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The battle against rabies - a success story

On World Rabies Day, FAO highlights control project in Bali

28 September 2012, Rome -
Every year, an estimated 55 000 people die from rabies, 95 percent of them in Asia and Africa. Rabies is a viral disease that affects the nervous system, often transmitted by infected dogs. Rabies also kills farm animals.

In Latin America, for example, hundreds of thousands of livestock die every year from rabies contracted from vampire bats. Livestock deaths from rabies occur throughout the world, but often go unreported.

A successful project in Bali, Indonesia, shows that rabies can be controlled by combating the virus in animals, before it can be transmitted to humans.
 

Mad cow disease case in US was a 'one-off' caused by a mutation

The US Department of Agriculture says there should be no concern about safety of food supply after discovery of BSE.A newly discovered case of mad cow disease in a US dairy herd apparently arose from a one-off mutation that was picked up during random surveillance at an abattoir in California.

The animal was tested as part of a regular inspection programme organised by the US Department of Agriculture that examines tissue from 40,000 slaughtered cattle each year.

Dr John Clifford, the USDA's chief veterinary officer, said the department was continuing its investigation of the case, but added "there should be no concern … about the safety of our food supply."

Despite assertions from Clifford that the case should not affect trade in meat, two of South Korea's largest importers of US beef halted sales.

The disease, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), is caused by misfolded proteins called prions, which build up in the brain with fatal consequences.

Unlike the viruses that cause many other diseases in farm animals, prions do not spread through casual contact or by coughs and sneezes. The infectious prions are concentrated in certain tissues of the animals, such as the nervous system.

guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 25 April 2012 15.31

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2012

Wishing that the best of times come your way with new hopes and promises this New Year...

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL... 

The Official Veterinarian - An essential public good

In view of the 3rd round table on the modernization of meat inspection, the Federation of Veterinarians of Europe (FVE) would like to underline the crucial role played by veterinarians in protecting human health and ensuring food safety.
The consumer demands safe food of animal origin. The veterinary profession has the independence, integrity, knowledge and skills to provide the consumer with reassurance that their expectation of high food safety, animal welfare and environmental standards has been met – all the way from farm to fork.
FVE wants to outline this pivotal role played by veterinarians in assuring the safety of our food especially at slaughterhouse level.

Source:
http://www.fve.org/news/press_releases/docs/2011_12_005%20the%20role%20of%20ov_%20adding%20value%20v1.5_press%20release.pdf

Lions' and tigers' fearsome roars are due to their unusual vocal folds

When lions and tigers roar loudly and deeply -- terrifying every creature within earshot -- they are somewhat like human babies crying for attention, although their voices are much deeper. So says the senior author of a new study that shows lions' and tigers' loud, low-frequency roars are predetermined by physical properties of their vocal fold tissue -- namely, the ability to stretch and shear -- and not by nerve impulses from the brain. "Roaring is similar to what a baby sounds like when it cries," says speech scientist Ingo Titze, executive director of the National Center for Voice and Speech, which is administered by the University of Utah. "In some ways, the lion is a large replica of a crying baby, loud and noisy, but at very low pitch."
The study of lion and tiger vocal folds and how they produce roaring -- vocalizations used by big cats to claim their territory -- was set for publication on Nov. 2, in the Public Library of Science's online journal PLoS ONE. While the comparison was not part of the study, Titze says a baby "cries to have people come to help it. The lion uses similar attention-getting sound, but mainly to say, 'I am here, this is my territory, get out of here." "In both cases, we hear loud, grating sounds that grab people's ears. When a baby cries, the sound isn't pretty. The sound is basically rough. The vibration isn't regular."

Goats could increase the risk of a rare lung cancer

Exposure to goats could increase the risk of a certain type of lung cancer, according to French researchers. The study, presented at the European Respiratory Society's Annual Congress in Amsterdam, has linked a professional exposure to goats with a distinct subset of lung cancer, known as pneumonic-type lung adenocarcinoma (P-ADC). This form of lung cancer has a weak association with tobacco smoking when compared with other types of the disease. In attempting to identify other triggers that may cause the disease, scientists have previously noticed similarities between P-ADC and a viral infection which causes growths in the lungs of sheep. Given these similarities, the researchers have investigated whether a viral agent found in sheep and goats could be easily transferred to people who work with the animals, leading to a partiality for P-ADC. The current epidemiologic study involved 44 patients with P-ADC and 132 controls without the disease. All participants were given a questionnaire assessing a number of risk factors including their smoking status, their personal history of cancer and their exposure to goats.

The results showed that people who had experienced a professional exposure to goats during their lifetime were five times more likely to get P-ADC compared with other types of lung cancer. The findings also showed that P-ADC was significantly associated with females, and people who had never smoked or had any personal history of cancer. Dr Nicolas Girard, from the Louis Pradel Hospital, Hospices Civils de Lyon, said: "Scientists have noticed similarities between P-ADC and a contagious viral infection in sheep before. This led us to explore the possibility that professional exposure to cattle could make humans more susceptible to P-ADC. These findings demonstrate that exposure to goats could be a risk factor for this type of lung cancer, however further studies are needed to assess other potential risk factors for the disease."

Science Daily
November 1, 2011