Tien jaar ontwerpen voor systeeminnovatie : alleen maar diervriendelijkheid?

De projecten van Ontwerpen voor Systeeminnovatie kenmerkten zich aanvankelijk door een sterke nadruk op dierenwelzijn. Aan de hand van opeenvolgende projecten is te zien dat dierenwelzijn in toenemende mate gecombineerd wordt met andere duurzaamheidsdoelen. Reden hiervoor is dat deze ontwerpactiviteiten niet alleen bedoeld zijn als voortrekkers van welzijnsverbetering, maar van integrale verduurzaming. De sport is om dierenwelzijn hand in hand te laten gaan met de behoeften van de boer, de burgerconsument en de omgeving met verbeteringen op het gebied van onder andere milieu en landschap

Effect van plaagdierbestrijding op Toxoplasma gondii infecties bij enkele probleembedrijven in de welzijnsvriendelijke varkenshouderij = Effect of rodent control on Toxoplasma gondii infections in animal friendly pig farms with a rodent problem

Toxoplasma gondii is an underestimated food borne zoönoses with a human disease burden that probably equals salmonellosis. Modern pig production systems have led to a disappearance of Toxoplasma infections, but a reemergence has recently been observed on animal friendly pig farms. This project provides strong support for a role of rodents in the transfer of Toxoplasma infection to the pigs on such farms. Rodent control should be included in the quality assurance programs of animal friendly production systems

An experimental <i>Toxoplasma gondii </i>dose response challenge model to study therapeutic or vaccine efficacy in cats

High numbers of Toxoplasma gondii oocysts in the environment are a risk factor to humans. The environmental contamination might be reduced by vaccinating the definitive host, cats. An experimental challenge model is necessary to quantitatively assess the efficacy of a vaccine or drug treatment. Previous studies have indicated that bradyzoites are highly infectious for cats. To infect cats, tissue cysts were isolated from the brains of mice infected with oocysts of T. gondii M4 strain, and bradyzoites were released by pepsin digestion. Free bradyzoites were counted and graded doses (1000, 100, 50, 10), and 250 intact tissue cysts were inoculated orally into three cats each. Oocysts shed by these five groups of cats were collected from faeces by flotation techniques, counted microscopically and estimated by real time PCR. Additionally, the number of T. gondii in heart, tongue and brains were estimated, and serology for anti T. gondii antibodies was performed. A Beta-Poisson dose-response model was used to estimate the infectivity of single bradyzoites and linear regression was used to determine the relation between inoculated dose and numbers of oocyst shed. We found that real time PCR was more sensitive than microscopic detection of oocysts, and oocysts were detected by PCR in faeces of cats fed 10 bradyzoites but by microscopic examination. Real time PCR may only detect fragments of T. gondii DNA without the presence of oocysts in low doses. Prevalence of tissue cysts of T. gondii in tongue, heart and brains, and anti T. gondii antibody concentrations were all found to depend on the inoculated bradyzoite dose. The combination of the experimental challenge model and the dose response analysis provides a suitable reference for quantifying the potential reduction in human health risk due to a treatment of domestic cats by vaccination or by therapeutic drug application

Eindelijk checklist varkensziekten

Het is voor de sector van groot belang dat met name de meldplichtige dierziekten zo snel mogelijk worden gesignaleerd. Hoe sneller de signalering, des te sneller de reactie en de ziekte bestreden kan worden. Varkenshouder Henri van 't Loo uit 't Harde heeft om deze reden meegewerkt aan het netwerk snelle signalering dierziekte

Gezichtsvermogen varken ook bij veel licht beperkt

In opdracht van het Productschap Vee en Vlees heeft ASG het vermogen van varkens om visuele signalen te onderscheiden onderzocht bij verschillende lichtintensiteite