Animal health in organic agriculture: new guidelines and perspectives for food animal practitioners

In the last decade, the organic agriculture in Switzerland has been substantially increased due to the interest of consumer and financial incentives of the federation. Ruminants take directly or indirectly the largest part from grassland used within the organic managed surfaces. As the contacts between veterinary practice and organic agriculture has increased, the potential for veterinary activity in this area has developed considerably. The organic agriculture guidelines stipulate that all the preventive measures should be taken in feeding, keeping and breeding to insure animal health safety. This requires veterinary services for herd management. The organic status of a farm affects veterinary practice also in the form of alternative therapy/drugs administration and measures like dehorning and tail-docking. An important point in organic managed herds requests that treatment of animals should depend on alternative medical preparations or procedures based on veterinarian's experience and also on the therapeutic effect on the animal species concerned as well as on the disease. However, there are no restrictions on the veterinarian to use registered drugs as long as no alternative therapy, according to experience and possible success, is available to treat the animals. The prophylactic administration of allopathic veterinary drugs is not permissible. Further features in organic farms regarding the use of drugs are the keeping of withholding/withdrawal time, the documentation and the treatment frequency tolerated by organic marketing. Despite the above measures, the animal health has a priority regardless of its organic status. Although management of organic farms represent a unique responsibility, there are still obvious deficits in the education of veterinary practitioners for this new situation. However, in the future the extension of veterinary activity to include the alternative medical therapy should be regarded for the practitioner as a challenge and an opportunity at the same time.     

Ethics: The new challenge for animal agriculture

This paper introduces this volume dedicated to ethics in animal agriculture, in which moral responsibility of the actors of the animal production chain and relations between science, production and the society are analysed. Ethical concepts and their evolution through the ages, and ethical issues arising across different modes of production are presented. The diversity of viewpoints and interests of the stakeholders (farmers, technicians, scientists, consumers and citizens), relative to their values, cultures, and production conditions, is emphasized. The processes by which norms can be built while taking into account this diversity and societal objectives are illustrated at the levels of the profession, the country, Europe or the world. Ethics in animal production is a condition of the acceptability of the products, but also of the animal production sector as a whole.     

硫的营养作用及在养殖业的应用

1硫在体内的分布大多数动物的含硫量按活体质量计算是0.16%~0.28%,且随年龄而增加,这大概是由于肌肉蛋白质的合成加强,以及硫在毛发和羽毛中的积累。硫元素分布在动物体内的各个细胞中,主要以有机硫的形式存在于蛋氨酸、胱氨酸和半胱氨酸中。此外,还存在于生物素、硫氨素以及黏     

“肉鸭及鸭肉产品生产、加工综合技术经验”专栏(三) 为屠宰加工生产所需的优质肉鸭

<正>从孵化场引进的1日龄雏鸭到达鸭场后放入一个干净、温暖、无气流、地面铺有新稻壳的鸭舍,并立刻喂给新鲜的饮水和饲料。所喂饲料是专门为雏鸭配制的,能向其提供生长所需的全部养分,使雏鸭能够发育成一副健壮的骨骼和丰满的肌肉。     

Food retailing and food service.

The food retailing and food service sector is not only an important component of the food marketing channel but is also vital to the United States economy, accounting for more than 7% of the United States gross domestic product in 2001. The business of food retailing and food service is undergoing salient change. The authors argue that the singular force driving this change is the consumer. To understand the linkages in the food marketing channel, this article provides information on the farm-to-retail price spread and the economic forces that influence their magnitude. Examples are given of farm-to-retail price spreads for red meat and dairy industries. In addition, the economics behind the provision of retail services and the growth of the food service industry are discussed. Further, the authors demonstrate that the structure of the food market channel is consumer driven, and present three characteristics of convenience (preparation, delivery, and service) and identify four food distribution channels in terms of convenience (complete convenience, traditional food service, consumer direct, and traditional retail).     

动物营养研究的发展趋势与挑战

随着生命科学的进步与饲料工业的发展，动物营养研究也取得了丰硕成果，生物技术、基因工程与营养免疫等新技术和新产品广泛应用于动物营养，但同时动物营养的研究也面临着严峻的挑战。本文主要就动物营养研究的发展趋势及其所面临的挑战作一综述。     

欧盟有机农业饲料和动物营养的法律要求

《欧洲有机法案》是欧盟有机农业发展的法律保证。 1 991年 6月 2 4日颁布的欧洲议会法案VO(EWG)Nr.2 0 92 /91 ,即《有机农业和有机农产品与有机食品标志法案》 ,简称《欧洲有机法案》 ,它承袭了来自 1 0 0多个国家的 740个团体组成的国际有机农业联盟 (IFOAM)的基本指导原则 :有机农业饲料生产和动物营养在一个相对封闭的有机农业生态系统内把种植生产和动物养殖合理地结合在一起 ,对建立系统内良性物质循环、保持和发展土壤肥力意义重大。欧盟有机农业饲料生产和动物营养按照《欧洲有机法案》的规定进行 ,并纳入由“负责检查的官方…     

Emerging zoonoses: the challenge for public health and biodefense

The concept of new and emerging diseases has captured the public interest and has revitalized the public health infectious disease research community. This interest has also resulted in competition for funding and turf wars between animal health and public health scientists and public officials and, in some cases, has delayed and hindered progress toward effective prevention, control and biodefense. There is a dynamic list of outbreaks causing substantial morbidity and mortality in humans and often in the reservoir animal species. Some agents have the potential to grow into major epidemics. There are many determinants that influence the emergence of diseases of concern that require the use of current understanding of the nature of agent persistence and spread. Additional factors that are global must be added to plans for prevention and control. To this complex mix has been added the potential for accidental or malicious release of agents. The nature of emerging infectious agents and their impact is largely unpredictable. Models that strive to predict the dynamics of agents may be useful but can also blind us to increasing disease risks if it does not match a specific model. Field investigations of early events will be critical and should drive prevention and control actions. Many disease agents have developed strategies to overcome extremes of reservoir qualities like population size and density. Every infectious agent spreads easier when its hosts are closer together. Zoonoses must be dealt with at the interface of human and animal health by all available information. Lessons learned from the emergence of and response to agents like West Nile virus, H5N1 avian influenza, SARS and bovine spongiform encephalopathy, the cause of new-variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans, must be used to create better plans for response and meet the challenge for public health and biodefense.     

鱼类的营养与健康

鱼类营养与免疫功能的研究正逐步深入到特定营养素在鱼类疾病防治中的作用上。本文简要阐述了部分维生素（VA、VE和VC）、微量元素（Fe和Se）、蛋白质、碳水化合物和脂类对免疫反应的潜在影响及营养缺乏症的发病机理。综述了n-3和n-6多不饱和脂肪酸（PUFA）在非特异性和特异性体液免疫及细胞免疫中的功能性作用。此外，还介绍了细胞膜功能（如流动性和通透性）、PUFA的免疫效应与类二十烷酸如白三烯（LT）和前列腺素（PG）的形成密切相关。n-3和n-6PUFA的摄入量对巨噬细胞和白细胞产生的LT、PG数量有巨大的影响，直接影响到鱼类的免疫功能。虽然改变日粮可以潜在地防止鱼类疾病的发生，但仍需在营养素对常见疾病发生机理的特定作用上以及这些作用如何受到其它生理或环境因素的影响上做进一步的研究。