The current status of major tick borne diseases in Zambia

Tick-borne diseases occurring in Zambia are assuming more importance as they continue to be a major economic problem not only in Zambia, but in many parts of Eastern, Southern and Central Africa. The current control methods, which include the use of toxic acaricides to kill ticks, and the virulent sporozoite infection and treatment method have limitations. Recombinant vaccines, currently in their experimental stages, offer hope for the future. The use of acaricides is hampered by the development of acaricide resistance and live vaccines are dependent on cold chain facilities, which are a formidable obstacle in the poorly developed infrastructure in parts of Zambia where the vaccine is most needed. Amidst these drawbacks are the results of the recent research on parasites and vector recombinant vaccines which promise to circumvent these problems. The history, current status and attitudes regarding the control of these diseases, taking into account their complexity, are reviewed. The establishment of the well-designed Central Veterinary Research Institute (CVRI) and Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) sponsored veterinary school, both have a potential for high quality research, with access to a wealth of specimens a veritable goldmine of research material. It is thus hoped that this review will stimulate the desire to maximize the value of the tick and tick-borne disease research in both Zambia and the international research community.     

Control of ticks and tick borne diseases in exotic/cross-bred dairy cattle in India

Tropical Animal Health and Production -     

Lifestyle,habitat and farmers' risk of exposure to tick bites in an endemic area of tick‐borne diseases in Hungary

Controlling tick bites on farmers is important to the management of tick‐borne diseases and occupational health risks in agriculture. Based on an extensive household survey conducted between June and August 2015 with 219 farmers from western Hungary where tick‐borne diseases are endemic, we analysed the pattern of farmers' self‐reported contacts with ticks and investigated the potential interactions between farmers, landscape and the risk of exposure to tick bites. We developed a lifestyle typology based on farmers' socioeconomic profiles, farming objectives and time use patterns, and a habitat typology describing different configurations of tick habitats and agricultural areas in place of farming. We found no relationship between tick exposure risk and self‐prevention. The lifestyle typology could be used to classify the risk of tick bites and the adoption of prevention measures into different levels, the difference between which could further be modified by the habitat typology. Our results suggest that (i) farmers who are frequently engaged in outdoor recreations and (ii) part‐time and inexperienced farmers who have lower rate of preventive actions are likely to experience greater exposure to tick bites either in less cultivated, semi‐natural habitats or in agricultural landscape with highly diverse land uses. Future disease prevention practices should take into consideration the interaction of lifestyle and habitat and the need to associate different farmer groups with different landscape configurations.     

Dermatologic aspects of tick bites and tick-transmitted diseases

Dermatologic manifestations of tick bites and tickborne disease are not commonly encountered. However, recognition of the signs and histopathologic conditions of tick bites can be important to the diagnosis and management of small animal diseases. Understanding the local nodular inflammatory reaction to a tick bite can allay the owner's fear that a newly recognized nodule may be a malignant growth. Additionally, recognition of tick bites and pathognomonic dermatologic changes may provide important evidence in making a diagnosis of tick-transmitted diseases.     

Transmission ecology of rodent‐borne diseases: New frontiers

Rodents are recognized reservoir hosts for many human zoonotic pathogens. The current trends resulting from anthropocene defaunation suggest that in the future they, along with other small mammals, are likely to become the dominant mammals in almost all human‐modified environments. Recent intricate studies on bat‐borne emerging diseases have highlighted that many gaps exist in our understanding of the zoonotic transmission of rodent‐borne pathogens. This has emphasized the need for scientists interested in rodent‐borne diseases to integrate rodent ecology into their analysis of rodent‐borne pathogen transmission in order to identify in more detail the mechanisms of spillover and chains of transmission. Further studies are required to better understand the true impact of rodent abundance and the importance of pathogen sharing and circulation in multi‐host– multi‐pathogen communities. We also need to explore in more depth the roles of generalist and abundant species as the potential links between pathogen‐sharing, co‐infections and disease transmission.     

如何防治猪疥癣病

笔者近几十年来在对几十个养猪场的技术服务过程中,发现每个猪场都有不同程度的猪疥癣病发生。现把比较理想的防治措施介绍如下。一、预防措施1、在猪场进猪前,首先用0.5～1%的敌百虫溶液对圈舍、用具、场地等喷雾;进猪后,对猪体也要喷雾;如果是草房,房草最好也要喷雾,以滴水为     

雏鸡常见病的主要预防措施

在雏鸡疫病的预防和治疗工作中．预防是积极主动的措施，是重于治疗的管理方法。预防疫病的根奉措施，一是加强雏鸡的饲养管理，实施科学饲养，精心照料，提供适宜的温度、湿度、光照、密度和良好的通风，提高鸡群的健康水平；对病、弱、残雏鸡耍严格分群，隔离饲养，并对鸡群进行适时有效的免疫接种；二是搞好环境卫生，严格消毒，消灭传染源，切断传染途径，防止疫病的侵袭和传播。     

Prevention of infectious diseases in aquaculture

Infectious diseases remain one of the most important limitations to the successful propagation of aquatic animals. Most of the losses caused by pathogens in aquaculture could be prevented by health inspection, adequate environment and sound management practices. Effective control measures, mainly based upon 1) avoidance of pathogens 2) modification of the environment 3) improvement of host resistance 4) vaccination and 5) chemoprophylaxis are described.     

规模化猪场秋后疫病防治

每年进入10月份后,猪病多表现为高热症状为主的混合感染.为此,分析发病原因和病情,确定灵活的预防控制措施,已是规模化猪场迫在眉睫的任务.     

Discrepancies between self‐reported tick bites and evidence of tick‐borne disease exposure among nomadic Mongolian herders

Twenty‐six per cent of Mongolians live pastoral lifestyles, increasing their likelihood of exposure to ticks and placing them at a higher risk for contracting tick‐borne diseases (TBDs). Anaplasma spp. and Rickettsia spp. have been identified in ticks, livestock and humans in Mongolia, but no known qualitative research has been conducted investigating the association between nomadic herder characteristics, tick bite history and exposure to TBDs. To better understand the association between self‐reported tick bites and symptoms versus actual exposure to TBDs, this study paired serological data with 335 surveys administered to Mongolian herders, ages 12–69, from 2014 to 2015. Logistic regression results identified no significant associations between reported tick bites or symptoms with serological evidence of Anaplasma spp. and Rickettsia spp. controlling for age, gender and aimag. Among the 335 respondents who were seropositive to either Anaplasma spp. or Rickettsia spp., 32.9% self‐reported experiencing abnormal symptoms such as redness, inflammation, headache, arthritis or fever after being bitten. Alternatively, 17.3% (58/335) of individuals reported experiencing symptoms following a tick bite in instances where serological results indicated no exposure to Anaplasma spp. or Rickettsia spp. Results also identified inconsistencies in reporting and seroprevalence among different age groups, with children having the highest reporting and treatment seeking rates but low levels of exposure in comparison with other groups. While survey results showed that individuals were aware of peak tick seasons and tick species that inhabit specific areas, 58% of heads of households (49/84) were unaware that ticks can cause disease in livestock or dogs. This study suggests that herders are an at‐risk population in Mongolia with gaps in awareness of TBD risk. Increased surveillance paired with focused outreach to prevent TBDs targeted to the herder population is encouraged.     

谈谈犬病预防与保健

随着我市生活水平的不断提高,近两年来,本地区养犬爱好者急剧增多,犬的健康问题不仅仅是养犬者所关注的,也是我们从事兽医工作者所关心的.为了使广大养犬爱好者能有一个健康的犬,现就犬病预防与保健知识,归纳以下几点供参考.