MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING
SIGNED BETWEEN INSTITUT
PERTANIAN BOGOR (INDONESIA)
AND UTRECHT UNIVERSITY

On the occasion of the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding
(MOU) between Institut Pertanian Bogor (IPB) and Utrecht University in
June, 2000, the Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs Dr. Ir. H. Ahmad
Ansori Mattjik highlighted the history, present and future of IPB and the
relations with Utrecht.

quot;The IPB is an agricultural tmiversity, agriculture in its largest sense, and
as such the only in Indonesia. In 1963 we separated from the University
of Indonesia, and from two faculties at that time, the Faculty of
Agriculture and the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, we have grown into
seven faculties including the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural
Sciences and a graduate school. Facilities and the student body have
expanded, a major reason to move out to this campus, Darmaga, in 1995.
Our total student body is getting close to 20,000 pursuing education and
training at 28 Diploma Programmes, 33 undergraduate programmes and

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 Netherlands
Tel.: 31.30.2532116
Fax: 31.30.2531815
E-mail: bic@vet.uu.nl

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June 2001

32 graduate programmes. The IPB has 1327 faculty members with 75.7%
holding masters and doctorate degrees. Academic training is supported
by 16 research centers. We trust that sustained and effective intemational
programmes are critical and play an important role in empowering these
human resources.quot;

quot;Academic co-operation between Indonesia and the Netherlands has a
long history reflecting its ups and downs. Our friendship with Utrecht
started during the tenure of Prof. Hoekstra and Prof. Numans in Bogor in
the fifties. We very much acknowledge their great efforts in assisting the
establishment of the Faculteit der Diergeneeskunde in Bogor. At this
moment I should also mention that the late Prof. Iskandar Titus got his
doctorate training at the Faculteit der Diergeneeskunde in Utrecht.
Relations with Utrecht had been on a non-formal basis, or an individual
or personal account. Students from Utrecht visiting the Faculty in Bogor
during their vacation to Indonesia, and a very few faculty members from
both sides exchanged scientific communication.quot;

quot;The co-operation is timely, the Faculty in Bogor will soon be moving
out to Darmaga to make use of their new buildings and facilities,
including the brand new animal teaching hospital, the one of its kind in
South East Asia. The teaching hospital will be adequately equipped with
state of the art teaching, clinical and research tools to provide quality
training and research.quot;

I stayed in the surroundings of Lem-
bang, a small village very near Ban-
dimg, (formerly known as the Paris of
the East) in West Java. It is situated in
the hills at an altitude of 1200 m
above sea level. At this altitude the
temperature is generally between 17
and 25 which is very enjoyable, at
least for a Dutch student. Most of the
time the local Indonesians were shive-
ring in the transport buses. The area

The mild climate was the reason why
in the colonial times the Dutch
introduced dairy farming in this re-
gion. The original quot;Fries-Hollandsquot;
dairy cattle, have recently been trans-
formed into Holstein-Friesian by in-
troducing semen from bulls from Ca-
nada and Japan. In general the farmers
have 2-5 milking cows and the ad-
herent stock for replacement. They
have on average a few hectares of
land, on which they grow crops or
elephant grass.

During the 1998 course on Tropical Animal Health and Husbandry, an 8 week
elective course in the veterinary curriculum at Utrecht University, Dr.
Bambang Purwantara of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of Bogor (Institut
Pertanian Bogor) presented a guest lecture on small-holder dairy farming in
Indonesia. This presentation was very interesting and through the staff members
of the ruminant section of the Department of Farm Animal Health I got into
contact with Dr. Purwantara. Finally this resulted in a visit to Indonesia for a
traineeship at Dr. Purwantara\'s institute in 2000.

The milk that is produced is collected
by the quot;koperasiquot; KPSBU (Koperasi
Petemak Sapi Bandung Utara) and
sold to Indomilk. The cooperation was
founded by the farmers in August,
1971, and is nowadays an example in
Indonesia for a cooperation which is
very well managed. The average daily
milk production at the co-operation is
84,000 liters, around 12 liters per
lactating cow. The total nimiber of
cows is approximately 11,000 heads.
The veterinary work is done by 18
inseminators and two veterinarians.
The inseminators tasks are artificial
insemination (A.I.) and veterinary
work. The veterinarians are the mana-
gers of the unit and visit the farmers if
more specialized advice is needed.
These services are free for the far-
mers, the costs are incorporated in the
milk price.

I had a very enjoyable time, visiting
the farmers on the backseat of a
motorcycle which was driven by an
inseminator of the quot;koperasiquot;.

The veterinary students of IPB
(Institut Pertanian Bogor) have the
opportunity to do their internships in
large animals at this cooperation and
they spend four weeks of their study
in the hills of Lembang. They have
the opportunity to leam artificial
insemination and pregnancy control.
The students are examined for a
whole day at the end of the intemship.
I took this chance to leam A.I. on
cows, because this subject is not
taught at the Faculty of Veterinary
Medicine of Utrecht University.
Furthermore there were many interes-
ting veterinary cases, of which I will
describe some.

Milkfever was a common disease
after parturition, probably because of
the amount of concentrates the far-
mers feed their cows during the dry
period. To be cost-effective the vete-
rinarians of the cooperation invented a
home made Ca-inflision, which
proved to be very effective. However,
the fn-st time they tried this mfusion
on a cow, the cow became anaphy-
lactic. Fortunately this happened only
once. They are, by the way, the only
veterinarians in Indonesia who pro-
duce this infusion.

If you want to hear the quot;ping-pingquot; of
an abomasal displacement you defi-
nitely have to go to Lembang. There
were many cases, as well on the right
as on the left side. The treatment was
papaverine I.V. and many cases were
cured because of this treatment. The
veterinarians told me there was
another treatment, which I unfortuna-
tely did not witness. They pump liters
of water in the rectum until it is \'full\'.
This was claimed to be very effective
also. Nevertheless there are plans to
build a surgery room next year, to be
able to treat these cases by performing
surgery.

During my stay, the quot;koperasiquot; started
a programme to eradicate Bmcellosis.
So many days were filled with taking
blood samples, which needed to be
checked for antibodies.

The study I planned to carry out was
as follows. Collect as many data as
possible on cows with a poor body
condition and on their ovary status.
Were they anoestric or cyclic? This
was more difficult than I expected. In
general the cows were in a better body
condition than the dairy cows in The
Netherlands. After mentioning this
fact to the veterinarians, we visited a
farmer with underfed cows and I was
able to fmd here some anoestric cows,
but this approach does not produce
reliable scientific results. However, it
was nice to experience how a plan can
develop totally different.

In Indonesia it may be difficult to
conduct your planned veterinary
research, but circumstances are ideal i
for a foreign visitor. The language
Bahasa Indonesia is easy to leam,
because the grammar is probably the
most basic in the world. In one month
a person is able to talk Bahasa enough
to have functional conversations.
Public transport is very interesting
because you can have basic conver-
sations, and for Dutch people is it
even more interesting because you
have always the chance of speaking
Dutch whenever an older person is
traveling with you. Many words are
still Dutch, like \'knalpot, boontjes,
kantor, democrasi, and many more. It
is definitely a good country to spend
time as a student.

Why did you opt for Ufrecht Univer-
sity? In fact, how did you know we
just started this course?

quot;I was working in clinics and I
wanted to combine research with
clinical work. There are many places
in the world where you can do a
master course, but most of those
courses are focussed on research
only. Utrecht offered the opportunity
to further develop my clinical skills as
well. How I found out about this
course? Easy, Ijust picked it from the
internet and wrote to Robert Paling
for further information quot;.

Was it difficult to get your course
financed? It must be easier to get
funding for courses in public health or
pathology than in clinical sciences.
Most funding agencies will regard
clinical work as quot;luxuryquot;?

quot;You are right in that. Indeed, it was
difficult. No way of funding through
the normal channels for intemational
co-operation. As I am from what you
call a middle-class family, that was no
source of money either. I could pay
for the course and my stay here
because the University in Bogota
continued my salary while I was here,
and because I got a loan from an

Vladimir in front of the
anaesthesiology equipment
in the surgery room of the
Department of Equine
Sciences (Photo: Gootjes)

Institution called Colfuturo. They
invest in people like me with the aim
to bring Colombia forward, giving
them loans under so-called quot;softquot;
conditions. They will acquit part of
your debt when you return to the
country and when you work for a
couple of years in a public office.
However, I have to pay back part of it,
so to a certain extent I am really
investing in my own future and
development

Did you have much experience
fravelling abroad and how did you
experience the difference in culture?

