Research reveals endangered vultures still in peril as pharmacies flout deadly drug ban
The Oriental white-backed (or white-rumped) vulture Gyps bengalensis is up to 85cm long, with a wing span of between 205 and 220cm. Adults are black with a white head and neck and short bill. The bird is sociable and used to breed in very large colonies. Now, they nest in trees in small colonies.A new study published in science journal Oryx, has found that over a third of Indian pharmacies continue to sell diclofenac for veterinary use, despite the drug being banned in 2006 because of its toxicity to critically endangered vultures.
The manufacture and sale of diclofenac for veterinary use is illegal but farmers and livestock owners are purchasing human diclofenac illegally in conveniently large bottles to treat their cattle. This is difficult to prevent, given the wide availability of human diclofenac. Some of the other diclofenac on sale was formulated for veterinary use and had been manufactured illegally after the 2006 ban.
Diclofenac is responsible for bringing three species of Gyps vultures, endemic to South Asia, to the brink of extinction. The population crash of these vultures was first noted in the late 1990s. Since then their rate of decline has been steeper than nearly any other bird species, including the infamous dodo.
The Indian Government banned diclofenac veterinary use in May 2006 with bans in Nepal and Pakistan the same year. Further measures in India, in August 2008, placed additional restrictions prohibiting the manufacture, sale and distribution of diclofenac and its formulations for animal use with contravention being punishable with imprisonment.
The research to evaluate the effectiveness of the 2006 ban was conducted by surveys in over 250 veterinary and general pharmacy shops in 11 Indian states from November 2007 – June 2010. The surveyors asked if they could buy non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for treating cattle. Diclofenac was recorded in 36% of shops and we know from other studies[1] that this must be the source of diclofenac found in cattle carcasses.
Lead author and principal conservation scientist at the RSPB, Dr Richard Cuthbert, said: “The ban is still quite easy to avoid because human formulations are still freely for sale in large vials which are convenient for use on large animals like cattle and clearly not suitable for human use. Preventing the misuse of human diclofenac for veterinary use remains the main challenge in halting the decline of endangered vultures.”
While the research shows that there is still widespread availability of diclofenac after the ban, encouragingly it also shows an increase in meloxicam (found in 70 per cent of pharmacies), a drug that has very similar therapeutic effects on cattle as diclofenac but which has been proven to be safe to vultures.
There is also evidence that untested drugs such as nimesulide are more widely available in the market. The effects these drugs have on vultures are as yet unknown. Ketoprofen, an alternative that has been tested and shown to be deadly to vultures has still not been banned. It was on sale for veterinary use in 29% of pharmacies.
Dr Vibhu Prakash of the Bombay Natural History Society, and co-author said: “While the increase in meloxicam brands and availability is encouraging, a major concern from these surveys is the still widespread availability of diclofenac in pharmacies after the ban. Firm action at Government level against pharmaceutical companies and pharmaceutical shops that are breaking the law by manufacturing and selling diclofenac for veterinary use is urgently needed if we are to save vultures from extinction.”
In contrast to the disheartening results from this research, the RSPB is happy to report the most successful year yet at the Indian captive breeding centres as the number of fledged chicks is up almost double on last year. Eighteen vulture chicks have been successfully reared in captivity in 2011 – the largest annual total to date.
Another first for the captive breeding centre this year is a number of ‘double clutches’, meaning some pairs produced a second egg and chick, as the first was removed, hatched in incubators and reared by the highly trained BNHS staff. Fifteen of the 18 fledged juveniles were at the Pinjore centre in Haryana, whilst the remaining three were at Rajabhat Khawa in West Bengal.
Four of the total number of fledged birds were a direct result of the ‘double clutches’ and artificial incubation. Critical Ecosystems Partnership Fund has provided much of the support for running the Pinjore centre over this recent important phase.
The Bombay Natural History Society, with support from the RSPB and newly-formed consortium Saving Asia’s Vultures from Extinction (SAVE) manages three conservation breeding centres in India where 271 vultures are housed and successful breeding of all three species has now occurred. There are also conservation breeding centres linked to the SAVE programme in Nepal and Pakistan.
The launch of SAVE in February 2011 was a major milestone in the battle to stop Asia's vultures meeting the same fate as the dodo and passenger pigeon. It is a unique opportunity to help save three critically important species from extinction through a single programme that brings together ten organisations working to save the vultures.
