Metod för att samla in information om svinhälsa och produktion i Laos

Improved animal health and alleviation of livestock diseases with high impact in developing countries have direct effects on poverty reduction as livestock has been estimated to account for 70% of the livelihoods of the world's poor. In Lao PDR 85% of the population lives in areas dependent on agriculture, and sale of livestock is estimated to account for their largest cash income. Smallholder farmers produce almost all of the livestock, and pigs are raised by 64% of the Lao households. In the low input-low output system used in Lao PDR losses due to disease are seen in pigs and Classical Swine Fever has in a recent study been pointed out as the most important disease. During this study, four villages in the Bolikhamxay province in the central of Lao PDR were included into a surveillance programme on Classical Swine Fever set up by Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR). In the first part of the study, information on Lao farming systems was collected from literature and field visits. Thereafter the four villages to be included were visited with the aim to undertake a robust descriptive analysis of pig health and production and to make recommendations for future surveillance and data collection in the project. All fieldwork was done in cooperation with staff linked to the ACIAR project ASI/2003/001. Information on pig management was collected with the help of a Baseline Questionnaire Form previously used in the ASI/2003/001 project and by village walks. The information was analysed together with data from six villages already included in the project. A qualitative analysis was conducted from the information and a quantitative analysis started using Epi Info version 2002. The study showed major problems in pig management. A need for increased knowledge in disease prevention and action during disease outbreak was observed amongst the farmers and the animal health workers. Insufficient communication between farmers and the extension workers and difficult accessibility to the villages also showed great impact. Introduction of participatory research and extension approaches could contribute to the project and the study showed a demand for a more gender sensitive approach as pig husbandry is almost exclusively carried out by women.Förbättrad hälsa hos husdjur i utvecklingsländer har stor betydelse för att minska fattigdomen eftersom husdjur beräknas stå för 70% av fattiga människors leverbröd. I Laos bor ca 85% av befolkning i rena jordbrukssamhällen och handel med husdjur och produkter från dessa står för deras största inkomst. Nästan all boskap hålls av småbönder och 64% av hushållen i Laos föder upp grisar. Stora förluster i grisproduktionen orsakas av ohälsa och Klassisk svinpest blev i en nyligen publicerad studie utsedd till den viktigaste sjukdomen bland grisar i Laos. Syftet med denna studie var att i några byar analysera hälsa och produktion i grishållningen samt att utarbeta rekommendationer för framtida övervakningsprogram och datainsamling i byar med låglandsjordbruk. Fyra byar kom att inkluderas i ett program för Klassisk svinpest startat av Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) i Bolikhamxay-provinsen i centrala Laos. Första delen av studien utgjordes av insamling av information om djurhållning i låglandsjordbruk med hjälp av litteraturstudier och fältbesök. Därefter besöktes de fyra byarna och fakta om grisskötseln sammanställdes genom en rundvandring till de flesta av byns grisbönder och med hjälp av ett svarsformulär som tidigare använts i ACIAR programmet ASI/2003/001. Informationen analyserades sedan kvalitativt tillsammans med data från sex byar som sedan tidigare var inkluderade i programmet. En kvantitativ analys av informationen från de fyra nya byarna påbörjades också med hjälp av ett epidemiologiskt dataprogram. Resultat från studien visade stora problem i grishållningen avseende inhysning, nutrition, avel och sjukdomar. Ett stort behov av ökade kunskaper vid sjukdomsutbrott men också för att förebygga sjukdomar observerades. Även kommunikationen till byarna och samarbetet mellan djurhälsoarbetarna och bönderna visade möjlighet till förbättring. Ett utvecklat samarbete med bönderna vid utformning av programmet skulle kunna tillföra mycket. Studien visade också ett behov av ökad genusmedvetenhet i programmet då grisskötseln framförallt bedrevs av kvinnor, men merparten av kommunikationen skedde utan deras medverkan

