Rift valley Veterinary

09/03/2023

Dairy production is one of the major sustenance factors for the rural economy of Ethiopia. Ethiopia holds large potential for dairy development due to its large livestock population, which comprises 59.5 million cattle, 30.70 million sheep, and 30.20 million goat populations . Given considerable potential for smallholder income and employment generation from high-value dairy products, development of the dairy sector in Ethiopia can contribute significantly to poverty alleviation and nutrition in the country. Different classifications have been used to characterize the dairy production system in the country. Based on their locations classified into three broad categories; namely, urban, periurban and rural dairy production system. Among the existing production systems, the traditional dairy production system is the one involving from smallholder dairy farms. The traditional (smallholder) milk production system, which is dominated by indigenous breeds, accounts for about 97-98% of the total annual milk production in the country . Over 85% of the milk produced by rural household is consumed within the producer households with the proportion marketed being less than 7% . The small amount of milk produced by a large number of producers but the low marketable output in Ethiopia possess limitations on the possibilities of exploiting distant but rewarding markets due to high opportunity costs of labor involved
As dairy production in Ethiopia is constrained by several factors classified as: Technical or biological, socio-economic and institutional factors and others some of the major environmental constraints such as low rainfall, high temperature and low forage production, common plant association, livestock and human carrying capacity, incidence of important livestock diseases and parasites, mainly define in the lowland part of Ethiopia . There are a number of challenges and bottlenecks limiting the success and profitability of household dairy production systems in Ethiopia. Therefore, a comprehensive literature review on the current status of dairy production system in the country seems to be appealing. There is a need for reviewing the production system, production performance and constraints of household dairy production. Moreover, information’s on either weak sides or the success stories of household dairy production including its marketing and constraints could be used by beneficiaries. It is a major contributing factor to the livelihood of resource poor subsistence farmers in a number of ways: income from milk and milk products, insurance against draught, emergency cash requirements, household nutrition, fuel for cooking, manure for crops, draught power for farming etc. Therefore, the objective of this review is to assess the current dairy production system in Ethiopia and future prospects.

09/03/2023

09/03/2023

Understanding Disease Transmission
Diseases are something we work hard to prevent, but on occasion they manage to creep into our flocks. Direct causes of disease can be either infectious or non-infectious. Infectious causes of disease include pathogenic viruses, bacteria, parasites, fungi, and protozoa. Indirect, non-infectious, causes of disease include nutritional imbalance, injury, toxins, and excessive stress. Effective control of disease requires an understanding of how diseases are introduced and spread.

Pathogenic bacteria enter the body of the chicken in several ways; through the digestive system, the respiratory system, and through cuts and wounds. Depending on where the bacteria settle and the conditions they encounter, the infection they cause can either be chronic (long term), or acute (short term, frequently resulting in death). Viral pathogens generally enter a chicken's body through the respiratory or digestive system, but can also gain access through the eye or a wound, including an injection site. Generally parasites and poultry co-exist without substantial damage to the host. Poultry can develop resistance to some parasites and a low level of parasitism is normal, but they become a problem when the balance tips in the parasite's favor and overwhelm the bird. Differences among strains of the same pathogenic microbes can cause different symptoms and differences in severity of a disease.

09/03/2023

Monitor your horse's body weight and body condition score (BCS)
When deciding your horse’s nutritional needs, you need to know their body weight and body condition score. Body condition scoring checks the amount of fat deposit under the horse's skin in certain areas. The ideal score for each horse differs based on their

Energy use
Size
Physiological condition
Diet history
Your personal preference
A BCS between 4 to 6 is ideal. It is important to actually put your hands on your horse and feel them rather than just look at them from a distance. Check your horse’s BCS score routinely to decide if you need to make changes to your horse’s diet. How much you need to feed your horse depends on changes in activity level, weather, and feed quality. See Kentucky Equine Research’s chart for more detailed scoring descriptions.

09/03/2023

Camelpox is an extremely infectious skin disorder and the most common infectious viral illness of camels, occurring in most regions where camel farming is common. The camelpox virus (CMLV; genus Orthopoxvirus, family Poxviridae), the cause of this infectious disease, is closely related to the variola virus. The genes associated with viral replication activities and most of those important in additional host-related processes are identical in the two viruses
Symptoms of camelpox are fever, skin lesions, and lymph node inflammation. Pox lesions of different stages may form, most notably on the face, throat, and near the tail. The disease may be diagnosed based on clinical symptoms, although camel contagious ecthyma and camel papillomatosis induce similar symptoms . Multiple diagnostic methods are available, including transmission electron microscopy (TEM), the most rapid diagnostic tool for detecting the characteristic, brick-shaped orthopoxvirus in tissue samples or skin lesions . Immunohistochemistry can also be informative. PCR may be used to confirm the presence of viral nucleic acid, and DNA restriction enzyme testing can be used to identify specific strains of the CMLV
Prevention and control The infection, like smallpox in humans, may be controlled by separating diseased camels and injecting the remainder with the standard vaccinia virus vaccine or the recently developed CMLV vaccine, available live attenuated and inactivated. A booster vaccine dose is recommended for young camelids inoculated before 6–9 months. The inactivated vaccine can be injected yearly , and the live attenuated vaccine provides long-term protection.
A live attenuated candidate vaccine was produced in Sudan using a local strain of CMLV and assessed in a small-scale field study for safety and efficacy in experimental camels . Most tests revealed that the proposed vaccine is effective, safe, and can control the infection. Most vaccines are produced from the CMLV strains Ducapox 298/89, Jouf-78, VD47/25, and CMLV-T8. The attenuated Jouf-78 strain has been found to provide complete protection against CMLV (17). A new vaccine developed from serial multiplication of the KM-40 virus strain on the chorioallantoic membranes of 11-day-old embryonated chicken eggs has the potential to protect against camelpox in Old World camelids (Camelus dromedaries and Camelus bactrianus)
Treatment General non-specific treatment for infected camels is the administration of 10 mg/kg oxytetracycline and 0.2 mg/kg meloxicam for 5 days . A spray containing gamma benzene hexachloride, proflavine hemisulphate, cetrimide, eucalyptus oil, turpentine oil, and neem oil can also be used for wound therapy and fly control . Other ethnopharmacological applications are also widely used to treat camelpox . In humans, cidofovir would likely be beneficial in the treatment and short-term prevention of smallpox and kindred poxvirus infections, as well as the treatment of vaccinia sequelae in immunocompromised individuals Cidovir and its acyclic nucleoside phosphonate derivatives have shown promising therapeutic potency against camelpox

09/03/2023