Novel estimation of African swine fever transmission parameters within smallholder villages in Lao P.D.R.

African Swine Fever (ASF) disease transmission parameters are crucial for making response and control decisions when faced with an outbreak, yet they are poorly quantified for smallholder and village contexts within Southeast Asia. Whilst disease-specific factors - such as latent and infectious periods - should remain reasonably consistent, host, environmental and management factors are likely to affect the rate of disease spread. These differences are investigated using Approximate Bayesian Computation with Sequential Monte-Carlo methods to provide disease parameter estimates in four naïve pig populations in villages of Lao People's Democratic Republic.

Revisiting the Importance of Orthobunyaviruses for Animal Health: A Scoping Review of Livestock Disease, Diagnostic Tests, and Surveillance Strategies for the Simbu Serogroup.

Orthobunyaviruses (order , family ) in the Simbu serogroup have been responsible for widespread epidemics of congenital disease in ruminants. Australia has a national program to monitor arboviruses of veterinary importance. While monitoring for Akabane virus, a novel orthobunyavirus was detected.

Assessing risks for bovine and zoonotic tuberculosis through spatial analysis and a questionnaire survey in Fiji - A pilot study.

causes tuberculosis in cattle and when transmitted to humans typically causes extra-pulmonary tuberculosis (EPTB). Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) has a global distribution and is controlled in most countries to protect animal and public health. Recent studies revealed that bTB is established on dairy farms in Fiji where EPTB cases have been reported in people.

Association between major histocompatibility complex haplotypes and susceptibility of unvaccinated and vaccinated cattle to paratuberculosis.

Bovine Johne's disease (BJD) or paratuberculosis is caused by Mycobacterium avium spp. paratuberculosis (MAP) and is a worldwide problem among domestic and wild ruminants. While vaccines are available, natural differences in background immunity between breeds within species and between individuals within herds suggest that genetic differences may be able to be exploited in marker-assisted selection as an aid to disease control.

Retrospective investigation of the 2019 African swine fever epidemic within smallholder pig farms in Oudomxay province, Lao PDR.

The 2019 African swine fever (ASF) outbreak in the Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR or Laos) represented a major epidemiologic event where a transitioning lower-middle income nation (LMIC) experienced a viral epidemic in a naïve pig population. The diversity of pig management styles creates challenges for local and regional policymakers when formulating recommendations to control an ASF outbreak. The aim of this study were to investigate the management of pigs in villages of Oudomxay province that were affected by ASF in 2019, as a case study in a smallholder pig-rasing system in northern Laos.

Utilising abattoir sero-surveillance for high-impact and zoonotic pig diseases in Lao PDR.

National disease surveillance systems are essential to a healthy pig industry but can be costly and logistically complex. In 2019, Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) piloted an abattoir disease surveillance system to assess for the presence of high impact pig diseases (HIPDs) using serological methods. The Lao Department of Livestock and Fisheries (DLF) identified Classical Swine Fever (CSF), Porcine Respiratory and Reproductive Syndrome (PRRS) and as HIPDs of interest for sero-surveillance purposes.

Community engagement strengthens pig disease knowledge and passive surveillance in Timor-Leste.

Smallholder pig production in Timor-Leste is culturally and economically important for most households. However, regular and ongoing disease surveillance and pig husbandry training for farmers are limited. This article describes collaborative social and diagnostic research followed by a pilot community engagement program to improve farmer and technician knowledge, skills, and working relationships.

Bovine tuberculosis control in Fiji: Retrospective study findings for 2015 to 2020.

Control of bovine tuberculosis (bTB) is a priority for animal health, biosecurity, and human health authorities in Fiji as evident from the long-term funding of the Bovine Brucellosis and Tuberculosis Eradication and Control program (BTEC) and notable improvements to the program described in this paper. To evaluate the performance of the Fiji BTEC program from 2015 to 2020, all available bTB data for cattle were analyzed. Data sources included BTEC bTB testing records, abattoir records and laboratory records.

Design and Evaluation of the Veterinary Epidemiology Teaching Skills (VETS) Workshop: Building Capacity in the Asia-Pacific Region.

Building workforce capacity in epidemiology skills for veterinarians in the Asia-Pacific region is crucial to health security. However, successful implementation of these programs requires a supply of trained veterinary epidemiology teachers and mentors. We sought to design and evaluate delivery of a 4-day Veterinary Epidemiology Teaching Skills (VETS) workshop as part of a larger project to strengthen field veterinary epidemiology capacity.

Unpacking the Theory Behind One Health Food Safety Programs: A Vietnam Case Study.

Many One Health programs are inherently complex, characterized by multiple perspectives from multiple sectors, delivery across various scales, and a focus on complex problems at the convergence of people, animals, and the environment. This complexity makes them difficult to conceptualize, requiring frameworks to organize the different program components. Evaluation frameworks that unpack the sequence of events linking program activities to outcomes (e.

