A guide to professional conduct – do we really need it?

Extract

The 1985 edition of the Guide to Professional Conduct for veterinarians in New Zealand is about to be released. Changing demands of society, and of the profession itself, mean that any document which attempts to give guidance on matters of conduct must be continually reviewed or become irrelevant. Thus a new edition of the Guide has been produced some five years after the last edition.     

Do we need pathogen-free livestock for food safety?

The reduction of the entry of pathogens in the food chain is an important premise in improving the safety of food of animal origin. Since food animals are the main reservoir for pathogens, the prevalence of pathogens in livestock is of great importance. Unfortunately, classical measures to improve animal health can not exclude the presence of the main food-borne zoonotic agents (Salmonella, Campylobacter, Listeria monocytogenes, verotoxinogene Escherichia coli, Toxoplasma gondii) in "clinically healthy" animals. Absence of pathogens in livestock must be regarded as an unrealistic aim. To achieve an effective improval of product safety through logistical, hygienic or technological measures both farmers and food producers need valid data about the prevalence of pathogens in livestock, in each animal and in raw material of animal origin, respectively. Yet available data are insufficient. New European directives and regulations concerning monitoring and control of zoonosis demand the systematic control of presence of zoonotic agents in livestock and later steps of the food chain.     

Targeted selective treatment for worm management-How do we sell rational programs to farmers?

Seriously escalating global anthelmintic resistance in gastrointestinal nematodes of small ruminants has spawned a variety of alternatives to anthelmintics for worm management, based on the need for sustainable Integrated Parasite Management (sIPM). Pivotal to the sIPM approach is the concept of refugia, the proportion of a given parasite population that escapes exposure to control measures. By balancing drug applications with the maintenance of refugia, the accumulation of anthelmintic resistance alleles in worm populations can be considerably delayed, while still providing good levels of control. The over-dispersed nature of parasitic infections provides an opportunity to achieve this balance, by targeting treatments to the members of a flock or herd that are least tolerant to nematode infection. However, implementation of this strategy has only recently become feasible, with the development of the FAMACHA((c)) system for clinical evaluation of anaemia due to haemonchosis. Subsequently, the use of milk yields has proven an effective indicator in dairy goats infected predominantly with nematodes other than Haemonchus contortus. In addition, short-term weight changes and perhaps also body condition scoring may provide indices of parasitism, permitting the rapid identification of animals likely to benefit from treatment. However, sIPM and refugia-based approaches are more complex than whole-flock treatments in conventional programs, and adoption by farmers is most likely where the theoretical basis is understood. As close communication with informed advisors is generally limited, there is a danger that sIPM will remain a theoretical concept without alternative modes of communication. The development of computer-based decision support programs, which use epidemiological, seasonal and clinical information to provide recommendations for specific situations, should be accorded high priority in the future development of worm management systems.