Zoonoses in rural Cambodia

Zoonotic diseases, transmissible between animals and humans, make up the majority of emerging infectious diseases, posing a threat to public health and global food security. The emergence of infections is partly driven by close contact between humans and livestock, which is common in smallholder livestock farming in rural tropical areas. The aim of this thesis was to provide information on the animal-human interplay in rural tropical areas in general and in Cambodia in particular, focusing on influenza A virus and Campylobacter as examples of zoonotic pathogens. Interviews were carried out in 300 rural households and samples were collected in the same households from humans and livestock, primarily chickens, ducks, pigs and cattle. In the households studied, a clear gender division in livestock responsibility was observed. Practices associated with zoonosis exposure were common, but the threat of zoonoses was not reported to be a concern. Furthermore, knowledge and awareness of zoonoses did not markedly reduce practices associated with increased zoonosis exposure, thereby revealing a knowledge-to-behaviour gap. Sampled pigs and poultry had 1.3% overall prevalence of influenza A virus. Highly pathogenic subtypes were not found, but virus reassortment, involving potentially zoonotic and pandemic subtypes, seemed to occur frequently. Routine culture was insufficiently sensitive in detecting Campylobacter in field samples frozen before analysis. In contrast, PCR proved more sensitive and C. jejuni, C. coli or both were detected in 8% of adults, 19% of children, 56% of chickens, 24% of ducks, 72% of pigs and 5% of cattle. Moreover, a number of household practices along the meat production chain, from livestock rearing and slaughter to meat consumption, were associated with human C. jejuni and C. coli positivity. In conclusion, presence of pathogens with zoonotic potential and insufficient zoonosis management was shown on Cambodian smallholdings. The novel data presented on zoonosis epidemiology and household risk factors can help guide future interventions in zoonosis prevention, detection and control for improved health and livelihoods in rural tropical areas

Quantitative risk assessment of salmonellosis in Cambodian consumers through chicken and pork salad consumption

Salmonella is a globally important foodborne bacterial pathogen that poses a high risk to human health. This study aimed to estimate the risk to Cambodian consumers from acquiring salmonellosis after consuming chicken and pork salad, using a quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA). Chicken and pork salads are typical Cambodian dishes containing raw vegetables and boiled chicken meat or pork. As previously described, chicken meat and pork samples (n = 204 of each) were collected from traditional markets in 25 Cambodian provinces to generate data on Salmonella contamination. Salad preparation and consumption practices were surveyed in 93 Cambodian households and this information was used to design an experiment to assess Salmonella cross-contamination from raw meat to ready-to-eat salad. In the part of the study reported here, data on consumption, Salmonella in salad, dose-response, and predicted salmonellosis were modeled using Monte Carlo simulations at 10,000 iterations. The prevalence of Salmonella in chicken meat and pork were set to 42.6 and 45.1%, respectively, with average most probable number (MPN) per gram of Salmonella in chicken meat was 10.6 and in pork 11.1 MPN/g, based on an earlier study. Half of the interviewed households cooked meat for the salad directly after purchase. The QMRA model showed that the modeled annual risk of salmonellosis from consuming chicken salad, pork salad and both chicken and pork salad were 11.1% probability of illness per person per year (90% CI 0.0–35.1), 4.0% (90% CI 0.0–21.3), and 14.5% (90% CI 0.0–33.5), respectively. The factors most influencing the estimate were cross-contamination while preparing the salad, followed by the prevalence of Salmonella in chicken meat and pork at the market. The wide confidence interval for the incidence was mainly due to the variability in reducing bacteria concentration by cooking and salad consumption. The predicted risk of salmonellosis due to chicken and pork salad consumption is high, and the study provides evidence supporting control measures of improving the safety of retailed chicken and pork obtained from markets to households and improving food preparation methods in the household

Bibehållande av en organisationskultur under tillväxt av antal anställda : En fallstudie på ett produktutvecklings scaleup