On February 20*^ Brighton Dzikiti from Zimbabwe and Vladimir Galindo
Zamora from Colombia successfiilly presented their master theses. They are the
first students who obtained the degree of Master in Veterinary Anaesthesiology
at Ufrecht University. EQUATOR interviewed Vladimir Galindo Zamora, and
asked him about his background and experiences during the 18-month period
that he worked at both the Clinic for Companion Animals and the Equine Clinic
of Ufrecht University\'s Faculty of Veterinary Medicine.

quot;Already as a student I wanted to go
further into sciencequot;, Vladimir says
with his flamboyant Latin big smile
when he is asked why he wanted to do
a master\'s course, quot;After graduating I
started working at the National
University of Colombia and the
academic environment stimulates a
scientific careerquot;.

Europe. Although my family lives
under good conditions, Colombia is
experiencing one of the worst eco-
nomic crises since decades and at
home there was no money for frequent
travelling. So, I did not have much
experience.

Yes, indeed, arriving in the Nether-
lands was quite a culture shock. You
know, the Latin culture from Colom-
bia is in many respects very different
from your culture. There, we are
living very closely as families. The
family bond is very important whereas
in your culture there is much more
individualism. In the beginning that
was hard. I was not used to living
alone and had to adapt to that. On the
other hand, social pressure is much
higher in the Latin culture. People are
used to impose their way of seeing
things on others. What I like here very
much is the respect people have for
the individuality of other persons. If
you like to dress in some odd way, or
if you are a homosexual, or belong to
any other minority group, people will
respect that. In my country you are
forced to conform to the main stream
if you do not want to become a real
outcastquot;.

quot;Oh, certainly, at least to some
extent. I will miss some characteris-
tics of your society like your punctual-
ity. Also, people are much more direct
here when talking or negotiating. In
Colombia it is sometimes difficult to
say things plainly and frankly. I know
that my experience abroad will have
changed me a little, but that is all
right. That happens to everybody who
stayed abroad for some time. In fact,
it is one of the aims of that institution
I told you about, Colfuturo, to slowly
change Colombian society in this
wayquot;.

Let us go back to your stay here. Did
you like it or not, and what are your
points of criticism? Please, be fraiik as
is the custom here like you just said.
Anyway, you got your degree, so
there is no reason to be too polite!

general I liked it very much. Of
course, there were some problems in
the beginning. You know, Brighton
and I were the first two Anaesthesiol-
ogy master students. At the start of the
period we did not feel comfortable
with many people from the clinics like
surgeons and radiologists because
they did not know us and did not know
what we were up to. With the people
from Anaesthesiology that was
different as they did know and tried to
integrate us right from the start. Of
course, with the other people things
got better with time. A point of
criticism might be that some of the
courses we had to do did not match
very well with our discipline. The
course in epidemiology was of course
excellent for the master students in
veterinary epidemiology, but did not
really apply to our situation. On the
other hand, there were other courses,
such as quot;Writing and editing for the
professional scientistquot;, that were
really excellent. In general, I am very
satisfied with the course as a whole quot;.

You worked both in the companion
and large animals clinic. Did you
notice any difference?

quot;Sure. In the companion animal clinic
the atmosphere was much more
relaxed. I also felt better accepted in
companion animals than in large
animals. By the way, it is often heard
among the foreigners working at this
Faculty that acceptance in companion
animals is much better than in large
animals. However, you should take
into account that this is a general
feeling and does not say anything
about individual persons quot;.

\'Twill be working at the small animal
clinic in the rank of assistant-
professor. That is a rank higher than
when I left. It was agreed upon that I
would get promoted once I finished
this master\'s course. I will not only be
working in anaesthesiology. We are
just 3 persons which means that I will
have to do other disciplines, such as
radiology, surgery and medicine as
well That is also the reason why I did
not want to loose contact with the
clinical work during my master\'s
course quot;.

\' quot;Certainly. The course, and the
experience I had in a North-American
private practice which I visited
during my master\'s training, have
changed my mind about veterinary
medicine completely. Further, I have
been able to realise what the Colom-
bians call quot;The European Dreamquot;:
experiencing Europe. I have had the
opportunity to travel a bit, although
less than I had hoped. I have been in
Belgium, France and Germany. And
of course I visited the most interesting
parts of the Netherlands. The hard
part was living separated from your
familyquot;.

quot;What I really wanted to say is how
much the two of us, Brighton and I,
appreciated it that we were taken to
dinner after the presentation of our
theses by the entire staff of the
anaesthesiology department There
were about 20 people. We felt very
much honoured that they had both-
ered to see us out in this way. We
really felt completely accepted and
among friends 1quot;

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN THE
COLLABORATION BETWEEN THE VETERINARY
FACULTIES AT ONDERSTEPOORT [SOUTH AFRia]
AND UTRECHT [THE NETHERLANDS)

In January, 2000 the Faculty of Veterinary Science of the University of Pretoria
and the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of Utrecht University (UU) signed a
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in Pretoria (see EQUATOR Vol. 12, nr.
I. March 2000). At a meeting held at Onderstepoort in January 2001, the
Deans and co-ordinators of the respective faculties together with Professor
J.A. W. Coetzer evaluated the progress of implementation of the MOU during
the first year.

At the outset of the implementation of the MOU it was agreed that it would be
very important for the ultimate success of the MOU for both faculties to famil-
iarise themselves as to their management, departmental organisation, curricula,
research programmes and the functioning of their academic hospitals. In this
regard exchange of relevant policy documents, reports and regulations has oc-
curred as well as the exchange of personnel.

A first step to strengthen the links be-
tween the two faculties was made in
January 2000, when Dr. Frans Jonge-
jan of UU, an expert in tick bome dis-
eases, was appointed as an extra ordi-
nary Professor for three years in the
Department of Veterinary Tropical
Diseases at the Faculty of Veterinary
Science at Onderstepoort. Dr.. Jonge-
jan works closely with the tick bome
disease experts at Onderstepoort. This

collaboration was recently reinforced;
by an extemal grant from SENTER inj
the Netherlands for the development,
implementation and commercialisa-
tion of new diagnostic tests using
PCR and RLB (Reverse Line Blot-
ting).

From January 2001 Professor Koos
Coetzer of Onderstepoort was ap-
pointed as a part time Professor in
Tropical Veterinary Medicine for a
five-year period at the Department of
Infectious Diseases and Immunology
at the Utrecht Faculty of Veterinary
Medicine. Prof. Coetzer was awarded
an EZA fellowship of Utrecht Univer-
sity\'s \'Expertisecentmm voor Zuide-
lijk Afrika\' to visit Utrecht and to
strengthen the links in education be-
tween Utrecht University and univer-
sities in the SADC region.

A number of research areas, in which
both faculties are interested, were se-
lected and staff exchanges were initi-
ated to familiarize with the partners
and to undertake joint action such as
workshops and the preparation of ap-
plications for ftmding the joint re-
search. The main areas are: ticks and
tick-bome diseases; immunology/mo-
lecular biology; epidemiology, socio-
economics and risk assessment; clini-
cal research and veterinary public
health.

In 2000 exchanges of scientists re-
lated to the following main research
areas were executed.

•nbsp;Ticks and Tick-borae diseases.
Two workshops linked to the EU-
E^CO-DEV ICTTD-2 project
were held at Onderstepoort and a
virtual centre the \'Centre for Tick
and Tick-bome Diseases Control\'
(CTTC) was established.

•nbsp;Malignant catarrhal fever (MCF)
(Partners: Utrecht, Moredun, Ha-
rare and Pretoria)

•nbsp;Isolation of feline immunodefi-
ciency vims (FIV) of lions (Part-
ners: Pretoria and Utrecht)

•nbsp;Rift Valley Fever (RVF). (Part-
ners: Utrecht, Maputo, and Preto-
ria). This project was supported
by a 1-year fellowship of UU for
a PhD student from Maputo.

