New test and better understanding of deadly inclusion body disease in boas and pythons.

A new research has revealed a New test and better understanding of deadly infection in boas and pythons. This new study sheds light on inclusion body disease, and may help veterinary care teams better protect the health of their populations of large snakes. A newly published study in The Veterinary Journal sheds light on the disease, and may help veterinary care teams better protect the health of their populations of large snakes.Inclusion body disease (IBD) found in both boa constrictor and python species and signs may include periodic or chronic regurgitation, head tremors, abnormal shedding, anorexia, clogged nostrils, and pneumonia. The disease can rapidly progress to nervous system signs, such as disorientation, corkscrewing of the head and neck, holding the head in abnormal and unnatural positions, rolling onto the back or stargazing. The current strategies for IBD control include identification and isolation of affected snakes, but making a definitive diagnosis of IBD in a living animal can be challenging. Infected snakes may continue to feed and otherwise behave normally, and may infect other snakes prior to developing clinical signs of illness and chronic disease. The inclusion body disease is caused by the reptarenavirus and this was observed in apparently healthy boa constrictors which buttressed the fact that sub clinical cases are common.Researchers at the University of Florida, in collaboration with Colorado State University and University of California, San Francisco, sought to understand disease prevalence in captive snake populations using both routine and specialized immunohistochemical cell-staining techniques. The research team tested 131 snakes and determined that 19 percent of their study population had inclusion body disease. In snakes positive for IBD, 87 percent were clinically healthy.

World Bank tasks farmers on how to boost agriculture.

The World Bank tasks farmers on how to boost agriculture.A World Bank assisted programme in Africa, West Africa Agricultural Productivity Programme (WAAPP), has revealed that farmers do not need huge capital to be successful and maximise profit in agriculture. This was stated during the last World Bank Support Mission visit to the Federal College of Agriculture, Akure (FECA) adopted communities and schools, where it lauded the various projects embarked upon by WAAPP-FECA. Leader of the delegation, Prof. Victoria Ayuba, said the level of projects going on was a pointer to the fact that people can start making profit in agriculture if they start with little capital. Ayuba, who is the current Dean, College of Forestry and Fishery, University of Agriculture, Makurdi, encouraged the people, especially the youth, that they could utilise the opportunities in the sector to be employers of labour. The Dean noted that the essence of the visit was to evaluate and assess what the institution is doing with the World Bank assisted programme with member-countries of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to make agriculture more sustainable and productive.more

Rising Prevalence of Zoonotic Diseases and Increased Spending on Companion Animals to Boost Demand for Veterinary Vaccines Market.

The Rising Prevalence of Zoonotic Diseases and Increased Spending on Companion Animals to Boost Demand for Veterinary Vaccines Market.The global veterinary vaccines market is highly consolidated, with the top five vendors accounting for a share of nearly 65% in the overall market in 2015, reports TMR in a new study. Zoetis, Inc., Merck & Co., and Sanofi Aventis, the top three companies in the market collectively held a share of more than 45% of the overall market in the same year. Targeted in-licensing and acquisitions, expansion of global manufacturing and supply capacities, and increased investments towards research and development activities are some of the key strategies adopted by leading vendors in the market. A recent instance is the strategic alliance of Sanofi with Boehringer Ingelheim in June 2016. Under this alliance, an exchange of Boehringer Ingelheim’s consumer healthcare (CHC) unit with Sanofi’s animal health business took place.continue

Doctors Use Fish Skin to Treat Woman Who Suffered Severe Burns .

A 36-year-old woman who had suffered severe burns has been given fish skin to reduce her injuries in pioneering new treatment. The woman who goes by the name Maria Ines Candido da Silva, 36, worked as a waitress at a restaurant in Russas, north east Brazil. She suffered severe burns to her arms, neck and face after a gas canister at the restaurant exploded. In a pioneer treatment, doctors have now used skin of a common freshwater fish to dress her skin.It’s believed to be the first time in medical history that scientists have used the skin of a fish as a plaster to treat wounds.‘I was in absolute agony and desperate for anything to ease my suffering,’ Miss da Silva told The Sun. A team of doctors at the Dr José Frota Institute Burns Unit in Fortaleza, north east Brazil, developed the pioneering treatment. And the first trials on some 50 patients were completed this month. They used the skin from Tilapia fish, a disease-resistant species found in Brazilian rivers. Before the fish strips are used, researchers put the skin through a rigorous process that removes scales, muscle tissue, toxins and any possibility of transmitted diseases. It also gets rid of the fishy smell. The fish skin reduces the risk of infection – and it’s cheaper to work with, experts say. It is stretched and laminated then stored in refrigerated banks based in Sao Paulo, in strips of 10cm by 20cm for up to two years. The result is something similar to human skin and remains flexible and easy to mould around a wound. The Tilapia’s skin was left on Miss da Silva’s neck, face and left arm for 11 days before being removed. Doctors kept the fish skin on her left hand for longer as these wounds were deeper. The fish skin grafts on her hand were replaced many times over a 20 day period to restore the damaged tissue. Then, doctors removed the scaly skin using petroleum jelly to lift, slide and ease the dressing away from the healed area. According to Dr Edmar Maciel, one of the plastic surgeons who developed the treatment, Tilapia skin contains ‘optimum levels of collagen type one’ and high degrees of humidity, so it takes a long time to dry out. These are important characteristics known for healing burns and for providing patients with essential proteins.Dr Edmar Maciel also told the newspaper: ‘We discovered that Tilapia fish skin performs significantly better in the healing process by soothing and curing severe wounds caused by burns.’ more

