Basic science and applied science instruction: are they compatible?

Basic science and applied science instruction are compatible and essential for animal science professionals to succeed in their chosen career. Application of science is a continuum. Although production methods are constantly evolving, the science on which changes are made is fixed and fundamental. Only our understanding changes. We are educating students in preparation for a life-long learning process. Viability of animal science departments depends on attracting and challenging students with curricula that are demanding, create curiosity, and prepare students to understand the "whys and hows" of the phenomena of animal biology.     

The Hydropericardium Syndrome in Poultry – A Current Scenario

Inclusion-body hepatitis hydropericardium syndrome (IBH-HPS) is an important, recently emerged, disease of poultry, particularly of 3- to 6-week-old broiler chicks, characterized by its sudden onset, with high mortality ranging from 20% to 70%, typical hydropericardium and enlarged mottled and friable livers, with intranuclear inclusion bodies in the hepatocytes. The causative agent is a non-enveloped icosahedral fowl adenovirus (FAV) serotype 4, belonging to the Adenovirus genus of the family Adenoviridae, which can be propagated or cultivated in chicken embryo liver and kidney primary cell cultures. The transmission of disease occurs vertically and laterally by the oral-faecal route. The liver of infected birds shows necrotic foci and basophilic intranuclear inclusion bodies in the hepatocytes. The disease can be diagnosed from its gross and histopathological changes in the liver and by various serological tests, such as agar gel immunodiffusion, counterimmunoelectrophoresis, indirect haemagglutination, the fluorescent antibody technique, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and the polymerase chain reaction. The disease has been brought under control by the use of formalin-inactivated vaccines, prepared from infected liver homogenate, and of inactivated cell culture vaccines. The vaccines are effective in the face of natural outbreaks or experimental challenge and significantly reduce the mortality.     

The global veterinarian: the why? The what? The how?

Globalization has created an entirely new landscape for veterinarians. Opportunities abound to meet the formidable challenges presented as animals, people, and microbes travel at a previously unimagined speed, fueled by the engine of commerce, resulting in a plethora of new diseases, issues, and partnerships. Re-tooling our profession to ensure that we can continue to fulfill our veterinary oath in the face of these changes will require both short- and long-term changes. It is essential that a single overarching, non-affiliated organization be formed to tie together all entities, providing the structure to create needed synergy to enhance our currently fragmented professional responses and to solicit funds to effect necessary changes.     

Modernizing the animal science curriculum: is change needed?

To identify an animal science curriculum is difficult because it is a "moving target" due to changing needs and demands of our society and, more specifically, to changes in the backgrounds and interests of students. Therefore, animal science curriculums not only should change, but must change, if they are to succeed. With new technological innovations and discoveries that either modify, supplement, or change basic concepts and approaches, it is paramount that changes in courses as well as in the curriculum conform. Because of the applied nature of animal science and because of the many unknowns yet to be discovered, the curriculum should be under continual scrutiny. However, we must not fix something when it is not broken. For all practical purposes, a curriculum reflects a philosophy of what subjects should be included to complete a plan of study. After a philosophy has been established the base curriculum will seldom change significantly. When it does, it will be the result of a change in people's philosophies rather than a reflection of industry needs or student interests. Teachers should not forget how to teach most effectively the material and must never lose sight of their goal of molding students into knowledgeable, wise, and responsible citizens in our society.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)