•nbsp;Reproduction in ostriches. (Part-
ners: Pretoria, Harare, Utrecht and
Leuven).

It is envisaged that the above-
mentioned collaborative research pro-
jects, as well as others being devel-
oped with partners in the region in the
coming years, will form a scientific
environment for the research projects
of the participants in the Regional
SADC Master Programme on Tropi-
cal Animal Health and Food Safety\',
The development of this postgraduate
degree course went on steadily during
recent years (see EQUATOR Vol. 11,
Nr. 3 May-June, 1999) and it is ex-
pected that the first candidates will
start with the basic core modules in
Zambia this year. The research pro-
jects of the participants can be under-
taken in either of the SADC countries
during the 3rd year of the Regional
Master of Science Course.

hi September 2000 eleven members
of the academic and research person-
nel from the Faculty of Veterinary
Science at Onderstepoort and the
Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute
presented papers at the 11th annual
Symposium on Tropical Animal
Health and Production held at the
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at
Utrecht University. The topic for the
Symposium was Diagnosis and Con-
trol of Transboundary Infectious Dis-
eases in Southern Africa. The pro-
ceedings of the Symposium have been
published as extended abstracts (see
EQUATOR Vol 12, nr. 2/3 of Octo-
ber, 2000).

Exchange of undergraduate, MSc
and PhD students with recognition
of study programmes

Exchanges of undergraduate student
from Utrecht to Onderstepoort have
started in 2000. These exchanges are
organized in such a way that the train-
ing and evaluation is mutually accept-
able and officially recognized as a
component of the degree programmes.
Programmes of the clinical rotations
will also be made available at both
faculties. The students may also
choose to participate in research pro-
jects in relation to the collaborative
projects. These exchanges will be of
3-6 months. In 2001 four students will
do such a traineeship in South Africa
and two others will participate in
courees of the final year at Onderete-
poort.

A new fellowship programme of the
Netherlands Ministry for Education
and Science, called DELTA, creates
possibilities for support of imder-
graduate, MSc and PhD students from

In the executive summary of the An-
nual Report 2000 the Deans of Onder-
stepoort and Utrecht conclude: \'Given
the limited funding that was available
for the period imder review significant
progress was made in meeting the ob-
jectives set out in the MOU. With the
persoimel exchanges that have taken
place during the first year of the MOU
to familiarise both institutions of the
opportunities for collaboration a num-
ber of mutually beneficial research
proposals have been developed for
submission to various funding agen-
cies. It is felt that the initial invest-
ment that was made in the implemen-
tation of the MOU has most decidedly
delivered dividends and it is with
confidence that it is recommended
that the activities outlined in the MOU
and its supporting work plan be
continued during 2001. The stage is
set for the continued collaboration
between two strong and mutually
compatible institutions, which will be
to the benefit of each, as well as the
Southem African sub region\'.

The aimual meeting of VSF-Europa
started Febmary 15, 2001 with a sym-
posium entitled \'Focussing on veteri-
nary development projects\'. Four of
the eight European member organisa-
tions of VSF-Europa presented one of
their projects or highlighted the his-
tory, stmcture and recent develop-
ments in their organization. DIO (the
Dutch member of VSF-Europa) was
this year\'s host, responsible for organ-
ising the three-day meeting in Utrecht.
The dean of the Faculty of Veterinaiy
Medicine, Prof Dr. A.W.C.A
Comelissen, chaired the symposium.
One of the speakers this evening was
Marina Martin, working for VETAID
(VSF-UK). The title of her presenta- :
tion \'Paraveterinary or Community
Animal Health services; does it
work?\' is also the subject of a review
she recently worked on. Because this

is an interesting issue in veterinary
development v/ork, a summary of her
presentation follovi^s.

Paravets are farmers with an interest
in animal health care, selected by their
communities and families to provide
basic veterinary care to local live-
stock. Most of these paravets operate
in remote rural areas of developing
countries. They provide basic animal
health care, deliver vaccines, diagnose
diseases, administer anthelmintics,
acaricides, etcetera. They are also
trained to look at de-homing and cas-
tration in a welfare friendly way.
After their training of a few weeks,
the paravets receive a start kit of vet-
erinary dmgs. They are expected to
charge for the dmgs and their services
so that they can replenish their dmg
supply. An organization like Vetaid
can ensure that dmgs are available
locally by setting up mral pharmacies
and community managed revolving
dmg fimds.

NGO\'s like the VSF organisations
have a hard time monitoring the suc-
cess of this kind of projects. Monitor-
ing is expensive and time consuming.
Beside this it is difficult to select
meaningftil indicators.There are many
different indicators that can be used to
measure impact. For instance imple-
mentation indicators: number of
paravets trained, number of animals
treated, amount of dmgs sold. You

can also look at livestock through
mortality and morbidity surveys. But
also at poor farmers, such as number
of children going to school, family
income, expenditure. Or take a look at
the wealth status: Does the family
own a bicycle, a radio or a lock on the lt;
door..,

on the impact of community animal
health services (paravet services) for
DFID (Department for Intemational
Development). Using databases, the
internet, journals and personal con-
tacts they collected approximately 300
documents relating to paravet ser-
vices, their impact and on methods
how to analyse the data. First thing
they found was that NGO\'s and GO\'s
(governmental organisations) have
been finding it very difficult to meas-
ure impact. The data that they have
collected are often incomplete and of
poor quality. Conclusions are drawn
that are not based on the evidence
presented. The good news is that large
numbers of paravets are trained in all
comers of the world. These paravets
are providing essential services,
where none existed previously. Farm-
ers are willing to pay for veterinary
dmgs and for people to administer
them correctly. Paravets are able to
earn a small income fi-om their ser-
vices.

Not every report providing data on
livestock mortality and morbidity
brings good news. Some reports indi-
cate a significant decrease in mortality
rates, like the one from the Dutch
Committee for Afghanistan. Others
show minor improvements that may
or may not be attributed to the
paravets work. There are also some
studies reporting on the economic
efficiency of paravet programmes.
Though the studies\' calculations of
costs and benefits are often estimates
and are difficult to verify, they all
show very positive cost benefit ratios.
This means it is definitely valuable to
invest in paravets, because the returns
are high.

studies show that people are better
off, they are drinking more milk (their
animals are more productive), they are
sending more of their children to
school and they feel more secure dur-
ing the \'winter\' or lean season.
As a follow-up on this review, Vetaid
would like to design a framework for
impact assessment that is replicable,
easy to use and cheap. It should in-
clude the implementation indicators,
the livestock indicators, economic
efficiency indicators and of course
\'livelihood\' indicators.

The annual meeting was also the start
of the institutionalisation of VSF-
Europa as an association with a juridi-
cal status. With this status VSF-
Europa expects to have a stronger
vote in Europe and more political
impact. As a European organisation
the members leam from each other,
share eachothers publications, share a
CV-database, etcetera. If you would
like to know more about VSF-Europa
or its member organisations, feel free
to visit the websites mentioned below.
DIO was very pleased to welcome the
seven sister organisations and discuss
veterinary development work and
other topics at this fruitful and memo-
rable meeting.

The Dutch Committee for Af-
ghanistan (DCA-VET), a foundation
with its headquarters in Lelystad, The
Netherlands, is specialised in veteri-
nary programmes in Afghanistan. Un-
der its responsibihty a veterinaiy
training and support programme is
bemg implemented, initially in Pe-
shawar, Pakistan, later in Kabul and
Herat, both in Afghanisten. Since its
inception, more than 10 years ago, the
project has trained over five hundred
paravets who are deployed in different
field programmes within Afghanistan.
The project is also involved in tech-
nical and logistical backstopping of
field staff and extension work. Funds
for the programme are secured, usu-
ally on an annual base, from various
donors, more recently mainly from the
European Community.
For the overall co-ordination of the
programme, the Board of the Foun-
dation is looking for a:

with demonstrable managerial quali-
ties (preferably with a background in
veterinary medicine or livestock pro-
duction, but candidates with other
technical backgrounds are also invited
to reflect)

The Programme Manager will be in
charge of supervising and monitoring
the various components of the pro-
gramme, in close collaboration with
Afghan coimterpart staff Duty sta-
tions will be both Herat and Pesha-
war.