Osun state has produced 170 millionaires in the poultry sector.

Osun state under the leadership of Governor Rauf Aregbesola, has said that it has produced 170 millionaires in the last six years through the Osun Broiler Outgrowers Production Scheme. This was disclosed during the week when a leading Nigerian agriculture investor and Chairman TUNS Farms Nigeria Limited, Chief Olatunde Badmus led other management staffers of the company to the office of the Governor in Osogbo for a presentation on the National Egg Production (NEGSPRO) scheme. Osun has made many millionaires through various agricultural intervention programmes. Tuns Farm which anchors the Osun Broiler Outgrowers Production Scheme (OBOPS), produces day old chicks for citizens and residents of Osun who accepted into the programme to raise and nurture for few weeks, after which the farm buys back from the participants. Aside guaranteed buy-backs, Tuns Farm also supports participants who are mainly small holder farmers with skills & knowledge necessary to nurture the chicks to maturity, provide feeds and sensitize them on international best practices in raising broiler chickens.continue

Data and agriculture.

The role of ioT in agriculture has shown the future,with robots ,sensors and scanners doing various tasks on the farm to ensure a bountiful harvest. The digitization of normal farming activities makes the running of the farm easy and more flexible to run. A company Prospera has built very interesting technology that centers around monitoring crop growth, in order to optimize it. Farmers have some data to work with now to optimize production such as weather readings and low-resolution satellite images, but it turns out not to be enough. The new robotic system, called Prospera, aims to save plants by detection of pest invasion before they are even visible to farmers. This is done by using a network of cameras and sensors, it immediately detects invaders and knows when crops are sick. It then alerts and tells farmers exactly why through an app. Prospera has come up with low-cost sensors that can obtain temperature and humidity data; and low-cost cameras that measure light/radiation and gather valuable images. The devices can communicate over WiFi or 3G mobile data technology and can often run on solar power. This approach has been making technology with great efficacy in indoor agriculture, increasingly applicable in outdoor settings too. Prospera act as a data company not just one that helps customers collect data and act on it, but one that builds data intelligence and thus domain expertise. The use of predictive applications and prescriptive applications are also used to monitor farms. The sensors collect hundreds of thousands of data points about plants' health. These include issues with pests, diseases, nutrients, irrigation, and climate. Prospera's system also monitors and archives facts that affect plants' nutrition, like temperature, pH, CO2, and oxygen. The cameras monitor the plants 24-7, and when something's wrong, they send photos and sensor data to the cloud. The system then analyzes the data, creates a summary on the app, and pings the farmer. The app also provides real-time data about the plants, even if they're all healthy. Using machine learning, Prospera's system can predict when a plant might be at risk depending on the time of year or upcoming weather patterns. This means that the longer the bot's system works on the farm and the more data it collects, the smarter it becomes. This application can also help alert farmers to where they need to prune and harvest so not only is the data collection made more economical, but the methodical analysis of the collected data, and the dispatch of responsive action, is made more feasible and economical as well.see

Bank of Agriculture Disburses N21.5billion to 107,200 Farmers.

Bank of Agriculture, BOA, has given out over N21.5billion to 107,200 farmers nationwide disclosed by the Zonal Manager South-West Region, Mrs Idiat Folorunsho at the empowerment programme of the bank of Agriculture held in Osogbo, the state capital of Osun State. She emphasized that the dwindling oil revenue has forced a paradigm shift in strategy to promote agri-business. The Bank Of Agriculture (BOA),have come to terms with this new shift and has put in place necessary polices and schemes to promote agribusiness.The BOA has shown commitment to improve the agricultural sector by assisting young farming entrepreneurs to assist them in food production to ensure food security in the nation and reliance on agricultural products. The BOA has set aside a grant of about 40 billion naira to ensure implementation of programmes to help farmers,the most recent scheme is the Anchor Borrowers programme which support farmers by providing input and technical advice . The move towards the green fields emphasizes the fact that nations are great when farmers are as popularly said "Great farmers,Great Nation!!! No Farmer No Nation!!!