AGRIBUSINESS: FERTILIZERS AND FERTILITY IN MAN.

A recent study by scientists at the universities of Nottingham, Aberdeen (UK) and Paris-Saclay (France), The James Hutton Institute (Aberdeen) and UMR BDR, INRA, Jouy en Josas (Paris, France) and published in the journal Scientific Reports, has shown striking effects of exposure of pregnant ewes and their female lambs in the womb to a cocktail of chemical contaminants present in pastures fertilized with human sewage sludge-derived fertilizer. Eating meat from animals grazed on land treated with commonly-used agricultural fertilizers might have serious implications for pregnant women and the future reproductive health of their unborn children. The study highlights potential risks associated with the common practice of grazing livestock on pastures on which human sewage sludge-derived fertilizer has been used. While low-level chemical exposure poses a threat to human reproductive development but the consumption of products from animals grazing such pastures proves to be a considerable environmental concern. The research group investigated development of ovaries in the fetal sheep, which is very similar to ovary development in humans. The pregnant sheep was exposed to sewage sludge-derived fertilizer to simulate 'real-life' exposure. Since the number of eggs present in the ovary at birth is determined while still in the womb, the research shows that the implications of disrupted ovary development could be significant. It suggests that chemicals that interfere with this development process, particularly those that mimic sex steroids, may have long-lasting effects on adult female fertility. The researchers report that the number of eggs in the fetus' ovary was reduced even if the period of exposure was limited to 80 days corresponding to early, mid or late gestation. However, a period of mid or late gestation exposure had a greater effect on the development of the fetus and the number of altered genes and proteins in the fetus' ovary. The biggest effects on the fetal ovary were seen when the sheep were switched to sewage sludge fertilized fields in the last two to three months of pregnancy. This suggests that changing exposures to chemical mixtures may be worse than always being exposed to these mixtures. The role of the environment is spread of diseases and impact on health status can not be ignored ,hence steps to reduce contamination of sewage sludge-derived fertilizer are important and proper sanitation protocols must be enforced.

DAIRY COWS AND YOGHURT PRODUCTION.

Dairy cows when properly nurtured and managed produce at optimum rate providing enough milk for processing. The output from the cows depends largely on breed, nutrition and management .The milk derived is processed into various products such as flavored milk, yoghurt,fresh milk and cheese. The yoghurt requires the following equipment; 1) heating system 2)bucket 3) thermometer.4) preservative.5) flavor 6) starter culture. Method; The starter culture is prepared in bulk in a milk medium,then milk is pasteurized. The pasteurization is to kill the pathogens that might be present,and this is done by heating to 72C and then the mixture is cooled to 35-48C. Add the starter culture to the mix and cover for 8 hours, after which the mixture is stirred properly. The preservative, sugar and fruit flavor/fruit are added and the products can be filled in containers ready for the market. # startup # yoghurt # fresh milk # nutrition.

PLASTICS AND THE POULTRY VALUE CHAIN.

Plastics are of enormous value when you are raising birds,at various stages different sizes of plastics can be used to achieve success. Poultry can be on large,medium,small scale and back yard type of production. Plastics can be cut up and used as feed troughs,drinkers and sprinklers.In small scale or backyard production with there is space constraints, a brooder can be made from plastics.This is fitted with all necessary accessories to ensure adequate heat is provided for the birds. Thinking of starting small with little or no space available,then you can cut up your stock in batches and brood them in plastic bowls.This is much easier to monitor,manage and change the shavings easily. #startup. # vetpreneur # home business .(pics culled from internet).

Ebola, Zika now WIV1-CoV,

Researchers from the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill have found that the newly identified virus, known as WIV1-CoV, a SARS-like virus found in Chinese horseshoe bats may be poised to infect humans could bind to the same receptors as SARS-CoV that infected thousands in 2002.They also showed that the virus readily and efficiently replicated in cultured human airway tissues, suggesting an ability to jump directly to humans. Researcher Vineet Menachery said that the capacity of this group of viruses to jump into humans is greater than originally thought, adding that while other adaptations may be required to produce an epidemic, several viral strains circulating in bat populations have already overcome the barrier of replication in human cells and suggest reemergence as a distinct possibility. He further said that this virus may never jump to humans, but if it does, WIV1-CoV has the potential to seed a new outbreak with significant consequences for both public health and the global economy.The research team also found that antibodies developed to treat SARS were effective in both human and animal tissue samples against WIV1-CoV, providing a potent treatment option if there were an outbreak. Prevention using existing vaccines against SARS would not provide protection for this new virus due to slight differences in the viral sequence and there is a limitation to treat with antibodies.This is the same as with ZMapp, the antibody approach used for Ebola, because of production at a large enough scale to treat many people. culled from journal of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

MOSQUITOES , PATHOGENS AND GLOBAL THREAT.

