Bases of animal health economics

The importance of studying the economic impact of animal health on the livestock industry, the veterinary service and the economic and food security of the country as a whole has long been recognized worldwide. The article substantiates the structured components of animal health. Each of the components and individual features are considered. Animal health economics has the following components: economics of planning veterinary measures, management and financing of the state veterinary service, analysis of animal health policy. Although economics and epizootology together with the organization of veterinary business are separate branches of knowledge, but their association forms the same economics of animal health, which provides effective management of animal health, forms a policy of financing the veterinary service at various levels and financing anti-epizootic measures. as well as analysis of animal health policy analysis.

Where Are We on the Animal Welfare Map? Using GIS to Assess Stakeholder Diversity and Inclusion

Inequities exist in all facets of society, and animal welfare organizations (AWOs) and their communities are no exception. These organizations interface with multiple stakeholder groups. An active analysis of stakeholder groups to identify under-served areas and communities has not been performed. Using stakeholder data from Toronto Humane Society (THS) from 2015–2019, this study performed a retrospective spatial analysis to identify well served and under-served geographic areas for adopters, surrenders, public veterinary service (PVS) clients, volunteers and foster parents, using Hot Spot analysis. Correlation analysis was performed to determine whether the spatial distribution of the groups correlated with the four socioeconomic metrics of the 2016 Ontario Marginalization Index (residential instability, material deprivation, dependency, and ethnic concentration), and a metric representing the distribution of Indigenous residents. For each stakeholder group, there were well served areas, typically in central Toronto where THS is located, and under-served areas, typically in the north-west and north-east corners of Toronto and in the surrounding cities of the Greater Toronto Area. The area served by THS PVS extended further north than the other hot spot areas. The number of adopters increased as the residential instability metric increased, whereas the number of adopters decreased as the ethnic concentration metric increased. The rate of surrenders increased as the Indigenous metric increased. Public Veterinary Service clients increased as the residential instability, material deprivation, and Indigenous metrics increased. One of the primary limitations of this study was the confounding factor of distance from THS. Individuals living further from THS are less likely to utilize its services, particularly if there is another accessible AWO nearby, and therefore may appear to reflect an under-served population that may not truly be under-served. A regional approach would help to overcome this limitation. The results provide useful insights into stakeholder engagement and provide a foundation for analysis of more targeted areas, as well as for strategies to reach under-served demographics. Similar analyses by other AWOs would be helpful to address inequities in a larger geographic area. Animal welfare organizations can improve program effectiveness by adding data analytics skills to the more traditional skills associated with this sector.

PRICES FOR PAID VETERINARY SERVICES NOVOCHEBOKSARSK CITY ANIMAL DISEASE CONTROL STATION

In the conditions of small towns, the scientific justification of the current prices for veterinary work (services) provided by budgetary institutions of the state veterinary service is of particular importance. The article presents the results of the authors research on the development of a price list of tariffs for paid veterinary services for the Novocheboksarsk city station for the control of animal diseases. 528 prices for paid veterinary services provided by the institution have been developed. Developed in 2021 prices in comparison with the current ones (2015) for the maintenance of productive animals increased from 1.2 to 3 times; for the maintenance of dogs, cats and other unproductive animals - from 1.3 to 4.2 times; for veterinary and sanitary examination and other types of veterinary work - from 1.6 to 6 times.

Continuing Education of Animal Health Professionals in Uganda: A Training Needs Assessment

In Uganda, delivery of veterinary services is vital to animal health, and productivity and is heavily dependent on well-trained and skilled animal health professionals. The purpose of this study was to identify and prioritize areas for refresher training and continuous professional development of animal health professionals (veterinarians and veterinary paraprofessionals), with the overarching aim of improving veterinary service delivery in Uganda. A survey was administered electronically to 311 animal health professionals during the period November 14–30, 2019. Data were collected on relevant parameters including demographics, knowledge on preventive medicine, diagnostics, disease control and treatment, epidemiology, and One Health, as well as participants’ opinions on training priorities, challenges faced, and constraints to veterinary service delivery. Most respondents were veterinarians 26–35 years old, were male, and worked in clinical practice. Lowest perceived knowledge was reported on subjects relating to laboratory diagnostics, antimicrobial resistance (AMR), and nutrition. Training topics considered to be of most benefit to respondents included laboratory diagnostics, treatment of common livestock diseases, AMR, and practical clinical skills in reproductive and preventive medicine. Participants preferred to receive training in the form of practical workshops, in-practice training, and external training. This study highlights the need to prioritize training in practical clinical skills, laboratory diagnostics, and AMR. Wet labs and hands-on practical clinical and laboratory skills should be incorporated to enhance training. Provision of targeted and successful trainings will be dependent on the allocation of adequate resources and support by relevant public and private stakeholders across the veterinary sector.