Chris Bowden, the RSPB’s head of vulture programme and SAVE spokesperson said: “Three species of south Asia's vultures are heading for extinction so we have to act now to save them. With the latest success at the breeding centres we’re more confident than ever that there will be sufficient numbers for reintroduction to the wild as soon as it’s safe for them, but until diclofenac stops being produced and sold for veterinary use we cannot guarantee these birds have any future in the wild.
“SAVE’s ultimate aim is to turn the catastrophic decline of the vultures into one of the greatest conservation success stories of all time. We’re on the right track, but there is a long way still to go.”
For more information visit www.rspb.org.uk/vultures and www.save-vultures.org
www.bnhs.org www.birdlifenepal.org www.icbp.org www.ntnc.org.np
[1] A study published on 12 May 2011 in science journal, PLoS ONE, found that the proportion of cattle carcasses in India contaminated with diclofenac had declined by over 40% between the ban in 2006 and 2008. However, the resulting vulture decline rate is still expected to be around 18% per year for the most susceptible species, the oriental white-backed vulture, down from about 40% per year before the ban, meaning that vultures will not recover unless efforts to eradicate the drug become still more successful.
10 facts about violence prevention
Updated September 2011
Each year, more than 1.5 million people worldwide lose their lives to violence. For every person who dies as a result of violence, many more are injured and suffer from a range of physical, sexual, reproductive and mental health problems. Violence places a massive burden on national economies, costing countries billions of US dollars each year in health care, law enforcement and lost productivity. WHO works with partners to prevent violence through scientifically credible strategies.
Read the fact file
Stamping out H5N1 avian influenza could take decades
21 April 2011, Rome - Eliminating the highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza virus from poultry in the six countries where it remains endemic will take ten or more years, according to a new FAO report.The report makes specific recommendations for each country regarding measures that should be taken over the next five years to move them towards virus elimination, and calls for a sustained commitment to eradication efforts both by governments where the disease remains endemic and by international donors.
At its peak in 2006, the H5N1 strain of highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5N1 HPAI) was reported in 60 countries. Today most have managed to stamp it out — but the virus remains firmly entrenched in Bangladesh, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia and Vietnam due to a combination of three factors, according to the report.
The first relates to the structure of their national poultry sectors. Endemically infected countries usually feature complex production and market chains, with poultry reared and sold under conditions that afford little protection from influenza viruses, and weak producer and service provider associations for supporting farmers.
The second factor is the quality of public and private veterinary and animal production services, which are not always able to detect and respond to infections — or identify and correct underlying structural problems in production and marketing systems.
The final factor relates to the level of commitment to dealing vigorously with H5N1. "The fear of H5N1 does not necessarily translate into concrete plans for virus control and elimination," the report notes.
Pandemic flu emergence
Scientific Opinion on monitoring for the emergence of possible new pandemic strains of influenza in animals
Source: EFSA Journal, Thursday 17 March 2011
Following the emergence in 2009 of the new pandemic H1N1 influenza virus, which contained gene segments from pig, bird and human influenza viruses, it was apparent that a better scientific understanding is required of influenza viruses to protect public and animal health.
The latest scientific data on biological properties of the virus, transmissibility, host susceptibility and epidemiology has been evaluated in order to identify factors that could be monitored in animals and that would suggest a risk of emergence of a new pandemic influenza strains. Virological studies and animal models have highlighted the importance of individual virus proteins but virulence and transmissibility are polygenic effects and no single genetic marker can be reliably associated with increased pathogenicity or transmissibility.
It was concluded that current monitoring of the influenza gene pool in humans has been able to provide an alert for the emergence of new human influenza strains of public health significance. In contrast, there is an incomplete view of the influenza virus strains circulating among pigs and birds at the global level. Interpretation of the origins and pandemic potential of influenza viruses do require knowledge of the influenza gene pools in both pigs and birds, as well as other animal species.
It is recommended that there should be long term support for a passive monitoring network in pigs and birds in order to promote greater understanding of the evolution of influenza viruses at the global level. Maximum benefit can only be obtained by applying an integrated approach involving the medical and veterinary networks including development of harmonised tools and approaches, exchange of virus strains and sequence data and enhancing the coordination and dissemination of the findings from the human, swine and avian networks.
Read more ...
http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/publications/efsajournal.htm
http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/efsajournal/doc/2109.pdf
World Veterinary Day- 30 April 2011
Source: EFSA Journal, Thursday 17 March 2011
Following the emergence in 2009 of the new pandemic H1N1 influenza virus, which contained gene segments from pig, bird and human influenza viruses, it was apparent that a better scientific understanding is required of influenza viruses to protect public and animal health.
