Short Communication: Heritability Estimation of Birth Weight of Swamp Buffalo in Sabah, Malay

Data on birth weight of Swamp buffalo calves that were born between 2015 and 2017 were collected and analyzed for this study. The objective was to estimate the effect of heritability and to evaluate the influence of environmental factors on the birth weight of swamp buffalo calves. The heritability was estimated using parent-offspring regression method while the environmental factors were measured using linear regression analysis. The average birth weight for swamp buffalo calves was 31.5 ± 5.33kg. It was significantly (p<0.05) affected by the age of dam and the year of birth but the body weight of the dam and the sex of calves did not significantly (p>0.05) influence the birth weight. The heritability of birth weight was estimated to be 0.29, which is low. Therefore, environmental and herd management factors seem to play a larger role in birth weight than genetics. The low estimated heritability obtained from this work indicates that improvement through selection may not be feasible

The application of One Health concept to an outdoor problem-based learning activity for veterinary students

Background: The One Health (OH) approach, which seeks to bring together human and animal health, is particularly suited to the effective management of zoonotic diseases across both sectors. To overcome professional silos, OH needs to be taught at the undergraduate level. Here, we describe a problem-based learning activity using the OH approach that was conducted outdoors for 3rd-year veterinary students in Malaysia. Materials and Methods: A total of 118 students, divided into two groups, completed the activity which spanned 11/2 days at a deer park adjacent to a wilderness area. Students were asked to evaluate the activity using an online survey that had quantitative and qualitative components. Results: Response rate was 69.5%. The activity was rated excellent by 69.5% and good by 30.4%. Levels of satisfaction were high on a range of criteria. 97.5% of students intended to take action in their studies as a result of what they had learned. Conclusions: Delivery of an outdoor problem-based learning activity using OH approach was very successful in terms of participation, knowledge delivery and understanding, and the willingness of students to integrate OH into their future practice. For the improvement of future programs, the involvement of other disciplines (such as Medical, Biology, Biotechnology, Biomedical, and Public Health) is being considered