VETERINARY SERVICE OF THE DAIRY COMPLEX: PROBLEMS AND WAYS TO SOLVE THEM

The article analyzes the activities of the veterinary service of a large livestock enterprise during which it was found that the average annual number of sick cows with one or another non-infectious pathology is 968 heads (30 % of the total livestock), while medical work is only 16 % of the total labor costs. in addition, the responsibilities of veterinary specialists include conducting diagnostic studies, preventive vaccinations, measures for the prevention of non-communicable pathology at the complex, veterinary and sanitary work, etc. The analysis of the need for veterinary specialists of the analyzed agricultural organization was carried out to establish the compliance of the existing number of veterinary service workers with the standards, calculations found that 13 veterinary specialists are needed for effective veterinary service of the farm, with 8 available.

Antibiotic Prescription in Veterinary Consultations in Bhutan: A Retrospective Cross-Sectional Study

The veterinary prescription of antibiotics in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) remains largely undocumented. In Bhutan, however, the national veterinary service keeps records of their activities and prescriptions, which offer an opportunity to establish a benchmark to assess the use of these agents in this and other LMIC. A cross-sectional retrospective study was designed and 2,266 handwritten veterinary records from 2017 were sampled from 23 animal health premises (AHPs) to estimate individual and an overall proportion of consultations that resulted in an antibiotic prescription. The frequency of antibiotic prescription per species, type of AHP, and according to WHO's AWaRe index and OIE list of priority antimicrobials were also explored. It was estimated that 31% (95% confidence interval: 29–33%; intracluster correlation: 0.03) of the veterinary consultations resulted in an antibiotic prescription. The incidence of antibiotic prescription was highest in consultations of poultry across AHP. Across species, diarrhea and wounds were frequently treated with broad-spectrum antibiotics including sulfonamides, tetracyclines, trimethoprim + sulfa, and penicillin. Between 45% and 70% antibiotics prescribed correspond to AWaRe's access group and up to 25% to AWaRe's watch group. Over 70% of antibiotics dispensed in veterinary consultations for any species correspond to the OIE's veterinary critically important antimicrobial agents. Overall, the study demonstrated positive features of veterinary antimicrobial stewardship in Bhutan, given the conservative proportion of consultation that results in this type of prescription and the type of antibiotic prescribed. Although the veterinary service closely follows the Bhutanese Standard Treatment Guidelines, the prescription of antibiotics to key species should be closely monitored. Our study suggests that further improvements of antibiotic stewardship can be achieved through standardisation of antibiotic prescription to some species, a revision of the guidelines toward reducing the prescription of antibiotics of high relevance for human medicine, and by including details of clinical investigation, use of tests, and treatment outcomes in veterinary consultation records.

Phytosanitary state of sugar beet agrocenosis in 2019 and forecast of the number of phytophages in the current year

