The proposed
partnership will lead to more cost-
effective use of the available re-
sources at both institutions as well as
in the sub region. The synergistic
utilization of the talent and expertise
that exists in both institutions will
make a considerable impact on the
veterinary skills and services available
to developing communities. This will
assist the UP Faculty to fulfil its mis-
sion in this regard with greater ur-
gency.

Co-operation in education forms a
part of the agreement. A mutual ex-
change on veterinary curricula devel-
opment will ensure that the Onderste-
poort Faculty\'s educational pro-
gramme meets intemational require-
ments while at the same time also
addresses the needs of the community
at large.

Veterinary Medicine of Utrecht Uni-
versity are recognized as leaders in
veterinary education and research in
their respective regions. As a result of
the leadership role which the Onder-
stepoort Faculty is being called upon
to play in the SADC region, the mu-
tual benefit derived from the agree-
ment between two strong institutions
will play back positively into the sub
region. Regional partnerships, which
are currently being developed be-
tween the Veterinary Faculty at On-
derstepoort and the other SADC Vet-
erinary Faculties, will benefit greatly
by the proposed North-South collabo-
ration between Utrecht and Pretoria
ensuring the creation of sustainability
in veterinary expertise in the sub re-
gion. Such sustainability in the strate-
gic area of veterinary science will be
pivotal in the broader scheme of an
African renaissance envisaged by our
State Presidentquot;.

Medicine has, from 1985 onwards,
developed collaborative programmes
in education and research with the
veterinary faculties of Zimbabwe and
Mozambique. The collaboration with
the Faculty of Veterinary Science in
Harare is a joint project with the
Royal Veterinary and Agricultural
University (KVL) of Copenhagen
(Denmark).

The establishment of a formal pro-
gramme of collaboration with the
Faculty of Veterinary Science in On-
derstepoort in South Africa provides
an excellent opportunity for Utrecht to
expand the collaboration in the south-
em African region. By uniting the
existing bilateral contacts between the
5 institutions a strong and effective
consortium can be formed to maintain
and strengthen veterinary education
and improve the animal health situa-
tion in the SADC region.

One of today\'s dilemma\'s is how to find a balance between a fast growing
global demand for food and the need to sustain the natural resource base of
land, water, air and biological diversity. Therefore the Commission of the Euro-
pean Union, the governments of Denmark, France, Germany, The Netheriands,
United Kingdom, and the United States of America sponsored a study to iden-
tify ways to help the livestock sector to satisfy future demands while at the
same time preserving the natural resource base. The Food and Agriculture Or-
ganisation of the United Nations, the US Agency for Intemational Development
and the Worldbank co-ordinated this study. The editorial board of EQUATOR
considers this study of importance to its readers, as the topics addressed will
play an important role in the future debate on livestock policies. For instance,
the next AITVM conference (see quot;News from the AITVMquot; in this issue) will
among others focus on livestock-environment interactions in relation to animal
and human health. What follows is the text of Chapter 4, Looking ahead: Ele-
ments of future strategies, of the report Livestock-Environment interac-
tions, issues and options, written by Henning Steinfeld (FAO), Cees de Haan
(Worldbank) and Harvey Blackbum (USDA-AR).

The challenge for policy makers and
satisfy current and future human
needs while maintaining the natural
resource base. There is no resource-
compromising aspect of animal pro-
tein production that cannot be re-
solved. The technologies exist but
their successful adoption is often con-
strained by the difficulty in creating
the right political and economic con-
ditions in which environmentally
friendly livestock production can take
place. These difficulties stem from
different interest spheres and complex
links between livestock, the economy
and society. Decision-makers in na-
tional govemments, NGOs, at farming
and community levels and in intema-
tional and donor organisations, are the
actors who must put the policy and
technology elements to work within
the context of consistent strategies.
With govemment support and will-
ingness to act, there are sufficient
mechanisms to keep adverse effects of
livestock production within tolerable
limits and to enhance the net contri-
bution to human welfare.

Production systems and
ecosystems need to be
documented; the Sahel is
one of the current
environmental \'hot spots\'
(photo: Paling)

There is ample evidence that current
decision-making regarding the role of
livestock in sustainable agriculture is
hampered by a lack of information
and awareness of the type, extent and
causes of livestock\'s current negative
and positive impacts on the environ-
ment and of what may be expected of
any change of policy or action. The
complexity of livestock\'s interaction
with other sectors imposes a formida-
ble task at any level of decision-
making. Better information on which
to base decision-making is therefore
urgently required. Production systems
and ecosystems need to be docu-
mented, with emphasis on current hot
spots, future environmental hazards,
and potential positive contributions.
For that, there is a need to:

•nbsp;take stock of resource endow-
ments (quot;intrinsic scarcities of pro-
duction factorsquot;), technologies
and policies; monitor resource
use, through geo-referencing and
assess environmental impact of
technologies and policy changes;

•nbsp;increase awareness among deci-
sion-makers, producers and con-
sumers of the environmental ef-
fects of different modes of pro-
duction; educate consumers about
the health risks associated with
excessive consumption of animal
products, particularly in the rich
countries;

•nbsp;increase analytical skills at farm-
ing level, schools and universities,
government and non-govem-
mental institutions for environ-
mental impact assessment and
related policy analyses; further
develop economic evaluation
techniques for environmental
goods at farming, project and na-
tional levels.

Any sustainable livestock develop-
ment strategy has to fully recognise
the set of objectives, which govern
behaviour. For many farmers, the first
priority is household food security
and family welfare. Less tangible
future sustainability of resource use is
often traded off against immediate
food needs. At a policy level, social
and economic objectives may be in
conflict with environmental objectives
or have different time scales. With
multiple objectives in play a balance
must be found between different pro-
duction systems in different agro-
ecological zones or regions, and tech-
nological options that govern resource
use. The environment warrants gov-
ernment attention as a public good in
addition to others, such as public
health, equality and economic growth.
Policy choices must be consistent
with each other and be brought into
the wider context of sustainable de-
velopment. For example, subsidies on
feed grains may help to supply inex-
pensive livestock products to urban
centres and develop a quot;modemquot; live-
stock industry but, as has been seen,
they often misdirect technology and
resource use. It is therefore important
to screen all relevant policies against
internal consistency and their contri-
bution to overall policy objectives.
Once the objectives have been set, it
is necessary to assess how current
policies and operational measures
support or act against these objectives.
In the above analysis we have identi-
fied policies that make neither eco-
nomic nor environmental sense (what
may be called a lose-lose situation).
These are poorly informed, formu-
lated or simply misguided policies, or
the result of the domination of certain
interest groups. With growing trade
liberalisation and reduced public ex-
penditure these are being corrected in
many cases. Examples are land titling
through ranching in South America or
the beef and milk tariff policies of the
Common Agricultural Policy in the
EU after the initial post-war justifica-
tion become irrelevant. Here, political
will must exist to accept possible
negative public reaction from the
beneficiaries of those policies. This
political will is particularly important
in countries with strong livestock
interest groups. Other policies make
economic sense mainly in the short
term, but have negative environmental
effects (what may be called a win-lose
scenario) in the long term. An exam-
ple is road constmction in tropical
forest areas where land requirements

and development needs may be in
direct conflict with conservation ob-
jectives. Here, it is necessary to for-
mulate local and specific comple-
mentary measures (Inc. protected
areas, institutional development) to
minimise the trade-off As has been
shown, the majority of negative live-
stock impacts on the environment fall
into this category. A third set of poli-
cies are those that make both eco-
nomic and environmental sense, but
often do not pay off in the short term.
These win-win situations are, for ex-
ample, the reduction of methane emis-
sions through increased animal pro-
ductivity, livestock-wildlife integra-
tion and the use of slaughter waste for
ahemative feed or energy sources.
However, problems occur because
benefits that accrue to the global
common goods are only slightly or
not tangible for the originator of these
benefits. A completely new set of
mechanisms with novel financing
approaches needs to be designed for
the protection of these global com-
mons.

•nbsp;set realistic objectives - environ-
mental, economic, social - and
decide on the balance between
these objectives where trade-offs
exist; identify critical conflict ar-
eas between broad social or eco-
nomic objectives and environ-
mental goals; identify policies
that bear the potential for trade
conflicts and try to negotiate bi-
lateral arrangements;

•nbsp;develop the analytical skills to
screen and monitor policies for
their desired and undesired ef-
fects;

•nbsp;correct policies which are mis-
guiding resource use or which
have perverse effects; target poli-
cies carefully and as directly as
possible avoiding sweeping ar-
rangements for cost-effectiveness
and;

• develop support schemes to fi-
nance accelerated adoption of
win-win solutions such as benefit
sharing through national and in-
temational arrangements, such as
GEF.

With the livestock sector under pres-
sure from surging demand and com-
petition for resources, there is an in-
creasing need for a legal basis with
well-defined and enforceable mles
and institutions for resource utilisa-
tion. In fact, a major underlying cause
for important externalities is the insuf-
ficiently defined access to resources,
like open access grazing land for
pastoral systems or the use of surface
water for the uncontrolled discharge
of waste of industrial production sys-
tems or processing units. To a certain
extent this restricts private behaviour,
sometimes resulting in pressure
against which the political will has to
resist. Institutional development re-
quires:

• to establish clear access rights to
land. Clear rights of access to land
is a necessary although rarely suf-
ficient condition to provide the
economic and social incentives to
motivate people to protect and
improve resources, particularly
where traditional regimes of re-
source management come under
pressure such as in pastoral sys-

•nbsp;for land use and regional plan-
ning, to establish protected areas
for fragile Eco-systems, with due
attention to local capacity to en-
force the protection, and to estab-
lish zoning for industrial produc-
tion systems, to bring the animal
densities in line with the absorp-
tive capacity of land and water
through quota systems;

•nbsp;to prescribe regulations for waste
control, use of noxious sub-
stances, management practices
and labelling.

Empowerment of formal and informal
institutions where the regulatory
framework is available but insuffi-
ciently respected or enforced, by pro-
viding mandates and support. For
pastoral systems in particular, the
principle of subsidiarity needs to be
applied by transferring responsibility
for resource management to the low-
est possible level, local groups.

Establishment of a legal authority for
the implementation of environmental
policies, preferably including an inde-
pendent non-line agency with a man-
date to monitor the use and protection
of resources;

Use of participatory approaches in
strategy formulation, planning and
programme implementation.

ronmental costs in order to give mar-
ket signals that embody the proper
valuation of environmental goods.
Prices should encourage efficient
resource use and guide technologies
to anticipated future scarcities. They
should promote waste recycling and
resource enhancing technologies.
Astute pricing is a powerful tool and
the instrument of choice where insti-
tutions are weak and where the finan-
cial or social costs of control become
unreasonable. There may need to be
differential prices between agricul-
tural or livestock sectors and the rest
of the economy. As a general rule a
quot;level playing fieldquot; should be pro-
vided. Prices of different environ-
mental and agricultural goods should
be corrected for market failures where
environmental costs and benefits are
not adequately internalised. For ex-
ample:

•nbsp;eliminate subsidies for inputs
such as water, concentrate feed,
fossil fuel, fertiliser and reduce or
abolish price support for livestock
products and directly support
farmers\' incomes if that is socially
or economically desirable;

•nbsp;introduce cost recovery for com-
munal water and grazing, and
public services such as artificial
insemination or clinical treat-
ments provided to the producers;

•nbsp;create price incentives for meth-
ane use and alleviate investment
costs (preferred credit) for waste
control and conversion facilities
with proper targeting and fixed
time scale;

•nbsp;remove tax advantages for differ-
ent sizes and types of enterprises
where this is not warranted by
public food or environmental
concerns; and

•nbsp;introduce equitable benefit shar-
ing mechanisms for social and
environmental goods.

Levelling the playing field, and ap-
propriate price signals may induce a
different set of technologies. This new
set will respond, to a higher degree, to
true scarcities as they incorporate the
value of environmental goods. This
process needs to be facilitated and
accelerated.

Firstly, there is the need to facilitate
technology adoption, essentially by
training, education and extension and
by incorporating environmental as-
pects into extension messages and
curricula; by providing credit where
high investment costs constitute an
impediment, for example, methane
digesters or waste treatment facilities;
correcting policies which are mis-
guiding resource use or which have
perverse effects; and financially sup-
porting accelerated adoption of win-
win solutions such as benefit sharing
arrangements.

Secondly, there is a continued need to
generate technologies if the adapted
technological solution for more sus-
tainable livestock production is not
available. It is important to design
technologies that anticipate future
resource constraints based on current
intrinsic scarcities. To achieve this
there is a need to invest in basic and
adaptive research and to create and
sustain the institutional capacity to
undertake the work.

Technological change is the key to
solving the problems of sustainable
agriculture as technology determines
resource use. This study demonstrates
that currently available technologies
can already significantly increase
efficiencies, enhance resources in use

and recycle waste at various stages of
the production process. The study also
demonstrates that knowledge needs to
progressively substitute for physical
inputs, and that the scope for increas-
ing knowledge about livestock pro-
duction while simultaneously reduc-
ing the use of natural resources per
unit of product is enormous.

This study has shown the importance
of infrastructure, in particular to es-
tablish a better balance between live-
stock and land resources. Infrastruc-
ture development is often a prerequi-
site for technology uptake and re-
source access. Infrastructure devel-
opment is a two edged sword in that it
not only alleviates pressure on natural
resources but also makes them acces-
sible to sometimes uncontrolled ex-
ploitation as, for example, in the case
of the tropical rainforests. It is there-
fore necessary to:

•nbsp;construct, or facilitate the con-
struction of slaughterhouses and
dairies, and cold chain facilities in
the vicinity of producing areas to
avoid waste accumulation in sen-
sitive and urban areas; The better
the infrastructure the better the
opportunities for geographic
spread for intensive systems and
for flexibility of adjustment to
variable biomass growth in exten-
sive pastoral systems;

•nbsp;facilitate the establishment of
markets, transport and communi-
cation while taking account of the
trade-offs between increased road
and transport infrastructure and
biodiversity conservation.

All of the above changes will be
brought about only if industry, policy
makers and environmental groups:

•nbsp;remove the emotional conjecture,
lack of objectivity and over-
simplification from the debate on
livestock- environment relation-
ships;

•nbsp;acknowledge the need to correct
unsustainable livestock produc-
tion systems and act accordingly.
In the developing worid, where

Time: 09.00- 17.00 hours
Location: Faculty of Veterinary Medicine
Yalelaan 1, De Uithof, Utrecht
The Netherlands

Tropical animal health and production and the
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in Utrecht

Utrecht University, one of the 14 universities in the
Netherlands, includes 14 faculties. Its Faculty of
Veterinary Medicine is the only veterinary faculty in
the Netherlands and, as a result of its scientific and
educational standards, it has been accredited by the
American and Canadian Veterinary Medical Associ-
ations since 1973. Within the Faculty there are 9
departments. Research on tropical animal health is
mainly conducted in collaborative research projects
in the tropics. In 1987 the Faculty\'s Office for Inter-
national Cooperation (BIC) started with the coordi-
nation and extension of the intemational activities. In

1989nbsp;the Committee for the Advancement of Tropi-
cal veterinary Science (CATS) was established at the
Faculty. The main objective of CATS is the per-
petuation and promotion of research and education
relevant to the tropics. The organization of the Sym-
posia on Tropical Animal Health and Production is
an activity of BIC and CATS. This years\' Sympo-
sium is jointly organised with the Faculty of Veteri-
nary Science of the University of Pretoria (South
Africa) and the Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute,
Onderstepoort (South Africa)

1990nbsp;Contributions and perspectives from the Faculty
of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University

In 2000 Utrecht University\'s Faculty of Veterinary
Medicine organises the 11*\'\' intemational symposium
on Tropical Animal Health and Production. This
year the Symposium is organised in collaboration
with the Faculty of Veterinary Science of the Uni-
versity of Pretoria (South Africa) and the Onderste-
poort Veterinary Institute, Onderstepoort (South Af-
rica). The veterinary infrastmcture in South Africa,
including veterinary education and research, field
and diagnostic services, and vaccine production, is
very well developed and in a position to support the
regional transboundary disease control of a number
of important animal and zoonotic diseases. During
the Symposium recent research on and field data of
the major livestock diseases will be presented. The
organizers are convinced that knowledge on diseases
which are now occurring in Africa is indispensable
for veterinary scientists in Europe in order to be pre-
pared for exotic disease outbreaks in the future.
Of specific interest to veterinaiy training institutions
are the various audio-visual materials (video\'s, CD-
roms, and posters) on the infectious animal diseases
of southem Africa, which will be demonstrated and
sold during the symposium.