Changes in farmer animal health and biosecurity knowledge, attitudes and practices: Insights from Cambodia and Laos.

Livestock agriculture in Cambodia and Laos is severely affected by endemic and exotic transboundary animal diseases, impacting household livelihoods and food and nutritional security. Collaborative animal health and biosecurity projects were conducted in each country between 2015 and 2019 aimed at increasing smallholder livestock production through mainly knowledge-based interventions in large ruminant disease prevention, nutrition, reproduction and marketing access. This study's objectives were to identify baseline animal health and biosecurity knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) of farmers, and temporal changes in key attitudes and practices associated with improved knowledge.

Global health security must embrace a One Health approach: Contributions and experiences of veterinarians during the COVID-19 response in Australia.

SARS-CoV-2, a betacoronavirus of likely zoonotic origin, was first reported in December 2019. Its rapid worldwide spread precipitated a range of interventions, including by veterinarians, due to impacts on human health and well-being as well as animal health and welfare. We conducted 36 key informant interviews to explore the responses of Australian veterinarians, their engagement in One Health collaboration and cooperation, and their existing and developed insights to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Serological Evidence of Exposure to Spotted Fever Group and Typhus Group Rickettsiae in Australian Wildlife Rehabilitators.

Rickettsioses are arthropod-borne zoonotic diseases, several of which occur in Australia. This study aimed to assess the exposure levels and risk factors for spp. among Australian wildlife rehabilitators (AWRs) using serology, PCR and a questionnaire.

The impact of African swine fever virus on smallholder village pig production: An outbreak investigation in Lao PDR.

African swine fever virus (ASFV) causes a deadly disease of pigs which spread through southeast Asia in 2019. We investigated one of the first outbreaks of ASFV in Lao People's Democratic Republic amongst smallholder villages of Thapangtong District, Savannakhet Province. In this study, two ASFV affected villages were compared to two unaffected villages.

Foot-and-mouth disease seroprevalence and reporting behaviours in nine northern provinces in Lao PDR: The current situation and challenges for control.

Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), caused by the FMD virus (FMDV), is one of the most important of global livestock diseases, impacting even-toed ungulates and distributed mostly in less developed countries that are home to 75% of the human population. A progressive control pathway for FMD (PCP-FMD) was developed to assist countries to better manage FMD risks and progress towards control and eradication. This requires evidence of current FMD seroprevalence to enable the informed risk assessment and the disease control planning required to progress along the initial stages of the PCP-FMD.

Can improving animal health and biosecurity knowledge of para-veterinarians in Cambodia assist in addressing challenges in smallholder livestock farming?

Para-veterinarians are crucial in providing front-line veterinary care and advice to smallholder farmers in countries with under-resourced national veterinary services. Many of these individuals undergo basic training with minimal monitoring and evaluation of performance and knowledge levels. To identify the knowledge, attitudes and practices of Cambodian para-veterinarians a cross-sectional survey (n = 80) of Village Animal Health Workers (VAHWs) was conducted during August 2018 in the provinces of Tbong Khmum and Takeo in southern Cambodia.

Towards One Health clinical management of zoonoses: A parallel survey of Australian general medical practitioners and veterinarians.

General medical practitioners (GPs) and veterinarians have different but complementary knowledge and skills, with potential to enhance clinical management of zoonoses in human and animal patients through taking a One Health approach that promotes cross-professional collaboration. Ability and willingness to engage within this framework is contingent on knowledge of endemic zoonoses and an understanding of the diversity of professional roles; however, previous research suggests that this is lacking. A unique parallel survey of Australian GPs and veterinarians was implemented to ascertain clinician experience, concern, confidence and current practices regarding zoonoses management as well as willingness to engage in cross-professional collaboration where it is beneficial to overall health outcomes.

seroprevalence and Q fever in Australian wildlife rehabilitators.

is the causative bacterium of the zoonotic disease Q fever, which is recognised as a public health concern globally. Macropods have been suggested as a potential source of infection for humans. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to determine the prevalence of exposure in a cohort of Australian wildlife rehabilitators (AWRs) and assess Q fever disease and vaccination status within this population.

Positive attitudes towards feline obesity are strongly associated with ownership of obese cats.

Overweight and obesity (O&O) is a risk factor for several health conditions and can result in a shorter lifespan for cats. The objectives of this study were to investigate (a) cat owners' attitudes towards feline O&O and their associations with O&O in their cats; and (b) the risk factors for feline O&O and underweight, particularly those involving owner practice. An online survey comprising questions related to cat owners' attitudes towards feline O&O, owner-reported body weight and body condition of their cat, and potential risk factors for feline O&O was conducted.