'We shouldn't classify pet obesity as a disease'

Robin Hargreaves argues that the chronic weight gain that leads to obesity in pets is a normal animal behaviour and physiological mechanism, and so should not be regarded as a disease process.

The economic impact of a new animal disease: same effects in developed and developing countries?

Animal disease outbreaks generate a range of economic and non-economic impacts. While a significant number of research studies have estimated the effects of various diseases in a variety of contexts, examining the differential impacts and implications associated with the introduction of a novel disease into a developing country, as opposed to a developed one, is a rich area for further research. In this paper, the authors highlight some of the key dimensions and implications associated with the impacts of new diseases, how they differ in different contexts, and their implications for public policy.

[Economic management of health crises affecting production animals in Europe]

The importance of animal health crises has considerably increased over the last few years. When a crisis occurs, farmers can receive financial support through various public, private and mixed compensation schemes. Economic losses resulting from diseases may be direct and indirect. If a disease is covered by European Union regulations then countries have a legal obligation to partly compensate farmers for direct losses, either directly through the national budget, or through a specific fund. The European Veterinary Fund also co-finances these losses. Only a few countries provide compensation for indirect losses. The private insurance sector also provides protection against some direct and indirect losses but the risks covered are variable. To encourage farmers to subscribe to this kind of insurance, some public authorities provide subsidies to help pay the premium. Insurance companies do not generally cover the risks linked to contagious diseases, but some companies do extend cover to include this type of risk. Several alternatives, such as mutual funds, are available to improve risk coverage. There is a lack of harmonisation among the various compensation schemes of different countries. Public authorities cannot provide full compensation, but mutual funds and private insurance companies are alternatives that should be further investigated and their use should be extended to other countries. A classification of diseases would harmonise the situation at the European level.

Aquatic eutrophication promotes pathogenic infection in amphibians

The widespread emergence of human and wildlife diseases has challenged ecologists to understand how large-scale agents of environmental change affect host-pathogen interactions. Accelerated eutrophication of aquatic ecosystems owing to nitrogen and phosphorus enrichment is a pervasive form of environmental change that has been implicated in the emergence of diseases through direct and indirect pathways. We provide experimental evidence linking eutrophication and disease in a multihost parasite system. The trematode parasite Ribeiroia ondatrae sequentially infects birds, snails, and amphibian larvae, frequently causing severe limb deformities and mortality. Eutrophication has been implicated in the emergence of this parasite, but definitive evidence, as well as a mechanistic understanding, have been lacking until now. We show that the effects of eutrophication cascade through the parasite life cycle to promote algal production, the density of snail hosts, and, ultimately, the intensity of infection in amphibians. Infection also negatively affected the survival of developing amphibians. Mechanistically, eutrophication promoted amphibian disease through two distinctive pathways: by increasing the density of infected snail hosts and by enhancing per-snail production of infectious parasites. Given forecasted increases in global eutrophication, amphibian extinctions, and similarities between Ribeiroia and important human and wildlife pathogens, our results have broad epidemiological and ecological significance.

Wildlife veterinarian, conservation and public health

In recent years wildlife diseases (infectious and non-infectious) have played a relevant role in both wildlife conservation and public health. Global environmental changes have determined a bimodal evolution of wildlife. On one side a huge loss of biodiversity has been observed leading to the increasing of threatened or endangered species. In contrast few opportunistic taxa increased their aboundances and ranges. The above scenarios claim the intervention of wildlife veterinarians. In conservation the understanding of the ecological role of the host parasite relationship and the perturbations on the host population dynamics have to be assessed and eventually modified. In public health the increased overlapping among wildlife, livestock, pets and human beings represents a risk for diseases spread (no matter in which directions). Serious limits are, still now, observed in the acceptance of this 'new world' by veterinary academics. As a consequence curricula often fail in providing adequate skill at both undergraduate and graduate levels. An addressed approach towards wildlife diseases should be promoted as an essential component of environmental management.