Diagnosis, epidemiology and control of dis-
eases of domestic and wild ruminants

Dr. A. Michel (Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute) and
Prof N.P.J. Kriek (University of Pretoria)

Dr. V.P.M.G. Rutten (Utrecht University) and Prof. M. van
Vuuren (University of Pretoria)

Epidemiology, diagnosis and control of anthrax.
Prof N.P.J. Kriek (University of Pretoria)

I wish to attend the 11\'quot; Symposium quot;Tropical Animal He-
alth and Production. Diagnosis and control of trans-
boundary infectious diseases in southem Africaquot; on 1
September, 2000 at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine
Utrecht, The Netheriands.

Staff members and students of Utrecht University, Wage-
nmgen University and Research Centre and University of
Pretoria are exempted from registration fees.

Office for Intemational Cooperation
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine
P.O. Box 80.163
3508 TD Utrecht
The Netherlands

environmental pressure will grow
most strongly over the next dec-
ades, policy makers must heed the
strong warning signs and leam
from the errors of the industrial-
ised world;

accept the ample evidence that the
contribution of livestock to sus-
tainable development can be
greatly enhanced, provided the
appropriate enabling environment
is created, and act accordingly;
take full account in future policy
and planning of the dramatic
changes transforming the global
livestock sector. The shift towards
grain crops for feed use may turn
animal production into the single
most important agricultural activ-
ity on the planet. Selecting the
right land and water resources, ef-
ficient generation of feed, trans-
porting feed to farm animals, the
conversion of feed into animal
protein, the marketing of products
as well as the adoption of healthy
consumer habits by, particulariy,
wealthier individuals, plus the
potential synergism between effi-

cient resource use and economy-
wide development: all of these
factors need to become integral
parts of the livestock-environment
equation.

Improved management of the world\'s
natural resources is essential if they
are to continue to provide the basis for
life support and human well being.
Only with improved management can
the dual objectives of sustainable ag-
ricultural production be fulfilled - to
feed the world\'s growing population
while sustaining its natural resource
base. Livestock production is the larg-
est land user and is about to turn into
the most important agricultural activ-
ity in terms of economic output. Left
to uncontrolled grov^1:h, not only will
the environment suffer but human
welfare is also likely to be compro-
mised. However, this is unlikely to
happen. The opportunities not only to
mitigate environmental damage but to
tap the immense development poten-
tial that livestock offer are large:
awareness, political will and readiness
to act are growing among all those
involved and ensure that the problems
are no longer denied but effectively
tackled.

Everything you want to know and you
never dared to ask ... about
Minilivestock is now available not
only in the BEDIM (Bureau for
Exchange and Distribution of
Information on Minilivestock)

Bulletin but also on the BEDIM
Website: www.bedim.fsagx. ac.h^..
BEDIM Bulletin and Website
represent a joint activity between the
Faculté des Sciences Agronomiques
de Gembloux (Belgium) and

Information: FAO, René Branckaert,
Animal Production Officer (Tel.:
39.6.57054105, Telefax: 39.6.5705
5749, e-mail: rene.branckaert@fao,
org}.

The International Foundation for
Science (IFS) - Call for research
grant applications from developing
country scientists

Science (IFS) provides support to
young scientists of merit in
developing countries by awarding
research grants and providing grantees
with additional services such as travel
grants and purchasing assistance.

Research grants are awarded up to a
maximum value of USD 12,000 for a
period of one to three years and may
be renewed twice. They are intended
for the purchase of equipment,
expendable supplies, and literature.
Applicants must be citizens of, and
carry out the research in, a developing
country. They should also work at a
university or national research
institution in a developing country
(countries in Europe, including
Turkey and Cypms, or the former

Soviet Union do not qualify for
support). As well as being under the
age of 40 (under 30 for applicants
from China) and at the start of their
research career, candidates must
possess a higher academic degree,
which should be at least an MSc or
equivalent.

The IFS supports projects dealing
with the management, use, and con-
servation of biological resources. The
Foundation organizes its activities
into six Research Areas, viz Animal
Production, Aquatic Resources, Crop
Science, Food Science, Forestry/
Agroforestry, and Natural Products.

For further information and appli-
cation forms in English and French
write to: IFS, Grev Turegatan 19, S-
114 38 Stockholm, Sweden (Telefax:
46.8.54581801, E-mail: info@.ifs.se:
www.ifs.sel

A limited number of copies of the
Proceedings of the AITVM Con-
ference (Harare, September 1998) (2
volumes) are still available at a price
of USS 60 (including postage). Orders
can be placed by forwarding a check
or money order of USS 60, payable to
quot;9quot;\' Intemational Conference
AITVMquot; to Prof M.J. Obwolo, Fac-
ulty of Veterinary Science of the Uni-
versity of Zimbabwe, P.O. Box MP
167, Mount Pleasant, Harare, Zim-
babwe,

The AITVM Standing Committee,
composed of representatives of the 12
founding member institutions, met in
Copenhagen on 31 January, 2000.
Important items on the agenda of the
Standing Committee were: (1) the
formulation of the AITVM statutes
and the registration of the Association
in the Netherlands (more news on this
item and the membership of AITVM
will be announced in the next issue of
EQUATOR); (2) the development of
the AITVM website (ready by April at
www.aitvm.orgV and (3) the selection

During the 9quot;quot; Conference it was an-
nounced that the lO\'\'\' Conference
would be held in Denmark in 2001.
We can now inform you about the
dates and the location. The dates for
the lOquot;* AITVM Conference are 20-24
August, 2001 and the location is the
Royal Veterinary and Agricultural
University (KVL) in Copenhagen
(Denmark). The Local conference
Organizing Committee is composed
of a number of experienced staff
members from KVL, enforced with
representatives from DANIDA (Den-
mark) and the veterinary faculties of
Norway and Sweden. Prof Dr. Tor-
ben Greve (Pro-vice-chancellor for
Research of KVL) chairs the Com-
mittee. Dr. Niels Chr. Kyvsgaard of
the Danish Center for Experimental
Parasitology, who is also the repre-
sentative of KVL in the Standing
Committee, is the co-chairman of the
organizing committee and the contact
person at KVL (e-mail: nck@kvl.dkL

Many readers of EQUATOR will have attended or read about the 9*quot; Interna-
tional Conference of the Association of Institutions for Tropical Veterinary
Medicine (AITVM) which was held in September, 1998 in Harare, Zimbabwe.
In EQUATOR 5/6 (Volume 10,1998) we presented a report and the highlights
of the conference. The abstract of the recommendations of the Conference was
published in EQUATOR 3 (Volume 11,1999). Participants of the conference
have recently received the Proceedings of the 1998 AITVM Conference. These
proceedings, published by the Faculty of Veterinary Science of the University
of Zimbabwe, comprise 2 volumes with a total of 669 pages. They provide a
huge amount of information and valuable recommendations for all those who
are involved in the development of the livestock sector under tropical condi-
tions.

Following extensive consultations and
discussions the Standing Committee
and the Local Organizing Committee
have selected as theme of the lOquot;quot;
Conference: \'Livestock, Community
and Environment\'. Within this gen-
eral theme the following subjects have
been selected for the workshops. In-
vited speakers will address these sub-
jects in plenary sessions or as key-
notes at the workshops. Participants
can present papers as oral presentation
in one of the workshops or as a poster
presentation.

1)nbsp;Livestock environment interactions
and the impact on human and animal
health

6)nbsp;Periurban animal production sys-
tems - opportunities and environ-
mental constraints

Further details for submission of ab-
stracts and registration will be pre-
sented in a flyer \'First Announcement
of the 10th AITVM Conference\', in
EQUATOR and on the AITVM web-
site.

Proceedings of the 1Xth Intemational Conference of
Association of Institutions of Tropical Veterinary Medicine

In order to save space in the EQUATOR for articles relevant to most readers the
section \'Vacancies Intemational Cooperation\' will, from this issue of
EQUATOR onwards, no longer contain the füll text of the vacancies. For
relevant vacancies we will only state: position title and number, name of the
organization or employer, location and closing date. The full text of these and
other advertisements can be consulted on the web site: http://www.vet.uu.nl
(search for Equator). Here you will also find a list of Intemet sites where
vacancies in tropical animal health and production may be found.

1.nbsp;ANIMAL PRODUCTION OFFICER (No. 333-AGA), FAO, Rome (Italy),
Closing date: 8 May, 2000

2.nbsp;UNIT HEAD (No. 99/086), Animal Production Unit of IAEA, Seibersdorf,
Vienna (Austria), Closing date: 9 March, 2000

In December 1999 the students of the
Master of Science Course on Animal
Pathology of the Faculty of Veteri-
nary Medicine, Utrecht University
established a scientific group named
Pathology Science Club (PSC).
EQUATOR will provide space for
publications by the PSC under the
responsibility of the editorial board.

The board of directors consists of the
first year students of the MSc Course
on Animal Pathology, while the ad-
visers of the club are the MSc course
director, the MSc course co-ordinator
and the chairman of the Department
of Pathology.

The board of the PSC is composed
of:: Sydney Mukaratirwa (Chair),
Custodio Bila (Secretary General) and
Mathewos Tessema (Executive Di-
rector). The advisors are: Prof Dr. E.
Gmys, Dr. H.G.C.J.M. Hendriks, and
Prof. Dr. J.E. van Dijk.

Students and graduates of the MSc
Course on Animal Pathology are full
members, while scientists with an in-
terest in animal pathology can become
affiliated members. Membership is
free of charge.

For further information and registra-
tion, please contact:
Custodio Bila, C/o Dept. of Pathol-
ogy, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine,
Utrecht University, P.O. box 80.158,
3508 TD Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Tel: 31.30.2534146;
Fax: 31.30.2516863
E-mail: C.Bila@,vet.uu.nl

Members of the Pathology
Science Club (f l.t.r.):
Sydney Mukaratirwa,
Custodio Bila, Joshua
Malago, Asli Mete and
Mathewos Tessema and the
MSc Course Director, Prof
Dr. E. Grays (Photo: Otter)

Course on: Participation in local
development(A-week). Organised
by: Agromisa. Topics: RAAKS
(Rapid Appraisal of Agricultural
Knowledge Systems), PTD
(Participatory Technology Deve-
lopment), PRA (Participatory
Rural Appraisal), Theatre for
Development, Monitoring and
Evaluation and Intercultural
Communication. Fees: NLG
2,950 for institutions; NLG 940
for individual participants (fees
include meals, accommodation
and course materials). Informa-
tion: Agromisa Foundation, P.O.
Box 41, 6700 AA Wageningen,
The Netherlands (Tel. 31.317.
412217, telefax: 31.317.419178,
E-mail: agromisa@,wxs.nl)

June 19-30, 2000
Workshop Molecular Biology and
Recombinant-DNA Technology.
Topics: Isolation of plasmid and
chromosomal DNA; PCR; re-
striction enzyme digestion; gel
electrophoresis; Southem and
Western blotting; cloning in
plasmids; transformation of bac-
teria; radioactive and non-
radioactive labelling of DNA and
oligonucleotides; hybridization;
selection of recombinant-DNA
clones with DNA probes and with
monoclonal antibodies; bacterial
expression; sequencing; computer
analysis of DNA sequences; RNA
isolation and amplification of
cDNA; demonstration of DNA
microarrays. Organised by: Insti-
tute of Infectious Diseases and
Immunology, Faculty of Veteri-
nary Medicine, Utrecht Univer-
sity. Deadline for application: 15
March 2000. Fee, excluding eve-
ning meals and accommodation:
NLG 3,500. Information: Dr. J.A.
Lenstra, P.O. Box 80.165, 3508,
TD Utrecht, The Netherlands
(Tel.: 31.30.2534992, telefax:
31.30.2540784, E-mail: Lenstra
@vet.uu.nl).

Latin American and Carib-
bean Conference on the veteri-
nary management of disasters;
2nd Intemational Workshop on
reagents used in veterinary mi-
crobiology; 3quot;* Intemational
Workshop on progress in veteri-
nary education. Information: Dra.
Adela Encinosa Linero, Consejo
Cientifico Veterinario de Cuba,
Paseo Nquot; 604 e/ 25 y 27, Apdo.
14400, Vedado, C. Habana.
(Telefax: 537.30.3537; e-mail:
scmvcd@infomed. sld. cu).

Intemational Congress on
Animal Reproduction. Infor-
mation: Dr Hans Gustafsson,
Swedish University of Agricul-
tural Sciences, P.O. Box 7039, S-
750 07 Uppsala (Telefax: 46.18.
673545, e-mail: hans.gustafsson
@og.slu.se).

21-24 August, 2000
lO\'\'\' Intemational Conference on
Trichinellosisnbsp;Information:

Docteurs Soulé et Booireau,
Unité de parasitologic Labora-
toire central de recherches
vétérinaires, CNEVA Alfori, P.O.
Box 67, 94703 Maison-Alfort
cedex (Telefax: 33.1.43689762,
e-mail: vaall I@calvacom.fr).

SO\'\'^ Intemational course on poul-
try husbandry and 30\'quot;^ Inter-
national cotu\'se on pig husbandry.
Organised by: IPC Livestock
Intemational, Bameveld College.
These courses will nm at the
same time. Following these
courses participation is possible
in the 23quot;* Intemational animal
feed training programme (AFTP),
which mns from 26 Febmary to
25 May, 2001. Direct entry in this
last course is also possible. Fees
including board and lodging:
Poultry course: NLG 25,500; Pig
course: NLG 25,500, Feed
course; NLG 13,000 or 15,500
(direct entry). Closing date: 1
May, 2000. Information: IPC
Livestock Bameveld College,
Dep. of Intemational Studies and
Co-operation Programmes, P.O.
Box 64, 3770 AB Bameveld
(Telefax: 31.342.492813,e-mail:
io@ipcdier.hacom.nl).

1 September, 2000
11quot;\' Intemational symposium:
Tropical Animal Health and Pro-
duction. Theme: Diagnosis and
control of transboundary infec-
tious diseases in southem Africa.
Organised by: Faculty of Vete-
rinary Medicine of Utrecht Uni-
versity, Faculty of Veterinary
Science of the University of Pre-
toria and Onderstepoort Veteri-
nary Institute. Registration fee:
EURO 75. Registration before 1
August, 2000 to: Office for Inter-
national Co-operation, Faculty of
Veterinary Medicine, NL 3508
TD Utrecht (Telefax: 31.30.253-
1815, e-mail: bic@,vet.uu.nl (See
announcement and registration
form elsewhere in this issue of
EQUATOR).

Intemational MSc programme of
the Graduate School of Animal
Health, Faculty of Veterinary
Medicine, Utrecht University and
the Institute for Animal Science
and Health (ID-Lelystad).
Programme: (1) MSc Course

\'Animal Pathology\', duration 2
years (fee: NGL 35,000); (2) MSc
course \'Veterinary Epidemiology\',
duration 18 months (fee; NLG
25,000); (3) MSc course
\'Veterinary Anaesthesiology\',
duration 18 months (fee: NGL
35,000). Registration before 1
July, 2000. Information: Office for
Intemational Co-operation, Facul-
ty of Veterinary Medicine. P.O.
Box 80.163, 3508 TD Utrecht
(Fax: 31.30.2531815, e-mail:
bic@vet.uu.nl).

11-15 September, 2000
17th Pan-American Congress of
Veterinary Sciences. Information:
Asociación Panamena de Médi-
cos Veterinarios, Apartado Postal
6-2198, El Dorado, Panama
(Telefax: 507.223.9689, e-mail:
apmv98@cwp.net.pa).