The latest scientific data on biological properties of the virus, transmissibility, host susceptibility and epidemiology has been evaluated in order to identify factors that could be monitored in animals and that would suggest a risk of emergence of a new pandemic influenza strains. Virological studies and animal models have highlighted the importance of individual virus proteins but virulence and transmissibility are polygenic effects and no single genetic marker can be reliably associated with increased pathogenicity or transmissibility.
It was concluded that current monitoring of the influenza gene pool in humans has been able to provide an alert for the emergence of new human influenza strains of public health significance. In contrast, there is an incomplete view of the influenza virus strains circulating among pigs and birds at the global level. Interpretation of the origins and pandemic potential of influenza viruses do require knowledge of the influenza gene pools in both pigs and birds, as well as other animal species.
It is recommended that there should be long term support for a passive monitoring network in pigs and birds in order to promote greater understanding of the evolution of influenza viruses at the global level. Maximum benefit can only be obtained by applying an integrated approach involving the medical and veterinary networks including development of harmonised tools and approaches, exchange of virus strains and sequence data and enhancing the coordination and dissemination of the findings from the human, swine and avian networks.
Read more ...
http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/publications/efsajournal.htm
http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/efsajournal/doc/2109.pdf
World Veterinary Day- 30 April 2011
Selected theme 2011 : Rabies
World Veterinary Day was instigated by the World Veterinary Association (WVA) in 2000 to be celebrated annually on the last Saturday of April.
World Veterinary Day was instigated by the World Veterinary Association (WVA) in 2000 to be celebrated annually on the last Saturday of April. In 2008 the WVA and the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) agreed on the creation of the World Veterinary Day Award aimed at rewarding the most successful celebration of the veterinary profession by national veterinary associations, alone, or in cooperation with any other selected veterinary body.
The 2011 Award will be delivered at the 30th World Veterinary Congress to be held in Cape Town, South Africa on 10-14 October 2011. The prize: US$ 1,000 will be donated to the winner.
Japan confronted with a new bird flu outbreak
//14 Mar 2011 On top of all the aftermath Japan is facing following last weeks earthquake and tsunami, Avian influenza has now been confirmed at a poultry farm in the Kanto region, making it the first confirmed outbreak in this area of Japan.
The outbreak in Chiba, Japan's second-largest chicken egg producing prefecture, has prompted local authorities to begin culling about 35,000 birds at the infected farm and restrict the movements of another 869,000 birds being raised within a 10-kilometer radius of the farm in question, the Chiba prefectural government said.
''This is a very severe situation as damage from the huge earthquake is also serious,'' Chiba Gov Kensaku Morita said at a press conference, referring to the powerful quake that struck northeastern and eastern Japan on Friday. A total of four birds were found dead at the Chiba farm on Friday and Saturday, and a genetic test confirmed that four out of seven birds checked were infected by a highly pathogenic strain of bird flu virus.
[Source: IBNlive]Paramyxo virus on Swedish layer farm
08 Feb, 2011: // At a farm with 20,000 layers in Vänge, Sweden, the paramyxo virus has been detected. This has been confirmed by the highest Swedish veterinary official ''This is a very severe situation as damage from the huge earthquake is also serious,'' Chiba Gov Kensaku Morita said at a press conference, referring to the powerful quake that struck northeastern and eastern Japan on Friday. A total of four birds were found dead at the Chiba farm on Friday and Saturday, and a genetic test confirmed that four out of seven birds checked were infected by a highly pathogenic strain of bird flu virus.
[Source: IBNlive]Paramyxo virus on Swedish layer farm
Newcastle Disease found on layer farm in Sweden
04 Feb, 2011: // On the Swedish island Gotland, Newcastle disease has been detected on a layer farm. 20,000 chickens have been culled and 120,000 eggs destroyed .
Source: vetsweb.com
Prion disease spreads in sheep via mother's milk
Transmission of prion brain diseases such as bovine spongiform enecephalopathy (BSE) -- also known as mad cow disease -- and human variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) is generally attributed to the consumption of the brain or organ meat of infected animals but new research demonstrates lambs exposed to milk from prion-infected sheep with inflamed mammary glands can develop prion disease as well.The research, which is published in the January 2011 issue of the Journal of Virology, has major implications for human and livestock health.
"Prions cause devastating, ultimately fatal infections in humans," says corresponding author Christina Sigurdson of the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine.
"This study is the first demonstration of prions from an inflamed organ being secreted, and causing clinical symptoms in a natural host for prion disease."
Source: Vetrerinary Science Tomorrow
No comments:
Post a Comment