Completed International Projects
Lameness in sheep & other ruminants in Bhutan
Management of footrot in small ruminants in the hill districts of Nepal
Enhancing the contrirbution of mixed farming systems in the Philippines
Lameness in sheep and other ruminants in Bhutan
National survey of the prevalence of footrot and development of specific footrot vaccine for Bhutan
Farm Animal & Veterinary Public Health Staff
Emeritus Professor John Egerton
Dr Om Dhungyel
Student
Mr Ratna Bahadur Gurung
International Collaborators
Department of Livestock Services, Royal Government of Bhutan
Summary
The first cases of footrot in Bhutan were reported in the flock at the National Sheep Breeding Centre (NSBC) in Bumthang in 1990. This Centre supplies breeding animals to village flocks throughout Bhutan. Despite the presence of footrot at the Centre the distribution of sheep continued. In 1998 The Royal Government of Bhutan and the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research began a joint project in footrot research. This was aimed initially at identifying the strains of Dichelobacter nodosus responsible for the disease at NSBC. Forty isolates were cultured from cases in that flock. All isolates were identified antigenically as belonging to serogroup B. Vaccine was prepared from these isolates and shown in a controlled trial to accelerate cure of cases and to prevent infection at a time when the disease spread in unvaccinated animals. The same vaccine was used to treat all sheep at NSBC for two successive years. After the first year no further cases of footrot were seen at NSBC despite close surveillance for two years after the cessation of vaccination.
Cases of footrot had been reported in village flocks soon after the disease was diagnosed at NSBC. In order to establish the distribution and prevalence of footrot in Bhutan, a national survey was designed and implemented. This survey revealed that footrot was present in nine of 13 districts surveyed, but with the exception of one district, Bumthang, the prevalence of disease was lower than expected. There was an association between the receipt of animals from NSBC and the presence of footrot.
During the survey 234 isolates of D. nodosus were cultured from affected sheep in all districts where it occurred. Once again all isolates tested proved to be of serogroup B. When examined with a series of tests they were found to be phenotypically indistinguishable from one another. Genotypically there were minor variations in OMP gene patterns among the isolates. The conclusion was reached that all the isolates studied from Bhutan were essentially the same and were probably all derived from the same source. The presence of a single strain is most unusual in other sheep producing countries.
The presence of only one strain of D. nodosus in Bhutan suggests that it could be eliminated from village sheep by using specific vaccine for two years as was done at NSBC.
The experience in Bhutan with footrot reinforces the necessity to ensure the health of animals imported into a country and in those distributed from its animal breeding centres.
Source of Funding
Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research
Royal Government of Bhutan
Project Timeframe
June 1999 - July 2002
Management of footrot in small ruminants in the hill districts of Nepal and Control of footrot in small ruminants in Nepal – vaccination and serosurveillance
Farm Animal & Veterinary Public Health Staff
Emeritus Professor John Egerton
Dr Om Dhungyel
Professor Richard Whittington
Student
Dr Shiva Chandra Ghimire
International Collaborators
Overseas Development Administration, Government of U K
Lumle Agricultural Research Centre, Royal Government of Nepal
Summary
Footrot was introduced into the migratory flocks of Siklis village of Kaski district in Nepal during the 1960s with imported sheep from New Zealand and formally reported by Lumle Agriculture Centre (LAC) in 1971. Control measures were initiated during 1975 with the assistance of the United Nation's Development Programme (UNDP) and LAC. However, by that time the disease had spread to the flocks of the adjoining districts of Lamjung and Manang. The UNDP programme terminated in 1977 and the sole responsibility footrot eradication was handed over to LAC. The footrot eradication programme continued in the conventional manner with the organization of campaigns to carry out foot trimming, foot bathing and removal of non-responding animals. However, despite the apparent recovery of animals at the beginning of each monsoon season, many became re-infected during their annual migration to alpine pasture. Hence, although the problem was contained, disease eradication remained unachievable.
A footrot management project funded by ACIAR was developed. During this initial project the disease epidemiology was investigated and the strains of Dichelobacter nodosus involved in the disease in Nepal were identified. Specific vaccines were developed based on the two infecting serotypes and these vaccines were used in a controlled field trial which was done in association with the LAC normal programme. The results indicated that flocks treated with specific vaccine had less footrot than others treated with conventional vaccines or controls. All previously vaccinated flocks were treated with the specific vaccine and within 2 years there was no evidence of virulent footrot in the population of sheep and goats in the study area.
The present project provided evidence that virulent footrot has been eradicated from the flocks of Kaski, Lamjung and Manang districts where the disease had persisted for nearly 30 years.
The second part of the project aimed at surveillance for virulent footrot in the endemic area and in surrounding non-endemic areas using clinical examination, microbial culture and ELISA serology. It confirmed that virulent footrot had been eradicated from the study area in Nepal. It was shown also that benign footrot persisted in the flocks and occurred in other flocks remote from the project area, and established the existence of some other important diseases in the migratory small ruminant population.
The development of an anamnestic diagnostic test which can be used for the retrospective assessment of the life experience of sheep and goats with respect to infection with virulent organisms was another achievement. This could provide a basis for field testing and certification for the freedom from virulent footrot.
Source of Funding
Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR)
Overseas Development Administration, UK
Royal Government of Nepal
Project Timeframe
July 1993 - June 1999
Enhancing the contribution of livestock within smallholder mixed farming systems in the Philippines - The Leyte Livestock Improvement Program (LLIP)
Farm Animal & Veterinary Public Health Staff
Dr Jenny-Ann Toribio
National Collaborators
Dr Richard Clark – Project Leader - Queensland DPI
Dr Fay Rola-Rubzen – Curtin University
Dr Bob Pym – University of Queensland
International Collaborators
Dr Alberto Taveros – Project Leader
Dr Agnes Taveros
Dr Eugene Lañada
Dr Fe Gabunada
Leyte State University
Summary
Livestock are an important contributor to the social and economic wellbeing of resource-poor smallholder families in low-income countries. They provide tangible household benefits as a ready source of income, as well as benefits that are less tangible including the generation of employment, and the supply of inputs and services for crop production. Work from Africa suggests that livestock of all types on average make up 70% of farm investment and 40% of farm-generated income to smallholder families.
To date, most of the research and development work with smallholder farmers and their livestock in low-income countries has been conducted using traditional scientific methods. These methods have a strong focus of output-production such as the identification of new or improved knowledge or the development of a tangible solution to an identified problem. This is generally followed by a relatively linear sequence of problem identification, resolution and communication, and involved smallholder farmers as participants rather than partners in the research process. This project represents a substantial shift from traditional methodologies. Rather than focusing on the production of outputs, we are specifically seeking to build the capacity of farmers to improve the management, profitability and long-term sustainability of their livestock production systems through continuous improvement in their creativity, decisions, processes, practices and performance. Our work is focused on chicken and pig production systems, which play a key role in household income and nutrition for smallholder families in the Philippines.
LLIP Mission
‘Enhancing the wellbeing of smallholder families in western Leyte by increasing the capacity of farmers to continuously improve their pig and chicken production systems to achieve an average of 5% improvements in profit (gross margin), environment (specific KPIs), and energy efficiency (specific KPIs), this year and in the future’.
LLIP Objectives
- To increase the capacity of participating producers to improve the management, profitability and long-term sustainability of their livestock systems through continuous improvement in their creativity, decisions, processes, practices and performance
- To improve the contribution of livestock, in a measurable and sustainable way, to the social and economic wellbeing of smallholder families in western Leyte.
Source of Funding
Austrlian Centre for International Agricultural Research
Project Timeframe
February 2000 - December 2005