Researchers have already studied organizational culture and expansions of organizations separately. However, the combination of these, how organizational expansion challenges may affect cultural aspects is rare and the niche of this study. This qualitative case study investigates how organizational culture can be maintained during fast workforce expansion in a product department. The first step in this study was to study what can characterize an organizational culture in a department where product development and technology are central, in a software development scaleup. The empirical results present 13 cultural areas characterizing the organizational culture in the case company, which has similarities to Clan culture that promotes collaboration and personal development. Similarities with Engineering culture and Hacker culture are present in the product department as well. Some cultural aspects may be seen as unique for the case company’s product department, which are humbleness and the focus on work-life balance. Further, some employees argue that they have never felt as proud of the product at previous workplaces, as they do at the case company. These cultural aspects have explicitly been explained as unique in the empirical results and not found in the reviewed literature. Further investigation focused on possible reactions to a workforce expansion, by the interviewed employees. This included both positive expectations and areas of concern. The challenges that may occur in a fast-growing workforce and possible solutions were investigated as well. Four areas of possible expansion challenges were detected in the empirical results, which were related to organizational structure changes, cultural distribution, inclusive organization, prioritizations, and work focus switches. Through the analysis process, cultural aspects that may be affected by these challenges were analyzed and discussed. The presented possible solutions focus on how to manage possible challenges that may occur and at the same time maintain cultural aspects of foremost trust, inclusion, transparency, diversity, culture distribution, constant change, and innovation.Forskning om organisationskultur och tillväxt av företag har tidigare gjorts separat. Kombinationen av dessa ämnen, hur utmaningar relaterat till tillväxt av ett företag kan komma att påverka kulturella aspekter är sällsynt och denna studies nisch. Denna kvalitativa fallstudie undersöker hur organisationskultur kan bevaras under snabb tillväxt av antal anställda i en produktavdelning. Först gjordes en tolkning av vad som karakteriserar en organisationskultur i en avdelning där produktutveckling och teknik är det centrala, i en produktutveckling scaleup som jobbar med mjukvara. The empiriska resultaten presenterar 13 kulturella områden som karakteriserar organisationskulturen på fallföretaget, vilken har likheter med Klankultur som främjar samarbete och personlig utveckling. Likheter med Ingenjörskultur och Hacker-kultur är också närvarande i produktavdelningen på fallföretaget. Vissa av de kulturella aspekterna kan anses unika i fallföretagets produktavdelning, vilka är ödmjukhet och fokus på work-life balance. Fortsättningsvis argumenterar vissa anställda att de aldrig känt sig så stolta över produkten de utvecklar på tidigare arbetsplatser, till skillnad från den stolthet de känner för produkten på fallföretaget. Dessa kulturella aspekterna har ansetts unika av de anställda i de empiriska resultaten och har inte påvisats i andra studier inkluderat i litteraturstudien. Nästa fokus i studien var att undersöka vilka möjliga reaktioner de intervjuade anställda på fallföretaget hade gällande tillväxt av antal anställda. Dessa reaktioner belyste både positiva förväntningar och orosområden. De möjliga utmaningarna som kan uppkomma i en snabbväxande organisation och möjliga redskap för att lösa dessa undersöktes också. Fyra områden av möjliga tillväxtsutmaningar upptäcktes i de empiriska resultaten, vilka var relaterade till förändringar av organisationsstruktur, kulturdistribution, inkluderande organisation, prioriteringar och arbetsfokus. Under analysprocessen upptäcktes kulturella aspekter som kan komma att påverkas av dessa möjliga utmaningar, vilka var analyserade och diskuterade. De presenterade potentiella lösningarna fokuserar på hur man bemöta dessa möjliga utmaningar sammanknippade med företagstillväxt och hur man samtidigt kan bevara kulturella aspekter så som främst tillit, inkludering, transparens, mångfald, kulturdistribuering, konstant förändring och innovation

Bibehållande av en organisationskultur under tillväxt av antal anställda : En fallstudie på ett produktutvecklings scaleup

