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£5.5m funding for Africa’s livestock
An initial programme aims to reduce death rates and reproductive losses in dairy cattle.
Vets delivering initiative to improve animal health

A multi-million pound initiative is underway to improve the health and productivity of farmed animals in sub-Saharan Africa.

Eight experts have been recruited to drive the Supporting Evidence Based Interventions (SEBI) initiative, which is based at the University of Edinburgh’s Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies.

The £5.5 million project aims to boost the livelihoods of livestock farmers using evidence-based technologies that offer sustainable solutions to their challenges.

An initial programme aims to reduce death rates and reproductive losses in dairy cattle in Ethiopia, Nigeria and Tanzania. Sub-grants will help research groups to explore the causes of these losses. The University of Glasgow has received the first of these grants to build a disease surveillance platform in Tanzania.

A second programme will facilitate data gathering and the development of tools to better track livestock performance. An international network of practitioners, the Livestock Data for Decisions (LD4D) community to standardise data management across borders.

Finally, a third strand of the initiative will fund researchers to evaluate veterinary interventions for their use in developing countries. The University of Guelph has been granted £125,000 to fund field trials of a hand-held device that can detect animal diseases. Using this portable sensor, dairy farmers can quickly diagnose diseases in cows from a small amount of blood or milk.

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Birmingham Dogs Home makes urgent appeal

News Story 1
 Birmingham Dogs Home has issued an urgent winter appeal as it faces more challenges over the Christmas period.

The rescue centre has seen a dramatic increase in dogs coming into its care, and is currently caring for over 200 dogs. With rising costs and dropping temperatures, the charity is calling for urgent support.

It costs the charity £6,000 per day to continue its work.

Fi Harrison, head of fundraising and communications, said: "It's heart-breaking for our team to see the conditions some dogs arrive in. We really are their last chance and hope of survival."

More information about the appeal can be found here. 

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News Shorts
Avian flu confirmed at premises in Cornwall

A case of highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 has been detected in commercial poultry at a premises near Rosudgeon, Cornwall.

All poultry on the infected site will be humanely culled, and a 3km protection zone and 10km surveillance zone have been put in place. Poultry and other captive birds in the 3km protection zone must be housed.

The case is the second avian flu case confirmed in commercial poultry this month. The H5N5 strain was detected in a premises near Hornsea, East Riding of Yorkshire, in early November. Before then, the disease had not been confirmed in captive birds in England since February.

The UK chief veterinary officer has urged bird keepers to remain alert and practise robust biosecurity.

A map of the disease control zones can be found here.