Egg production in Serbia

Table egg production is a rapidly growing agricultural sector in the world, although is at a much lower level in Serbia. The total number of poultry in Serbia in 2018 was 16,232,000 birds, of which laying hens comprised 66.58%, broilers 30.05%, turkeys 1.27%, geese 0.46%, ducks 1.03% and other types of poultry 0.61%. The numbers of eggs in Serbia in 2018 decreased by 7.47% compared to 2006 production figures. This decline has been followed by an increase in imported eggs, particularly from EU countries (1033.9 t in 2018). Exports are mainly to signatory countries of Central European Free Trade Agreement, and, in 2018, and all eggs were exported to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Macedonia. Net trade was negative during the observed period, from -337.6 t in 2006 to -4225.3 and -2037 t in 2017 and 2018, respectively. Serbian egg producers face many challenges, including high production (especially feed) costs, low technology, lack of harmonised legislation within the EU and low retail price of eggs. Compound feed production is in decline, and the export of raw nutrients is at high rates (549,243.2 t in 2018). Improvements in feed processing and nutrition strategies may be crucial to develop table egg industry in a sustainable manner

Zoonotic and vector-borne parasites and epilepsy in low-income and middle-income countries

Zoonotic and vector-borne parasites are important preventable risk factors for epilepsy. Three parasitic infections — cerebral malaria, Taenia solium cysticercosis and onchocerciasis — have an established association with epilepsy. Parasitoses are widely prevalent in low-income and middle-income countries, which are home to 80% of the people with epilepsy in the world. Once a parasitic infection has taken hold in the brain, therapeutic measures do not seem to influence the development of epilepsy in the long term. Consequently, strategies to control, eliminate and eradicate parasites represent the most feasible way to reduce the epilepsy burden at present. The elucidation of immune mechanisms underpinning the parasitic infections, some of which are parasite-specific, opens up new therapeutic possibilities. In this Review, we explore the pathophysiological basis of the link between parasitic infections and epilepsy, and we consider preventive and therapeutic approaches to reduce the burden of epilepsy attributable to parasitic disorders. We conclude that a concerted approach involving medical, veterinary, parasitological and ecological experts, backed by robust political support and sustainable funding, is the key to reducing this burden