Researchers have already studied organizational culture and expansions of organizations separately. However, the combination of these, how organizational expansion challenges may affect cultural aspects is rare and the niche of this study. This qualitative case study investigates how organizational culture can be maintained during fast workforce expansion in a product department. The first step in this study was to study what can characterize an organizational culture in a department where product development and technology are central, in a software development scaleup. The empirical results present 13 cultural areas characterizing the organizational culture in the case company, which has similarities to Clan culture that promotes collaboration and personal development. Similarities with Engineering culture and Hacker culture are present in the product department as well. Some cultural aspects may be seen as unique for the case company’s product department, which are humbleness and the focus on work-life balance. Further, some employees argue that they have never felt as proud of the product at previous workplaces, as they do at the case company. These cultural aspects have explicitly been explained as unique in the empirical results and not found in the reviewed literature. Further investigation focused on possible reactions to a workforce expansion, by the interviewed employees. This included both positive expectations and areas of concern. The challenges that may occur in a fast-growing workforce and possible solutions were investigated as well. Four areas of possible expansion challenges were detected in the empirical results, which were related to organizational structure changes, cultural distribution, inclusive organization, prioritizations, and work focus switches. Through the analysis process, cultural aspects that may be affected by these challenges were analyzed and discussed. The presented possible solutions focus on how to manage possible challenges that may occur and at the same time maintain cultural aspects of foremost trust, inclusion, transparency, diversity, culture distribution, constant change, and innovation.Forskning om organisationskultur och tillväxt av företag har tidigare gjorts separat. Kombinationen av dessa ämnen, hur utmaningar relaterat till tillväxt av ett företag kan komma att påverka kulturella aspekter är sällsynt och denna studies nisch. Denna kvalitativa fallstudie undersöker hur organisationskultur kan bevaras under snabb tillväxt av antal anställda i en produktavdelning. Först gjordes en tolkning av vad som karakteriserar en organisationskultur i en avdelning där produktutveckling och teknik är det centrala, i en produktutveckling scaleup som jobbar med mjukvara. The empiriska resultaten presenterar 13 kulturella områden som karakteriserar organisationskulturen på fallföretaget, vilken har likheter med Klankultur som främjar samarbete och personlig utveckling. Likheter med Ingenjörskultur och Hacker-kultur är också närvarande i produktavdelningen på fallföretaget. Vissa av de kulturella aspekterna kan anses unika i fallföretagets produktavdelning, vilka är ödmjukhet och fokus på work-life balance. Fortsättningsvis argumenterar vissa anställda att de aldrig känt sig så stolta över produkten de utvecklar på tidigare arbetsplatser, till skillnad från den stolthet de känner för produkten på fallföretaget. Dessa kulturella aspekterna har ansetts unika av de anställda i de empiriska resultaten och har inte påvisats i andra studier inkluderat i litteraturstudien. Nästa fokus i studien var att undersöka vilka möjliga reaktioner de intervjuade anställda på fallföretaget hade gällande tillväxt av antal anställda. Dessa reaktioner belyste både positiva förväntningar och orosområden. De möjliga utmaningarna som kan uppkomma i en snabbväxande organisation och möjliga redskap för att lösa dessa undersöktes också. Fyra områden av möjliga tillväxtsutmaningar upptäcktes i de empiriska resultaten, vilka var relaterade till förändringar av organisationsstruktur, kulturdistribution, inkluderande organisation, prioriteringar och arbetsfokus. Under analysprocessen upptäcktes kulturella aspekter som kan komma att påverkas av dessa möjliga utmaningar, vilka var analyserade och diskuterade. De presenterade potentiella lösningarna fokuserar på hur man bemöta dessa möjliga utmaningar sammanknippade med företagstillväxt och hur man samtidigt kan bevara kulturella aspekter så som främst tillit, inkludering, transparens, mångfald, kulturdistribuering, konstant förändring och innovation

Antimicrobial resistance at the livestock-human interface: Implications for veterinary services

The emergence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major global public health issue but also jeopardises the efficiency of antimicrobials to cure animal infections that threatens their health, welfare and productivity. Several reports show that infections by antimicrobial resistant pathogens in humans may be linked to antimicrobial use (AMU) and AMR in food-producing animals; however, to what extent this happens is unknown. Use of antimicrobials drives the emergence of AMR, therefore, the extensive over and misuse in livestock is of concern. Robust AMU and AMR data are important to monitor the progress of interventions aiming to reduce AMR in the livestock sector. Several countries have incomplete data on antibiotic sales or use and our current knowledge on the global AMU is primarily based on modelling estimates. Antimicrobial resistance prevalence data are scattered, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, but in some high-income regions fairly robust data are available. It should also be noted that monitoring guidelines and protocols are available to provide globally harmonised AMR data. Disease prevention without antimicrobials and rational use of antimicrobials are key to reducing AMU. This involves: a) accessible and affordable veterinary services to farmers; b) antibiotics only sold by prescription; c) veterinarians earn no revenue linked to sale or prescription of antibiotics; d) veterinarians must have substantial skills in preventive medicine including good animal husbandry, efficient biosecurity and vaccinology; and e) the added values of these measures must appeal to farmers so they are willing to pay for that service