17-21 September, 2000
Intemational Pig Veterinary Soci-
ety Congress (IPVS 2000). In-
formation: IPVS 2000 Confer-
ence Secretariat, 140 The Parade,
Ocean Grove, Victoria 3226
(Telefax: 61.3.52 555613, e-
mail: rosscutler@pegasus.com.au:
http://www.ava.com.au).

20 - 22 September, 2000
South African Veterinary Asso-
ciation Congress. Information:
Izani Event Specialists (Telefax:
27.31.563 3348; e-mail: izani@
iafrica.com).

4-8 December, 2000
XXI Worid Buiatrics Conference.
Information: Gabriela Rohr,
Cerrito 307, Montevideo 11.000
(Telefax: 598.29160220, e-mail:
grohr@.rohrsa.com).

Veterinary Conservation Biology:
Wildlife health and Management
in Australasia. Jointly organised
by: AAVCB, WAWW,
WSNZVA and WDA. Informa-
tion: L. Vogelnest, Taronga Zoo,
P.O. Box 20, Mosman NSW
2088, Australia (Telefax:
61.2.99784516, e-mail: Ivogel
nest@zoo.nsw.gov.au

6\'^ Biennial meeting of the Soci-
ety for Tropical Veterinary Medi-
cine (STVM). Theme: Wildlife
and livestock disease and
sustainability. Information: Wen-
dy C. Brown, Department of Vet-
erinary Microbiology, Washing-
ton State University, Pullman,
WA 99164 (E-mail: wbrown@
vetmed.wsu.edu).

20-24 August, 2001
lO\'\'quot; Intemational Conference of
the Association of Institutions for
Tropical Veterinary Medicine
(AITVM). Theme: \'Livestock,
Community and Environment\'.
Location: Royal Veterinary and
Agricultural University (KVL).
Information: Dr. Niels Chr.
Kyvsgaard, KVL, Danish Center
for Experimental Parasitology, 13
Biilowsvej, DK-1870 Frederiks-
berg C., Copenhagen (Telefax:
45.35. 282774, e-mail: nck@
kvl.dkL (For further information
see elsewhere in this EQUA-
TOR).

Time: 09.00 - 17.00 hours
Location: Faculty of Veterinary Medicine
Yalelaan 1, De Uithof, Utrecht
The Netheriands

The Editorial Board has some explaining to do. We received some letters
from readers of EQUATOR, asking whether we had forgotten to send
them the June issue. No, you were not forgotten, we simply did not pro-
duce the second issue of EQUATOR in June as was announced in the
editorial of the first issue of this year. Various reasons played a role, like
difficulties with our regular printer, as well as a very heavy workload and
personal circumstances.

But we are going to make up for it in this double issue (2/3) of EQUA-
TOR Volume 12.

Did you already have a look at the web pages of the Office for Intema-
tional Cooperation (BIC) at www.vet.uu.nl/english/facultv/bureau/hic/?
Here you can find EQUATOR and other interesting information.
The colunms: \'Vacancies Intemational Cooperation\' and the \'Calendar\'
are regularly updated, also in-between successive issues. You can also
find here the main articles of the current years\' issues of EQUATOR.
These articles may occasionally provide you with usefiil teaching mate-
rial. Articles can be downloaded and may be reproduced on the condition
that the source and author(s) are clearly indicated.

Editorial board

J.H.A. de Gooijer
R.W. Paling DVM PhD
(editor-in-chief)
P.R. van Weeren DVM PhD
W. Wapenaar MVM

Lay out

H. Halsema

Printed by

Drukkerij Labor

Editorial Office

Faculty of Veterinary Medicine
Office for Intemational
Cooperation
P.O. Box 80.163
3508 TD Utrecht
The Netheriands
Tel.: 31.30.2532116
Fax: 31.30.2531815
E-mail: bic@vet.uu.nl

EQUATOR is published
quarterly.

Subscription is free of charge.
For changes in address and
termination of subscription
please retum the corrected label
to the editorial office.

October 2000

The Editorial Board likes to call your special attention to the develop-
ments, which have taken place in respect of the status of the Association
of Institutions for Tropical Veterinary Medicine (AITVM). AITVM
exists already since 1973, when a group of scientists interested in tropical
animal health, formed the first Standing Committee in Edinburgh under
the chairmanship of Sir Alexander Robertson. Although the AITVM has
been an active organisation ever since, it was not an officially registered
body. This has changed now. Statutes were composed and on 7 Septem-
ber, 2000, the Foundation AITVM was registered in the commercial reg-
ister of the Chamber of Commerce Utrecht.

We call upon the readers of EQUATOR, who are working at a university,
faculty or institute, which is active in the field of tropical animal health
and/or production, to seriously consider applying for AITVM member-
ship now. Details are given in the article \'News from the AITVM\' and
on the AITVM web pages (www.aitvm.org).

On 1 September, 2000 the 1Sym-
posimn on Tropical Animal Health
and Production entitled \'Diagnosis
and control of transboundary infec-
tious diseases in southern Africa\', was
organised in Utrecht. In line with the
recently signed agreement of coop-
eration, this years\' symposium was a
joint effort of the veterinary faculties
of the universities of Utrecht and
Pretoria, in collaboration with the
ARC - Onderstepoort Veterinary In-
stitute of South Africa.

Prof M.C. Horzinek, Director of the
Utrecht Graduate School of Animal
Health and chairman of the Sympo-
sium Organizing Committee intro-
duced the symposium in his word of
welcome as follows. \'The topics to be
discussed should appeal not only to
the tropical diseases specialist but also
to the general microbiologist with an
epidemiological inclination. Emerging
infections are enigmatic by definition,
but also the notoriously re-emerging
infectious diseases discussed during
this symposium beg enough questions
to put them on the agenda. The role of
wildlife as reservoirs of the various
agents will be discussed and their
spread to the domestic fauna; veteri-
nary diagnostic and control measures
will portray our profession\'s role in
dealing with epizootics and zoonoses.
After all, wildlife does not respect
political boundaries, and its peripa-
tetic behaviour makes disease control
in the tropics a continuous challenge.
This challenge can be met only when
specialists from different disciplines
and origins join forces; our sympo-
sium makes this point\'.

Indeed a mixed audience of about 100
participants from various disciplines
and from a number of countries in
Europe and Africa attended the Sym-
posiimi and discussed the risks of and
control methods for these emerging
diseases for AiSica as well as for
Europe. This article presents some
highlights of the Symposium. Ex-
tended abstracts are presented in the
\'Programme and abstracts\' book\'.
Moreover, the scientists of the De-
partment of Veterinary Tropical Dis-
eases of the Onderstepoort veterinary
faculty presented a series of videos
and posters and a set of CD-roms,
which provide excellent reference
material for education and research.

During the first session attention was
given to the epidemiology, diagnosis,
and control of diseases of domestic
ruminants and wildlife: foot and
mouth disease (FMD), tuberculosis
caused by Mycobacterium bovis and
malignant catarrhal fever.
Dr. W. Vosloo of the ARC - Onder-
stepoort Veterinary Institute, de-
ll® SYMPOSIUM ON

DIAGNOSIS AND CONTROL OF
TRANSBOUNDARY INFECTIOUS
DISEASES IN SOUTH AFRICA

11th Symposium on Tropical Animal Health and
Production highlights research in southern Africa

scribed the role of the African Buffalo
in the epidemiology of foot and
mouth disease in southern Africa.
African buffalo maintain the FMD
virus (SAT types) and on rare occa-
sions transmit FMD to cattle. Unlike
the situation in most regions of the
world, FMD is therefore not eradica-
ble from many part of sub-Saharan
Africa. Conflicting situations are cre-
ated by the need to fence wildlife
conservation areas to separate cattle
and buffalo, the need to vaccinate
cattle in the surrounding areas and the
requirement of meat importing coun-
tries that bovine products should de-
rive from non-vaccinated herds. Dr.
Voslo concluded her presentation by
stating: \'It is essential that the impacts
that FMD control programmes have
on the environment, sustainable utili-
zation of animal resources and op-
portunities for commercialisation of
livestock through intemational trade,
be minimized but that FMD control
remains effective. To achieve this will
require careful re-consideration of
present control policies in southern
Africa\'.

An overview of tuberculosis caused
by Mycobacterium bovis in domestic
and wild animals in South Africa was
jointly presented by Prof N.P.J. Kriek
of the Faculty of Veterinary Science
(Onderstepoort) and Dr. A. Michel of
the Tuberculosis Laboratory of the
ARC - Onderstepoort Veterinary In-
stitute. Tuberculosis caused by Myco-
bacterium bovis is thought to have
been introduced into southern Africa
by infected cattle from Europe in the
mid 1800s. Presently in South Africa
the disease is under control in cattle,
but infection in wildlife is a major
issue. To date the infection is rife in
the Kmger National Park (KNP) and
in the Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Park m
KwaZulu-Natal. In these parks buf-

\' Programme and Absttacts. 11quot;quot; Sympo-
sium on Tropical Animal Health And
Production \'Diagnosis and control of
transboundary infectious diseases m
southern Africa\', 1 September, 2000, Eds.
J.A.W. Coetzer and J.H.A. de Gooijer.
Ufrecht University, Utrecht. ISBN 90-
6159-032-9, pp. 1-68. Copies available
fi:om the Editorial Office.

Dr. Vosloo described the
role of the African buffalo in
the epidemiology of FMD
(Photo: De Gooijer)

falo have been shown to be mainte-
nance hosts. Spillover has been de-
tected in species such as greater kudu,
lion, leopard, cheetah, baboon and
spotted hyena.

The control of tuberculosis in wildlife
is mostly done on an ad hoc basis, as
a well-defined policy for the man-
agement of the disease in the various
species of wildlife has not been for-
mulated. Currently, no transportation
of buffaloes is allowed unless they
have tested negative for tuberculosis.
Control of the infection in wildlife is
not possible at this stage as no vali-
dated test exists for many of the spe-
cies and the epidemiology of the dis-
ease is not fully understood.
Studies to elucidate the molecular
epidemiology, using the standardized
genetic fingerprinting method of re-
striction fragment length polymor-
phism (RFLP), were carried out on M.
bovis isolates fi-om wildlife in the
Greater Kruger National Park (KNP).
The preliminary results indicate the
existence of one principal or even a
tmique source of M. bovis infection to
the KNP and the adjacent reserves. By
means of RFLP this source was iden-
tified as a cattle herd on a farm bor-
dering the KNP in the south.

Prof M. van Vuuren of the Faculty of
Veterinary Science (Onderstepoort)
presented an overview of the epide-
miology of malignant catarrhal fever
(MCF) in southem Africa. MCF oc-
curs through infection with either the
gamma herpes vims of wildebeest
(alcelaphine herpesvims-1; AHV-1)
or of domestic sheep (ovine herpesvi-
ms-2; OHV-2). In their natural hosts,
these vimses do not produce clinical
disease. In Africa, MCF is predomi-
nantly found in cattle, where cattle are
in close contact with the blue wilde-
beest and rarely the black wildebeest.
Transmission of AHV-1 is very effi-
cient among wildebeest. All calves
become infected in the first few
months of life and all adult wildebeest
have neutralizing antibodies. Reports
consistently indicate that spread in
cattle does not occur from animals
with clinical MCF. The usual source
of AHV-1 is wildebeest calves. The
actual mode of spread has not been
established.

There is no vaccine against MCF. The
only reliable preventive measure is to
keep cattle separated from wildebeest.
Separation of wildebeest and cattle by
several hundred metres is regarded as
necessary to prevent infection in cat-
tle.

South Africa is the only country in
Africa that instituted formal control
measures in an effort to control MCF
in cattle. Legislation was enacted in
1984. Methods to control the disease
included the movement of wildebeest
only on the strength of veterinary
permits, and the removal of wilde-
beest from unregistered properties.
Under pressure of game ranchers and
groups involved in ecotourism, the
control measures were lifted in 1993.
The lifting of control measures her-
alded a period of unrestricted move-
ment of wildebeest with a concomi-
tant increase in cases of MCF in cat-
tle. The increase in the incidence of
MCF justifies the perception that wil-
debeest-associated MCF is an emerg-
ing disease in South Africa.
Collaborative research projects on
MCF are envisaged for the coming
years between research institutes in
South Africa, Zimbabwe, Kenya, UK,
and the Netherlands.

Epidemics of RVF tend to
occur in Afiica in association
with high rainfall (Photo:
Paling)

Prof. Dr. F. Jongejan of the Faculty of
Veterinary Medicine (Utrecht) pre-
sented progress that has been made
over recent years in the improvement
of the diagnosis and the development
of potential vaccines for the control of
Cowdria ruminantium infection in
ruminants.

C. ruminantium is a tick-bome rick-
ettsial agent that causes cowdriosis (or
heartwater), an economically impor-
tant disease affecting domestic mmi-
nants in sub-Saharan Africa and cer-
tain Caribbean Islands. The disease is
transmitted by at least 10 species of
Amblyomma ticks.

None of the clinical signs are pathog-
nomonic for the disease. Defmite diag-
nosis is made after death by demon-
strating Cowdria colonies within en-
dothehal cell of capillaries of stained
brain squash smears. For an accurate
assessment of the distribution of the
disease, a diagnostic method is needed.
Using an immimogenic region of the
Major Antigenic Protein (MAPI)
(MAPl-B fragment) as antigen, an
ELISA has been developed, which in
now used as a test kit at 20 institutes in
Afiica, Guadeloupe and USA. A PCR
assay based on MAPI can be used to
detect Cowdria in vertebrate hosts and
ticks. However, there is no reliable
method yet for the molecular typing
of different Cowdria stocks. In vitro
culture of Cowdria has led to the de-
velopment of attenuated and inacti-
vated vaccines to ultimately replace
ciurent infection and treatment meth-
ods.

Research on tick home-diseases, spe-
cifically on heartwater, is an excellent
example whereby intemational coop-
eration between research institutes,
national and intemational organisa-
tions and private enterprise can result
in significant progress in a relatively
short period of time.

Zoonoses and food safety
The second session of the Symposium
was devoted to Epidemiology and
control of zoonotic diseases and
food safety. Special attention was
given to zoonotic parasites, and the
viral diseases. Rift Valley fever, ra-
bies and Afiican swine fever.
In her presentation on \'Zoonotic
parasitic diseases: A southem and
eastem African perspective\', Prof T.
Krecek of the Faculty of Veterinary
Science (Onderstepoort) reviewed the
diseases caused by Taenia solium and
Taenia saginata, with emphasis on the
current situation in eastem and south-
em Afiica.

The adult tapeworms of both T. so-
lium and T. saginata occur throughout
Afiica, and cause hmnan taeniosis.
Humans become infected with either
of these Taenia species when they
consume meat containing viable cys-
ticerci, which develop into tapeworms
in the intestinal lumen. The gravid
terminal segments of the adult tape-
worms are passed out in the faeces.
The gravid segments contain up to
80,000 eggs. After a suitable interme-
diate host, in the case of T. solium a
pig, and of T. saginata a bovine, has
ingested the eggs, larvae hatch in the
lumen of the gut. These then invade
the submucosa of the small intestine
and are carried in the lymph and
blood streams to the tissues and or-
gans of the host where, at their predi-
lection sites, i.e. striated muscle, they
develop into infective cysticerci. If
humans ingest the eggs of T. solium
because of enviroimiental contamina-
tion from tapeworm carriers (e.g. food
handlers), cysticerci may develop in
their tissues and organs, like the brain.
The method for the control of both
species is five-pronged: improved pig

and/or cattle management including
better husbandry practices, whereby
these animal species are prevented
fi-om coming into contact with human
faeces; proper meat inspection; im-
proved personal and environmental
hygiene; treatment of infected hu-
mans; and expansion of relevant
health education for handlers, stock-
men and farmers.

Prof Krecek concluded that: \'Recent
research work, particularly that in
Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia,
Zimbabwe and South Afiica, has re-
vealed some startling findings, par-
ticularly the high prevalences of cys-
ticercosis and taeniosis in these coun-
tries. These helminths, and the dis-
eases that they cause pose a signifi-
cant threat to food safety and security
in the region concerned. There is a
need for socio-economic studies and
to assess the impact of these tape-
worms on both human and animal
health, and productivity as well as on
agriculture. Now is the time for a
multidisciplinary and multinational
effort to address these diseases in
spite of resoiwce constraints\'.