The world focuses on Zika's rapid advance in the Americas but experts warns the virus that originated in Africa is just one of a growing number of continent-jumping diseases carried by mosquitoes threatening humanity. The Aedes aegypti species blamed for transmitting Zika breeds in car tires, tin cans, dog bowls and cemetery flower vases. And its females are great at spreading disease as they take multiple bites to satisfy their hunger for the protein in human blood they need to develop their eggs. Around the world, disease-carrying mosquitoes are advancing at speed, taking viruses such as dengue and Zika, plus a host of lesser-known conditions such as chikungunya and St. Louis encephalitis, into new territories from Europe to the Pacific. In 2014, there was a large outbreak of chikungunya, which causes fever and joint pains, in the Caribbean, where it had not been seen before, while the same virus sickened Italians in 2007 .Europe has seen the re-emergence of malaria in Greece for the first time in decades and the appearance of West Nile fever in eastern parts of the continent. The speed of change in mosquito-borne diseases since the late 1990s has been unprecedented, for many experts the biggest potential threat is Aedes albopictus, otherwise known as the Asian tiger mosquito. This is expanding its range widely and is capable of spreading more than 25 viruses, including Zika. There is evidence that Aedes albopictus is now out-competing aegypti in some areas and becoming more dominant, in the United States, Aedes albopictus has been found as far north as Massachusetts and as far west as California. In Europe it has reached Paris and Strasbourg. The global movement of mosquitoes rests on the increase in human travel, humans are moving the pathogens around and the mosquitoes are waiting there to transmit them. Deforestation in Malaysia, for example, is blamed for a steep rise in human cases of a type of malaria usually found in monkeys. The elimination of mosquitoes,their breeding sites and avoiding mosquito bites in mosquito prone areas are some of the measures to keep the mosquito menace at bay. Read more here; http://veterinarymedicineechbeebolanle-ojuri.blogspot.com.ng/2016/01/the-zika-threat-and-global-village.html

SWILL FEEDING AND PIG PRODUCTION CHAIN.

( food waste). Swill refers to cooked food given to pigs.Pigs consume almost anything,and are great feed converters turning feed into muscle fast.Feed costs and efficiency has pushed the stakes high on alternative feed sources that will provide necessary nutrition requirements but also ensure optimum growth.Swill benefits not only farmer’s wallets, but also the environment, as farmers replace grain- and soybean-based feeds with swill, they reduce demand for these land- and greenhouse gas-intensive feeds. Pigs are usually fed a formulated ration in most pig farms,while others provide a combination of various feed components to achieve the same aim of growth at stipulated pace.Pigs are sometimes fed kitchen waste ,which is the common practice in small scale production,but the practice has gained more acceptance now even on large scale production because of the potential to reduce production costs. Swill is currently illegal in the EU,many developing countries still practice this with good feedback.The only caution in the practice is to cook the food properly so as to kill pathogens.The risks of feeding uncooked food waste were demonstrated in 2001 when a UK farmer illegally fed some to pigs, precipitating the 2001 FMD outbreak, which cost the UK economy £8 billion (€ 10.4 billion). In response, swill-feeding was banned in the UK in 2001, with the ban extended across the EU the following year. While the EU saw swill only as a disease risk, other nations saw it as a potential resource. Heat treatment deactivates viruses such as FMD and Classical Swine Fever (hog cholera) and renders food waste safe for animal feed. In the same year that the UK banned the use of swill, the Japanese government launched an initiative to promote the regulated use of food waste in animal feed. Japan and South Korea recycle around 40% of their food waste as feed which is a waste-resource innovation, as swill is seen as a strategic resource. It is a cheap, domestic alternative to the more expensive, volatile grain- and soybean-based feeds. Pigs reared on food waste produce pork of high quality , although swill-fed pigs tend to grow more slowly than when fed conventional, grain-based feed. The swill has a more variable nutritional content thus the costs of slower growth are more than offset by the savings in feed costs.

Agro-Veterinary Business: role of environment in antibiotic resistance.

Antibiotic resistance is a global issue with developing countries being mostly affected .The research as to ways to combat the super bug effect has looked into techniques of animal production with the view that if antibiotic use is reduced in farm animals then there will not be any residues in the products thus eliciting development of antibiotic strains in man resulting in difficulty in treatment of simple conditions such as diarrhoea. 

 The reduction and absolute banning of antibiotics in farmed animals has shown dramatic changes in the antibiotic residues,but the identification of some antibiotic resistance strains that was not used even during production,has beam the search on another possible route of transmission. 

 The environment is the mixing media where various pathogens interact, pathogens from man,animals are exchanged freely .Antibiotics released into the environment may be spread through plants which later are consumed by humans, or by livestock. 

 The consequence is that relatively harmless conditions such as diarrhea caused by resistant coli bacteria or salmonella bacteria become dangerous or even lethal. 

 Drugs discharged into the environment are a problem in many parts of the world and antibiotics are spread in nature through urine from animals and humans, and many unfortunately have a very long life span.

 The problem is very pronounced in many African countries because of poor sanitation conditions . The quality of drugs available to man and animals also play a role in development of resistance,many countries with poor drug regulations where concentrations of active ingredients are not accurate,or the active ingredient is not even in the preparation( fake drugs). 

This results in repeated treatment where the bacteria is not destroyed but becomes resistant to the drug.The environment is the mixing vat,and unless proper disposal of drugs,feces are incorporated into sanitation laws the problem will persist.