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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to the editorial office.

In her opening speech, the chairperson
of the Symposium Organising Com-
mittee, Prof Dr. Akke van der Zijpp
from Wageningen-UR (The Nether-
lands), welcomed the more than 100
participants fi-om various continents
and paid a special warm welcome to
the 8 speakers of the day.
A broad and interesting spectrum of
topics would be addressed during the
day at the symposium. Dairy devel-
opment after all, involves many is-
sues, such as introduction of \'im-
proved\' cattle, growing fodder, hous-
ing, supplementary feeding, animal
reproduction and disease control
measures. It requires good infrastruc-
ture, appropriate support services and
fimctioning institutions.
The symposium paid attention to four
major areas of concern for the dairy
development sector: economic context
of dairy production, food security and
food safety, resources and support
services and institutions.

12th SYMPOSIUM ON TROPICAL
ANIMAL HEALTH AND PRODUCTION

DAIRY DEVELOPMENT IN THE TROPICS:
PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS

On the 2quot;\'\' of November, 2001, the 12*^ Symposium on Tropical Animal Health
was held at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University (The Neth-
erlands). For the first time, the symposium was organised by the Office for In-
temational Cooperation of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, in collaboration
with Wageningen University and Research Centre.

landse Organisatie voor Internationale
Bij stand, Netherlands), addressed the
audience with a presentation on \'Pul-
verising Pow(d)er, the consequences
of the EU Agricultural policy for
dairy farmers in Jamaica and Tanza-
nia\'. In this presentation he described
the enormous effects the Common
Agricultural Policy of the European
Union (EU) has on local markets and
production systems in both Jamaica
and Tanzania. With the subsidised
European powdered milk being
dumped at the Jamaican and Tanza-
nian market at low prices, it is ex-
tremely difficult for the farmers to
improve milk production, to work
more cost efficient and thus be more
competitive.

Dr. Henk Moll from Wageningen-UR
(The Netherlands) explained in his
presentation \'From meat to milk:
smallholders\' livelihoods and mar-
kets\', that appraisal of dairy charac-
teristics and production data, can give
a good overview of both the market-
able and non-marketable benefits and
costs of smallholder households. He
stated that there seems to be a clear
relationship between the technology
level applied and the institutional
environment, meaning that few mar-
ket linkages go together with low
levels of technology and vice versa. In
order to formulate effective livestock
policies, it is essential to, at least,
recognise and analyse this relation-
ship. In this way livelihood of live-
stock keepers can be improved and
interests of livestock product consimi-
ers can be served.

In many African countries there is a
strong tradition of buying raw milk,
according to Dr Steve Staal from
ILRI (Intemational Livestock Re-
search Institute, Kenya), in his pres-
entation \'Indigenous markets for dairy
products in Africa: frade-offs between
food safety and economics\'. The
choice has to be made between main-
taining high quality standards at high
costs and thus little interest for the
investments and continuation of a
large part of the uncontrolled informal
market, or acceptance of lower stan-
dards that can be reached with less
investments and maintenance of some
regulations. From a survey in Kenya it
was leamed that consumers generally
prefer raw milk, which will be boiled
before consmnption. Vendors with
and without Hcences sell roughly the
same quality of milk (often with anti-
microbial residues). Training and
certification of traders is likely to

result in a higher milk quality then
attempting to implement strict inter-
national milk standards.

Figures presented by Dr. Salvador
Femandez-Rivera\'s from ILRI (Inter-
national Livestock Research Institute,
Ethiopia) in his presentation \'Milk
production and feed requirements in
dairy systems of developing countries
by 2010\' indicate that the milk con-
sumption per capita in developing
coimtries will more than double from
1993 to 2020. This implicates that, in
order to increase the milk production,
supplying adequate feed resources and
improvement of the efficiency of their
conversion, are absolute conditions.
Classification of production systems
and projected annual growth rates for
milk and meat consumption were used
to predict where the highest milk pro-
duction increase can be expected,
which appears to be in the mixed rain-
fed and irrigated systems of Asia.
It is of great importance to create
policies that ensure that the small-
holders can also benefit from latest
developments in feed related tech-
nologies, such as participatory selec-
tion and development of crops and
forages and application of genomics
to feed production and utilisation.

Also Dr. Cees de Haan from the
World Bank (United States) stated in
his presentation entitled \'Dairy De-
velopment and the Environment: win-
ners and losers\', that there is a strong
growth in the demand for dairy prod-
ucts. This development offers inter-
esting opportunities for the develop-
ing countries. Especially in South
America, South Asia, East Afiica and
Central Europe, there are opportuni-
ties to expand dairy production and
hence reduce poverty and augment
sustainable resource use. In order to
achieve this, a multi-sectoral ap-
proach, involving all stakeholders is
required. In the meantime environ-
mental effects of dairy production
should be minimised (using the expe-
riences from the developed world).
Since it is likely that fiiture dairy pro-
duction will come from mainly me-
dium and small-scale farms, the focus
should be at these units. In order to
improve the environmental
sustainability of dairy production, one
should use (1) financial or pricing
instruments (subsidies most often
have a negative influence on the envi-
ronment), (2) property rights instru-
ments, (which stimulate conservation
of natural resources) and (3) regula-
tory and zoning instruments (i.e.
stocking rate regulation to certain
areas or restriction of access to vul-
nerable areas).

According to Dr. Alexander Kahi
from Egerton University (Kenya)
African cattle breeds have a number
of different hereditary characteristics
and react differently to environmental
stimuli. In his presentation \'Afi-ican
cattle genetic resources: their unique
attributes and conservation through
utilisation for milk production\'. Dr.
Kahi mentions that some African cat-
tle are disease resistant or tolerant
(trypanosomosis, endoparasites, ecto-
parasites), heat tolerant and well
adapted to the prevalent feedings.
Conservation options include ex situ
and in situ conservation. The latter
one to be divided in different scenar-
ios for efficient milk production, with
more or less influence from exotic
European breeds, different types of
pasturing etc. There are a number of
stakeholders in these conservation
efforts with their own roles. These

(1)nbsp;Farms where the nucleus herds
are kept that should provide supe-
rior genetic resources (participat-
ing farmers have to take care of
the animals),

(2)nbsp;National Agricultural Research
Systems, which will have to con-
tribute to the designing of and ca-
pacity building for the breeding
programmes

(3)nbsp;farmer\'s training centres and ex-
tension agents who should train
the farmers,

(4)nbsp;breed societies that should be
founded for the registration of the
animals, maintaining of records
and promotion of interest,

(5)nbsp;co-operatives that should join
forces and create their own infra-
structure,

(7)nbsp;policy and planning developers
who should create an enabling
environment for the farmers.

Prof. Jos Noordhuizen from Utrecht
University (The Netherlands) de-
scribed the \'Opportunities for veteri-
nary herd health programs (VHHP) in
Thailand\' as challenging. Thai dairy
farming, which started in 1961, is a
relatively new agricultural sector.
Therefore it is not a sector with gen-
erations of experience. Milk imports

are very costly and should be replaced
by improvement of national produc-
tivity. This could be achieved through
VHHP, by collecting and analysing
data, improving farmers\' knowledge,
cost-benefits calculations and im-
proved nutrition and housing. It is
important that opportunities are cre-
ated to include more herd health sub-
jects in the veterinary cmriculum at
the Thai universities.
Dr. Vinod Ahuja from the Indian In-
stitute of Management (India) pre-
sented \'Livestock health and breeding
services: efficiency and equity impli-
cations of privatisation\', in which he
stated that the livelihoods of the poor
are critically linked to the availability
of good supportive services. In gen-
eral poor and wealthier animal keep-
ers are prepared to pay for veterinary
and extension services. However, in
case there is privatisation of these
services, it remains the government\'s
responsibility to provide these serv-
ices at low costs for those who can\'t
afford to pay much. Transparency in
organisational processes, effective
legal frameworks and strong institu-
tions are conditions for the efficiency
of the private market.

Prof Van der Zijpp showed the
gratitude of the organisers to all
speakers and chairpersons by handing
over a token of appreciation and
thanking them for their excellent and
enthusiastic contribution to the sym-
posimn.

Another well-organised and thor-
oughly prepared Symposiimi with
lively discussions between audience
and speakers has pleased a great mmi-
ber of attendants.

(A copy of the programme and ab-
sfract book of the symposium can be
requested through the editor\'s address
of EQUATOR).

Recently the Joint FAO/IAEA Division for the Application of Nuclear Tech-
niques in Agricultme published a book on quot;Characteristics and parameters of
family poultry production in Africaquot;.

Ahnost every village household in Africa keeps domestic fowl (on average
between 5 and 20 birds). Poultry provides a good source of protein and ready
cash for the villagers. Moreover poultry helps to sustain the village economy
and contributes to the prevention of tu-ban migration. The benefits from family
poultry production go directly to the niral poor, in most cases to the women
being most active as caretakers.