Prof J.A.W. Coetzer of the Faculty of
Veterinary Science (Onderstepoort)
presented an epidemiological per-
spective of Rift Valley fever (RVF), a
tmly emerging disease with outbreaks
in the late 1950s and 1970s in South
Africa, in the 1970s along the Nile in
Egypt and in the 1980s in western and
eastem Africa, and most recently
(2000) in the Arabian sub-continent.

Rift Valley fever is an acute hepatic
and sometimes haemorrhagic disease
of domestic mminants and humans
(until recently only) in Africa, caused
by a mosquito-bome vims. The hae-
mostatic derangement, which manifests
as a viral haemorrhagic fever with
bleeding tendency, is most severe in the
fatal hepatic syndrome in animals and
humans.

Epidemics tend to occur in eastern,
central and southem African countries
usually at irregular intervals of five to
15 years or longer associated with
above average rainfall. The recent out-
breaks of RVF in countries in North
and West Africa occurred independ-
ently of rainfall in dry countries, appar-
ently in association with vectors which
breed in large rivers and dams.
Although a wide variety of domestic
and Vkdld ruminants are susceptible to
RVF, the disease is mainly of economic
importance in sheep, goats and cattle
with newborn animals being most sus-
ceptible. Humans become infected
mainly from contact with animal tis-
sues. Human infection presumably
resuhs from the contact of vims with
abraded skin, wounds or mucous mem-
branes but aerosol infections are possi-
ble. The majority of RVF infections in
humans are unapparent or are associ-
ated with moderate to severe, non-fatal,
and influenza-like ilhiess. A minority
of patients develop ocular lesions, en-
cephalitis or severe hepatic disease.
Prof Coetzer had a predicting vision as
he concluded: \'The recent epidemics in
Egypt, Senegal, Mauritania, Kenya,
Tanzania and Somaha were character-
ized by unusually high morbidity rates
in both domestic ruminants and hu-
mans and serve as a warning that RVF
can not only extend beyond its usual
distribution range but also has the po-
tential to occur outside Africa\'.

Prof Kriek presented an overview of
the epidemiology, diagnosis and con-
trol of anthrax in southem Africa.
Anthrax is a septicaemic disease
caused by the bacterium Bacillus an-
thracis. It is highly contagious and
rapidly fatal, affects domesticated and
a very wide range of free-ranging wild
animals, and humans, and varies in
manifestation from per-acute or acute
to chronic. Anthrax is one of the tme
endemic diseases of Africa and its
presence there dates back to biblical
times. The disease in Africa is pri-
marily one of wildlife although out-
breaks in animals and man do occur
sporadically. The pattem of the dis-
ease is closely associated with the
presence of the infection in wildlife
conservation areas in which anthrax
occurs endemically. Extensive epi-
demics occur sporadically at intervals
of 10-20 years.

There is a marked difference in the
susceptibility to the disease in differ-
ent animal species, both domestic and
wild herbivores are most susceptible
whereas camivores and omnivores are
less susceptible.

Confirmation of the diagnosis is de-
pendent on the detection of typical
bacteria in smears of blood or tissue
fluids from animals that have died of
the disease. The measures applied to
control anthrax are those that would
break the cycle of infection and in-
clude surveillance, prophylactic pro-
cedures such as vaccination and disin-
fection, quarantine, immunization,
treatment, and disposal of carcasses.
Because of compulsory vaccination,
the prevalence of the disease in South
Africa has declined markedly from
that recorded for a period m the 1920s
during which losses of 50-60,000
head of cattle annually were encoim-
tered, to where less than 3 outbreaks
of the disease on average occurred per
year during the last 25 years.

Due to unexpected circumstances in
South Africa, the unexpected speaker
for the next subject was Prof R.
Swanepoel, world expert in the field
of rabies. He described the situation
of endemic rabies in South Africa.
During the 1940s rabies in dogs appe-
ared in northem Namibia and northem
Botswana, a cycle that appeared to
have originated in Angola. That was
the start of a pandemic that continues
to the present. By 1950 it had reached
westem Botswana and that year also
spread into Zimbabwe and northem
South Afiica. In succeeding years it
spread into southem Mozambique and
then into the KwaZulu-Natal Province
of Souh Africa. This epidemic in dogs
continues to move down South Afri-
ca\'s East Coast. Following the estab-
lishment of dog rabies in southem
Afiica the disease appeared in other
canid species, including jackal and in
bat-eared fox, which maintain the!
\'canid\' biotype. Recently it has be-|
come apparent that rabies is a signifi-.
cant threat to the endangered African
wild dog. The \'viverrid\' biotype is
maintained by Herpestid species like
the mongoose.

Control of dog rabies in southem Af-
rica has concentrated mainly on mass
vaccination. Dog population control
has also been practiced but has lately
lost popularity. On the whole the vac-
cination methods have only achieved
vaccination coverage of 10 to 40 per
cent. Political instability and insuffi-

Prof Swanepoel presented
an overview of rabies in
southem Africa (Photo: De
Gooijer)

cient financial resources have taken
their toll on the regularity and efficacy
of dog rabies campaigns. Oral vacci-
nation for rabies has shown promise
for the immimisation of jackals. In
studies carried out in Zimbabwe
modified live rabies vaccines were
shown to be effective for immtmizing
jackals.

A number of animal diseases has
manifested its self as an epidemic in
recent years. Three of these were pre-
sented in the last session of the Sym-
posium on: recent epizootics.
Dr. M-L Penrith of the ARC - Onder-
stepoort Veterinary Institute, pre-
sented a paper entitled: African swine
fever: A re-emerging disease? African
swine fever (ASF) is a highly lethal
viral disease of domestic pigs that
manifests as a haemorrhagic fever.
The high mortality rate of close to
100%, and the fact that to date no
vaccine exists, so that control depends
on the slaughter and destruction of all
infected and in-contact pigs, ensure
that ASF has devastating effects on
pig production in countries where it
occurs. The existence of an ancient
sylvatic cycle that involves wild Afri-
can suids, in particular warthogs, and
soft-shelled argasid ticks of the Omi-
thodoros moubata complex, is well-
known. In many countries in central
and West Africa, a cycle occurs in
domestic pigs, which may or may not
involve Omithodoros, but is charac-
terized by a higher than expected sur-
vival rate. The domestic cycle re-
quires further study.
The recent emergence of the disease
in especially West Africa (1982-
1996), Kenya and Uganda (1994-
1996) and Madagascar (1998) has
highlighted the problem of applying
conventional control measures under
African conditions and the need for
alternative control measures; such as
farmer-based strategies for safe pig
farming. These strategies offer the
only real hope of sustainable control.
To establish these, massive informa-
tion campaigns and training are re-
quired, togeither with commitment
from governments to provide the nec-
essary resoiu-ces.

African horse sickness
Prof A.J. Guthrie, director of the
Equine Research Centre (Onderste-
poort) presented a paper on; Recent
epidemics of African horse sickness.
African horsesickness (AHS) is an
infectious, non-contagious disease of
equids (horses, donkeys, mules and
zebra) caused by an orbivirus, which
is transmitted by biting midges {Culi-
coides spp). It is endemic in parts of
tropical Africa. The first recorded
outbreak of AHS in South Africa oc-
curred in 1719, approximately 66
years after the introduction of horses
from Java. Since then, regular epi-
demics of AHS have occurred every
20 to 30 years. The worst of these
epidemics occurred in 1854/55 and
resulted in the death of approximately
40% of the population of 170,000
horses. Currently, cases of AHS occur
annually in the northeastern parts of
the coimtry.

The disease is also reported from time
to time in countries in North Africa
from where it has occasionally ex-
tended into countries of the Middle
East (1930, 1944, 1959/1961) and
Spain and Portugal (1966, 1987/
1990).

The recent outbreak in Spain (1987)
was a result of the importation of in-
fected zebra from Namibia. As a re-
sult of an extensive and expensive
vaccination compains (US $ 30 mil-
lion) in Morocco, Portugal and south-
em Spain, AHS was controlled after 3
years.

Recently (1999) an outbreak was re-
ported from the Western Cape Prov-
ince, Stellenbosch district, of South
Africa, after an illegal transport from
the northeastem region. The rapidity
with which the diagnosis of AHS was
made and by which quarantine and
control measures like intensive vacci-
nation were instituted, is believed to
have played a major role in the re-
striction of the epidemic to a small
area. Only 31 horses died in an area of
15 km around the first outbreak.
As AHS is an exotic disease in most
countries outside of Africa, the state
veterinary authorities must be imme-
diately informed of any suspect case.
Rapid diagnostic tests, including the
antigen capture ELISA, are available
at reference laboratories and appropri-
ate specimens from any suspect cases
should be submitted to such laborato-
ries.

The last paper of the Symposium was
presented by Dr. J. Picard of the Fac-
ulty of Veterinary Science (Onderste-
poort) and was entitled: Contagious
bovine pleuropneumonia: A world-
wide perspective with emphasis on
the epidemiology, diagnosis and con-
trol. Contagious bovine pleuropneu-
monia (CBPP) is a disease of cattle and
occasionally Asian buffalo caused by
Mycoplasma mycoides subspecies
mycoides. A serofibrinous pleuro-

pneumonia and pulmonary sequestra
characterize the disease that may result
in a chronic, sub-clinical carrier state
in many recovered Miimals. As CBPP
can easily go undetected for long peri-
ods of time and cause severe cattle
losses, it is considered to be one of the
most important diseases in the African
context.

During the early part of the 20th
century, CBPP was eradicated from
much of Europe. However, certain
southem European countries continue
to experience periodic outbreaks. The
disease occurs in parts of Asia and in
certain countries in North, West and
East Africa. In Africa, socio-economic
practices can be responsible for the
spread of CBPP into non-endemic
areas or countries.

A presumptive diagnosis is based on
clinical signs and necropsy. It is
essential that laboratory tests be done
to confirm the disease. As one test
cannot detect all cases, especially if
they are chronic, a panel of tests for
antigen and antibody detection is
required. Repeated vaccination with
the live attenuated vaccine is re-
commended for use in Africa.

In southem Afiica, CBPP occurs in
Angola and the Ovambo and Kavango
districts of northern Namibia. Vacci-
nation and the slaughter of sick cattle
was the method of choice in the control
of CBPP in these areas. Recently
(1995), Botswana experienced an
extensive outbreak of CBPP. It has
subsequently been successfully

eradicated from this country using a,
for African conditions, tmique regime
of slaughter of all infected and in-
contact cattle. The OIE prepared a
code with reconmiendations for
coimtries importing cattle.

The symposiimi was a tmique oppor-
tunity for scientists of different disci-
plines and from different coimtries to
discuss the significant progress that has
been made over the recent years in the
diagnosis (specially by molecular
techniques), understanding of the epi-
demiology, and in the approaches to
control of diseases in Africa. As was
demonstrated, that in many cases the
control requires a multi-disciplinary,
socio-economically based approach, to
be of long lasting effect. Last but not
least, awareness was created among
the European participants of the risks
of emerging diseases, which may have
been eradicated long time ago, but for
which continuous alertness is required.

The AITVM aims to improve human
health and quality of life by means of
increased and safe food production in
fropical regions through enhancement
of research, training and education in
veterinary medicine and livestock
production within the framework of
sustainable development.

(AITVM) was \'officially\' founded as
a non-profit foundation on 21 August,
2000, when the General Secretary
signed the \'Founding Statute\' on be-
half of the members of the Standing
Committee in Ufrecht (the Nether-
lands).

The AITVM exists since 1973, when
a group of scientists interested in
fropical animal health, formed the first
Standing Committee in Edinburgh
under the chairmanship of Sir Alex-
ander Robertson. Although the
AITVM has been an active organisa-
tion ever since, it was not an officially
registered body. This has changed
now. Statutes, in accordance with the
Netherlands\' law written in Dutch,
were composed by combining the
Statutes as agreed by the Standing
Committee Meeting on 31 January,
2000, with a number of articles re-
quired to give the Foundation its legal
base in the Netherlands.
On 7 September, 2000, the Founda-
tion AITVM was registered as a \'legal
person\' in the commercial register of
the Chamber of Commerce Ufrecht.

participants from AITVM member institutions: DKK 2,100 (USD 250)
Other participants:nbsp;DKK 2,500 (USD 300)

Important dates to remember
Deadline for submission of Abstract:	15	Febmary, 2001
Deadline for early registration:	15	April, 2001
Deadline for submission of full text:	20	August, 2001
Conference Days:	20	- 24 August, 2001

Programme of the 10th AITVM
Conference

The theme of the lO\'^ Conference
reflects the main issues in tropical
animal production at this moment:
\'Livestock, Community and Envi-
ronment\'. Within this general theme

Scholarships

The Organising Committee will ap-
proach relevant national and intema-
tional organisations and agencies in
an effort to secure attendance of par-
ticipants from developing countries.

Are you working in a public institu-
tion, like a university, faculty or in-
stitute, which is active in the field of
tropical animal health and/or produc-
tion, and are you interested to apply
for membership? Then you should
look at the AITVM homepage
(www.aitvm.org) under /Organisation
/ Information for new members/.
The Dean or Director of your institute
should fill the \'AITVM Membership
Application Form\' which can be
dovmloaded and printed from the
website. The form should be for-
warded to the AITVM Secretariat.
Any questions? Send your e-mail to
aitvm@vet.uu.nl

The 3-yearly AITVM Intemational
Conference is a main intemational
event on tropical animal health and
production for veterinary and animal
production scientists and animal sci-
ence specialists from all over the
world.

The 10th AITVM Conference will be
held in Denmark from 20 - 24 August,
2001. The location is the Royal Vet-
erinary and Agricultural University
(KVL) in Copenhagen (Denmark).
The Local Organizing Committee is
composed of a number of experienced
staff members from KVL, enforced
with representatives from DANIDA
(Denmark) and the veterinary facul-
ties of Norway and Sweden. Prof Dr.
Torben Greve (Pro-vice-chancellor
for Research of KVL) chairs the
Committee. Dr. Niels Kyvsgaard is
the co-chairman and the contact per-
son at KVL (e-mail: nck@kvl.dk).

Members of the AITVM
Standing Committee in
Copenhagen (January, 2000)
(Photo: collection KVL)

the following subjects have been se-
lected for the workshops. Invited
speakers will address these subjects in
plenary sessions or as keynotes at the
workshops. Participants are invited to

present papers orally in one of the
workshops or as a poster presentation.
The subjects of the workshops are:

•nbsp;Livestock-environment interac-
tions and the impact on human
health and animal health and re-
production.

•nbsp;Appraisal of recent changes in
delivery of livestock services.

•nbsp;New approaches to veterinary
education.

•nbsp;Control of transboundary epizo-
otic diseases.

•nbsp;Poultry production and health
under smallholder conditions.

•nbsp;Peri-urban animal production
systems - opportunities and envi-
ronmental constraints.

•nbsp;Veterinary public health: aspects
of zoonoses and food quality

Further details for submission of ab-
stracts and registration will be pre-
sented in the \'Second Announcement\'
of the 10th AITVM Conference and
on the AITVM website
(www.aitvm.org) on intemet.
To obtain a personal copy of the
\'Second Announcement\' please for-
ward the \'Notice of interest\' to the
Conference Secretariat by fax , mail,
e-mail, or directly from the AITVM

I am interested to attend the 10th Intemational Conference of the Association of Institutions for Tropical Vet-
erinary Medicine (AITVM) in Copenhagen, 20 - 24 August 2001.
Please send me further information about the Conference.

Title (Pro£a)r/Ms/Mr):...............................................................................................................................................................................

Sumame:...............................................................................................................................................................................................................

First name(s):....................................................................................................................................................................................................

Institute: ...............................................................................................................................................................................................................

Address:................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Telephone: .................................................................................. Fax:

Schistosomiasis is a chronic parasitic
disease caused by a trematode blood
fluke of the family of Schistosomati-
dae and genus Schistosoma. It is a
common disease in Africa and Asia
and most infections in endemic areas
occur at a subclinical level. It has
been established that the highs rates of
subclinical infections cause signifi-
cant losses in animal growth and pro-
ductivity and induce increased sus-
ceptibility to other parasitic or bacte-
rial diseases.