Good managerial qualifications are
essential, and considered more impor-
tant than experience in development
work. Some seniority is welcome.
Fluency in English, both written and
verbal, and computer experience are
highly appreciated.

A challenging position in a pro-
gramme that has demonstrated its
value for improving the livelihood of
the local population. Duty station will
be Peshawar, Pakistan, witii frequent
travel to project areas in Afghanistan.
Offered is a contract for one year,
with possibility for extension with at
least another year. Envisaged starting
date: mid-May 2001. Salaries are in
line with Public Service remuneration
within The Netheriands. In view of
the exceptional conditions prevailing
in the country, this post is not suitable
for female applicants.

within 4 weeks of this publication to:
St. Dutch Committee for Afghanistan
(DCA-VET), P.O.Box 65, 8200 AB
Lelystad, The Netherlands

Telephone: (254) (2) 717044/8
Fax: (254) (2) 719394
E-mail: lenanamounthotel@.iconnect.co.ke
Contact staff: Anne Njagi

THEME: Reproductive constraints in domestic and wild animals
(focusing on pathology)

Professor Mark J. Obwolo, University ofZimbabwe, Zimbabwe: Patho-
logy of the male and female reproductive systems of domestic animals

Professor Nick Kriek, University of Pretoria, South Africa: Reproduc-
tive constraints in some species of wild animals

A detailed program is being prepared. Those interested m delivering short presen-
tations and those requiring flirther infonnation should contact Dr Stephen Njiro.
Registration fees for C L Davis Foundation members is $ 75 and for non-members
it is $ 150. A number of rooms have been booked from November 19 to 22, 2001 in
the Lenana Mount Hotel for participants of the Symposium. The daily rate is $ 40
for bed and breakfast. Participants may make arrangements directly with the Hotel
or through Dr Njiro. In any case, applications for Registration should be sent to Dr
Njiro.

Vetermary Conservation Biology:
Wildlife health and management m
Australasia. Jointly organised by:
AAVCB, WAWW, WSNZVA and
WDA. Programme: Conservation bi-
ology in Australasia; Wildlife utiHsa-
tion; Marine wildhfe and birds;
WildUfe recovery and remtroduction
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:
lvogelnest@zoo.nsw.gov.au^

Conference higher education and re-
search for agriculture and food sys-
tems in the 21®* century. Organised
by: Global Consortitun of Higher
Education and Research for Agricul-
ture (GCHERA). Information:
GCHERA Secretariat (E-mail:
gchera@iastate.edu.
www.gchera.iasate.edu/).

Bietmial meeting of the Society
for Tropical Veterinary Medicine
(STVM). Jointly organised with

Wildlife Disease Association
(WDA). Theme: Wildlife and live-
stock ^sease and sustainability. In-
formation: Mrs. S. Collier and Mrs.
M. Pietersen (Tel.: 27.11.7065010,
fax: 27.11.4637195, e-maU:
milhssa@eventdvnaniics.co.za.
www.eventdvnamics.co.za/stvm).

Copenhagen (Denmark)
20-24AugiKt,2001
10®\' Intemational Conference of the
Association of Institutions for Tropi-
cal Veterinary Medicine (AITVM).
Theme: \'Livestock, Community and
Environment\'. Subjects: (1) Live-
stock-envuronment interactions; (2)

Delivery of veterinary services; (3)
New approaches to veterinary educa-
tion; (4) Control of transboundary
diseases; (5) Smallholder poultry; (6)
Peri-urban animal production sys-
tems; (7) Veterinary public health.
Scholarships: The Organising Com-
mittee has approached relevant na-
tional and intemational organisations
and secure funding of a number of
participants from developing coun-
tries. Location: Royal Veterinary
and Agricultural University (KVL).
Information: Dr. Niels Chr.
Kyvsgaard, KVL, Danish Center for
Experimental Parasitology, 13
Biilowsvej, DK-1870 Frederiksberg
C., Copenhagen (Fax: 45.35.
282774, e-mail: nck@kvl.dk.
www.aitvm.org.www.aitvm.kvl.dk/).

24 August, 2001 - 1 March, 2002
Intemational course on poultry hus-
bandry and Intemational course on
pig husbandry. Orgmiized by: IPC
Livestock Intemational, Bameveld
College. These courses will nm at the
same time. Following these courses
participation is possible in the Inter-
national animal feed training pro-
gramme (AFTP), which runs from 4
March to 31 May, 2002. Direct entry
in this last cowse 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. Informa-
tion: PC 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.nn.

Stresa, Italy
26 - 30 August, 2001
18th Intemational Conference of the
World Association for the Advance-
ment of Veterinaiy Parasitology
(WAAVP). Information: New Team,
Via C. Ghiretti, 2, 1-43100 Parma
(Tel.: 39.521.293913, fax: 39.521.
294036, e-mail:
newteam.parma@iol.ity

27 - 30 August, 2001
13 th Veterinary Association Malay-
sia amp; 2nd Intemational Congress and
Commonwealth Veterinaiy Associa-
tion Australasia/Oceania Regional
Meeting. Location: The Mines Exhi-
bition Centre, Simgei Besi, Selangor.
Information: Dr. Siti Zubaidah Ra-
manoon, Faculty of Veterinary
Medicine, University Outra Malay-
sia, 4300 Serdang, Selangor Daral
Ehsan (Tel: 603.«948.6101 ext
1883, Fax: 603.8943.0626, e-mail:

1nbsp;September, 2001-31 August, 2003
Intemational MSc programme of the
Graduate School of Animal Health,
Faculty of Veterinary Medichie
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 Intemational Co-operation, Fac-
ulty of Veterinary Medicine. P.O.
Box 80.163, 3508 TD Utrecht (Fax:
31.30.2531815, e-mail:
bic@vet.uu.nl. www.vet.uu.nl\').

29 October - 10 November, 2001
Intemational Course on Farm Animal
Diversity: Dynamics, Utilisation and
Preservation. Topics: Introduction
and problem identification; The dy-
namics and driving forces of farm
animal diversity; Animal breeding
and farm animal diversity; Policy
principles in biodiversity and how to
manage for biodiversity; Methodolo-
gies for problem analysis and prepa-
ration of an action plan. Organised
by: Intemational Agricultural Centre
(IA.C) and Wageningen University
and Research Centre. Information:
lAC, P.O. Box 88, 6700 AB Wagen-
ingen (Tel.: 31.317.495495; fax:
31.317.495395;nbsp;e-mail:

12\'*\' Intemational symposiirai: Tropi-
cal Animal Health and Production.
Theme: Dairy development in the
tropics. Organised by: Faculty of
Veterinary Medicine of Utrecht
University and Wageningen
University and Research Center.
Information: Office for Intemational
Co-operation, Faculty of Veterinary
Medicine, NL 3508 TD Utrecht.
(Fax: 31.30.2531815, e-mail:
bic@vet.uu.nl).

25 November - 8 December, 2001
Intemational Course on Livestock
and Environment Interactions. Or-
ganised by: Intemational Agricultural
Centre and Wageningen Agricultural
University. Closing date for applica-
tion: 15 September, 2001. Fees: NLG
5,500. Information: Director of the
lAC, P.O. Box 88, NL 6700 AB
Wageningen (TeL: 31.317. 490111,
fax: 31. 317418552, e-mail:
a.j.nell@iac.agro.nl; www.iac-
agro.nl/firametraining.htm).

4th Intemational Conference on
Ticks and Tick-bome Pathogens
(TTP 4). Themes: Tick biology;
Tick-pathogen interaction; Tick-host
interface; Biological control of ticks.
Organised by: Prof. R. Kaufinan,
Department of Biological Sciences,
University of Albert, Canada
T6G2E9 (Fax: 1.780.4929234, tel.:
1.780.4923308,nbsp;e-mail:

Report from the 10th AITVM Conference on
quot;Livestock Community and Environmentquot;

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

Editorial board

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

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 Netherlands
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 return the corrected label
to the editorial office.