Unfortunately family poultry production suffers from the constraints of dis-
ease, particularly Newcastle disease, insuffcient feeding and lack of housing. If
these constraints could be removed, productivity would be increased to the
direct benefit of the marginal farmer. The interaction of the 3 constraints un-
derlines the necessity for a holistic approach to intervention. Fiuthermore,
other constraints to poultry production should also be considered, such as mar-
keting increased niunbers of locally produced poultry products. A cost/benefit
analysis should also form part of the activities to assess the economic advan-
tage of the proposed interventions to the small scale farmer.
The book presents the results of this concerted and structured investigation on
traditional ways of poultry production in 12 different African cotmtries.

Applicants from developing countries can obtain the book free of charge. Ap-
plicants from countries with a high average income level can order the book at
the cost price of €uro 36.

The encyclopedia of arthropod-transmitted infections of man and domestic
animals

CABI Publishing, an intemational not-for-profit publisher in applied life sciences, has added a
new book to its series on parasites, insects and parasitic and arthropod-borne diseases of man and
domestic animals. This series is characterised by the presentation of knowledge on human and
animal related aspects in an integrated way. The books cover the respective subjects in a world-
wide perspective, in many instances with emphasis on the tropical regions.

The recent publication, \'The encyclopedia of arthropod-transmitted infections of man and
domestic animalscovers infections in humans and animals that are transmitted by arthropods
and the role of arthropods in their transmission. Over 80 intemational authors (listed in the book
with their e-mail addresses) contributed to the encyclopedia, which has 150 entries that are
presented in alphabetical order by the most common English name of the disease or the disease
agent. The scope is a 100-5000-word description of arboviral, viral, bacterial and rickettsial,
spirochaetal, protozoal and filarial infections of man and domestic animals. Information is
provided on distribution, clinical symptoms, diagnosis, transmission cycle, and treatment and
control measures. Figures, tables and black and white photos illustrate the text.

The description of the diseases and their causing agents is in general concise and includes the
most relevant and up-to-date information. Unfortunately, this is not always the case when one
looks for information on the vectors. The information on vectors can partially be found in the
sections on transmission and control but details on morphology, life cycles, host preference and
distribution is not provided at the level of detail as the information on the disease agent.

The editor and publisher can be complimented on the up to-date information which is provided
in the book (cited references up to the year 2000). The book, although it is an encyclopedia,
would have been easier accessible if a table of contents was added, as most subjects have more
then one entry.

The encyclopedia is certainly of interest to medical and veterinary scientists, virologists,
bacteriologists, parasitologists, entomologists and public health workers. The main value of the
book does not lay in the information provided in the readers own specialist discipline, but in the
easy at hand information on the many infections that one may encounter in humans and animals
when working under tropical (field) conditions or with humans or animals originating from these
areas. Specifically, to have information at hand on newly or re-emerging diseases is of major
importance for early diagnosis of these diseases.

In the recent past Kenneth Werimo, of
the Kenya Marine and Fisheries Re-
search Institute, Kisumu Research
Centre, came to Utrecht to visit the
Institute for Risk Assessment Sci-
ences (IRAS) and the Department of
Science of Food of Animal Origin of
the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine.
Here he investigated the possible
Maximum Residue Levels (MRL) of
Diazinon and Endosulfan in Tilapia
and Nile perch. He succeeded in de-
termining these maximmn residue
levels (see poster elsewhere in this
EQUATOR). The next step was to
determine the tme levels of contami-
nation in the fish in Lake Victoria.
After a positive discussion with my
supervisor Dr. Aldert Bergwerff of the
Department of Science of Food of
Animal Origin, my goal was set. I
would try go to the Kenyan part of
Lake Victoria to investigate the resi-
due levels of pesticides (diazinon and
endosulfan) in Tilapia and Nile perch.
After finding a reliable and repeatable
method to extract diazinon from fish,
water and sediment, the trip to Kenya
could be arranged.

On 11 March, 2002, my plane de-
parted from Amsterdam. I was really
excited to fly to Nairobi because this
would be the first time for me to be in
Africa. I had read a lot of books and
especially the Africa as described by
Wilbur Smith fed my imagination.
The contrast couldn\'t be bigger.

During the fifth year of the veterinary curriculimi at Utrecht University students
have to do a research project of 3 months. The veterinary faculty allows the stu-
dents, tmder strict conditions, to do this project in a foreign country. Maarten
Hoek is one of those students. He decided to go to the Kenyan part of Lake Vic-
toria to investigate the residue levels of pesticides (diazinon and endosulfan) in
Tilapia and Nile perch.

Immediately after my arrival in Nai-
robi I flew to Kisumu, the third largest
town and the biggest port on Lake
Victoria in Kenya. My astonishment
started the very minute I landed on the
grass airstrip. It would take me several
weeks to loose my amazement and to
put in place everything I had seen and
experienced.

My work was supported by KMFRI,
which stands for Kenya Marine Fish
Research Institute. This organization
was originally set up to monitor the
fishery in the Indian Ocean at the East
coast of Kenya. But when, in the early
eighties, the introduced Nile perch
started to flock and to endanger the
original fish species in Lake Victoria,
like Tilapia and other cichlids, another
office of KMFRI was opened in
Kistunu. The main goal of Ms office
is to monitor the populations of tilapia
and Nile perch, and the pollution in
the lake.

Another major problem, which has
arisen in Lake Victoria, is the water
hyacinth, originally introduced be-
cause of its beautiful flower. Nowa-
days large, impenetrable islands of
water hyacinths, block harbors and
create an ideal environment for the
snail that carries Bilharzia eggs. As a
result, Bilharzia is much more preva-
lent these days.

Because of deforestation the rivers to
the lake carry nowadays a lot more
minerals, which are good nutrients for
the water hyacinth. This threatens
other plant and animal life in the wa-
ter. The water became more and more
turbid over the last few years.

The office is located next to the
LVEMP (Lake Victoria Environ-
mental Managing Project). This or-
ganization works in close cooperation
with KMFRI, and its main task is to
minimize the damage to the lake
caused by human activities. The
LVEMP ovms the only iron boat, the
only diesel powered boat, the only
floating boat in the harbor. On this
boat I traveled along the Kenyan coast
all the way to Tanzania in the south
and Uganda in the north. We slept in
very small hotels with no electricity
and no running water, or we slept in
the houses of friends of the crew.
Sometimes the local people regarded
my presence as interesting. One fam-
ily showed me hospitahty as if I were
a good fiiend who came from far.
They cooked me a great dinner, took
me around tovm, which consisted of

40 bandas, took me to the bar and
cooked me another dinner when I
came back from the bar. Other times
the people regarded me as a walking
money tree. To me this was very con-
fronting and difficult to deal with. It
was in these places I learned the most.

For sampling we trolled the lake, each
catch was a surprise. What would be
in the net? How many fish? How big?
It was always on my mind that just a
few years earlier thousands of people
were slaughtered in Rwanda and
washed away into the lake. Luckily
we only caught fish. The biggest one
was a 2 meter long, 80 kg Nile perch.
For ground sampling we used an iron
trap that bit into the bottom of the
lake. The lake is only 40 meters deep
at the deepest point. For water sam-
pling we used the surface water. After
the boat trip I put all the samples
safely in the freezer to analyzed at a
later stage.

Following my research work in
Kisumu, I made a journey through
Kenya. First I traveled to Lake Nai-
vasha. At this place there are many
flower farms and coffee and tea plan-
tations. Europeans, especially English
and Dutch farmers, own these farms.
Local people profit from these activi-
ties by earning a few dollars a day.

Some nights were spent in
small hotels without running
water or electricity
(Photo: Hoek)

After visiting Lake Naivasha, I frav-
eled to the National Park Kakamekka
Rainforest. It is the only relic of the
once huge rainforest that covered
most of Kenya. It is not more than a
shadow now with a mere 2 percent of
the forest that once was home to many
animals. Upon entering the park some
things immediately caught my atten-
tion. I couldn\'t believe that in this na-
tional park illegal deforestation, char-
coal production and hunting took
place at such a large scale. Just after a
short walk in the park I was already
accustomed to the people who tried to
sell me fur. Most of this fiir came
from endangered species, like the
colobus monkey.

After Kakamekka I traveled to Mom-
bassa. This journey was as scaring as
amazing. It is very special to drive
through the bigger reserves and to see
impala and zebra miming alongside
the bus. The frightening part was the
recklessness of the drivers. Road ac-
cidents are imerringly common, and
you pass many while traveling from
one place to the next.
Mombassa was no big siuprise any-
more. Poverty, chaos, street children
with starvation bellies, blindness as a
result of lack of vitamins, in shrill
contrast with the few tourists who
drive in big four-wheel drives. These
people close their eyes for the real life
in Kenya, ignoring the problems, just
enjoying their holiday on private
beaches, prohibited for local people.