At least 30% of the cattle population
living in areas that are endemic for
bovine schistosomiasis, is infected
with schistosomes. This represents
about 165 million cattle in Afiica and
Asia. It is also a very important zoo-
nosis. At least 200 million individuals
are infected with the trematode worm,
Schistosoma, while 600 million peo-
ple are exposed to infection and are
potential victims of this parasite.

\' The references used for this article can
be obtained from the editorial office or
from the EQUATOR web pages at
www.vet.uu.n;l/english/faculty/bureauy
bic/equator

A total of 19 different species are de-
scribed world-wide. The distribution
of the intermediate host snail in the
environment determines the distribu-
tion of Schistosoma species around
the world. Five species are himian
parasites, namely S. haematobium, S.
mansoni, S. japonicum, S. intercala-
tum, and S. mecongi. As many as ten
different species of schistosomes have
been reported to naturally infect cat-
tle: S. mattheei, S. bovis and S. curas-
soni in Africa and the Mediterranean
region, S. spindale, S. nasale and S.
japonicum in Asia. The other three
species are primarily parasites of an-
telopes (S. margrebowiei and S.
\\eiperi in Africa) and pigs {S. incog-
nitum in Asia), which occasionally
infect cattle.

Schistosoma japonicum is an impor-
tant zoonosis. Schistosoma mattheei
may occasionally infect man as a re-
sult of cross breeding between male S.
haematobium and female S. mattheei.

The pathology of schistosomiasis in
cattle is described for S. mattheei, S.
bovis, S. spindale and S. nasale infec-
tions. All schistosoma species affect
the liver, intestine and lungs with ex-
ception of «S. nasale, which is found in
the nasal mucosa. S. mattheei may be
foimd in the bladder and uterus. S.
spindale is also found in the bladder.
S bovis may also cause damage in the
pancreas, forestomachs and aboma-
sum, particularly in heavily infected
cattle.

The lesions caused by ovideposition
in schistosomiasis infections may be
more important than those provoked
by the parasites themselves. This
could be due to large amounts of eggs
produced. It is estimated that each
female Schistosoma produces 20-
3.500 eggs per day depending on the
species involved. This fact reflects the
morbidity and prognosis of each in-
fection.

Schistosomiasis is one of the most
prevalent chronic inflammatory dis-
eases among infections characterized
by granulomatous inflammation.
These inflammatory processes consist
of polymorphonuclear cells, lympho-
cytes, macrophages, plasma cells and
fibroblasts (Figure 1). The \'Splen-
dore-Hoeppli\' phenomenon is also a
common finding. Radiating eosinoph-
ilic clubs deposited around the agent
characterise this process (Figure 1)
similar to what is known in actinomy-
cosis.

The inflammatory process starts with
soluble egg antigens released from the
miracidium, which are captured and
processed by local antigen-presenting
cells (APCs) leading to stimulation of
CD4 T-cells. The APCs are mainly
granuloma macrophage cells, and
dendritic cells.

The intercellular adhesion molecule-1
(ICAM-1) plays a cmcial role by
promoting cell-to-cell adhesion in
schistosomiasis. The cytokines inter-
leukin-1 (IL-1), tumor necrosis factor-
a (TNF-a) or interferon-y (IF-y) in-
duce the ICAM-1 expression. More-
over, this molecule is involved in pro-
duction of interleukin-2 (IL-2) and
Interleukin-4 (IL-4), and thus in lym-
phocyte proliferation and antibody
production.

Following sensitisation, fiirther anti-
genic secretions stimulate memory Tr
cells to secrete IL-2, IL-4 and inter-
leukin-5 (IL-5), which promote infil-
tration and activation of lymphocytes,
recmitment of eosinophils and macro-
phages to the site of the developing
granuloma.

Scar formation characterizes the last
phase of Schistosoma granulomatous
inflammation. The lymphocytes, fi-
broblasts, macrophages and, in the
liver, moreover, hepatocytes and Ito
cells in response to egg components
produce fibrogenic factors, which are
mitogenic for fibroblasts. Cytokines
such as IL-1, IL-4, TNF-a, and fibro-
blast stimulating factor-I (FsF-I)
stimulate fibroblast attraction. These
cytokines increase their peptide syn-
thesis and favour turnover of collagen.

Schistosomiasis is a very important
disease in Africa and Asia. Although
it occurs at a subclinical level, signifi-
cant losses in bovine production have
been reported in those continents.

From literature, the role of domestic
animals and wild ruminants in human
schistosomiasis seems to be underes-

timated in Africa. Further studies of
the epidemiology of the disease and
the possible pathogenicity of Schisto-
soma mattheei and others species for
human beings should be carried out.
Granulomatous inflammation and
presence of \'Splendore-Hoeppli\' phe-
nomenon generally characterize the
pathological picture of Schistosoma
infection. The granulomatous lesions
seem to be due to egg deposition
rather than by the parasites them-
selves.

The available knowledge conceming
the mechanism of the disease in do-
mestic animals is scarce and is mainly
extrapolated from experimentally in-
fected bovines and mice, and sponta-
neously infected human beings. The
roles of acute phase proteins, specific
immunity, the mechanisms, nature
and functional importance of the fi-
brosis process are to be outlined. In
general, a pathological comparative
approach with other chronic inflam-
matory diseases like tuberculosis, ac-
tinomycosis and actinobacillosis,
should be considered in bovines and
others ruminants. The nature and for-
mation of \'Hoeppli-Splendore\' phe-
nomenon are open to speculation and
require further studies.

(Faculty of Veterinary Science, Edu-
ardo Mondlane University, Maputo,
Mozambique)

It was already a long tirne ago that we
decided to apply for a research trai-
neeship in Afiica. But, when we fi-
nally did we were lucky, because
through the Office for Intemational
Co-operation of Utrecht University\'s
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine we
got the opportunity to participate in
the PhD research project of Dr.
P.S.A.Woods at the University of
Zimbabwe (UZ).

After a long flight, we finally arrived
in Harare. We were collected by a
friendly driver of UZ, who brought us
to the Peterborough lodge. This would
be our home for the next three
months. In the first week we had time
to adjust to our new environment,
which did not take much effort, be-
cause living in Harare is like living in
a westem European city. What we did
not expect was the weather; it was
colder in Zimbabwe than in the Neth-
erlands that time of year.
Our arrival in Zimbabwe turned out to
be perfectly timed, because during our
second week, there was a veterinary
congress at Kariba, which we at-
tended. It was a good opportunity for
us to talk with veterinarians from
Zimbabwe and South Africa. One of
the most interesting lectures, in our
opinion, was on tuberculosis (TB) in
lions in the Kmger National Park in
South Africa. It appeared that lions
get TB from buffalo. TB has only
mild effects in these animals, but for
lions it is a deadly disease.

During the last part of their education at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of
Utrecht University, the Netherlands, veterinary students with an interest in the
tropics can choose to do a student traineeship as part of their veterinary
education in a tropical country. After finishing their veterinary education, the
special course on tropical animal health and husbandry and the practical training
in a tropical country, these young veterinarians are well prepared to start a
professional career in the livestock sector in any part of the world. Christa de
Ruijter and Maaike Keijser completed their traineeship at the Faculty of
Veterinary Science in Harare (Zimbabwe) where they looked at the role of
Veterinary Livestock Technicians.

Dr. Woods\' PhD project is executed
in the communal areas aroimd Harare.
Regions are being compared, one
attended by a Veterinary Livestock
Technician (VLT) and a veterinarian,
and the other area by a VLT only.
During a veterinary training of about
eighteen months a VLT acquires basic
knowledge on diseases, management,
etcetera.

After we retumed from Kariba we
travelled by commuter busses to Nya-
kudya, a small village north of Harare
to leam about life in the rural areas,
the way the subsistence farmers work
and live, and about the work of a

Every time we thought the bus was
full, the Zimbabweans thought differ-
ently. There always fit more people in
a bus than you think! This journey
was a great experience. In Nyakudya
we spent some days with Norah, a
veterinary livestock technician. We
stayed at the Animal Health Centre,
which is the VLT\'s office. It was a
big change from the luxury of Kariba
to the rather primitive circumstances
in this place. There was no running
water or electricity and we had to
make a fire to cook on.
We learned a lot of interesting and
inventive things. For example: we
never thought of using soap as lubri-
cant. And when a mombi (shona for
cow, it was the first word in shona we
learned) is in labour and the calf
would not come out, just pull until it
comes out. That is because a VLT
does not have the possibility to do a
caesarean. In a particular case we
ended up pulling with six people! But
the calf came out, and both mother
and child were fine.

During the week we spent in the vil-
lage, the VLT also taught farmers
about diseases, dmgs and manage-
ment. They (and we too) learned very
interesting techniques that week, like
deworming cattle using a Coca-Cola
bottle, dehorning and castrations. The
castrations and dehorning were done
without any sedation or anaesthetics.
Therefore it was not surprising that
sometimes the cattle were difficult to
handle!

At the end of om: stay in Nyakudya
we had got an impression of the work
of a VLT and the importance of that
work, especially in the areas, where
there are no veterinarians.
During our last evening, a farmer,
who was so rich he could afford two
wives, invited us. During dinner,
where we were the guests of honour,
they played really loud pop-music,
probably to make us feel at home!

When we returned to Harare, we
could start our research. Our task in
the project was the practical part: We
were supposed to do a general physi-
cal examination of the farmers\' ani-
mals, to score body condition, to take
faecal samples and to estimated the
animals\' age by looking at the teeth
pattem. Dr. Woods and her assistants
did questionnaires

We made a protocol, and we started
fraining the men, who would be the
animal handlers and interviewers
during the project. The training was
great fiin, because catching a cow
might seem a simple and easy job, but
sometimes it involved a lot of mnning
and some cows are cleverer than you
think.

After the training we finally started to
work on the project. Every week we
went to another communal area
around Harare and did our examina-
tions on farms at different distances
from the Animal Health Centre.
Every day we had to get up as eariy as
4.30 h. a.m. to go to the farms. We
had to go that early because the mom-
bis are in the kraal (fenced area) dur-

When we retum after a day
of hard work, a traditional
Zimbabwean meal was
waiting for us.

When we retimied to the AHC after a
day of hard work, a traditional Zim-
babwean meal was waiting for us;
sadza with muriwo (relish). At first
we ate the sadza with a spoon, but in
the end we ate it like real Zimbabwe-
ans: with our hands.
And because we had to wake up early,
we also went to bed early, right after,
dinner, at 7.00 h. p.m.!

Every week we went to another com-
munal area. The examinations went
great, but some mombis were very
wild and hard to handle. Sometimes
our men were pulled through the
whole kraal! And then there were the
very big, nasty looking homs. And,
normally the safest place is behind a
cow, because a cow kicks sideways,
but we found out there are exceptions
to that mle!

Every day, after finishing our work in
the communal land, we went back to
the AHC. There we injected formaline
in the plastic bags with faeces to con-
serve them. A lot of locals that were
passing by, especially children were
really interested in what we were do-
ing, so we always had a big audience.
Also, while we were at the AHC or
during our work, the farmers con-
sulted us on veterinary problems, so
we almost felt like real veterinarians.

Before we started our research, we
expected that the body condition of
the cows would be bad, but to our
siuprise the majority timied out to
have a good body condition, despite
the dry season. One of the biggest
problems was that almost all cows
were infested with ticks, due to the
fact that in most areas there is short-
age of acaricides and water, and the
distance to the diptank is often long.
Other disorders we found were eye
problems, and wotmds from hitting
(with sticks) and fi^om barbed wire.
Animals in poor condition were often
suffering fi-om helminth infections.

In the weekends we returned to Ha-
rare from where we took the opportu-
nity to make trips with friends we had
met in the lodge, for example to the
Victoria Falls and the Eastem High-
lands. So besides doing research we
also had a chance to see more of this
beautiful coimtry.

We had a great time in Zimbabwe.
We learned a lot, saw a lot and en-
joyed everything. We would like to
thank everyone who made our stay
such a wonderful experience.

The departtnent of Veterinary Tropical Diseases produced 2 unique CD\'s, that provide you with high quality
pictures and a short description of the following important animal diseases which occur in southem Afiica.

This CD provides information on the aetiology, epidemiology (including distribution, transmission,
and host/reservoirs), socio-economic impact, clinical signs, pathology, diagnosis and
control/eradication of each disease. The section on contagious bovine pleuropneumonia also includes
video material and sound.

Bovine malignant catarrhal fever
Contagious bovine pleuropneumonia
Foot-and-mouth disease
Heartwater
Lumpy skin disease

This CD provides information and pictm-es on the aetiology, epidemiology, pathogenesis, clinical
signs, pathology, differential diagnosis and control/eradication of some infectious diseases that
potentially threaten the livestock industry of southem Africa, as well as a consideration of the impact
of them on wildlife populations and the relative risks of each disease to livestock.

The CD\'s can be ordered for US$ 20 each. Please send your order by mail to Rina Serfontein,
Department of Veterinary Tropical Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Science, Private Bag X04,
Onderstepoort 0110, South Africa, or by email to rserfont@.op.up.ac.za.

Please include your name, telephone number, fax number, email address, postal address, physical
address and the name and quantity of the Cd(s) you would like to order.

Last month the Editorial Board of
EQUATOR asked me to join the
team. I accepted and from now on I
will contribute with hopefiilly inter-
esting articles from a student\'s point
of view.

In 1992, I started my veterinary edu-
cation in Gent (Belgium). After that
year I could continue at Utrecht Uni-
versity\'s Faculty of Veterinary Medi-
cine. Now I am in my final year. My
main interest is in large animal prac-
tice because of its relationship with
and importance for human health and
welfare. Beside several traineeships at
practices in the Netherlands, I visited -
and worked in- countries like Mo-
zambique, Sweden, Israel, and China.
During my study I was active in
committees concerning the student
participation in the quality of educa-
tion. Since 1995 I am a board member
of the Fotmdation DIO, Dierge-
neeskunde In Ontwikkelingssamen-
werking (Veterinary Medicine in
Development Co-operation). DIO is
an NGO and is located at the veteri-
nary faculty. Its volunteers answer
questions on veterinary subjects from
people in developing countries and
execute small projects. Besides that
DIO organises sjmiposia and infor-
mation evenings for people who are

From the above you will understand
my enthusiasm for EQUATOR and
the Office for Intemational Co-
operation of my faculty. I hope you
will enjoy my contributions!

1 - 5 November, 2000
3rd Intemational Conference on
Emerging Zoonoses. Conference
Secretariat: Emerging Zoonoses
2000, Target Tours Ltd., P.O.
Box 29041, Tel Aviv 61920 (Tel.:
972.3.517 5150, fax:
972.3.5175155, e-mail:
zoo200Q@.targetcoTifcom

26 November - 9 December, 2000
Intemational course on \'Live-
stock - environment interactions\'.
Course prograrmne: Introduction;,
Main issues in livestock-
enviroimient interactions; Policy
framework and policy principles;
for addressing livestock-
environment interactions; Policy
development for balancing live-
stock-environment interactions.
Course fee: NLG 5,500. Informa-
tion and registration: Intemational
Agricultural Centre (LVC), P.O.
Box 88, 6700 AB Wageningen
(Tel.: 31.317.490111, fax:
31.317.418552, e-mail:
a.i.nell@iac.agro.nl.
www.iac.agro.nl).

4-8 December, 2000
XXI Worid Buiatrics Conference.
Information: Gabriela Rohr,
Cerrito 307, Montevideo 11.000
(Fax: 598.29160220, e-mail:
grohr@,rohrsa.com).