October 2001

The 10th Conference of the Association of Institutes for Tropical Vet-
erinary Medicine (AITVM) took place in Copenhagen from 20-23 Au-
gust tmder tropical temperatures of arotmd 30° C, creating an appropriate
atmosphere for the 170 participants coming from 44 countries. The Local
Organising Committee, which was composed of a group of scientists
from the Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University (KVL) and repre-
sentatives of DANIDA, Norway and Sweden, had been working with
great enthusiasm during the last year to complete all the arrangements for
the Conference, which took place in one of the KVL buildings in
Frederiksberg.

The theme of the 10th AITVM Conference quot;Livestock, Community and
Environmentquot; turned to be a challenging subject, leading to interesting
presentations and constructive discussions; resulting sometimes in eye-
opening conclusions and balanced, up to date recommendations on poli-
cies and actions for livestock development in rural and peri-urban areas
of developing coimtries.

tion in tropical regions through
enhancement of research, training
and education in veterinary medi-
cine and livestock production
within the framework of sustain-
ab3le development (see for more
information http://www.aitvm.org)

AITVM International Conferences

Every 3 years the AITVM organises
an Intemational Conference on an up-
to-date theme in the field of animal

health and production, with emphasis
on technical and development aspects.

The AITVM is a Foundation com-
posed of member institutions. The
target institutes for membership
are institutes of higher education
and research institutes in the trop-
ics and subtropics, as well as insti-
tutes in other parts of the world
with a department specializing in
tropical animal health and/or pro-
duction. The AITVM has as its
objective: to improve human
health and quality of life by means
of increased and safe food produc-

including socio-economic and policy
matters. Venues of previous AITVM
Conferences were Zimbabwe (Ha-
rare, 1998), Germany (Berlin, 1995)
and Ivory Coast (Yamoussoukro,
1992). Over the years the AITVM
has been the driving force to bring
together yotmg scientists, well
known experts and policy makers
to discuss new developments in
animal health and animal produc-
tion in tropical regions. Special
efforts are made by the organisers
to obtain fellowships from donor
organisations to support young
scientists from developing coim-
tries to come to the Conference
and present their research outcome
during a workshop or as poster
presentation.

Also in Copenhagen the quot;Southquot;
was well represented as more than
one hundred of the 170 partici-
pants came from 24 African, 7
Asian and 2 Latin American coun-
tries. Most of these participants
could be supported by a fellow-
ship. The development agencies
from Denmark (DANIDA), Swe-
den (Sida), Norway (NORAD) and
France (MAE) and the Centre for
Technical Co-operation in Rural
Agriculture (CTA) had generously
contributed funds to provide fel-
lowships for these participants.
About 65 participants came from
10 European countries, of course
Deimiark was well represented (35
participants).

At the start of the Conference the
participants reflected that the ini-
tiative to host the 10th AITVM
Conference in Copenhagen had

From left to right: Dr. Herik
Lehn-Jensen (Member of
the KVL Organising
Committee), Prof. Mark
Obwolo (Zimbabwe,
AITVM President 1995-
1998) and Prof Luis Alfaro
Cardoso (Portugal, AITVM
President 1998-2001)
(Photo: Paling)

come from the late Prof. Peter
Nansen. The chairman of the Local
Organising Committee, Prof. Tor-
ben Greve, stated the they had
tried to complete what Peter had
started. Following the official
opening, three key notes were pre-
sented by invited speakers address-
ing the main issues for livestock
production in the future: veterinary
public health by Francois Meslin
(WHO, see also www.who.intA.
enviroimiental and social implica-
tions by Ir. Cees de Haan (World-
bank, see also: vmw.fao.org/lead/)
and surveillance and control of
transbotmdary diseases by Dr. Ray
Webb (FAO, see also:
vyww.fao.org/empresA. The repre-
sentative of the European Com-
mission, Dr. Phillip Vialatte, pre-
sented the views of the European
Commission on livestock devel-
opment policies. Poverty eradica-
tion remains the central objective.
Food security and sustainable rural
development are to be achieved
through equitable rural societies,
effective rural institutions, rural
growth, enhanced individual assets
and sustainable natural resource
management, while ensuring co-
herence with other European poli-
cies (see also: www.europa.eu.int).

During the following 3 days, six
workshops were organised (each
day two parallel sessions). The
abstracts of the presentations were
provided in the conference book as
well as on the internet (for ab-
stracts and soon the full text papers
will be available on:
vyww.aitvm.kvl.dk). The topics
were: Livestock environment in-
teractions; Small-holder poultry
production; Delivery of veterinaiy
services and new approaches in
veterinary education; Peri-urban
animal production systems; Con-
trol of transboundary diseases and
Veterinary public health. The
workshops started with a keynote
address, which was followed by a
number of presentations. Ample
time was made available for the
participants to see the posters and
question the presenters. At the end

of each workshop there was a
lively general discussion and rec-
ommendations were formulated.

The conference was characterised
by a very relaxed, open and often
joyful atmosphere. The organisers
had created good opportunities to
meet at leisure with other partici-
pants during the welcome recep-
tion at KVL, the reception hosted
by the municipality of Frederiks-
berg and the conference dinner.
One afternoon was reserved for

excursions and a choice could be
made to see the Danish Meat Re-
search Institute, the Viking Ship
Museimi and the Danish National
History Museum at the Frederiks-
borg Castle.

During the final afternoon the rap-
porteurs of the six workshops pre-
sented their resume to the general
audience and the recommendations
were fine-tuned and completed.
The AITVM president Prof. Luis
Alfaro Cardoso (Lisbon, Portugal),
congratulated and thanked the or-
ganisers for the excellent job they
had done and called on the partici-
pants to join forces with AITVM
by presenting their institutes as
new members to the AITVM. Prof.
Cardoso could also announce the
decisions of the AITVM General
Assembly which was held on 21
August. The General Assembly
had elected Prof. Karl Zessin (Ber-
lin, Germany) as the new AITVM
President and Prof. Sheik Omar

Dr. Jesper Monrad
(Member of the KVL
Organising Committee) was
a key-person in the
organisation of the
Conference (Photo: Paling)

On the last day of the
Conference Prof. Luis
Alfaro Cardoso of Portugal
(left) handed over the
Presidency of the AITVM
to Prof. Karl Zessin of
Germany (Photo: Paling)

bin Abdul Rahman (Serdang Se-
langor, Malaysia) as the new Vice
President. The final armoimce-
ment came fi-om Dr. Bashir Ahmad
who invited everybody to come to
Malaysia when the University Pu-
tra Malaysia will host the next
AITVM Conference in Malaysia
in 2004.

Livestock plays an important but
often controversial role in rural
areas world-wide. Dairy produc-
tion is a typical case where diffi-
cult choices have to be made to
ensure sustainable development of
farm families and regions. Many
countries report rapid increase of
demand for milk in urban areas,
associated with declining resource
bases in rural areas. Some farmers
choose for high yields per animal
through specialised production,
others stick to mixed farms with
crossbred cows. Some farmers
prefer buffaloes; others shift to
goats or quot;regularquot; dairy cattle.
New developments in breeding,
feeding, health and reproduction
are promoted, (bio-) technologies
are around the comer, open mar-
kets and deregulation threaten tra-
ditionally strong producers, and
socio-economic aspects such as
gender issues and poverty allevia-
tion are likely to be the next prior-
ity in dairy development. Such
variation of fimctions and forms of
dairy systems poses a challenge for
policy, research, extension and
farmers as no standard practices
can be recommended. But the
variation also offers opportunities
since people can leam from an-
other.

This course aims to provide in-
sights in new developments re-
garding technical and socio-
economic aspects of dairy produc-
tion in rural development, as well
as methodologies to cope with the
rapid change and large variation in
dairy systems.

The educational approach of the
course is interactive and methods
used are self-study, preparation of
a personal project, group discus-
sions, formal lectures, field visits,
excursions and practical handling
of animals. The training method
requires maximum active partici-
pation. Participants are therefore
encouraged to actively share and
discuss their own experiences,
views and opinions during all
course components. Participants
will develop working papers on
future priorities for their work.

The training programme on dairy
farming consists of 4 courses,
organised within a period of 7
weeks. This set-up allows for indi-
vidual packages, tailored to the
specific requirements of the par-
ticipant.