After Mombassa I traveled to Nairobi.
I had had it. Tired and disillusioned of
what I had experienced, I wanted to
go home. Flee back to the safety and
wealth of my own coimtry.

I often had a feeling of misplacement
that I should not be there, that I came
from another world, the rich world
that neglected and ignored the dark
side of its flourishing economy. How
could this be possible in the 21st
century? How could we go on holi-
days, spend fortunes on things we
don\'t really need, when just a few
hours flying from our homes people
starve from hunger and easily curable
diseases?

The concentrations In postive sediments (3 out of 14 samples) ranged
from 0.45 pg\'kg to 0.64 pg/kg. Two positives were collected at river mouths.

Kenneth Werimo\'. Maarten Hoek\', Peter Scherpe^lsse^ Willem Seinen^ and Aldert BergwerfP-\'
gt; Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute. Kisumu Research Centre. Kisumu, Kenya; ^ Department of the Science of Food of Animal Origin,

Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University and = Institute for Rislc Assessment Sciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
■ Presenting author: WDO, Fac. of Vet. Med., Utrecht University, PO Box 60175, NL-3508 TD Utrecht, Netheriands; a.a.bergwerff@wdo.vet.uu.nl

The use of pesticides to catch fish in African waters may have attributed to many casualties under the local
population through consumption of poisoned fish. The organophosphate ester diazinon {diethyl-2-isopropyl-6-
methyl-4-pyrimidinyl phosphorothionate) was one of the pesticides identified. The environmental and public
health risks associated with this practice requires proper infomnation on the effects and fate of this chemical in
fish, the aquatic system and consumers. Furthermore, fish from Lake Victoria has found markets woridwide
and intemational trading requires monitoring for residues of pesticides. This pesticide is namely also in large
quantities in crop, tea and coffee bean production, contaminating the environment.

To develop an analytical chemical method suitable for determination of residues of diazinon in water,
sediments and fish.

To establish the lethal body burden of diazinon in Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus (L)) for risk
assessment studies involving human consumption of contaminated fish.

To investigate the level of residues of diazinon in the environment (sediments, surface water and fish).

• Four groups of ten fish were exposed to either 0.56, 1.0, 1.8 or 3.2 mg/l diazinon at 22°C ( rC). One diazioon-free aquarium with ten fish
was taken through the procedure as control. Numbers of lifeless fish were monitored at 24, 48, 72 and 96 h exposure inten/als. Fish that did
not show any tactile response were considered dead, and were processed for analysis.
■ Fish {Nile perch and tilapia) were sampled in April 2002 at 15 different locations in Lake Victoria at the Kenyan part and analysed.
Furlhemiore, sediments and surface water were samples at 14 and 17 different locations, respectively.

Extraction of fish material and sediments from Lake Vicoria was facilitated with 2 g sodium chloride followed by
acetone/dlchloromethane (DCM) (1:1, v/v). Supernatant was dried by rotary evaporation. Residual fish material
was solubilised in fvIeOH/ water (7:3, v/v), whereas that of the sediments was suspended in EtOH/ water (1:9,
v/v). Sediment suspensions and Lake surface water were applied to C18-SPE. Analytes were eluted with
MeOH. Eluates and fish tissue extracts were analysed by RP HPLC in line with a triple quad tandem mass
spectrometer by monitoring transition of [M H]* at m/z 305 into m/z 169 and m/z 153.nbsp;_

After reliving the period in my mind
over and over again, 1 now want to go
back, to help the people. The experi-
ence was not what I expected it to be.
It was confronting, unlike anything I
had ever seen in other developing
countries. But 1 am very grateful. I
went to Kenya to leam something
about research, but the biggest lesson
was something else. I have a deep re-
spect for the people living there,
working, and trying to make a differ-
ence. Special appreciation deserve the
people who work at Pandiperi. This
aid organization gives street children a
chance, they teach them to become
shoemaker, carpenter or another pro-
fession. They also test people on HIV
voluntarily, and educate the interested
in different infectious diseases.

After analyzing the samples and the
methods used in Kenya to gather the
samples, no clear conclusion could be
made. We found some traces of Di-
azinon in fish, water and ground, but,
unfortunately, we also detected a
contamination with diazinon in the
methanol we used. In the fish samples
we didn\'t use the methanol, but the
amount of pollution was low.

The tolerable daily Intake (tDI) of diazinon is 0.002 mg (S.B-IQ-^ mnnol ) per kg body weight. Assuming the consumption of
300 g fish caught illegally with the pesticide by a person of 60 kg, the diazinon intake exceeds the tDI by a factor 83.

Despite detectable levels of the pesticide in Lake sediments, surface water and fish were apparently free of the pesticide.
All values found were below LOQ and thus below the MRL (0.7 mg/kg in either pork or poultry and 0.05 mg/kg in all meat
species as listed in June 2001).

tnsda possible through a scholarship fwn the Utrscht Unh/ersity Scholarship Prrsgramma, anlt;3 by support frc«^
Lake VkMOfia Rshorles Research Project [LVf RP) tof K.W, M.H. was support« By a fallawship of Iho Utrecht
Univorsily Trajaclum FuaQ made avaiSaWB through the Faculty of Velorino^y Medldno.

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS IN THE COLLABORATION BETWEEN THE
VETERINARY FACULTIES AT ONDERSTE POORT (SOUTH AFRICA)
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. 1, March 2000). After 2/2 years EQUATOR
looks back on some of the latest developments.

under the MOU is being evaluated
each year. In March 2002 the activi-
ties of the second year of the MOU
were evaluated at a meeting held in
Utrecht. The evaluation was per-
formed by Prof. Comelissen, dean of
the Veterinary Faculty of UU, Prof.
Terblanche, deputy dean of the veteri-
nary faculty of OP and Prof
Coubrough and Dr. Paling, co-

ordinators of the MOU, together with
Prof Coetzer. Following the meeting
a detailed report of activities and a
joint worlqjlan was prepared for im-
plementation in 2002.

Continuation of the appointment of
Prof Dr. Frans Jongejan of UU as an
extraordinary professor in the De-
partment of Veterinary Tropical Dis-
eases at the Faculty of Veterinary Sci-
ence at Onderstepoort strengthens the
scientific bond between both faculties,
especially in the field of ticks and
tick-bome diseases.
The appointment of Prof Dr. Koos
Coetzer of Onderstepoort as a part
time professor in Tropical Veterinary
Medicine at UU\'s Department of In-
fectious Diseases and Immunology
will be continued, hi 2001 Prof Coet-
zer was awarded an quot;EZA fellowshipquot;
of Utrecht University\'s expertise cen-
ter for southem Africa to visit Utrecht
and to strengthen the links in educa-
tion between Utrecht University and
universities in the SADC region.
Prof Dr. Cheryl McCrindle repre-
sented the Onderstepoort faculty as an
extemal examiner and member of the
academic board at the public PhD the-
sis defence at UU by Dr. Pamela
Woods from the University of Zim-
babwe (Harare) in December 2001.

successfully defended his PhD thesis,
entitled \'The clinicopathology and
pathology of selective toxicoses and
storage diseases of the nervous system
of ruminants in southem Africa\' at
UU and was awarded the title of Doc-
tor of Philosophy in June, 2002.
Two Onderstepoort staff members
have almost concluded the first year
of their 2-year MSc course on Animal
Pathology at UU. During the course
they performed their course work and
started the preparations for the re-
search projects, largely to be con-
ducted in Africa. They were both sup-
ported by a DELTA scholarship of the
Nuffic (the Netherlands) for participa-
tion in this course.

Two other yoimg scientists of OP
started their research projects at UU in
2001 and will register for PhD degree.
Their respective research projects are
concemed with the molecular charac-
terisation of tick-bome pathogens and
the study of interferons in relation to
tuberculosis in wildlife.
These two scientists also received a
DELTA scholarship for the first part
of their research period at UU. Both
will be appointed as staff members in
the Department of Tropical Animal
Health at Onderstepoort.

Seven Dutch veterinary students have
successfiilly conducted a student\'s
research project of 3 months at the
Onderstepoort Veterinary Faculty in
2001. Both South African and Dutch
staff supervised the projects. In the
same year one Dutch student partici-
pated in the clinical rotation pro-
gramme at OP for 3 months. Thanks
to recognition by UU of the study
programme at OP, study points could
be given to all 8 students.
In October 2001 one Dutch student
started in the Onderstepoort Clinical
rotation programme for a full aca-
demic year.