Construct models in veterinary behavioural medicine: lessons from the human experience

Veterinary behavioural medicine is marked by inconsistency in the naming and description of animal behavioural disorders, potentially hindering research and reducing the clinical utility of diagnoses. Sources of diagnostic inconsistency are suggested and parallels with human psychiatry are identified. This paper questions the use of categorical models as the basis for classification and reviews criticisms of categorical approaches in psychiatry. Evidence is presented to suggest an inconsistency between discrete categories and the structure of animal behavioural disorders. The potential benefits of exploring alternative models are discussed. It is concluded that it is important to move away from an approach based on advocacy and towards objective assessment of all available data. Existing diagnoses should be viewed as hypothetical constructs, with the underlying hypotheses being identified and subject to investigation. It is emphasized that global communication, empirical investigations and critical review are necessary for the development of a solid scientific basis within veterinary behavioural medicine.

Control and eradication of O.I.E. list A diseases--the approach of the European Union to the use of vaccines

In the last decade the European Union has experienced serious outbreaks of certain O.I.E. list A diseases such as foot-and-mouth disease, classical swine fever and avian influenza. These diseases have been controlled and eradicated by means of culling and destroying a very large number of animals, which has been very expensive and has raised ethical questions. In accordance with existing rules, emergency vaccination has also been applied under certain circumstances, but its use has often been hampered by the impossibility of distinguishing vaccinated but healthy animals from the infected ones and by its negative impact on the trade of the vaccinated animals and their products. Marker vaccines and suitable accompanying discriminatory tests may overcome these problems and be used as additional eradication tools, where appropriate. Provisions on the use of these tools have already been introduced in the legislation of the European Union.

Red meat production and meat losses in Burkina Faso (1987-1997)

Based on monthly recorded data collected from 1987 to1997 in all official slaughter houses across the country, this study analyzes the trends of ruminant meat production and importance of meat condemnations by veterinary inspection in Burkina Faso. The average beef production per year is estimated at 6.717.5 + or - 2.969.1 tons, nd for small ruminant meat it is 8,715.5 + or - 4,161.3 tons. During the ten-year period (1987-1997) it appears that a large drop in production (up to 18%) occurred in 1994-1995 consistent with monetary devaluation. The average amount of red meat theoretiacally available for each inhabitant is estimated at 2.14 + or - 0.27 kg per year. Approximately 10 to 16 tons of diseased red meat is condemned every year by veterinary inspection. This is very important for a country where malnutrition and undernutrition is quasi endemic.

Ethnoveterinary medicine and indigenous pharmacopoeia of Passoré Province in Burkina Faso

A study of traditional animal health care practices in Passoré province of Burkina Faso led to the characterization of 24 diseases, together with their local names, causes of their appearance, and their treatment. Most (95%) of the medicinal recipes used to treat affected animals were based on plants.

OIE List A disease as a constraint to international trade

World Trade Organisation agreements have swept aside many of the previous constraints to international trade in animals and animal products and have looked critically at those that still survive. The presence of disease, in particular the OIE list A diseases, still provide legitimacy for barriers to trade, and as a consequence the importance of reliable animal disease surveillance has increased. However, the economic consequences of reporting the occurrence of a List A disease have also increased, as this provides trading partners with sufficient reason to impose an embargo that could severely compromise the national agricultural industry. The dilemma for some developing economies, reliant on agricultural exports, is how to balance a transparent and efficient disease reporting service, sufficient to provide the necessary information for importing countries to make realistic risk assessments, with the perceived political damage from being honest with trading partners who might take advantage of the information to require additional safeguards and health certification.

Insights and updates on veterinary medical recordkeeping practice

Practices in maintaining veterinary medical records have changed greatly during the past decade. Computerization is largely responsible for this trend. This article brings readers up to date on veterinary recordkeeping.

Names and codes of the diseases and clinical signs of dogs, cats, horses, cattle, sheep, goats and swine from the consultant diagnostic database

A complete listing of the clinical signs and diseases of dogs, cats, horses, cattle, sheep, goats and swine in the CONSULTANT database for computer assisted diagnosis is presented, along with the codes used to record this data. This list may be useful to those teaching, researching or writing on the diseases of domestic animals, and is of particular use to those who need such a resource for developing diagnostic coding and computer-assisted information retrieval.

Some missing measurements in comparative medicine

At the present time it is difficult to make comparisons of animal diseases in various geographic areas. Some missing measurements which limit these comparisons are: the lack of an internationally accepted system to classify diseases; the lack of routinely collected information about animal births, diseases, and deaths; the lack of normal or standard values for many species; and the lack of methods to define animal populations at various points in time. Most of these problems have been faced and solved for human diseases. Work should be started immediately to develop similar research methods for animal diseases.