All courses can be followed as
stand alone, but the training pro-
gramme is designed to provide a
comprehensive insight by facilitat-
ing a choice of combinations to
build skills within a specific inter-
est area.

The lAC also organises courses on
livestock-environment interactions,
farm animal diversity and organic
farming in October-November. If
you are interested in these courses,
please ask for more infonnation.

Input related aspects of dairy pro-
duction for rural development
Dairy production depends very

much on the availability and man-
agement of internal and extemal
resources such as feed, genes, dis-
ease occurrence and prevention,
climate, etc. Course participants
are expected to have a basic
knowledge on animal nutrition,
breeding, fodder production etc.;
they receive an update on new
technologies in this area, as well as
their practical applications. Par-
ticipants will be asked (in groups
of three) to take a technology of
their choice on which they have to
prepare a brief report regarding
suitability and drawbacks for their
respective situation.
This course is organised in co-
operation with a.o. Larenstein Ag-
ricultural College, the Department
of Animal Sciences of Wagenin-
gen University and the Faculty of
Veterinary Medicine of Utrecht
University.

This course combines issues of
input, farm design and manage-
ment with issues of output. For
participants who work at farm
level the farm will be taken as a
unit that operates in a local or na-
tional market. For those in regional
or national level of dairy develop-
ment the village or region will be
considered as a unit of analysis.
Similar methods and concepts will
be used for each level of analysis,
on issues like farm economics,
whole-farm design, impact as-
sessment, nutrient flows, system
dynamics, technology and man-
agement for sustainability, multi-

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 resuh 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 de-
partments. 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 coordina-
tion and extension of the intemational activities. In
1989 the Committee for the Advancement of Tropi-
cal veterinary Science (CATS) was established at the
Faculty. The main objective of CATS is the perpetua-
tion and promotion of research and education rele-
vant to the tropics. The organization of the Symposia
on Tropical Animal Health and Production is an acti-
vity of BIC and CATS. This years\' Symposium is
jointly organised with Wageningen University and
Research Centre and ID-Lelystad.

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

2000nbsp;Diagnosis and control of transboimdary infectious
diseases in southem Afiica

In 2001 Utrecht University\'s Faculty of Veterinary
Medicine organises the 12\'^ intemational symposium
on Tropical Animal Health and Production. This year
the Symposium is organised in collaboration with
Wageningen University and Research Centre and ID-
Lelystad. The majority of rural households in devel-
oping coimtries depend at least in part on livestock
for their living. Livestock and crops are usually com-
plementary in these farming systems.Livestock pro-
vide more than just food, they support crop produc-
tion and act as capital asset. In response to increasing
demands from urban areas the intensification of live-
stock production is generally done through small-
holder dairying. Dairy development requires a good
infrastructure, appropriate support services and
proper functioning institutions. In developing coun-
tries these conditions are often not met. Furthermore,
worid market developments are not in line with local
dairy development. Leading experts will discuss
these and other aspects during this one-day sympo-
sium.

Ir. C. van der Does
J.H.A. de Gooijer (treasurer)
Ir. S.J Hiemstra
Prof. Dr. J. Noordhuizen
Dr. R,W. Paling (secretary).
Dr. Ir. H.M.J. Udo

Opening and introduction of the programme. A. van
der Zijpp (Wageningen-UR, the Netheriands)

*nbsp;Pulverising pow(d)er. The impact of incoherent
European policies on dairy farmers in Tanzania and
Jamaica. S. Verwer (NOVIB, the Netherlands)

*nbsp;From meat to milk: smallholders\' livelihoods and
markets. H.A.J. Moll (Wageningen-UR, the Nether-
lands) and S.J. Staal (ILRI, Nairobi, Kenya)

*nbsp;Indigenous markets for dairy products in Africa:
Trade-offs between food safety and economics. S.J.
Staal (ILRI, Nairobi, Kenya) et al.

*nbsp;Milk flow from cow to consumer: Safety, hygiene
and sanitation. R. Merx (IAC, Wageningen, the
Netherlands)

*nbsp;African cattle genetic resources: their unique at-
tributes and conservation through utilisation for
dairy production. A.K. Kahi (Egerton University,
Njoro, Kenya) and J.E.O. Rege (ILRI, Addis Ababa,
Ethiopia)

*nbsp;Feed resources and malnutrition problems in
mixed systems. S. Fernandez-Rivera (ILRI, Addis
Ababa, Ethiopia) and A.M. van Vuuren (ID-Lely-
stad, the Netheriands),

*nbsp;Dairy development and the environment; Winners
and losers. C. de Haan (Woridbank, Washington,
USA)

*nbsp;Roles of the government sector in supporting the
development of the Thai dairy industry. W. Kalpra-
vidh (DLD, Bangkok, Thailand)

*nbsp;Livestock health and breeding services: Efficiency
and equity implications of privatization. V. Ahuja
(Indian Instihite of Management, Ahmedabad, India)

I wish to attend the Symposium quot;Tropical Animal He-
alth and Production. Dairy development in the tropics, on 2
November, 2001 at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine,
Utrecht, The Netherlands.

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

pie criteria analysis, participatory
techniques, gender issues, poverty
alleviation, aspects of organic
farming and basics of policy de-
sign. Groups of participants will
prepare a report regarding the rele-
vance of these approaches for their
own conditions.

The course is particularly relevant
for students and graduates from
other disciplines that wish to be
updated on new approaches in sys-
tem analysis and design for agri-
cultural development.
This coiu-se is organised in co-
operation with a.o. Wageningen
UR and Larenstein Agricultural
College.

Practical dairy farm management
This course is organised for pro-
fessionals who are directly in-
volved in practical aspects of dairy
farm management together with
the Dairy Training Centre. The
course provides hands-on experi-
ence with handling of animals and
puts into practice the theoretical
aspects of both input and output
management, as well as the design
of the farm as a processing unit.
Typical examples of issues which
could form part of the course -
based on participants\' choice- are
the design of feeding calendars,
fodder production, rationing sys-
tems, replacement policies, calf
rearing, product processing, chain
control, basic animal health care,
aspects of shed design, nutrient
management and hygiene.
This course is organised in co-
operation with the Dairy Training
Centre in Oenkerk, Friesland and
will be executed at their premises.

Output related aspects of animal
production for rural development
Local demand and/or (inter) na-
tional markets determine the tech-
nical and socio-economic role of
livestock farming in rural devel-
opment. Basically this applies to
small-scale and large-scale farms
as well as for mixed or specialised
farms, although each of these cate-
gories respond differently to chal-
lenges such as changing market
conditions. This course covers
aspects of collection, processing,
handling, storage and marketing of
livestock products, on farm and
regional scale, in relation to the
primary product as well as to the
waste products and other side ef-
fects such as nutrient surplus or
local resource degradation. It ad-
dresses issues of consumer and
producer organisations, new rules
and regulations, threats and oppor-
tunities due to globalisation and
consumer concems, niche markets,
special products and possibilities
to reduce quot;post-harvestquot; losses in
animal production. The course is
therefore relevant for staff in-
volved in production as well as for
those who are involved in market-
ing and processing of animal pro-
duce.

This couKe is organised in co-
operation with a.o. Wageningen
UR and Larenstein Agricultural
College.

This course is designed for staff
involved in dairy production for
rural development in public sectors
and private enterprises in the fol-
lowing positions:

•nbsp;professionals working at man-
agement/co-ordination level in
dairy co-operatives, dairy
farms, companies involved in
input supply and processing
and banks;

•nbsp;staff involved in production as
well as to those who are in-
volved in marketing and proc-
essing of anunal produce;

•nbsp;policy and planning staff at the
national and sub-national level
with responsibility for devel-
opment of extension pro-
grammes; and

•nbsp;lecturers or researchers at in-
termediate and higher level in
training or research and stu-
dents and graduates who wish
to be updated on new ap-
proaches in system analysis
and design for agricultural de-
velopment.

This course aims to update partici-
pants\' knowledge and skills on
recent methodologies and insights
in their area of work. It will enable
participants to:

•nbsp;developments in breeding,
feeding, health, housing,
product processing etc.

•nbsp;aspects as livestock and
soil fertility, poverty alle-
viation, gender issues,
mixed farming, organic
farming and environmental
impact.