Prof Gareth Bath (Fax:
27.11.7927522, e-mail: re-
shot@yebo.co.za. Reservations:
P.O. Box 782902, Sandton, 2146,
South Africa or AACV, Anne
Cover (Tel.: 61.7.33787944;
fax: 61.7. 38783559, e-mail:
aacv@.ava.com.au:
www.up.ac.7a/academic/lhpg;gt;

5 March - 15 December, 2001
Degree of Master of Veterinary
Studies (MVS) in Avian Health.
Organized by: Faculty of Veteri-
nary Science, Univ. of Mel-
bourne. Areas of study: Poultry
pathology; Infectious diseases
causes and serology; Disease, di-
agnosis, prevention and control;
Poultry production systems and
procedures; Product-related kno-

wledge, meat processing and egg
packaging plants. Tuition fee: $A
27,000. Closing date for applica-
tions: 30 November, 2000. Infor-
mation: Dr. Trevor Bagust,
Course Co-ordinator, Faculty of
Veterinary Science, Univ. of
Melboume, Parkville, Victoria
3052 (Tel.: 61.3.93449676, fax:
61.3.93449675, email:
t.bagust@.vet.unimelb. edu.aul

26 March - 25 May, 2001
23rd Intemational animal feed
training programme (AFTP). Or-
ganized by: IPC Livestock Inter-
national, Bameveld College. Fees
including board and lodging:
NGL 15,500. Information: IPC
Livestock Bameveld College,
Dep. of Intemational Studies and
Co-operation Programmes, P.O.
Box 64, 3770 AB Bameveld
(TeL: 31.342.414881, fax: 31.
342.492813, e-mail:
io(g),ipcdier.hacom.nl).

Veterinary Conservation Biology:
Wildhfe health and Management
in Australasia. Jointly organised
by: AAVCB, WAWW,
WSNZVA and WDA. Pro-
gramme: Conservation biology in
Australasia; Wildlife utilisation;
Marine wildlife and birds; Wild-
life recovery and reintroduction
programmes and vertebrate pests;
Wildlife health in Australasia.
Information: L. Vogelnest, Ta-
ronga Zoo and Quarantine Centre,
P.O. Box 20, Mosman NSW
2088, Australia (Fax: 61.2.
99784516, e-mail:
Ivgel nest@,zoo.n sw.gov. au

6^ Biennial meeting of the Soci-
ety for Tropical Veterinary Medi-
cine (STVM). Theme: Wildlife
and livestock disease and
sustainability. Information:
Wendy C. Brown, Department of
Veterinary Microbiology, Wash-
ington State University, Pullman,
WA 99164 (E-mail:
wbrown@vetmed.wsu. edu).

20-24 August, 2001
10*^ Intemational Conference of
the Association of Institutions for
Tropical Veterinary Medicine
(AITVM). Theme: \'Livestock,
Community and Environment\'.
Location: Royal Veterinary and
Agricultural University (KVL).
Information: Dr. Niels Chr.
Kyvsgaard, KVL, Danish Center
for Experimental Parasitology, 13
Bulowsvej, DK-1870 Frederiks-
berg C., Copenhagen (Fax:
45.35.282774, e-mail:
nck@kvl.dk, www.aitvm.orgL

24 August, 2001-1 March, 2002
Intemational course on poultry
husbandry and Intemational
course on pig husbandry. Organ-
ized by: IPC Livestock Inter-
national, Bameveld College.
These courses will mn at the
same time. Following these
courses participation is possible
in the Intemational animal feed
training programme (AFTP),
which mns from 4 March to 31
May, 2002. Direct entry in this
last course is also possible. Fees
including board and lodging:
Poultry course: NLG 25,500; Pig
course: NLG 25,500, Feed
course; NLG 13,000 or 15,500
(direct entry). Closing date: 1
May, 2001. Information: IPC
Livestock Bameveld College,
Dep. of Intemational Studies and
Co-operation Programmes, P.O.
Box 64, 3770 AB Bameveld
(Tel.: 31.342.414881, fax: 31.
342.492813, e-mail:
io@ipcdier.hacom.nl).

26-30 August, 2001
18th Intemational Conference of
the World Association for the
Advancement of Veterinary Para-
sitology (WAAVP). Information:
New Team, Via C. Ghiretti, 2, I-
43100 Parma (TeL: 39.521.
293913, fax: 39.521.294036, e-
mail: new team.parma@iol.it).

Intemational MSc programme of
the Graduate School of Animal
Health, Faculty of Veterinary
Medicine Utrecht University and
ID-DLO Institute for Animal
Science and Health, Lelystad.
Programme: MSc Course \'Ani-
mal Pathology\' duration 2 years
(fee: NLG 35,000); MSc course
\'Veterinary Anaesthesiology\', du-
ration 18 months (fee: NLG
35,000). Registration before 1
August, 2001. Information: Offi-
ce for Intemational Co-operation,
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine.
RO. Box 80.163, 3508 TD
Utrecht (Fax: 31.30.2531815, e-
mail: bic@,vet.uu.nl.
www.vet.uu.nl).

EQUATOR is a periodical of the
Office for Intemational
Cooperation of the Faculty of
Veterinary Medicine of Utrecht
University

J.H.A. de Gooijer
R.W. Paling DVM PhD
(editor-in-chief)
P.R. van Weeren DVM PhD
W. Wapenaar MVM

Faculty of Veterinary Medicine
Office for Intemational
Cooperation
P.O. Box 80.163
3508 TD Utrecht
The Netherlands
Tel.: 31.30.2532116
Fax: 31.30.2531815
E-mail: bic@vet.uu.nl

Subscription is free of charge.
For changes in address and
termination of subscription
please return the corrected label
to the editorial office.

As a spin-off from the yearly Symposium on Tropical Animal Health and Pro-
duction the editorial board usually publishes some of the symposium papers in
EQUATOR. As you might remember from Robert Paling\'s report in EQUA-
TOR 2/3, the year 2000 topic was quot;Diagnosis and control of transboundary
diseases in southem Africaquot;. Because of a recent outbreak of Rifl Valley Fever
in Yemen and Saudi Arabia, and the permanent threat of foot-and-mouth dis-
ease outbreaks in southem Africa we decided to publish the contributions on
these topics in this last issue of 2000.

Furthermore you can update your knowledge on trypanosomosis, dairy cattle
health problems in China and on Khon Kaen, the center for horse racing in
Thailand.

To conclude this last year of the old millennium the editorial board wishes you
a very merry Christmas and a happy NEW YEAR!

Dr. Suchat Wattanachai is one of the young Thai veterinarians who follow a
clinical training programme at Utrecht University\'s Faculty of Veterinary
Medicine. These trainings are part of the Memorandum of Understanding that
has been signed by the Thai Ministry of University Affairs and the Faculty of
Veterinary Medicine of Utrecht University. For 3 months Dr. Suchat was a
guest of the Utrecht Department of Equine Sciences. One of EQUATOR\'S
reporters asked this ever-smiling Thai clinician about his experiences.

quot;I am a lecturer in large animal sur-
gery, equine anaesthesiology and
equine radiology at Khon Kaen Uni-
versity. Khon Kaen is situated in the
north-eastern part of the country
which is the centre for horse 1-acing.
We are with four staff members at the
department. Apart from myself the
staff consists of Dr. Pavin, who is in
charge of the Ambulatory Clinic, Dr.
Mongkol who is in charge of equine
reproduction, and Dr. Prawit who is
currently in Michigan, USA to per-

What kind of horses are you dealing
with mostly, are they similar to the
horses you see here?

quot;No, the type of horses is different.
Here you have mainly warmbloods
that are being used for dressage and
jumping. In Thailand horse racing is
the most important branch of the
equestrian sports. While the most
important race tracks are in Bangkok,
the area around Khon Kaen has a
large number of racing stables.

At Khon Kaen each year 80 students
enter our course. We teach, like in
Utrecht, a 6 year course of which the
last two years are devoted to clinical
training. However, unfortunately we
have much less patients than you have
in Utrecht. By the way, I noticed that
in general your students are as eager
to leam something as ours. Only, your
students have much better opportuni-
ties.

Are there other differences when you
compare the Dutch situation with the
situation in Khon Kaen?

Oh yes, there are many. It starts with
the owners. In Thailand many owners
will first try to treat their animals

themselves. Then, if all local remedies
have failed and the animal is getting
worse and worse, they will call a
veterinarian. Of course, those are not
the best cases to treat. Your owners
here are much better educated. Here in
Utrecht I am seeing horses that are
presented because of a lameness and it
is hard for even the most experienced
veterinary surgeon to tell which limb
is the lame one. In many cases you
really need to trot the horse on a hard
surface in a circle to correctly assess
the lameness. In Thailand you won\'t
need that. If they call you for a lame
horse, everybody who is not blind will
be able to tell which is the affected
limb.

Another important difference is in the
facilities. You are very well equipped
here. It is not only that you can dis-
pose of sophisticated and expensive
equipment of good quality, there is
obviously also a lot of experience and
expertise on how to arrange things in
the most efficient and effective way.
Here it is very easy to cast a horse for
surgery or to take X-rays of even the
head or neck.

The fact that you have a high caseload
and also many indoor patients makes
it easy to teach your students and your
young staff-members. In Khon Kaen
we have no facilities for indoor large
animal patients and our caseload is
low.

Oh, certainly, but the situation is
improving gradually. There is now, in
all Thai faculties, a slowly increasing
number of staff-members with ex-
perience abroad. People like me who
have stayed for a relatively short
period in another country, but also
people who have, for instance, done a
PhD study in places like Hannover, or
Michigan State University or Utrecht.
An example of the last category is Dr.
Pisit Suwannachot who is currently

In the surgery room with the anaesthetic
monitoring equipment in the backgroimd.

finishing his PhD thesis at Utrecht\'s
Department of Physiology. While
improving equine health care, clients
will become better educated also,
because they will see the good results
when they present patients early to the
clinic. So, there is hope!

Without any doubt. It is really differ-
ent to read about things in a book than
to see yourself how things can and
should be done. I have seen many
aspects of equine medicine. Mostly
orthopaedics, but now I have also a
very good idea about colic surgery.
Furthermore, I stayed for two weeks
at the department of Diagnostic Im-
aging and have been at Internal Medi-
cine. I really enjoyed the trips to the
field with that friendly doctor of yours
who mns the Equine Ambulatory
Clinic. What is his name again? Yes,
Peter Stolk! I have seen a lot of very
practical things that I can use when I
am back home, with or without little
adaptations,.

A bit. I have been to Lelystad, to
Belgium, and of course to Amster-
dam. Next Sunday I\'ll visit the race
track Duindigt in The Hague,.

The last question, what is your great-
est ambition?

I want to make a nice equine clinic at
Khon Kaen University that can serve
as a centre of excellence for the whole
region. That will be great for the
students too, as it will attract many
cases!

René van Weeren

FOOT AND MOUTH DISEASE IN
SOUTHERN AFRICA: RE-EVALUTION
OF THE APPROACH TO CONTROL

Eradication of foot and mouth disease (FMD) from significant portions
of the world is one of the success stories of veterinary science in the last
ten years. In that time the disease was finally eradicated from countries
comprising the European Union as well as much of South America. The
disease was historically a serious limiting factor for trade in animals and
animal products in these regions. In south East Asia concerted efforts
towards controlling FMD are being implemented although recent events
in Taiwan, Korea and Japan are disquieting especially because the
sources of these epidemics are not entirely clear; nor are the species
affinities of these outbreak viruses always consistent with past experi-
ence.

In Africa, by contrast, little has
changed over the last ten years:
FMD is widespread throughout the
continent, except for southem
Africa, and is often ignored be-
cause it is not usually a fatal dis-
ease. Furthermore, intemational,
especially intercontinental, trade in
livestock and their products on
which Foot and mouth disease has
its greatest effect, is limited. Foot

and mouth disease is therefore
usually considered to be of lesser
significance than diseases such as
rinderpest, contagious bovine
pleuropneumonia and East Coast
fever that have high mortality rates
and the potential for causing dev-
astating direct losses to livestock
owners. On the other hand, com-
mercialization and exploitation of
the livestock potential of the arid
regions of sub-Saharan Afi-ica
through trade will be constrained
by FMD for the foreseeable fiiture
unless ways of rendering exports
of livestock products safe with
respect to FMD can be found.

Unlike the situation in most other
regions of the world, FMD is not
eradicable from many parts of sub-
Saharan Africa because it is main-
tained there by large populations
of African buffalo. Buffalo not
only maintain some types of FMD
vimses but, on rare occasions,
transmit FMD to cattle. Control-
ling the transmission of FMD to
cattle is therefore presently the
only option for effective FMD
control in areas where both buffalo
and domestic livestock occur.

This discussion will focus on
southem Africa because that re-
gion is the most agriculturally
developed in sub-Saharan Africa
with established export industries
based on livestock, necessitating
the maintenance of effective FMD
control. This is based on two fiin-
damental strategies: (i) vaccination
of livestock, primarily cattle,
against FMD and (ii) separation of

wildlife populations, particularly
African buffalo that maintain the
SAT types of FMD virus, from
livestock. Fencing, as a means of
effecting separation between wild-
life and livestock, and so control-
ling FMD, is widely used in south-
em Africa. Vaccination and
movement control have recently
been supplemented by intema-
tional agreement that countries in
which FMD occurs endemically or
epidemically may be divided into
FMD-infected and FMD-free
zones (Intemational Animal Health
Code of the Office International
des Epizootics - OIE). Thus in
several southern African countries
areas where African buffalo occur
there are designated quot;infectedquot;
zones while the rest of the country
is accepted as a FMD-free zone
from which countries free of FMD
may safely import livestock prod-
ucts.

This apparently satisfactory situa-
tion is being challenged by two
developments. Firstly, fencing
used to control animal movement,
particularly that of wildlife, is held
to have serious adverse environ-
mental impacts in ecologically
fragile areas. Thus it is suggested
by ecologists that some fences
should be decoimnissioned be-
cause they are damaging to the
environment. Secondly, there is
growing evidence that routine
vaccination programmes con-
ducted in southern Africa are not
inducing effective levels of herd
immunity. This leads to the possi-
bility that the apparent success of
vaccination prograimnes may be
largely due to the vaccinated cattle
not being challenged in the field.
To complicate the issue, the policy
of separation between buffalo and
livestock advocated by most ani-
mal health authorities in southern
Africa is also being constrained by
the need for integration of land-use
that renders wide separation be-
tween buffalo and cattle increas-
ingly difficult.

For these reasons the traditional
approach to FMD control in south-
em Africa needs to be re-evaluated
and future policies based on scien-
tifically defensible and cost-
effective policies. This can only be
achieved if the ways in which
FMD vimses are maintained and
transmitted are accurately under-
stood.

Foot and mouth disease viruses
in southern Africa and distribu-
tion of topotypes

South African Territories (SAT)
types 1, 2 and 3 vimses are en-
demic to southern Africa and cause
the vast majority of disease out-
breaks; the other three types that
occur in Africa (A, O and C) tend
to be prevalent in specific locali-
ties in northem parts of the region.

The SAT types have high levels of
intratypic variation reflected in the
genome sequences so far analysed.
Furthermore, variants tend to be
geographically dispersed resulting
in so-called quot;topotypesquot; being
located in distinct areas that have
little if any correlation with coun-
try boundaries. Genome sequenc-
ing has enabled the relationships
between vimses to be measured
accurately and thereby the origin
of outbreaks can often now be
determined in considerable detail.
This has resulted in unequivocal
demonstration that buffalo some-
times serve as the source of infec-
tion for cattle. However, antigenic
variation between vimses of the
same type also means that vaccine
that may be effective in one local-
ity may be less so in another. For
that reason it is important for
countries purchasing vaccine to
ensure that the vims strains con-
tained in the vaccine are not only
of the appropriate type(s) but will
also be effective against the par-
ticular variants (sometimes re-
ferred to as subtypes) likely to
challenge the vaccinated animals
in the field.

The only species that have been
proven to be capable of maintain-
ing SAT-type FMD vimses indefi-
nitely are cattle and African buf-
falo. Other cloven-hoofed species
such as sheep and goats and vari-
ous species of antelope may be
involved in outbreaks caused by
these vimses and even transmit
them to cohorts as well as other
species but long-term maintenance
has not so far been demonstrated.
In the Kmger National Park in
South Africa approximately bi-
annual outbreaks of FMD have
been diagnosed in impala over the
last 20 years. It has been clearly
shown that these outbreaks are
derived from buffalo herds in the
vicinity of the outbreak focus.

