Review on the epidemiology and dynamics of BSE epidemics

The paper describes how the comprehensive surveillance of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and studies carried out on these data has enhanced our knowledge of the epidemiology of BSE. Around 7 000 BSE cases were detected through the screening of about 50 million cattle with rapid tests in Europe. It confirmed that the clinical surveillance had a poor capacity to detect cases, and also showed the discrepancy of this passive surveillance efficiency between regions and production types (dairy/beef). Other risk factors for BSE were being in a dairy herd (three times more than beef), having a young age at first calving (for dairy cattle), being autumn-born (dairy and beef), and being in a herd with a very high milk yield. These findings focus the risk on the feeding regimen of calves/heifers. Several epidemiological studies across countries suggest that the feedborne source related to meat and bone meal (MBM) is the only substantiated route of infection ¿ even after the feed ban ¿, while it is not possible to exclude maternal transmission or milk replacers as a source of some infections. In most European countries, the average age of the cases is increasing over time and the prevalence decreasing, which reflects the effectiveness of control measures. Consistent results on the trend of the epidemic were obtained using back-calculation modelling, the R0 approach and Age-Period-Cohort models. Furthermore, active surveillance also resulted in the finding of atypical cases. These are distinct from previously found BSE and classified in two different forms based on biochemical characteristics; their prevalence is very low (36 cases up to 1st September 2007), affected animals were old and some of them displayed clinical signs. The origin and possibility of natural transmission is unknown

Spread and Control of Rift Valley Fever virus after accidental introduction in the Netherlands: a modelling study.

Rift Valley Fever (RVF) is a zoonotic vector-borne infection and causes a potentially severe disease in both humans and young animals. The Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation (EL&I) is interested in the risk of an outbreak of Rift Valley Fever virus (RVFV) for the Netherlands, and more knowledge is needed about the risk of introduction of the virus, the risk of spread (transmission) of the virus in the country once introduced, and the methods for control and surveillance. For this purpose, a mathematical model was developed to study (1) the probability of a RVF outbreak at different days of introduction during the year, (2) the probability of persistence of the infection during the entire year, and (3) outbreak size and duration at different days of introduction during the year

Natuuraanleg op landbouwgrond: belangstelling gemeten

Sinds een aantal jaren neemt particuliere natuuraanleg deels de plaats in van grondaankopen door de overheid. De deelname van particulieren aan natuuraanleg blijft echter achter bij de verwachtingen. Ook blijkt de belangstelling bij particuliere grondeigenaren onvoldoende om het beleidsdoel van 42.770 ha in 2018 te realiseren

Natuurbeheer nog zwakke inkomenspeiler

In Natuurbalans 2002 is het effect van agrarisch natuurbeheer op de vitaliteit van de landbouw geanalyseerd. De gedachte hierbij is dat een vitaal platteland gebaat is bij een rendabele landbouw

Development of nature-oriented dairy farm systems with an optimization model: the case of ‘Farming for Nature’ in ‘de Langstraat’, the Netherlands

‘Farming for Nature’, a relatively new policy instrument being tried out in the Netherlands, is evaluated. The concept has been designed to allow dairy farmers to improve nature conservation on their farms. Under the scheme, no manure, fertilizer, or feed – concentrates or roughage - may be imported into farm systems from external sources. The feasibility of such a self-sustaining system and the conditions required for it to deliver the desired results, are explored with a farm-based linear programming model known as FIONA (Farm based Integrated Optimization Model for Nature and Agriculture). The model is explained and applied to ‘de Langstraat’, a region in southern Netherlands. The results show that levels of production under the ‘Farming for Nature’ regime are dependent upon soil fertility and the proportion of land that is suitable for growing arable crops. If all available land on a dairy farm in the scheme is arable land, then high production levels of up to 7,500 kg milk per hectare can be realized. If only 30% of the farm area is suitable for arable crops, then only lower production levels, of about 6,600 kg milk per hectare can be realized. The scheme has positive ecological effects. Both nature and cultural landscape values may benefit significantly from the concept. Improvement in ecological terms however, carries a price in terms of agricultural income. An average dairy farm adopting the concept of ‘Farming for Nature’ experiences an income loss of approximately € 840 per hectare in the short-run (5-10 years). More important is the observation that the scale of such farms in the short-run might be too small to earn an attractive income for its workers, even when fully compensated according to European Union regulations.nature management, dairy farming system, linear programming, farm-economics, Farm Management, Land Economics/Use,

Towards a Generic Set of Packaging Material Key Figures

Many companies consider the reduction of packaging material as a relevant development direction, either required by cost savings, supply chain efficiency, sustainability or substantiated by regulations (directive 94/62/EC). This aligns with an eco-efficient redundancy perspective on packaging. Research shows that material efficiency requirements in packaging design briefs are often only justified by aims towards cost reduction; commercial viability is regularly prioritized over sustainability aims. Insights collected from current material quantification analyses like product-packaging life cycle assessment (LCA) and costing (LCC) are not directly applicable during generative development processes. Packaging material key figures can be useful for that, as the middle ground between design guidelines and rules-of-thumb but research in this area is limited. Key figures are established in other sectors like electrical appliances’ energy use, automobile fuel economy, or housing energy efficiency. Based on existing studies about eating patterns of Dutch consumers the research determined typical fast moving consumer goods consumption patterns that are grouped according to product type and use scenario, which lead to daily product consumption patterns. Key figures of used amount of packaging material per product type are determined by looking at packaging solutions present in the market. These figures are linked to the consumer patterns. The outcome is compared with annual packaging waste figures as validation. The research shows for example that packaging material use for food products is currently over 6 times higher than material use for non-food products, and that beverages and products required for dinner require the highest amount of packaging. The research contribution is a collection of packaging material key figures, grouped per product type and use scenario. The range of key figures (minimal and maximum material amounts) is useful as starting point for efficient material use in packaging design