Programme co-ordinator Hans
Schiere has worked in research,
teaching and development for live-
stock production in South Amer-
ica, Affica and Asia. His special
fields of interest are nutrition and
general system related topics.
Arend Jan Nell is a livestock
production specialist with over 25
years of experience in mral devel-
opment activities in third world
coimtries. He has been involved in
various dairy development and
livestock plaiming projects.

•nbsp;at least three years of pro-
fessional experience in
dairy cattle husbandry,
general animal production,
agricultural development or
closely related subjects;

The tuition fees include admini-
stration fees, lecture materials and,
if these are part of the programme,
excursions. A combination of
courses will not exceed a fee of €
4500

Participants will be accommodated
in the Wageningen Intemational
Conference Centre (WICC), on the
basis of full board and lodging at
approximately € 400,— per week.
This is not included in the tuition
fee.

Fellowships are available from the
Netherlands Fellowship Pro-
gramme (NFP) for nationals of a
number of developing countries.
Applicants for a fellowship should
submit their application to the
Netherlands Diplomatic Represen-
tative (Embassy/Consulate) in their
home country. Details about the
procedure may be obtained from
the Netherlands Diplomatic Repre-
sentative. It is advisable to make a
request for a fellowship as early as
possible.

As a mle these fellowships do
NOT include intemational travel
expenses. However, an exception
may be made for a combination of
courses with a minimum duration
of 6 weeks. Please note that com-
petition is strong and preference
will be given to candidates who
have secured sponsorship for travel
expenses elsewhere. The lAC has
no other funds for financing par-
ticipants and regrets it is unable to
assist applicants in obtaining spon-
sorship.

lAC, P.O. Box 88, 6700 AB
Wageningen, The Netherlands
Telephone: 31 317 495 495,
Telefax: 31 317 495 395,
E-mail: Training@iac.agro.nl.
Home page: www.iac.wageningen-
ur.nl

This section contains vacancy announcements which the editorial board consid-
ers to be of possible interest to Dutch veterinarians. Besides vacancies that will
be taken from Vacatureblad Intemationale Samenwerking, Tijdschrift voor
Diergeneeskunde, Veterinary Record, Intro vacatures (RPDAdvies/Ministry of
Intemal Affairs) etc., there will be room for personnel advertisements. For ftw-
ther information about the vacancies please contact the institution or company
directly.

FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ANIMAL PRODUCTION AND
ORGANIZATION OF THE HEALTH OFFICER
UNITED NATIONS

Under the overall managerial and
administrative leadership of the
Sub-Regional Representative for
Southem and Eastem Afiica, and
the direct technical supervision of
the Director, AGA, the incumbent
will: participate in the implementa-
tion of FAO technical programmes

for the development of the live-
stock sector with particular empha-
sis on animal production and
health issues; advise FAO Mem-
bers and sub-regional organiza-
tions on the formulation and estab-
lishment of programmes and struc-
tures aiming at the con-
trol/eradication of animal diseases,
as well as at animal production
programmes; carry out studies of
selected regional animal produc-
tion and health problems; plan,
organize and participate in techni-
cal meetings, expert consultations,
seminars and training courses in
the field of animal production and
health;

collect data on the problems and
the current position of animal pro-
duction and health in the sub-
region, liaise with Inter-
governmental Organizations, Na-
tional Organizations and Non-
governmental Organizations on the
subject, as well as with intema-
tional research centres and Na-
tional Agricultural Research Insti-
tutes;

University degree in animal hus-
bandry or veterinary medicine,
with post graduate specialization,
preferably in animal health.
Seven years of progressively re-
sponsible professional experience
in animal science or veterinary
medicine

Working knowledge (level C) of
English and limited knowledge
(level B) of French
Ability to express ideas clearly and
concisely both orally and in writ-
ing. Ability to formulate, plan, co-
ordinate and evaluate programmes
and activities as well as draft tech-
nical reports. Ability to operate
effectively at policy level with
government officials and to main-
tain effective working relation-
ships with people of different na-
tional and cultural backgrounds.
Computer literacy and willingness
to use word processing equipment.

Experience in developing countries
in the region. Knowledge of FAO
operations and intemational coop-
eration.

A net salary per year (inclusive of
a variable element for post adjust-
ment) fi-om US$ 56339 to USS
70663 (without dependents) and
fi-om USS 60499 to USS 76261
(with dependents).
Type of appointment
Fixed Term: Three years

Application fi-om qualified women
candidates are encouraged.
Please note that FAO staff mem-
bers are intemational civil servants
subject to the authority of the Di-
rector-General and may be as-
signed to any activities, offices or
duty stations of the Organization.

(in all cases quote the vacancy
aimouncement nimiber) to:
Chief : Animal Health Service
(AGAH) - FAO Via delle Terme di
Caracalla 00100 Rome ITALY -
Fax No. 39 06 57053023
Staffmembers: Complete 10 cop-
ies of form ADM 75.
Other Candidates: Please com-
plete two copies of Personal His-
tory Form or send detailed Cur-
riculum Vitae if form not available.
Applicants will be contacted only
ifthey are short-listed. In this con-
nection please note that the selec-
tion process may take up to six
months for completion.
Note-. FAO is a non-smoking envi-
ronment.

of the order artiodactyla, rodents,
carnivores and primates. The dis-
ease is caused by the facultative
intracellular, acid fast bacillus,
Mycobacterium avium ssp. paratu-
berculosis. Infection occurs early
in life (first few months) mainly
through ingestion of contaminated
food and water. Although intra-
mammary and intra-uterine infec-
tions are possible, suckling on con-

laminated teats is the primary route
of infection for young animals.
Generally animals get tolerance to
new infection as they grow old, but
the immunity is never complete as
witnessed from the experimental
infection of adult animals. Al-
though animals are infected at
early age, clinical disease does not
usually develop until 2-5 years of
age.

Following ingestion M. a. paratu-
berculosis crosses the intestinal
mucosal barrier via the microfold
epithelial cells (M-cells) that are
found in the follicle-associated epi-
thelium overlying the Peyer\'s
patches and are taken up by mono-
nuclear phagocytes in the intestinal
mucosa and gut associated lym-
phoid organs (GALT). Macro-
phages are, however, the target
cells of mycobacterial infections
where the pathogens survive and
multiply until they eventually kill
the infected cell and spread to
other nearby cells. In response,
monocytes and lymphocytes are
recruited to the site of infection.
Infiltration of the infected tissue
with a large nimiber of inflamma-
tory cells leads to the thickening
and corrugation of the intestinal
mucosa particularly of the ileum.
This resuhs in the typical lesion of
Johne\'s disease.

In December 1999 the students of the Master of Science Course on Animal Pa-
thology of the Faculty of Veterinary 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 major objectives are:

•nbsp;Sharing scientific knowledge in Pathology,

•nbsp;Promoting exchange of knowledge between members,

•nbsp;Presentation and discussion of research results and,

•nbsp;Publication of club activities.

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

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

For further information and registration, please contact:

B.P. Singh, C/o Dept. of Pathology, 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: b.p.singh@vet.uu.nl

Clinically, the disease is character-
ized by reduced fertility and milk
production followed by chronic,
progressive loss of body condition,
intermittent or persistent diarrhea
with fecal shedding of the organ-
isms. Despite remaining alert with
normal and even sometimes in-
creased appetite, clinically ill ani-
mals continue to waste and even-
tually die. However, such clini-
cally detectable disease is not a
common finding, as a large propor-
tion (higher than 95%) of the in-
fected population remains sub-
clinical. More than 70% of the car-
rier states can not be detected with
any of the currently available di-
agnostic tests.

Paratuberculosis is now considered
as a cosmopolitan disease emerg-
ing from the shadow of other more
dramatic and costly animal patho-
gens. The development of new di-
agnostic tests with a relatively
higher sensitivity revealed the
wider distribution of the disease
both in terms of species spectrum
and geographic location. Although
lack of appropriate diagnostic tools
to detect early subclinical infec-
tions is still a limiting factor in es-
timating the true prevalence and
distribution of the disease, recent
epidemiological studies in several
coimtries indicated increasing pre-
valence rates.

Diagnosis of paratuberculosis can
be made by either detecting the
mycobacteria or measuring the
host responses. The organisms can
be detected from feces using fecal
smear, fecal culture or DNA
probes. As they are not normally
found in the gut, detection of the
organisms in the feces is generally
considered as infection. Host re-
sponses to paratuberculosis vary
according to the stage of the dis-
ease from mainly cell mediated
type in early subclinical stage to
mainly htmioral type in the clinical
stage. Interferon gamma assay and
intradermal skin tests are two of
the diagnostic tools to measure the
cell mediated immune response.
The commonly used tests to meas-
ure antibodies raised against M. a.
paratuberculosis are Complement
fixation test (CFT), agar-gel im-
muno-diffiision (AGID) and En-
zyme linked immuno-sorbant as-

say (ELISA). Both the antigen de-
tection and the immunodiagnostics
suffer from variable degree of un-
reliability. Although most of the
tests acquire maximum sensitivity
as the disease progress to clinical
stage, none of them are accurate
enough to detect early infection
before shedding of the organism.

Economic losses from paratuber-
culosis vary according to the re-
gion, the farm imit, and the species
involved. Direct economic losses
arise from premature culling, re-
duced milk yield and body weight
losses. On average, the cost of the
disease is estimated to be approxi-
mately US$ 100 to over 200 per
cow in moderately and heavily in-
fected herds, respectively. Losses
can be so great that profitable far-
ming can not be continued in the
affected herd. So far, there is no
major intemational trade restric-
tion due to paratuberculosis. Ex-
panding control, eradication and
market assurance programmes in
certain countries, however, indi-
cate a possible market restriction
in the fijture. Many countries are
now becoming increasingly inter-
ested in the control of paratubercu-
losis for economic, public health
and marketing reasons. Paratuber-
culosis is also gaining more and
more attention in relation to
Crohn\'s disease, a chronic granu-
lomatous infliammatory bowel dis-
ease in hirnian with imknown eti-
ology. Detection of M. a. paratu-
berculosis in milk originated from
clinically infected or asymptomatic
carrier cows together with the ca-
pacity of the organism to survive
pasteurization conditions warns its
access into the food chain. Some
markets have already demanded
more stringent pasteurization of
milk.

Control of paratuberculosis has
been a difficult task due to lack of
reliable diagnostic, curative, or
prophylactic technique. The know-
ledge about the epidemiology and
pathogenesis of the disease is also
inadequate. The importance of
vaccination in the control of the
disease is controversial. It reduces
the incidence of clinical disease in
cattle by more than 90% and thus
reduces the direct economic loss at
farm level. However, vaccination
prevents neither infection nor
shedding of the organisms. In addi-
tion, vaccination precludes serodi-
agnosis of paratuberculosis and
due to the presence of cross-re-
acting antigens it interferes with
diagnosis of tuberculosis. Being
shaded in an intracellular environ-
ment and in a very thick waxy cell
envelope, M. a. paratuberculosis is
not an easy target to antibacterial
therapy either. No single dmg is
capable of curing the disease.
Clinical improvements, reduction
in bacillaiy load, and fecal shed-
ding are possible with a combina-
tion of antimycobacterial dmgs.
However, in addition to being ex-
pensive, the dmgs can not eradi-
cate the disease and relapses are
common after treatment. There-
fore, treatment of infected animals
is not an option in case of paratu-
berculosis control. Currently para-
tuberculosis control strategies are
aiming at maintaining a clean farm
through prevention of new infec-
tion and culling of infected ani-
mals.

Department of Pathology
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine
Addis Ababa University
Debre Zeit, Ethiopia)

Wageningen, The Netherlands
29 October - 10 November, 2001
Intemational Course on Farm
Animal Diversity: Dynamics,
Utilisation and Preservation. Top-
ics: Introduction and problem
identification; The dynamics and
driving forces of farm animal di-
versity; Animal breeding and
farm animal diversity; Policy
principles in biodiversity and how
to manage for biodiversity; Meth-
odologies for problem analysis
and preparation of an action plan.
Organised by: Intemational Agri-
cultural Centre (lAC) and Wagen-
ingen University and Research
Cenfre. Information: lAC, P.O.

Box 88, 6700 AB Wageningen.
Tel.: 31.317.495495,
fax: 31.317.495395,
e-mail: training@iac.agro.nl.

Utrecht, The Netherlands
2 November, 2001
12\'\'\' Intemational symposium:
Tropical Animal Health and
Production. Theme: Dairy deve-
lopment in the tropics. Organised
by: Faculty of Veterinary Medi-
cine of Utrecht University and
Wageningen University and
Research Center. Information:
Office for Intemational Co-
operation, Faculty of Veterinary
Medicine, NL 3508 TD Utrecht.
Fax: 31.30.2531815,
e-mail: bic@vet.uu.nl.

Veterinary Pathology Sympo-
sium. Theme: Reproductive con-
straints in domestic and wild
animals (focusing on pathology).
Organised by: C.L. Davis DVTVl
Foundation, Southem and Eastem
Afiica Division.Registration fees:
for C L Davis Foundation mem-
bers US $ 75. Non-members US $
150. Information: Dr. Stephen M.
Njiro, Department of Veterinary
Pathology and Microbiology Fac-
ulty of Veterinary Medicine, Uni-
versity of Nairobi, P. O. Box
29053 Kabete,
Tel. and fax: 254.2.600410,
e-mail: snjiro@uonbi.ac.ke

25 November - 9 December, 2001
Intemational Course on Livestock
and Environment Interactions.
Organised by: Intemational Agri-
cultural Centre and Wageningen
Agricultural University. Fees:
NLG 5,500. Information: Director
of the lAC, P.O. Box 88, NL
6700 AB Wageningen,

14-15 December, 2001
National Symposium on Immu-
nodulation in Health and Disease
and Second Convention of the
Society for Immunology and Im-
munopathology. Programme: Ba-
sic concepts in Immunodulation;
Immunomodulatory molecules;
Immunopathology; Immunity in
mycobacterial infections; Immu-
nodiagnostics; Immunobiotech-
nology in agriculture. Organised
by: G.B. Pant University of Agri-
culture and Technology. Registra-
tion fee: Members: Rs 700, For-
eign delegates: US$ 100. Infor-
mation: Dr. R.S. Chauhan, De-
partment of Pathology, College of
Veterinaiy Sciences, G.B. Pant
University of Agriculture and
Technology, Pantnager- 263145
(Uttaranchai),

11 March-26 April, 2002
Intemational course on dairy far-
ming in rural development. Cour-
se programme: Input related as-
pects of dairy production for rural
development. System analysis
and design in agricultural devel-
opment, Practical dairy farm

management. Output related as-
pects of animal production for
rural development. Course fee:
€4500. Closing date for registra-
tion: 15 December, 2001. Infor-
mation and registration: lAC,
P.O. Box 88, 6700 AB Wagenin-
gen, The Netherlands.
Tel.: 31.317.495495,
fax: 31. 317.49.5395,

20-27 July, 2002
4th Intemational Conference on
Ticks and Tick-bome Pathogens
(TTP 4). Themes: Tick biology;
Tick-pathogen interaction; Tick-
host interface; Biological control
of ticks. Organised by: Prof R.
Kaufman, Department of Biologi-
cal Sciences, University of Al-
bert, Canada T6G2E9.
fax: 1.780.4929234,
tel.: 1.780.4923308,
e-mail: ttp4@biologv.ualberta.ca.
www.biolo gy.ualberta. ca/courses.

Montpellier, France
16-18 August 2002
Second Intemational Symposium
on Candidate Genes for Animal
Health. Organised by: CIRAD
and INRA.. Information: Jean-
Charles Maillard, CIRAD-
EMVT, TA30/G, Campus de
Baillarguet, 34398 Montpellier
Cedex 5, fax 33.467593798,
e-mail maillard@cirad.fr.
http://cgah.cirad.fr

World Congress on Genetics
applied to Livestock Production.
Organised by: INRA and CIRAD.
Programme: a.o. scientific ses-
sions on disease resistance. In-
formation: Département de Géné-
tique Animale, INRA, BP 27,
31326 Castanet-Tolosan, e-mail:
secreta-