FMD: Typical foot lesion (Photo:
Collection Faculty of Veterinary Science,
Onderstepoort)

•nbsp;it protects against development
of disease but not necessarily
infection

•nbsp;even the best FMD vaccines
stimulate ephemeral immune
responses and therefore vaccine
has to be administered repeat-
edly at short intervals (every
four to six months) where field
challenge is frequent

•nbsp;FMD vaccines, being inacti-
vated and having to be pro-
duced in biologically secure fa-
cilities, are expensive (ap-
proximately $1 per dose).

Despite these problems, and as is
the case elsewhere, there is cir-
cumstantial evidence in southem
Africa for the historical efficacy of
vaccination programmes in the
control of FMD, However, sero-
logical assessment of the propor-
tion of animals that have protective
antibody levels against FMD in
cattle routinely vaccinated is lower
than expected, i.e. levels of herd
immunity based on such surveys
are below the 70 per cent level that
are generally required to control
highly contagious infections.

The ecological objections to fences
have been mentioned but it needs
to be pointed out that their usefiil-
ness in controlling FMD in several
countries including Botswana,
Zimbabwe and South Afirica has
been demonstrated by long experi-
ence. This may appear surprising
in the light of European experience
where airborne transmission has
been important in transmitting the
vims over distances measuring
numbers of kilometres. However,
in southem Africa air-bome trans-
mission has never been recorded.
The reasons for this are thought to
be the absence of pigs in endemic
areas and the very low stocking
rates that obtain in these predomi-
nantly arid areas. On the other
hand, it has also been shown that
on occasion antelope such as im-
pala sometimes transmit FMD
across fences to cattle. It appears
the impala become infected by
contact with buffalo and then,
during the incubation period, jump
over buffalo-proof fences and
infect cattle on the other side.

There is therefore a conundnmi
confronting FMD control in south-
em Africa: control progranmies
based on vaccination have, by and
large, a record of success while
objective measures of herd immu-
nity induced by these programmes
appear to indicate that they are
inadequate. This complicates the
response to requests for changes to
FMD control policies proposed by
the enviroimiental lobby, viz.
greater reliance on vaccination and
decommissioning of fences. That
would create another problem in
that meat and other products de-
rived from vaccinated livestock are
frequently prohibited from being
imported into FMD-fi*ee countries.

We have been and are still in the
process of investigating this issue
in a general sense and also in
relation to specific enviroimiental
developments. Examples include
management of areas surrounding
the Kmger National Park in South
Afirica, wildlife conservancies in
South east Zimbabwe, in the
Okavango Delta area (NgamilandJ
of Botswana and the initiative to
establish the Gaza Transfrontier
Conservation Area involving
consolidation of wildlife reserves
in South Africa, Mozambique and
Zimbabwe.

It is essential that the impacts that
FMD control programmes have on
the environment, sustainable utili-
zation of animal resources and
opportunities for commercializa-
tion of livestock through intema-
tional trade, be minimized but that
FMD control remains effective. To
achieve this will require carefiil
reconsideration of present control
policies in southem Africa.

ARC - Onderstepoort Veterinary
Institute, Private Bag X5, Onder-
stepoort 0110, South Africa

The Intemational Atomic Energy
Agency (IAEA) and the Food and
Agriculture Organisation (FAO),
through their Joint FAO/IAEA
Division of Nuclear Techniques in
Food and Agriculture, have as one
of their tasks the promotion of nu-
clear techniques in the control of
diseases and their vectors. In the
area of the control of animal try-
panosomosis the Joint FAO/IAEA
division has been active for two
decades and has supported and
actively participated in two major
programmes. One programme is
directed at advancing the Sterile
Insect Technique (SIT) for the
control of the tsetse fly as the main
vector of animal and human try-
panosomosis in Africa. The other
programme is concemed with the
introduction of new and improved
diagnostic techniques for the de-
tection of trypanosomal antigen
and antibody detection. Recently
the scientific results of both pro-
grammes were published.

The book \'Animal trypanosomosis:
Vector and disease control using
nuclear techniques\'^, contains the
proceedings of the Second
FAO/IAEA seminar for Africa
held from 27 November - 1 De-
cember 1995 at Zanzibar (Tanza-
nia). The seminar, attended by 71
participants from 24 countries, was
held at the time when tsetse eradi-
cation operations were in full

\' International Atomic Energy Agency,
Vienna (1999). Animal trypanosomosis:
Vector and disease control using nuclear
techniques. ISBN 90-5782-048-X, Back-
huys Publishers, Leiden, the Netherlands,
pp. 311.

swing on Unguja Island (Zanzibar,
Tanzania). Mass releases of sterile
male tsetse were conducted at that
time. The seminar in 1995 focused
on tsetse SIT as part of an inte-
grated area-wide approach, as well
as aspects of tsetse biology rele-
vant to SIT and mass rearing.
The seminar was divided in a
number of sessions and the pro-
ceedings follow this division. For
each session the full text of the
presentations is included as well as
a concluding report and a summary
of the discussion. The sessions
were dealing with the following
subjects: tsetse attractants, country
reports, including a report from
Botswana, Kenya, Ethiopia, South
Africa, Tanzania and Zimbabwe,
tsetse biology, genetics and bio-
chemistry and of course the pros-
pects of tsetse SIT and the activi-
ties, plans and expectations of the
IAEA supported tsetse eradication
programme on Unguja Island.

The book contains a wealth of in-
formation about the status of and
ideas on tsetse control and eradi-
cation in the mid nineteen nineties.
However, it is unfortunate that it
has taken 4 years to publish the
proceeding of the seminar, as more
recent information is already avail-
able. For example one can read
about the outcome of the SIT op-
eration on Unguja Island in the
second book, recently published by
IAEA, on diagnosis of trypanoso-
mosis. In one of the papers the
eradication of tsetse from Unjuga
Island was confirmed by reports on
the monitoring of livestock by
haematological and parasitological
tests.

The book \'Animal trypanosomosis:
Diagnosis and epidemiology\'^
contains the results of a five year
(1995-2000) FAO/IAEA Co-
ordinated Research Programme on
the use of immunoassay methods
for improved diagnosis of trypano-
somosis and monitoring tsetse and
tiypanosomosis control program-
mes. In 1987 a 5-year programme
was started to validate an ELISA
to detect trypanosomal antigens.
The test was validated in 10 labo-
ratories in Africa. The results indi-
cated a reasonable but sometimes-
variable sensitivity and specificity.
The results of this programme and
the follow-up 2-year project were
published in IAEA-TECDOC-707
and 925.

The govemment of the Nether-
lands supported the next 5-year
project. Twenty research institutes
were involved, of which 15 were
located in Africa. IAEA supported
projects in Africa with US $ 5-
10,000 per year to perform the
antibody detecting ELISA for try-

^ International Atomic Energy Agency,
Vienna (2000). Animal trypanosomosis:
Diagnosis and epidemiology. ISBN 90-
5782-065-X, Backhuys Publishers, Lei-
den, the Netherlands, pp. 251.

panosomes using a completely
prepared and standardised test kit
from the IAEA laboratories in Sei-
bersdorf. Staff of the AIEA regu-
larly visited the 15 projects and
results were presented to expert
advisors during meetings, which
were held every 18 months. The
general conclusion of the project
was that ELISA plates pre-coated
with denatured antigen of Try-
panosoma congolense and T. vivax
were reproducible and reliable.
The recently published book^,
compiled under the responsibility
of Dr. R.H. Dwinger, contains the
articles with the results of the 15
projects as well as some review
articles on diagnostic and epidemi-
ological aspects of the disease in
African livestock.

It is expected that in the future the
production and distribution of the
ELISA kits will be on a commer-
cial basis by KETRI in Kenya. A
next 5-year phase (2000-2005) of
the trypanosomosis control pro-
gramme has already been initiated
and project sites and contract hold-
ers have been selected in Africa,
Asia and South America and in-
clude also diagnostic centres for
human sleeping sickness. The em-
phasis of this Co-ordinated Re-
search Programme will be on the
introduction of PCR technology
and the comparison with the es-
tablished ELISA technology.

Techniques in Food and Agricul-
ture to applied research for control
of trypanosomosis is commendable
and has over the years produced
various successes of which the
livestock sector in Africa has bene-
fited. The publication of the results
in books rather then in TECDOCs
greatly enhances the accessibility
and wider distribution of the re-
sults. This is also stimulated be-
cause the two books \'Animal try-
panosomosis: Vector and disease
control using nuclear techniques\'
and \'Animal trypanosomosis: Di-
agnosis and epidemiology\' are
available free of charge upon
written request by interested insti-
tutes, organisations, univefsitTel;,
colleges, libraries, projects etc.
from the IAEAI

^Animal Production and Health Section,
Joint FAO/IAEA Division in Food and
Agriculture, Intemational Atomic Energy
Agency, P.O. Box 100, A-1400 Vienna,
Austria

Rift Valley fever is an acute he-
patic and sometimes haemorrhagic
disease of domestic mminants and
humans in Africa, caused by a
mosquito-bome vims. The haemo-
static derangement which manifests
as a viral haemorrhagic fever with
bleeding tendency and evidence of
disseminated intravascular coagu-
lopathy is most severe in the fatal
hepatic syndrome in animals and
humans. Hepatic disease which are
essentially similar in all susceptible
domestic animals and humans is
most severe in extremely suscepti-
ble hosts, such as new-bom lambs
and kids.

Epidemics occur when particularly
heavy rains favour the breeding of
mosquito vectors. The disease was
first recognized in the Rifl Valley in

Kenya at the turn of the century and
was recorded in southem Afiica late
in 1950 when an estimated 100 000
sheep died and 500 000 ewes
aborted in South Africa alone. A
second severe epidemic occmred in
southern Africa m 1974 and 1975
during which more severe losses
were reported than the 1950 epi-
demic.

In 1977 and 1978, a major epidemic
occurred in the Nile delta and along
the Nile in Egypt, causing an un-
precedented number of human
infections and deaths, as well as
numerous deaths and abortions in
sheep and cattle and some losses in

goats, water buffaloes and camels.
Severe outbreaks affecting both
livestock and humans occurred in
Senegal and Mauritania in 1987 and
in several countries (Kenya, Tanza-
nia, Ethiopia and Somalia) in east-
em Africa in 1997/98.

Rift Valley fever is caused by a
Phlebovirus of the family Bun-
yaviridae. No significant antigenic
differences have been detected
between Rift Valley fever isolates
and laboratory passaged strains
from many countries, but differ-
ences in pathogenicity have been
demonstrated.

Outbreaks or serological evidence
of RVF have been limited to the
Afiican continent and Madagascar.
Apart from the more recent out-
breaks in Sudan, Egypt, Senegal and
Mauritania, epidemics have tended
to occur in eastem, central and
southern African countries usually
at irregular intervals of five to 15
years or longer associated with
above average rainfall. The recent
outbreaks of RVF in countries in
North and West Afiica occurred
independently of rainfall in dry
countries, apparently in association
with vectors which breed in large
rivers and dams.

The Rift Valley (Photo: Collection Faculty
of Veterinary Science, Onderstepoort)

The cenfral enigma in the epide-
miology of RVF has always con-
cemed the fate of the vims during
the inter-epidemic periods. For
decades it was widely accepted that
the vims is endemic in indigenous
forests, where it circulated in mos-
quitoes and unknown vertebrates,
and that it spread to live-
stock-rearing areas when heavy
rains favoured the breeding of
epidemic mosquito vectors. How-
ever there is no proof that the vims
is maintained in transmission cycles
in birds, monkeys, baboons or other
wild vertebrates.

Although the possibility of en-
demicity in forests cannot be dis-
missed entirely, it is currently pos-
tulated that RVF vims in
sub-Saharan Afiica is maintained in
inter-epidemic periods principally
by transovarial transmission in
aedine mosquitoes particularly in
areas where there are dambos or
broad vleis, with a low level of
transmission to livestock. It is
thought that epidemics are precipi-
tated by abnormally heavy rains
which lead to an explosive increase
in vector populations and spread of
the disease from these endemic foci.

Serological surveys in cattle and
wildlife indicate that varying
amounts of vims activity occur each
year in certain areas in eastem and
southern Afiica without epidemics
occurring. In southern Africa the
onset of epidemics tends to be
recognized late in summer follow-
ing an initial increase in vector
populations.

Pans, dambos and vleis retain water
for months or even years, and con-
stitute an ideal environment for the
breeding of mosquitoes, particularly
floodwater-breeding aedines of the
subgenera Aedimorphus and
Neomelaniconion, which attach
their eggs to vegetation such as
grasses, sedges and mshes at the
water\'s edge. In contrast to culicine
mosquitoes, the eggs of aedines
have to be subjected to a period of
drying as the water recedes in order
to hatch on being wetted again when
next the pan, dambo or vlei floods.
Thus, aedine mosquitoes overwinter
as eggs. The eggs can survive for
long periods in dried mud possibly
for several seasons if pans, dambos
or vleis remain dry.

The flooding of dambos or vleis and
the humid weather conditions pre-
vailing in epidemics favour the
breeding not only of the aedine
maintenance vectors such as Aedes

The recent outbreaks of RVF in Afiica
occurred independently of rainfall in dry
counhies (Photo: Collection Faculty of
Veterinary Science, Onderstepoort)

mcintoshi, Aedes unidentatus and
Aedes juppi and the non-aedine
mosquitoes such as Culex and
Anopheles species which serve as
epidemic vectors, but also of other
biting insects such as midges, phle-
botomids, stomoxids and simulids
which are all potential mechanical
transmitters of RVF vims. Conta-
gion is not considered to be impor-
tant in livestock, as opposed to the
case in humans.

Although a wide variety of domestic
and wild nuninants are susceptible
to RVF, the disease is mainly of
economic importance in sheep,
goats and cattle with new-bom
animals being most susceptible.

The course of the disease is usually
peracute and lambs rarely survive
more than 24-36 hours after the
onset of the first signs of ilhiess;
many are simply fotmd dead. In
animals less than a week old mor-
tality is 90 per cent or more. Lambs
and kids older than two weeks and
mature sheep and goats are signifi-
cantly less susceptible than are
new-boms. Pregnant sheep and
goats may abort at any stage of
gestation as a result of the febrile
reaction and/or infection of the
foetus. In adult sheep mortality
rates varying firom five to 30 per
cent and abortion rates of 40 to 100
per cent have been reported in
outbreaks. Goats are said to be
more resistant to the disease than
sheep, but in some outbreaks similar
mortality and abortion rates to those
in sheep have been reported.

The disease in calves resembles that
in lambs and sheep. The estimated
mortality rate for calves during
epidemics is about 10 to 20 per cent.
Infection is fi-equently inapparent in
adult cattle. The death rate in adult
cattle does not generally appear to
exceed 10 per cent. Frequently,
abortion is the only manifestation of
the disease in a herd. Average
abortion rates of 15 to 40 per cent
have been reported during epidem-
ics. As in sheep and goats, cows
may abort at any stage of gestation,
the aborted foetus usually being
moderately autolysed.

No pathogenicity tests have been
conducted on camels, but antibody
has been detected in camels where
abortions occurred during RVF
epidemics. In Eqypt high preva-
lences of RVF antibody were fotmd
in domesticated water buffaloes,
and abortion and low death rates
have been associated with the dis-
ease. Low prevalences of antibody
to RVF vims but no evidence of
disease have been detected in Afii-
can buffaloes {Cyncerus caffer) and
a few species of antelopes.

In contrast to the main vector, Culex
pipiens, in the Egyptian epidemic of
1977-78, the principal mosquito
vectors of RVF in southem Afiica
tend to be zoophilic and sylvatic and
are therefore not inclined to feed on
himians. Humans become infected
mainly firom contact with animal
tissues. Generally, persons at risk
are involved in the livestock indus-
try, such as farmers, farm labourers
who salvage carcasses for human
consumption, veterinarians and their
assistants, and abattoir workers.
Human infection presumably results
fi-om the contact of vims with
abraded skin, wounds or mucous
membranes but aerosol infections is
possible. The majority of RVF
infections in humans are inapparent
or are associated with moderate to
severe, non-fatal, influenza-like
illness, but a minority, probably less
than one per cent, of patients de-
velop ocular lesions, encephalitis or
severe hepatic disease with haemor-
rhagic manifestations.