Purpose. To generalize and analyze the data provided by state phytosanitary inspections of the Department of Phytosanitary Safety of the State Veterinary Service of Ukraine on the dynamics of development of the main pests in sugar beet stands in Ukraine in 2019 and to forecast their appearance and possible damage in the current year. Methods. Field, accounting, analytical. Results. In 2020, sugar beet crops may be damaged by beetroot weevil, grey beetroot weevil, beet stalk borer, beet flea, beet leaf miner, beetroot aphids and other pests. According to the results of autumn field monitoring, 57% of beet areas was colonized by beetroot beetle with an average number per 1 m2 of 0.5–1.0 (beetles, pupae) with the maximum number of 2–9 in Volyn, Kyiv, Poltava, Cherkasy, Chernihiv, Zhytomyr, Sumy regions. During the autumn excavations, the beetles in the population were 75%, pupae 20% and larvae 5%. In respect to grey beetroot weevil, it made the greatest damage to sugar beet crops in Kyiv, Poltava, Kharkiv, Sumy, Volyn, Kirovohrad, Khmelnytsk, and other regions, where it colonized 24–100% of stands with an average number of 0.1–0.6 with a maximum of 0.6–1.0. It damaged, on average, 2–6% of stands with the maximum of 7–12%. Autumn monitoring of the pest found a significant number of the pest in all beetroot regions with an average number of 0.5–0.7 with the maximum of 1.0–4.0. In addition, autumn monitoring revealed a significant number of beet stalk borer (average 0.1–0.7, maximum 0.7–1.0 specimens) in farms of Poltava and Cherkasy regions. Beet tortoise beetles were detected on 10–100% of the monitored area with an average number of 0.1–0.4, which is lower than in long-term observations. In the majority of areas, goosefoot tortoise beetles dominated (33–100%). On average, the ratio was 54% of goosefoot and 46% of beet root tortoise beetles. The wintering stock of beet beetle was slightly lower than in the last year and amounted to an average of 14–54, with the maximum in Vinnytsia, Rivne, Khmelnytskyi regions (76–100). Autumn inspections of host plants (red bilberry, snowball tree, jasmine) revealed 12–36, maximum 150 wintering eggs of leaf aphids per 1 meter of a branch. The wintering stock of beet leaf miner was 0.8–1.8, somewhere 2.9 (in Ternopil, Vinnytsia Khmelnytsk regions), which is at the level of the last year’s numbers. Conclusions. The wintering stock of harmful sugar beet insects exceeds the generally accepted economic thresholds for harmfulness. The timely prognosis of the development and reproduction of sugar beet pests and the application of a complex of organizational, economic, biological and chemical measures to control their numbers will create conditions for the preservation of root harvest, improving root quality and reduce unreasonable pollution of the environment with chemicals.

Veterinary Interventions to Improve Neonatal Survival on British Beef and Sheep Farms: A Qualitative Study

Neonatal lamb and calf deaths are a major issue in UK agriculture. Consistent mortality rates over several decades, despite scientific advances, indicate that socioeconomic factors must also be understood and addressed for effective veterinary service delivery to improve lamb and calf survival. This qualitative study utilised semi-structured interviews with vets and farmers to explore the on-farm mechanisms and social context, with a particular focus on the role of the vet, to manage and reduce neonatal losses in beef calves and lambs on British farms. Data were analysed using a realist evaluation framework to assess how the mechanisms and context for veterinary service delivery influence survival as the outcome of interest. A lack of a clear outcome definition of neonatal mortality, and the financial, social and emotional impact of losses on both vets and farmers, are barriers to recording of losses and standardisation of acceptable mortality levels at a population level. Despite this, there appears to be an individual threshold on each farm at which losses become perceived as problematic, and veterinary involvement shifts from preventive to reactive mechanisms for service delivery. The veterinarian-farmer relationship is central to efforts to maximise survival, but the social and economic capital available to farmers influences the quality of this relationship. Health inequalities are well-recognised as an issue in human healthcare and the findings indicate that similar inequalities exist in livestock health systems.

Results of epizootological monitoring of African swine fever in the Altai Krai

African swine fever (ASF) is a particularly dangerous viral infectious disease causing great damage to pig breeding due to high contagiousness, lethality and need for complete elimination of infected and healthy pigs in the epizootic focus and the threatened zone. The article describes the data on epizootic monitoring of ASF in the Altai Krai for the last nine years. The current legislative acts on the basis of which measures are taken to combat and prevent the disease are presented. The results of laboratory tests for the presence of the ASF pathogen of biological material, plant feed, raw materials and finished products of pig breeding imported from other entities of the Russian Federation are presented. The main preventive measures against carrying ASF carried out by the veterinary service are described. Thanks to the comprehensive preventive work of the veterinary service, the Altai Krai remains a prosperous region for ASF.