It seems that, so far, joint application
for funding of research has been
rather beneficial. For example Senter
(Netherlands Ministry of Economic
Affairs) approved the Biochip Project.
This project, on the diagnosis of tick-
bome diseases in wildlife, started in
June 2001 and covers a three-year
period of co-operation between OP,
UU and Isogen Ltd. Next to this,
funding for a two-year research pro-
ject (at OP) on cerebral theileriosis in
cattle in Tanzania, has been approved
by the British Department of Intema-
tional Development (DFID) and
started in June 2001. A Belgian vet-
erinarian executes the project as part
of her PhD programme imder supervi-
sion of and with technical support
from Prof Frans Jongejan and Dr.
Stoltsz. Early 2002 a grant was re-
ceived from Prince Bernard of the
Netherlands for support of the Tuber-
culosis research in rhinoceros. Further
applications for funding of the wild-
life research will be submitted to vari-
ous agencies and foundations. For
example a proposal for research on
reproduction in ostrich has been sub-
mitted to NWOAVOTRO (in the

Prof Coetzer chaired a session
during the 12th Symposium on
Tropical Animal Health and
Production m Utrecht
(Photo: De Gooijer)

ICTTD, an intemational network on
the control of ticks and tick home dis-
eases in which UU and OP play an
important role, has successfully ap-
plied for a subcontract for tick taxon-
omy, from a large EU project con-
ceming a database on all living crea-
tures on earth.

In November 2001 Prof Coetzer was
invited as chairman of a session of the
12\'\'\' aimual Symposiimi on Tropical
Animal Health and Production, Dairy
Development in the Tropics (see also
elsewhere in this issue of EQUA-
TOR). Prof Coetzer was also invited
to join the Editorial Board of Veteri-
nary Sciences Tomorrow (VetScite), a
scientific joumal published on the
hitemet by FVM/UU (http://www.
vetscite.org/). Video conferencing fa-
cilities are now operational at both
faculties. This has already proven to
be very useful for research groups
with participants at both faculties.

Following the evaluation of the MOU
in March 2002, the Deans of the OP
and UU faculties concluded: Tt is
without hesitation that the review
committee recommends the continua-
tion of the objectives set out in the
MOU during 2002. This will be to the
mutual benefit of both institutions and
their respective universities and con-
solidate the collaboration established
during the second year of the imple-
mentation of the MOU\'.

The Dutch Committee for Afghanistan (DCA-VET), a foundation with its headquarters in Lelystad, The Netherlands, is
specialised in veterinary programmes in Afghanistan. Under its responsibility a veterinary training and support programme is
being implemented, initially in Peshawar, Pakistan, later in Kabul and Herat, both in Afghanistan. Since its inception, more
than 10 years ago, the project has trained over five himdred paravets who are deployed in different field programmes within
Afghanistan. The project is also involved in technical and logistical backstopping of field staff and extension work. Funds
for the programme are secured, usually on an annual base, from various donors, more recently mainly from the European
Community. In view of the expansion of its programme, the Foundation is seeking suitable candidates for the following
posts:

For the overall co-ordination of the programme, the Board of the Foundation is looking for a:

(backgroimd in veterinary medicine or livestock production is highly appreciated, but candidates with other technical
backgrounds are also invited to reflect)

Duties: The Programme Manager will be in charge of supervising and monitoring the various components of the
programme, in close collaboration with Afghan counterpart staff. He will be also responsible for the extemal contacts of the
organisation in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Qualifications required: Good managerial Qualifications are essential, and considered even more important than experience
in development work. Some seniority is ^ ci. Fluency in English, both written and verbal, and computer experience are
considered as necessary qualifications.

To assist in t\' wo-ordinauon of the programme, the Board of the Foundation is also looking for a:

(backgroimd in veterinary medicine or livestock production is highly appreciated, but candidates with other technical
backgrounds are also invited to reflect)

Duties: The Project Manager will be in charge of supervising and monitoring part of the programme, in close collaboration
with Afghan counterpart staff and with the Project Manager/Project Director.

Qualifications required: Some managerial qualifications are welcome, as is experience in development work. Fluency in
English, both written and verbal, and computer experience pre considered as necessary qualifications.

Offered for both posts is a challenging position in a programme that has demonstrated its value for improving the
livelihood of the local population. Duty station will be initially in Peshawar, Pakistan, with fi-equent travel to project areas in
Afghanistan.

Offered is a contract for one year, with possibility for extension Tvith at least another year. Envisaged starting date:
July 2002. Salaries are in line with Public Service remuneration within The Netherlands.

Applications containing fiill CV can be submitted within 4 weeks of this publication to:

Stichting Dutch Committee for Afghanistan (DCA-VET) att. B.E.C. Schreuder, P.O.Box 65, 8200 AB Lelystad, The
Netherlands

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 Ce-
dex 5

18-23 August, 2002
World Buiatrics Congress
Information: School of Veterinary
Medicine, Clinic for Cattle Diseases,
Bischofsholer Damm 15, D-30173

19-23 August 2002
7quot;^ World Congress on Genetics ap-
plied to Livestock Production. Or-
ganised by: INRA and CIRAD. Pro-
gramme: a.o. scientific sessions on
disease resistance. Information: Dé-
partement de Génétique Animale,
INRA, BP 27, 31326 Castanet-
Tolosan.

26-28 August, 2002
12th FAVA Congress and 14th Vete-
rinary Association Malaysia and 1st
Intemational Conference on Emerg-
ing Zoonoses and WSAVA/OIE/
WHO Meeting.

T\'heme: \'Globalisation - Challenges
to the veterinary profession\'. Ma-
laysian Intemational Exhibition and
Showroom, Kuala Lumpur. Informa-
tion: Veterinary Association Malay-
sia c/o Veterinary Research Institute,
Ipoh, Malyasia tel.: 605.547.3507,
fax: 605.547.3509,
vamsec@jphvri .po. my,
http://www.dtsweb.eom/fava2002

1 September, 2002 - 31 August, 2004
Intemational MSc programme of the
Graduate School of Animal Health,
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine
Utrecht University Programme: MSc
Course \'Veterinary Epidemiology
and Farm Economics\' (18 months,
fee € 11.500, MSc Course \'Animal
Pathology\', (24 months, fee: €
16,000); MSc course \'Veterinary
Anaesthesiology\', (18 months, fee: €
16,000). Registration before 1 Au-
gust, 2002. Information: Office for
Intemational Co-operation, Faculty
of Veterinary Medicine. P.O. Box
80.163, 3508 TD Utrecht
fax: 31.30.2531815,
bic@vet.uu.nl,
http://www.vet.uu.nl/

16-18 September, 2002
Symposium on \'Vaccines for OIE
List A and Emerging Animal Dis-
eases\'. Organised by: Intemational
Association for Biologicals (lABs),
the Office Intemational des Epizo-
oties (OIE), the USDA Animal and
Plant Health Inspection Service
(APHIS) and the Institute for Intema-
tional Cooperation in Animal Biolog-
ies (IICA). Programme: review of the
availability, safety and efficacy of
veterinary vaccines for OIE List A
diseases and for selected emerging
animal diseases. Information: Insti-
tute for Intemational Cooperation in
Animal Biologies, Iowa State Uni-
versity, College of Veterinary Medi-
cine, Ames, Iowa
tel.: 1.515.2947632;
fax: 1.515.2948259,
iicab@iastate.edu,

25 - 29 September, 2002
World Veterinary Congress, Infor-
mation: Worldvet Tunisia 2002, PO
Box, 267 Tunis Mahraj One, 1082
Tunisia

1 October 2002 - 31 March, 2004
Master of Science course in Tropical
Veterinary Epidemiology. The course
is a combination of course work in
Berlin and research in the home

country. Fee for full programme: €
14,930. Closing date: 30 June, 2002.
Application: Co-ordinator Postgradu-
ate studies. Free University, Luisen-
strasse 56, 10117 Berlin,
tel.: 49.30.20936063,
fax: 49.30.20936349,
tropvet@city.vetmed.fu-berlin.de
http:\\\\wwwl .vetmed.fu-berlin.de

7 -11 October, 2002
31st Annual Conference of the Para-
sotology Society of Southem Africa.
Location: Golden gate Highlands Na-
tional Park, Eastem Free State. In-
formation: Conference secretariat,
Prof P.A. Mbati, PARSA 2002,
Parasitology Research Programme,
Qwa-Qwa Campus, University of the
North, Private Bag XI3, Phuthadit-
jhaba, 9866 South Africa
tel.: 27.58.7130211,
fax: 27.58.7130226,
parsa2002@ uniqwa.ac.za

15-18 October, 2002
Intemational conference: Primary
Animal Health Care in the 21st Cen-
tury: Shaping the mles, policies and
institutions. Themes: General policy,
legislation and institutional issues;
Financial sustainabihty and privatisa-
tion; Policies and animal health re-
search; Policy on training and leam-
ing issues; Policy on community-
based surveillance. Organised by
CAPE Unit of PACE/OAU-IBAR.
Location: Whitesands Hotel, Mom-
bassa. Information and registration:
Dr. Keith Sones, c/o CAPE Unit of
PACE Progranune, OAU-IBAR,
P.O.- box 30786, 00100 Nairobi
fax: 254.2.212289,
ksones@net2000ke.com

13quot; Intemational symposium: Tropi-
cal Animal Health and Production.
Theme: Risks of infections in wild-
life. Organised by: Faculty of Vete-
rinary Medicine of Utrecht Univer-
sity Information: Office for Inter-
national Co-operation, Faculty of
Veterinary Medicine, NL 3508 TD
Utrecht fax: 31.30.2531815,
bic@vet.uu.nl (for details see else-
where in this EQUATOR).

Intemational Conference: \'Respon-
ding to the Increasing Global De-
mand for Animal Products\'. Organ-
ised by: British Society of Animal
Science, American Society of Ani-
mal Science, Mexican Society of
Animal Production. Location: Uni-
versidad Autonoma de Yucatan.
Theme: responding to the global de-
mand for an increase in animal prod-
ucts and the effects of this on live-
stock producers in developing coun-
tries. Information: Dr. Mauricio
Resales, Virtual Research and De-
velopment Centre Livestock, Envi-
ronment and Development Initiative
(LEAD), Animal Production and
Health Division, FAO, Viale delle
Terme di Caracalla,
tel.: 39.6.570 56117,
fax: 39.6.57055749,
mauricio.rosales@fao.org,
http://lead.virtualcentre.org,
http://www.asas.org/merida02,
http://www.bsas.org.uk

18 -- 29 November, 2002
Intemational Course on Livestock -
Environment Interactions. Organised
by: Intemational Agricultural Centre
and Wageningen Agricultural Uni-
versity. Closing date for application:
1 September 2002. Fees: € 2.500.
Information: lAC, P.O. Box 88, NL
6700 AB Wageningen
tel: 31.317.495495,
fax: 31.317.495395,
training@iac.agro .nl,
http://www.iac.wageningen-ur.nl

19-22 October, 2003
8th World congress of the World
Small Animal Veterinary Association
(WSAVA). Queen Surukit National
Convention Centre (QSNCC), Bang-
kok. Information: Dr. Samit Karun-
yavanij, Congress Secretariat
WSAVA 2003, Bangkok RAI Exhi-
bitions, 226/36-37 Bond Street, Rivi-
era Tower 1, Muang Thong Thani,
Bangpood, Pakkred, Nonthaburi
11120, Thailand
tel.: 66.2.960.0141-3,
fax: 66.2.960.0140,
wsava@bkkrai.com and
samit@bkkrai.com,
http://www.wsava2003.com/
http://www.bkkrai.com

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

W.G.G.M. van der Maazen DVM
R.W. Paling DVM PhD
(editor-in-chief)
P.R. van Weeren DVM PhD

Faculty of Veterinary Medicine
Office for International Cooperation
RO. 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.

On 26 November, 2002, the Office for International Cooperation (BIC) of the Faculty
of Veterinary Medicine of Utrecht University celebrated its 15th anniversary with a
\'BIC party\'. Among the special guests who came to Utrecht for this occasion were
Prof Laszio Fodor, Deputy Dean for International Affairs of the Faculty of Veterinary
Science of the Szent Istvan University of Budapest, Hungary, Mr Tiber Kiss,
Ambassador of Hungary to the Netherlands, Mr. Miklosz Morocz, Press and Cultural
attaché of the Hungarian Embassy and Mr. Vasin Teeravechyan, Ambassador of the
Kingdom of Thailand to the Netherlands.

Apart from these special guests, more than 100 people came to congratulate the
BIC staff, Dr. Robert Paling, Mr Jean de Gooijer, Mrs. Anke van Doom, who form
the long-time \'crew\' of the Office and Mrs. Adja van Oers and Drs. Hellen van der
Maazen, who have joined BIC in recent years. The guests were (former) staff and
students of the Faculty but also the approximately 75 visitors from 30 different
countries who are, at the moment, studying or working at the Faculty as well as
colleagues from Utrecht University\'s central office and from other collaborating
institutes in the Netherlands. After Dr Robert Paling had welcomed the guests, the
Dean of the Faculty Prof Albert Cornelissen and the Rector Magnificus of Utrecht
University Prof Willem Hendrik Glspen, addressed the audience.

People could take notice of what BIC
has been doing over these 15 years.
The Dean highlighted the role played by
BIC within the Faculty and the Rector
reflected on the international position of
the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine over
the last 15 years. Following up the
initiative that was started 5 years ago at
the 10th anniversary, three \'BIC awards\'
were announced and handed over to
the winners by the Rector.

In his speech, the Dean of the Faculty of
Veterinary Medicine, Prof. Albert
Comelissen, noted that \'One of the
major driving forces of university
education and research programmes is
international linkage, enabling
exchanges of students and staff
between sister institutions. International
collaboration is indeed a strong inductor
of quality, both in curriculum develop-
ment as well as in research program-
mes. The Office for International
Cooperation has been instrumental for
our Faculty to set up such programmes.
I will highlight some of these activities\'.

The Dean continued: To be at the fore-
front of veterinary education has been
an ambition of this Faculty for many
years. The former Deans, Prof Monne
van den Bergh and Prof. Hans de Vries,
have initiated this policy and also here
the Office for international Cooperation
is of crucial importance. Firstly, the
educational programme of our Faculty
is evaluated by four different
organizations: the Association of
the Netherlands Universities (VSNU),
the European Association of
Establishments of Veterinary Education
(EAEVE) and the American and
Canadian Veterinary Medical
Associations (AVMA and CVMA). Our
veterinary curriculum fulfils all
requirements set out by these organiza-
tions and is thus approved and
accredited. This opens interesting inter-
national career perspectives for our
graduates. The Office for International
Cooperation is now responsible for the
organization of the process of maintai-
ning the accredited status of the
Faculty. Secondly, an international
Master programme was developed in
collaboration with the staff of our
Faculty. Presently we run on an annual
basis MSc courses in Animal Pathology,
Veterinary Anaesthesiology and
Veterinary Epidemiology and Farm
Economics. From 2003 onwards this
programme will be extended with three
additional courses, namely:
Bioveterinary Sciences, Laboratory
Animal Sciences and Toxicology and
Environmental Health\'.

Turning to science Prof Comelissen
stated that: \'Science is nowadays an
international endeavour. Research at
the forefront of veterinary medicine is

characterized by its multidisciplinary
and international partnerships.
Approximately sixty percent of all publi-
cations of our Faculty have at least one
international co-author In relation to the
international perspective of science, it is
of interest to note here that a large
cohort of international PhD students
participates in our Institute of Veterinary
Research (IVW) and the Graduate
School of Animal Health (GSAH). One
out of four PhD students comes from a
sister institution outside of The
Netherlands. Also here the Office for
International Cooperation is of crucial
importance; it has to take care of the
needs of 25-35 international PhD
students\'. Turning to the Rector: \'I also
would like to express my gratitude to
our Rector, since the central University
has co-sponsored many of these PhD
students through the scholarship
programmes. Although these policies
have, however, changed into a new
direction, I hope that we can still count
on future support for our activities\'.
Prof. Cornelissen continued: \'In addition
BIC provides support to writing grant
applications for both the National

Science Council (NWO) as well as the
programmes of the European Union
(EU) for research grants enabling
research collaboration in North-South
partnerships. Finally, BIC organizes on
an annual basis the Symposium on
Tropical Animal Health and Production.
This symposium covers a wide range of
subjects, for instance in 2001 \'Dairy
development in the tropics\' and this
year \'Risks of infections in wildlife\'. This
symposium attracts between 100-120
international participants\'.

\'Some of you might have wondered why
the ambassadors of Hungary and
Thailand honoured us with a visit to day.
This is due to the most important task
for the Office for International
Cooperation and well our collaboration
with preferred partners on each of the
continents. Our Faculty has the policy
to sign a Memorandum of
Understanding (MOU) with, in principal,
one sister institution on each continent.
These MOU\'s are characterized by spe-
cific elements such as staff exchange,
capacity building, curriculum develop-
ment, research collaboration and stu-
dent exchanges. The MOU\'s are signed
for an initial period of five years, but we
prefer to maintain them, on basis of
mutual interest and success, for periods
of 10 to 15 years. Presently, we have
three MOU\'s:

•nbsp;An Agreement of Cooperation with
the Faculty of Veterinary Science of
the Szent Istvan University of
Budapest. This is the fourth, 5 year-
phase of our collaboration.

•nbsp;A second 5-year MOU was signed in
1998 with the former Thai Ministry of
University Affairs (MUA) on behalf of
five public veterinary faculties at the
Chulalongkom, Kasetsart, Khon
Kaen, Chiang Mai and Mahidol
universities. The Thai government
has, via the prestigious \'King\'s
fellowship programme\' and the
scholarship programme of the MUA,
supported this MOU. Six young Thai
colleagues obtained their PhD from
our faculty and university and do hold
faculty positions at their home
institution. At this moment eleven
Thai PhD students are working on
their PhD in Utrecht.

• The third MOU was started in 2000
and concerns collaboration with the
Faculty of Veterinary Science,
Onderstepoort, South Africa. On
basis of this MOU, Prof. Koos
Coetzer was appointed on the chair
of Tropical Veterinary Medicine in
Utrecht for five years\'.

Prof Comelissen concluded his speech
by saying: The future of the Office for
International Cooperation will not
change dramatically. Our policy will
focus on long-term commitments with a
limited number of sister institutions and
international exchange of students and
staff. One of the challenges for the
coming years will be setting up
international masters with sister
institutions. We will start to explore this
with the Faculty of Veterinary Science in
Onderstepoort, in conjunction with the
Tropical Institute in Antwerp, Belgium
and the Association of Institutes for
Tropical Veterinary Medicine, of which
Dr. Paling is a board member\'.

Magnificus Prof Gispen took the floor
to congratulate the Faculty with the
celebration of the 15th year anniversary
of its international office. The Rector,
who has his background in the medical
faculty, stressed the importance of such
an international office for the veterinary
Faculty itself as well as for the
University. He indicated that, although
at the beginning the central
administration had been a bit afraid of
loosing \'business\' if the faculties started
their own international offices, soon it
was realized that this was a good
development as both offices are
supplementary to each other. The
veterinary Faculty had a programme for
development cooperation since the
1970\'s, far before international
cooperation became a cornerstone of
university policy. When the faculty\'s
programmes of international activities
expanded, it became clear that these
could only be handled through close
cooperation between the faculty\'s and
the central Office for International
Relations.

After all these serious talks it was time
for a joyful event when Prof Gispen
announced that the celebrating office
was going to give away 3 rewards with
a price to be spent on \'international
travel\'. Prof. Gispen handed out the
following 3 awards.

The award for the most appreciated
international partner institute, which is
an international certificate and an
amount of € 1.000, is for a veterinary
faculty that has distinguished itself as a
longstanding many-sided partner for
collaborative activities. Involving
various departments of the Utrecht
Faculty, involving staff exchange and
collaboration in education and
research, and a both-way student
exchange programme.
For this award the University of
Veterinary Science in Budapest,
Hungary, now the Faculty of Veterinary
Medicine of the Szent Istvan University,
was selected. Following participation of
Utrecht and Budapest in 2 successful
TEMPUS projects in the nineties, both
institutions signed in 2000 the 4th

bilateral agreement. Prof. Laszio Fodor,
vice Dean for International Relations,
who had come from Budapest for the
occasion, was really surprised and he
felt honoured with the award.

The next award and prize was for a
veterinary student of the Utrecht Faculty
who did a successful international
traineeship. The winner of this award
receives an international certificate of

-nbsp;The student should have made a
useful contribution to his/her own
veterinary training

-nbsp;During the stay at the sister Faculty,
he or she should also have contrib-
uted something of substantial educa-
tional relevance to the host institute

-nbsp;And he or she should be a respected
international representative of our
Faculty.

For this award in fact 2 students were
selected: Laura van Hoof en Dorien
Boon. Both are 6th year veterinary
students who had done their trainees-
hip together in Thailand on the introduc-
tion of a Herd Health Programme in
dairy young stock. Not only had they
done a thorough investigation, but they
also contributed to real student exchan-
ge, by stimulating Thai students to visit
Utrecht and by assisting them and
showing them some of the student life
and Dutch culture.

Reward for \'A Utrecht
veterinary scientist who
made a remarkable
contribution to international
research collaboration\'
The last award and prize of €750 was
for a Utrecht veterinary scientist who
made a remarkable contribution to
international research collaboration. For
this award Ben Colenbrander, since
1985 professor in the reproduction of
male animals, was selected.
During the last 10 years Prof.
Colenbrander had build around him a
very impressive group of international
PhD students. He supervised 5 PhD

aF«
V .

The 2 student award winners, Dorien Boon (left) and Laura van Hoof with Mr. Vasin Teeravechyan,

Ambassador of Thailand (Photo: AVAD)

students fronn Thailand, Taiwan, India
and Iran, who recently completed their
PhDs. At this moment he has 10 PhD
students studying in Utrecht coming
from: Brazil, Iran, Spain, Croatia, South
Africa, Thailand, Taiwan, Libya and
Portugal.

Prof. Colenbrander not only inspires his
students scientifically but he also takes
a sincere personal interest and even
visits them in their home country.

For the occasion the BIC staff had
prepared a \'BIC Photo show\' of about
50 pictures. The photos were exposed
in the reception hall to highlight the
various activities of the Office for
International Cooperation over the past
15 years. The photos were selected to
demonstrate the various activities.
Themes of the exposition were \'The BIC
staff through the years\', \'Celebration of
10th Anniversary of BIC, \'International
education\', \'Student exchange\' and
Special linkages with Hungary, Thailand
and southern Africa.
Following the various speeches the
guests had time to do some \'networking\'
and were invited to mark the \'best
picturequot; and the \'the picture that
reflexes best what BIC does\' with red
and green stickers. The winning pictu-
res are presented in this EQUATOR.

In his opening speech, the chairman of
the Symposium Organising Committee,
Professor Dr. Hans Heesterbeek, from
the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine,
Utrecht University, welcomed more than
150 participants, amongst whom
approximately 50 from outside The
Netherlands, and paid a special warm
welcome to the other 6 speakers of the
day.

Prof. Heesterbeek pointed out that there
are many angles from which one can
approach the topic \'Infectious Diseases
in Wildlife\'. Since wildlife is often living
and moving at the interface of livestock
and humans, the Organising Committee
had chosen to highlight 3 major areas:
zoonotic aspects, as well as aspects of
wildlife and livestock health. Wildlife can
function as a reservoir for infectious dis-
eases in livestock and vice versa.
Understanding the relationships
between humans, livestock and wildlife
and control of infections will in the end
result in healthy populations of humans,
livestock and wildlife.

Key note speaker Dr. Richard Kock of
the Epidemiology Unit, Pan African
Programme for the Control of Epizootic
diseases of the African Union, Inter
African Bureau for Animal Resources,
Kenya, shared his personal perspective
on trends in wildlife with the audience in
his lecture: quot;Toes hoofs and horns - has
evolution failed to deliver?quot;. After giving
an overview of some differences in
environment between Europe and

13th SYMPOSIUM ON TROPICAL AIMIMAL
HEALXH AND PRODUCTION

RISKS OF INFECTIONS IN WILDLIFE

On the 18th of October 2002, the 13th Symposium on Tropical Animal Health was
held at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University (The Netherlands).
The symposium was organised by the Office for International Cooperation of the
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and the Committee for the Advancement of Tropical
veterinary Science (CATS).

Africa, landscaped versus natural habi-
tat, he continued pointing out some
reasons for the high losses in wildlife in
Africa. He mentioned for instance the
droughts pestering the continent from
time to time, wars resulting in large
numbers of refugees, increased
poaching, and infectious diseases such
as rinderpest (RP).

Adaptability is the key to evolutionary
success. Man and ungulates have an
ancient partnership, but pastoralism in
Africa is changing. The development of
eco-tourism in pastoral communities is
already a success in some regions and
seems to be a way to enhance liveli-

Discussions were continued during ttie reception.
From left to right: Dr. Hanny Koch, Prof Dr. Dillt; Zwart, Dr Ron Dwinger (Photo: De Gooyer)

hoods. One of the difficult aspects is
that the major campaigns against infec-
tious diseases in cattle are against dis-
eases of international importance, while
the diseases that affect the cattle of the
poor are seldom included in the major
epizootics. One of the other problems is
the movement of cattle. Law in many
areas in the world forbids it, but like in
the UK during the recent foot-and-
mouth disease (FMD) outbreak, people
will continue transporting animals, if that
seems beneficial to them.
Hope for the future of Africa possibly
lays in not mimicking other societies,
but in making optimal use of the rich
natural and cultural heritage.

Prof. Dr. Koos Coetzer of the
Onderstepoort Faculty of Veterinary
Science, South Africa, gave an update
on the Rift Valley fever (RVF) situation.
So far, it seems that all outbreaks, that
happened every 10-15 years, have
remained isolated to the African conti-
nent. In 2000-2001 however, outbreaks
in Saudi Arabia and Yemen were repor-
ted, with human casualties. The mos-
quitoes transmitting the diseases need
water to survive. Recent studies have
shown that the mosquito\'s eggs appa-
rently are able to survive dry periods.
For the non-epidemic period so far two
major theories have emerged. The first
one that the mosquitoes hide in the tro-
pical rainforest, come out of there and
go into the rangeland.
The other possibility is that in the wet-
lands, with the human communities, the
mosquito\'s eggs, full of virus, can survi-
ve in the dry pans. Morbidity and mor-
tality are high in small domestic rumi-
nants. Adult cattle are much less
susceptible. Mosquitoes transferring
RVF are different throughout the world.
Some are more likely to bite humans
then others.

Lifelong protection might be expected
of the recent vaccines. In case of an
outbreak in livestock, one usually is too
late. The only chances to minimize the
risk of an epidemic lay in a good veteri-
nary infrastructure, in which one can
vaccinate adequately and fast.
Human vaccines are available for those
working with the virus.

University, The Netherlands explained
the ins and outs of something seeming-
ly so simple: flu, in his presentation cal-
led: quot;Influenza: a moving target in a
changing worldquot;.

Evidence has been found that already
in 1918 Spanish flu was responsible for
the death of over 40 million people
worldwide. Aquatic birds are the natural
reservoir of influenza A viruses, from
which they may cross the species boun-
daries to many other avian and mam-
malian host species. It has been stated
that the viruses can thus be transmitted
directly from birds to humans or via pigs
to humans. In humans the virus might
change and a new subtype of the virus
may develop. In order to evaluate the
antigenic drift of the virus, an enormous
group of people is collecting bird faeces
samples all over the world, for testing
on influenza virus and typing of the viru-
ses present in the faeces. In order to
prevent similar pandemics as the ones
in 1918, 1957 and 1968, influenza A
surveillance in wildlife is essential.
In 1997, in Hong Kong, slaughtering all
chicken prevented a pandemic with an
unpredictable number of casualties.
Only 6 persons died.

Dr. Sara Cleaveland from the Centre for
Tropical Veterinary Medicine in
Edinburgh (UK) discussed the quot;Impact
and implications of infectious diseases
in wildlife populationsquot;. As example she
explained the situation for the red grou-
se in Scotland, which is being affected
by T. tenuis (a tapeworm) infestation.
The animals lose weight and due to this
are restricted in their mobility and thus
face an increased prédation risk (either
by other animals or by human hunters).
Therefore hunters find big variation
between hunting seasons in flock sizes
and health status of the animals.
The possible large influence of infec-
tious diseases in small populations was
shown by the example of a rabies out-
break in 1990-1991 amongst the
Ethiopian wolf population. Only a few
hundred animals remained after the
death of more than 60% of the animals.
Prevention of certain diseases can have
positive effects for some species and
dramatic effects on others.
The vaccination of cattle against RP
resulted in a fivefold increase of the wil-
debeest population in Serengeti.
Because of the increased number of

prey animals the number of lions incli-
ned from 80 to 300. The lions on their
hand had a negative effect on the num-
ber of surviving cheetah cubs.
Challenges for the future will be in
obtaining more knowledge on wildlife,
trying to make valid predictions, resol-
ving conflicts and monitoring disease
prevalence. Since more than 60% of all
human pathogens are classified as
zoonoses, early involvement of veteri-
narians and wildlife biologists will be
essential in the (human) disease control
strategies.

Dr. Anita Michel from the Onderstepoort
Veterinary Institute, South Africa, pre-
sented quot;Implications of wildlife tubercu-
losis in the Kruger National Parkquot;. She
described that in 1990 tuberculosis (TB)
was first diagnosed in African buffalo in
the Kruger National Park (KNP). It is
very likely that TB was transmitted from
cattle to buffalo. The so-called internal
effects of TB in the KNP include the
effects on the affected animals themsel-
ves and the spill over to predators such
as lions and scavengers by means of
consumption of the carcasses and the
spill over to other grazers by means of
intake of the contaminated excretions.
There is not yet a reliable test for TB in
elephants and rhinoceros available. It is
therefore difficult to predict the number
of animals affected.

External implications include diminis-
hed sales of game. Buyers want the
animals to be tested before the purcha-
se. The other major issue to look at is
the zoonotic aspect of TB. In the com-
munal land areas, border management
is under pressure. People live in close
contact with their cattle. The custom of
drinking raw milk and the high prevalen-
ce of HIV increase the risks of high pre-
valence of human TB.
The question from the audience: quot;Do
the lung lesions in young lions cause a
possible risk for the game watching tou-
rists?quot; was adequately responded with:
quot;Prevent extensive kissing with lions.quot;

Dr. Kock stated in his presentation
quot;Control of diseases at the wildlife pro-
duction interfacequot; that there is a sepa-
ration of species; wildebeest and cattle
never graze together. They do however
graze on the same communal grazing
areas.

In Africa there are 2 main types of far-
ming to distinguish: pastoral/agro-pas-
toral and commercial. Apart from the
obvious differences between the sys-
tems, there is also an important diffe-
rence in terms of need for and practica-
lity of veterinary disease control. In
many communities there are no roads,
no veterinarians and no bottled medici-
nes. People therefore depend on tradi-
tional methods. The communal grazing
areas form the interface with wildlife.
Important diseases at the interface are
TB, FMD, RP, Theileriosis and African
swine fever (ASF). For subsistence far-
ming there are many other diseases
important. Control options for a number
of diseases are vaccination, contain-
ment, the use of export zones rather
than disease free zones, use of tolerant
breeds and good land use policy. In
most (cattle and/or meat) exporting
countries separation of wildlife and cat-
tle is realised by the use of fences. In
this way small areas are being created
through which the spread of diseases
can be minimised. In southern Africa
however for the past 2 decades mixed
species production units are being for-
med. This means that the income
through export diminishes, but the inco-
me through tourism inclines.
Some trends negatively affecting the
control of list A diseases are: the incre-
asing interaction between wildlife and
livestock, decline of governmental vete-
nnary services, focus on diseases of
livestock of poor people, opposition to
fencing and the loss of pastoral sys-
tems. It seems that the main problem

concerning imports and exports is more
of a political nature than really based on
veterinary necessity.

Dr. Elisabeth Wambwa from the
Veterinary Unit of the Kenya Wildlife
Service gave a presentation on
quot;Transboundary disease at the wildlife-
livestock interface at the Kenya-Somali
border with the emphasis on rinder-
pestquot;. She pointed out that the trans-
boundary animal diseases (TAD) (as
formulated by the FAO) have major
effects on either economics and trade,
or food security, for a considerable
number of countries. The TAD focussed
on in Africa are FMD, which effects
merely economics, contagious bovine
pleuro pneumonia, which can reach
high morbidity and mortality figures
during epidemics, RVF only sporadical-
ly occurring, but with devastating effects
on humans and animals, Peste des
Petits Ruminants affects the many hou-
seholds that keep goat and sheep and
RP which was imported from India
approximately one century ago. Since
then a lot of work has been done on the
eradication of RP. Some facts about RP
are that the RP virus is a fragile virus,
with only one serotype. If animals are
vaccinated with one strain, it gives life-
long immunity against all strains.
Control of RP in Africa has therefore
been done mainly by massive vaccina-
tion campaigns. Dependent on the
strain, RP can reach high morbidity and
mortality figures. In the nineties RP was
diagnosed in wildlife.
The severity of the disease depends on
the strain of the virus and the species
affected. Spread mainly occurs directly
and is therefore connected to animal
movement. This has implications for the
eradication, which is still the aim for
Africa. At the wildlife livestock interface
common rangelands and water sources
are being used, especially in the dry
season. Large susceptible populations
can get in contact with the virus and
spread can go from cattle to wildlife and
vice versa. In wildlife social behaviour
of animals (number of animals in a
herd) and mobility of herds (remaining
in a small area or roaming around a big
surface) also influence the behaviour of
the disease. On the other hand, in cat-
tle pastoral movements, between 2-3
countries can also stimulate spread of
the disease.

Control strategies in Kenya, after the
RP outbreak in wildlife, involved serolo-
gical diagnosis and surveillance in cat-
tle and in wildlife, vaccination of the cat-
tle, using wildlife as sentinel for cattle
and using zones with different disease
status. RP still is present in Somalia
and thus forms a threat to the large
Kenyan cattle population.

Prof. Heesterbeek presented the last
but not the least lecture of the day, entit-
led: quot;Population dynamics of wildlife
infectionsquot;. He discussed some effects
on wildlife dynamics. Demographic
factors, such as herd size, social struc-
ture and age distribution, environmental
factors such as climate, season and
habitat interaction with other quot;partiesquot;,
such as food and habitat competitors,
predators and infectious agents have
their influences on herd dynamics.
In order to describe whether a certain
agent is leading to an epidemic or not,
the Ro value is being used. Ro is the
average number of new cases of an
infection caused by one infected ani-
mal. This means that if Rq is larger then
1 we have an epidemic, if Rq is smaller
then 1 the disease fades out. One can
calculate the necessary percentage of
animals to be vaccinated (1 - 1/ Rq) in
order to eradicate a disease. By model-
ling disease patterns, one can objecti-
vely compare the effects of different
control measures. As an example the
phocine distemper virus (PDV) infection
in harbour seals was given. From April
to December 1988 approximately
20.000 seals died as a result of the PDV
epidemic. Than the epidemic faded out
and susceptible seal puppies were born
only in June. PDV needs a population
of at least 50.000 seals to persist. The
2002 epidemic in The Netherlands star-
ted later in the year, and the susceptible
population at start was much larger.
The fraction of the population surviving
from the infection (virulence) is the
same as in 1988. The epidemic is still
ongoing and forms a possible threat to
the newborns if the outbreak carries on
until the puppy season.
Mathematical modelling of the impact of
infectious agents on wildlife population
dynamics can play a valuable role in
gaining insight in epidemic outbreaks,
likelihood of persistence of infectious
agents in a population, the effects of
certain control measures, the effects of
conservation plans and it can explain
observed population patterns and study
virulence evolution.

Prof. Coetzer expressed the gratitude
of the Organising Committee to all
speakers and chairpersons by handing
over a token of appreciation and than-
ked them for their excellent and enthu-
siastic contribution to the symposium.
Prof Coetzer surprised the secretaries
of the Office for International
Cooperation with a flower bouquet and
thanked them for their invaluable assi-
stance in organizing the symposium.
The lively participation of the audience
contributed to the success of the sym-
posium. Many participants and all
speakers of the symposium made use
of the possibility to continue the discus-
sions and strengthen the relationships
over drinks at the reception.

(A copy of the programme and abs-
tracts book of the symposium can be
requested through the editorial office of
EQUATOR).

11th International Symposium of the
World Association of Veterinary
Laboratory Diagnosticians. OIE
Seminar on Biotechnology. Information:
Prof. Annop Kunavongkrit, Secretariat,
Organizing Committee 11th ISWAVLD
2003, The Thai Association of
Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians,
Faculty of Veterinary Science,
Chulalongkom University, Henri Dunant
Road, Bangkok 10330
(Fax; 662.252.0738,
E-mail: Annop.K@Chula.ac.th).

25 August, 2003 - 27 February, 2004
International course on poultry husban-
dry and International course on pig hus-
bandry. The courses will run at the
same time. Followed by: International
animal feed training programme
(AFTP), which runs from 1 March to 28
May, 2004. Fees including board and
lodging: Poultry course: € 13.200; Pig
course: € 13.200, Feed course: € 6.700
or € 7.400 (direct entry). Closing date: 1

1 September, 2003 - 31 August, 2005
International MSc programme of the
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht
University. Programme: MSc Course
Veterinary Epidemiology and Farm
Economics (18 months, fee € 11.500,
MSc Course Animal Pathology, (24
months, fee: € 16,000); MSc course
Veterinary Anaesthesiology, (18
months, fee: € 16,000).
New: MSc Course Laboratory Animal
Science (18 months, fee € 11.500); MSc
Course Toxicology and Environmental
Health (24 months, fee € 20.000) and
Bioveterinary Sciences (24 months, fee
€ 20.000). Registration before 1 June,
2003. Information: Office for Internatio-
nal Co-operation, Faculty of Veterinary
Medicine. P.O. Box 80.163, 3508 TD
Utrecht. (Fax: 31.30.2531815,
E-mail: bic@vet.uu.nl
http: //www. vet. u u. n I/).

18- 21 September, 2003
4th International Conference on
Emerging Zoonoses. Organised by:
Center for Food Security and Public
Health, USA and Institute for
International Cooperation in Animal
Biologies. The conference focus: finding
solutions to zoonotic disease transmis-
sion. Workshops: West Nile virus, bio-
terrorism, hemorrhagic fever viruses
and food safety.
(http://www.zoonoses2003.com
E-mail: zoo2003@targetconf.com).

24 - 27 October, 2003
28th World Congress of the World
Small Animal Veterinary Association
(WSAVA). Queen Surukit National
Convention Centre (QSNCC), Bangkok.
Information: Dr. Sarnit Karunyavanij,
Congress Secretariat WSAVA 2003,
Bangkok RAI Exhibitions, 226/36-37
Bond Street, Riviera Tower 1, Muang
Thong Thani, Bangpood, Pakkred,
Nonthaburi 11120, Thailand
(Tel.: 66.2.960.0141-3
Fax: 66.2.960.0140,
E-mail: wsava@bkkrai.com and
sarnit@bkkrai.com,
http://www.wsava2003.com/).

26 - 31 October, 2003
9th World Conference on Animal
Production. Information: Prof. Jorg
Lopez or Prof. Sergio Nicolaiewsky,
Organizing Committee of 9th WCAP Av.
Bento Gongalves, 7712 Caixa Postal
776, 90001-970 - Porto Alegre - RS
Brazil (Tel: 55.51.3166002,
Fax: 55.51.3191211,
E-mail: wcap.2003@ufrgs.br).

17-22 November, 2003
10th International Symposium on
Veterinary Epidemiology and Eco-
nomics (ISVEE 10). Information: Dr
Santiago Urcelay V, Dr Julio Pinto C.
Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias y
Pecuarias, Universidad de Chile,
Avenida Santa Rosa 11.735, La Pintana
Casilla 2, Correo 15, La Granja
Santiago, Chile (Tel: 56.2.6785500,
Fax: 56.2.5416840,
E-mail: isvee@uchile.cl).

The first weellt; at ITC I went to the ITC
station in Kerr-Serign, and was introdu-
ced to the staff and the activities of ITC.
After this I started with the preparations
for the Salmonella study. This included
an introduction to partners involved in
the study, inspection and selection of
sampling locations, designing the
sampling procedures and reading rele-
vant literature.

In the the fourth week, I went to the ITC
field station in Bansang to join a milk
hygiene study. I was introduced to the
activities carried out for this study and I
cooperated in taking milk samples and
processing these in the laboratory.
Back from Bansang, I started with test
sampling for the Salmonella study. For
this test sampling, as well as for the
normal sampling during the four weeks
after, I went to Abuko abattoir on

Sunday evenings. At this abattoir, about
20 km from the ITC station, I took faecal
samples from 15 animals (cattle) before
slaughtering, and I came back in the
night to take the rest of the samples,
after the animals were slaughtered. On
Tuesday mornings, I went to selected
local markets and shops where meat
from the abattoir was sold, to take small
meat samples. I used the rest of the
week to process and test the samples in
the laboratory.

The last week of my stay I used for data
entry and reporting as well as preparing
a presentation which 1 held at my last
day on ITC.

The Gambia is not a very exciting
country. It is small, with a river in the
middle and is surrounded by Senegal
and the Atlantic Ocean. There are no

TRAINEESHIPS IN THE TROPICS

From 12 June to 7 September 2002, Marjolijn Holtslag, a 6th year student at the
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of Utrecht University, the Netherlands, did a research
traineeship at the International Trypanotolerance Centre (ITC) in The Gambia, West
Africa. She has the desire to work as a veterinarian in tropical countries after
graduation, and therefore wanted to gain some experience in this field, tier
supen/isors were Dr. Katinka de Balogh from the department of Public Health and
Food Safety of the Utrecht Faculty of Veterinary l\\Jledicine and Dr Fred Unger, the
head of ITC\'s public health unit The objectives of this \'pilot study\' were to estimate
the prevalence and distribution of Salmonella bacteria in slaughter cattle and meat
sold at local markets and to identify the most common Salmonella serotypes in
slaughter cattle and meat sold at local markets.

mountains or big natural or national
parks. The wildlife is not abundant,
though there are lots of birds which are
very interesting.

The coastal area is very touristic. This
causes that a lot of young people, espe-
cially men, are hanging around, haras-
sing tourists and other, especially white
people. Sometimes they can be quite
annoying for not leaving you alone.
Despite this, I discovered that the
Gambia is a relatively safe place to be.
I felt safe walking on the streets, even
when it was dark. The risk of being
robbed or attacked is in my opinion not
higher than in Utrecht.

I have had a wonderful time in the
Gambia, in which I made good friends.
I learned about veterinary public health
in the tropics and tropical diseases, as
well as carrying out a project and
reporting it. I was lucky with the good
coaching and the nice people I met, at
ITC as well as outside. For me, ITC and
the Gambia were places where I could
learn a lot and which gave me inspira-
tion for my future plans.

	Fish (Nile perch and tilapia)	Surface water	Sediments
LOQ	0.6 pg/kg	0.004 pg/L	0.06 pg/kg
Recovery ±SD	97 ±13	107 ±10	85 ±7