After an incubation period of two to
six days, the onset of the benign
illness in humans is usually very
sudden. The disease is characterized
by rigor, fever that persists for
several days and is often biphasic,
headache with retro-orbital pain and
photophobia, weakness, and muscle
and joint pains. Sometimes there is
nausea and vomiting, abdominal
pain, vertigo, epistaxis and a pete-
chial rash. In a minority of patients
the disease is complicated by the
development of ocular lesions at the
time of the initial ilbiess or up to
four weeks later. The ocular disease
usually presents as a loss of acuity
of central vision, sometimes with
development of scotomas as a result
of ischaemic lesions in the macular
and paramacular areas of the retina.
The loss of visual acuity generally
resolves over a period of months
with variable residual scarring of the
retina, but in instances of severe
haemorrhage and detachment of the
retina there may be permanent uni-
or bilateral blindness.

One should suspect RVF when
heavy rains are followed by the
occurrence of abortions in sheep,
goats and cattle together with fatal
disease, particularly in young ani-
mals, which is marked by necrotic
hepatitis and haemorrhage in the
abomasum and serosal surfaces.
Frequently there is also influ-
enza-like illness in farm workers.
Specimens should be submitted for
laboratory confirmation of the
diagnosis.

A major factor contributing to the
abatement of epidemics is the onset
of cold weather, which suppresses
vector activity. In southem Afiica
outbreaks tend to terminate abmptly
soon after the first fi-osts of winter.
In contrast, vims activity may per-
sist in parts of Afiica, which experi-
ence warmer winters. Vector con-
trol is of limited or no use in the
control of RVF and immunization
remains the only effective way to
protect livestock. Although the use

of vaccine is beneficial in reducing
losses, it is generally applied too
late to avert epidemics or to prevent
considerable losses from occurring.

Epidemics of RVF tend to occur at
irregular intervals of many years
and it is usually difficult to persuade
farmers to vaccinate livestock dur-
ing long inter-epidemic periods.
The occurrence of epidemics is
difficult to predict and they usually
have a very sudden onset. An
attempt has been made to utilize
satellite imaging for the prediction
of RVF outbreaks through the
development of a green vegetation
index as a marker of dambo or pan
flooding but it remains to be deter-
mined whether this technique finds
application. Hence it is advisable in
Afiican countries with large sheep
and goat populations to immunize
the offspring of vaccinated ewes
and nannies on a regular basis at six
months of age, when colostral
immunity has waned, with a single
dose of the modified live Smithbum
vaccine. This should afford
life-long protection. Lambs and
kids of susceptible dams can be
immunized at any age.

Veterinarians and others engaged in
the livestock industry should be
made aware of the potential dangers
of exposure to zoonotic agents in
handling tissues of diseased ani-
mals, and precautions should be
hicreased during RVF epidemics.

The recent epidemics in Egypt,
Senegal, Mauritania, Kenya, Tanza-
nia and Somaha were characterized
by unusually high morbidity rates in
both domestic ruminants and hu-
mans and serve as a warning that
RVF can not only extend beyond its
usual distribution range but also has
the potential to occur outside Afiica.

Department of Veterinary Tropical Diseases,
Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of
Pretoria, Private Bag X04, Onderstepoort,
0110, South Africa

Most veterinary students stay in
Utrecht during their six years of
study. However, some students go
abroad to study for a while at one of
the partner institutions of Utrecht
University\'s Faculty of Veterinary
Medicine. Others travel around the
globe in their spare time or decide to
gain clinical experience under quot;ex-
oticquot; circumstances. One of those
active students is Richard Olde
Riekerink, board member of the
Foundation DIO. What follows is
what he calls his quot;personal experi-
encequot; at the Canton American Flower
Lounge Livestock Co., Ltd, a dairy
farm near Guangzou, China.

When you think of animal husbandly
in China, you probably think of small
swine herds, poultry and maybe of
some fish, but surely not of daily
cattle. Although this is not so well
known, the dairy industry is a fast
growing branch of agricultural busi-
ness. Especially in the big cities, the
demand for fresh milk is growing. But
in Asia one would expect that the
consumption of milk will never be-
come very popular because lactase
deficiency is common in the Asian
population. The question whether this
lactase deficiency is genetic, is dis-
puted. Fact is that milk consumption
in China is increasing, because of the
growing awareness of healthy nutri-
tion. To partly satisfy the increasing
demand a large amount of powdered
milk is imported. On the shelves of
the larger supermarkets you have an
enormous choice in powdered milk or
UHT milk, but also the share of fresh
milk is increasing.

In the southeast of China, near
Guangzhou (formerly Canton), an
American businessman established a
large dairy farm in the early eighties.
His intention was to provide fresh
high quality milk for the cities
Guangzhou and Hong Kon^. Because
the knowledge of modem dairy
farming was and still is scarce in
China, he needed advice from western
experts. Therefore the American dairy
specialist. Prof D. V. Armstrong, was
contacted because of his knowledge
of heat stress in dairy cattle. He ad-
vised on the design of bams and the
milking parlor. Because the climate in
Guangzhou is subtropical to tropical,
the less well-adapted Holstein-Frie-
sian cows have to be cooled to
achieve high production. At this mo-
ment, there are about 1.200 cows in
freestall bams and about 1000 head of
youngstock. The average production
level is approximately 6000 kg per
cow. Milk fat and protein are not
measured because the milk is sold for
fluid consumption after processing.
The milk is cooled to 4°C by a turbo-
cooler before it is put into the bulk
tank. From this tank, it is transported
almost daily to their own local milk
processing plant in Guangzhou or
Hong Kong.

The veterinary problems on a dairy
farm under these conditions are not
much different from those on most
dairy farms, except that they are more
severe and fi-equent.

The most important problem is heat
stress. Problems arising from heat
stress include nutrition (the cows eat
less), the estrous cycle elongates,
cows show fewer signs of heat, and
the immune system is suppressed,
thus other diseases have more
chances.

You can handle heat stress quite well
under these circumstances, by locat-
ing bams on hilltops, aligning them
with the prevailing wind, designing
bams with reflecting raised roofs with
a shallow angle, installation of venti-
lation equipment, and sprinklers that
can cool cows.

Mastitis is the second major problem.
Envh-onmental bacteria and other
pathogens can survive very well under
these warm and humid conditions and
probably cause a lot of mastitis cases.
I say probably, because I have tried to
identify the pathogen. The equipment
on the farm was not suited to identify
pathogens, therefore I sent samples to
a govemment laboratory. This gov-
emment laboratory gave the results
after 3 weeks(!): all samples were
negative, without explanation. 1 did
not send other samples to this labora-
tory. Because of the course of clinical
cases, I suspected most of the cases
were environmental clinical mastitis
due to acute, watery yellowish milk
with clots and fibrine in it, sometimes
with blood. In spite of the fact that no
pathogens could be identified, a fitting
treatment had to be found. There was
a belief that resistance to intramam-
mary antibiotics was developing and
therefore, an antibiogram would be
very useful. With the available labo-
ratory equipment I tried to culture
pathogens out of clinical quarter sam-
ples on a standard agar plate (a blood
agar would have been better). By
putting a little droplet of antibiotic on
the plate after striking the plate, a day
later you have an impression of which
antibiotic is the best choice. It is
probably not very accurate, but it
gives you an idea under the given
circumstances.

Probably, the free stalls caused most
of the mastitis problems. These stalls
were built 16 years ago and were
never really maintained, because eve-
rybody waited for the constmction of
a new, larger farm.

As a result, most free stall separators
were wom out or broken, in a lot of
stalls the mattresses were gone, and
no bedding material was used. The
free stalls were too small for the cows.
In short, they were not comfortable or
clean and many cows were lying in
the alleyways where it was even dirt-
ier. Fortunately, at this moment the
freestall separators are being repaired
and the management is trying out sand
bedding in the freestalls. The cows
seem to appreciate that.

It is an enormous challenge to manage
a dairy fann of this size well in a
country like China. The warm climate
provides its own challenges and
makes fighting the quot;normalquot; dairy
farm problems more difficult. The
motivation and willingness to work of
the staff and the high milk price in
relation to the labor costs make
dairying favorable. Regarding this, it
could be argued that development
projects should have a more commer-
cial character. Sustainability -as long
as there is a market for the milk- is
guaranteed. In this case, it leads to the
expansion of the farm. It generates
labour, not only to the people work-
ing on the farm and in the processing
plant, but also to the connected Chi-
nese businesses. There is transfer of
knowledge. Without this, it is hard or
even impossible to manage a farm of
this size with mainly Chinese staff
This knowledge has given some of the
workers the inspiration to start a dairy
farm themselves, and not without
success! And last but not least: the
aspect of food-security. The product
of this dairy farm is an excellent, safe,
protein rich, and healthy supplement
in the diet of many Chinese.

21-25 January, 2001
5th Intemational Sheep Veterinary
Congress. Organised by: Prof Gareth
Bath (Fax: 27.11.7927522, e-mail:
reshot@yebo.co.za). Reservations:
P.O. Box 782902, Sandton, 2146,
South Africa or AACV, Anne Cover
(Tel.: 61.7.33787944; fax: 61.7.
38783559,e-mail: aacv@.ava.com.au:
www.up.ac.za/academic/lhpggt;

19-23 Febmary, 2001
intemational Conference - Animal
Health Economics. Location: Massey
University. Contact: D. McCrae,
Massey University EpiCentre, (Tel.:
64.6.3505270, fax 64.6.3505716,
e-mail: epicentre@massey.ac.nz,
http://epicentre.massey.ac.nz).

5 March-25 May, 2001
Short term training in Veterinary
Epidemiology. Three modules of 4
weeks each, which can also be
elected separately. Three consecutive
intensive workshops (3 days each)
are organised from 28 May to 8 June,
2001). Module 1: Introduction to
computer use and orientation to sta-
tistics; Module 2: Epidemiology I
and Statistics I; Module 3: Epide-
miology II and Statistics II. Organ-
ised by: Postgraduate Studies in In-
temational Animal Health, Free Uni-
versity Berlin. Course fee: DM 3,150
per module of 4 weeks and DM 800
per workshop of 3 days. Fee for full
programme: DM 10,000. Closmg
date: 15 January, 2001. Application:

Coordinator Postgraduate studies,
Free University, Luisenstrasse 56,
10117nbsp;Berlinnbsp;(Tel.:

5 March - 15 December, 2001
Degree of Master of Veterinary
Studies (MVS) in Avian Health. Or-
ganized by: Faculty of Veterinary
Science, Univ. of Melboume. Areas
of study: Poultry pathology; Infec-
tious diseases causes and serology;
Disease, diagnosis, prevention and
control; Poultry production systems
and procedures; Product-related
knowledge, meat processing and egg
packaging plants. Tuition fee: $A
27,000. Closing date for applications:
30 November, 2000. Information: Dr.
Trevor Bagust, Course Co-ordinator,
Faculty of Veterinary Science, Univ.
of Melboume, Parkville, Victoria
3052 (Tel.: 61.3.93449676, fax:
61.3.93449675, email:
t.bagust@vet.unimelb. edu.aul.

26 March - 25 May, 2001
23rd Intemational animal feed train-
ing programme (AFTP). Organized
by: IPC Livestock Intemational,
Bameveld College. Fees including
board and lodging: NGL 15,500. In-
formation: IPC Livestock Bameveld
College, Dep. of Intemational Stud-
ies and Co-operation Programmes,
P.O. Box 64, 3770 AB Bameveld
(Tel.: 31.342.414881, fax: 31.
342.492813, e-mail:
io@ipcdier.hacom.nn.

3quot;* Pan Pacific Veterinary Confer-
ence. Location: Melboume Conven-
tion Centre. Contact: D, Culliver,
AVA Conference Organising Service
(address: P.O. Box 4257, Kingston
ACT 2604, tel. 61.2. 62738855, fax
61.2.62738899,nbsp;e-mail:

Veterinary Conservation Biology:
Wildlife health and Management in
Australasia. Jointly organised by:
AAVCB, WAWW, WSNZVA and
WDA. Programme: Conservation bi-
ology in Australasia; Wildlife utili-
sation; Marine wildlife and birds;
Wildlife recovery and reintroduction
programmes and vertebrate pests;
Wildlife health in Australasia. In-
formation: L. Vogelnest, Taronga
Zoo and Quarantine Centre, P.O. Box
20, Mosman NSW 2088, Australia
(Fax: 61.2. 99784516, e-mail:
Ivgel nest@zoo.nsw.gov.au)

Conference higher education and re-
search for agriculture and food sys-
tems in the 21®\' century. Organized
by the Global Consortium of Higher
Education and Research for Agri-
culture (GCHERA). Information:
GCHERA Secretariat (e-mail:
gchera@iast^t9.gdti,
http:/www.gchera.iasate.eduy).

6quot;* Biennial meeting of the Society
for Tropical Veterinary Medicine
(STVM). Theme: Wildlife and live-
stock disease and sustainability. In-
formation: Wendy C. Brown, De-
partment of Veterinary Microbiol-
ogy, Washington State University,
Pullman, WA 99164 (E-mail:
wbrown@vetmed.wsu. edul

20-24 August, 2001
10^\'\' Intemational Conference of the
Association of Institutions for Tropi-
cal Veterinary Medicine (AITVM).
Theme: \'Livestock, Community and
Environment\'. Subjects: (1) Live-
stock-environment interactions and
the impact on human health and ani-
mal health and reproduction; (2) Ap-
praisal of recent changes in delivery
of livestock services; (3) New ap-
proaches to veterinary education; (4)
Control of transboundary epizootic
diseases; (5) Poultry production and
health under smallholder conditions;
(6) peri-urban animal production
systems - opportunities and environ-
mental constraints; (7) Veterinary
public health: aspects of zoonoses
and food quality. Scholarships: The
Organising Committee will approach
relevant national and international
organisations and agencies in an ef-
fort to secure attendance of partici-
pants from developing countries.
Location: Royal Veterinary and Ag-
ricultural University (KVL). Infor-
mation: Dr. Niels Chr. Kyvsgaard,
KVL, Danish Center for Experimen-
tal Parasitology, 13 Biilowsvej, DK-
1870 Frederiksberg C., Copenhagen
(Fax: 45.35. 282774, e-mail:
nck@.kvl.dk. www.aitvm.orgV

24 August, 2001 - 1 March, 2002
International course on poultry hus-
bandry and Intemational course on
pig husbandry. Organized by: IPC
Livestock Intemational, Bameveld
College. These courses will run at the
same time. Following these courses
participation is possible in the Inter-
national animal feed training pro-
gramme (AFTP), which mns from 4
March to 31 May, 2002. Direct entry
in this last course is also possible.
Fees including board and lodging:
Poultry course: NLG 25,500; Pig
coxirse: NLG 25,500, Feed course;
NLG 13,000 or 15,500 (direct entry).
Closing date: 1 May, 2001. Informa-
tion: IPC Livestock Bameveld Col-
lege, Dep. of Intemational Studies
and Co-operation Programmes, P.O.
Box 64, 3770 AB Bameveld (Tel.:
31.342.414881, fax: 31. 342.4-
92813, e-mail: io@ipcdier.hacom.nl).

26-30 August, 2001
18th Intemational Conference of the
World Association for the Advance-
nient of Veterinary Parasitology
(WAAVP). Information: New Team,
Via C. Ghiretti, 2, 1-43100 Parma
(Tel.: 39.521. 293913, fax:
39.521.294036, e-mail:
newteam.parraa@iol.it).

1nbsp;September, 2001 -31 August, 2003
Intemational MSc programme of the
Graduate School of Animal Health,
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine
Utrecht University and ID-DLO
Institute for Animal Science and
Health, Lelystad. Programme: MSc
Course \'Animal Pathology\', duration

2nbsp;years (fee: NLG 35,000); MSc
course \'Veterinary Anaesthesiology\',
duration 18 months (fee: NLG
35,000). Registration before 1
August, 2001. Information: Office
for International Co-operation, Fac-
ulty of Veterinary Medicine. P.O.
Box 80.163, 3508 TD Utrecht (Fax:
31.30.2531815, e-mail: