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Book Reviews | ||
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This book is concerned with the nutritional science of sheep production with major focus on nutrition under grazing conditions. Its 16 chapters are written by internationally authoritative authors whose contributions including references, average 25 pages in length. Their general approach is to integrate well-established information with contemporary concepts at the leading edge of present day knowledge. The chapters are essentially divided into subject areas concerning (a) the chemical and biological properties of feed components (b) animal factors which determine intake and utilisation of these components and (c) the application of this knowledge to practical grazing husbandry.
The first chapter describes the nutritive value of herbage and its evaluation in the context of predominantly cellulosic roughages and the effects of variables such as genetic variation of plant species, their maturity and responses to environment and management. Two chapters are devoted to food intake from the viewpoint of, firstly, constraints on consumption of adequate quantities to maximise production and, secondly, the ability of sheep to make nutritionally beneficial choices when presented with a range of different foods. For constraints, topics covered include the impact of digestive capacity, digestibility of the feed and its particle size and subsequent utilisation of absorbed end-products of digestion. For food choice, consideration is given to factors such as vision, taste, physiological state, neuro-endocrine signals and the concept of attaining minimal total discomfort (MTD) as a determinant of ingestive behaviour.
The microbial ecology of the ovine rumen is covered with emphasis on the role of bacteria, protozoa, fungi and bacteriophages in digestive and the detoxicant processes. Disorders of rumen function, particularly acidosis, are included in addition to prospects for manipulation of the ecosystem using advances in molecular techniques and the introduction of genetically modified organisms. The attention of the reader is also directed to the sizeable contribution of ruminal methanogenesis to greenhouse gas emission in certain geographical regions with potential to add to global warming
A separate chapter addresses the digestion of the major classes of carbohydrate, proteins, amino acids and lipids at different sites of the alimentary tract, and the absorption, inter-organ transport and utilisation of end-products of digestion including the short chain fatty acids and other metabolites derived from microbial activities. Trace elements and vitamins are also separately considered with focus on their bioavailability, deficiencies, toxicities and interactions and their effects on recommendations for dietary allowances.
Further chapters cover principles and practice of meeting estimated nutritional requirements for energy, protein, micronutrients and water, for maintenance and productive processes in commercial sheep production with examples given of different national rationing systems. Such productive processes include wool growth, conception and pregnancy, lactation and meat production. Nutrition for these is described frequently with the aid of mathematical models, in the context of anatomy, physiology, biochemistry and composition of specialist organs and tissues. Some attention is given, within chapters, to the major minerals and role of nutrients and physiological state in affecting internal signalling mechanisms. Examples for the latter include the importance of iodine and selenium in the synthesis of thyroid hormones and the suggested role for placental lactogen in decreasing insulin sensitivity of maternal tissues during pregnancy
Separate coverage is given to topics addressing principles of supplementary feeding, including the importance of interactions, and substitution and complementation effects between feeds. Individual chapters also cover the nutritional implications of potentially negative influences on sheep production including gastro-intestinal parasites and anti-nutritional compounds in grazed pastures.
In conclusion, this book will provide a valuable learning resource for the senior undergraduate and postgraduate students targeted by the editors, in addition to others with a technical interest in sheep nutrition. A particularly useful characteristic is its mix of solid information and contemporary concepts, many relevant to ruminants in general, which relate nutrient supply to requirement and function at the whole animal, tissue, cell and molecular level. It is well indexed and the many references for individual chapters provide the reader with opportunities to expand both breadth and depth of knowledge in individual specialist subject areas.
Dr Hugh Galbraith
School of Biological Sciences
University of Aberdeen,
Aberdeen AB24 2FA, UK
Email: h.galbraith@abdn.ac.uk
It is generally recognised that most of the losses incurred by the animal production in developing countries are linked to the lack or delay in appropriate diagnostic and prophylaxis of infectious or parasitic diseases. It also appear that, during the last decades, many emerging or re-emerging zoonosis were first recognised in rural areas of Africa or Asia; not only crucial for animal health surveillance and control, the veterinary laboratory diagnostic is thus also vital for the protection of public health.
The Veterinary Laboratory and Field Manual is therefore a timely publication, aiming to provide a summary of the techniques which will be of practical value for routine diagnostic work in local laboratories of developing countries. The authors clearly warn the reader that their book is not intended to be a comprehensive laboratory text, but rather to provide a broad range of topics related to diagnostic work and technical back-up required for animal health services in these countries: the technology described is selected to emphasise the practical aspects of diagnosis, and not the theory.
There are certainly other books which also provide help and advices in setting up and managing veterinary diagnostic laboratories in developing countries. But the Manual of Susan C. Cork and Roy W.Haliwell is particularly well adapted to these countries, where the two authors have gained a long experience in the establishment and functioning of such laboratories.
The authors avoid to consider that the laboratory technicians in these laboratories can work with old techniques and obsolete equipment, or conversely that they must use the last biotechnological tools. To help them efficiently, they therefore provide a detailed description of the simple laboratory equipment and techniques of diagnostic that can be performed in small facilities, but do not describe in full ELISA, automated techniques in haematology and biochemistry, electron microscopy etc.
The authors take also great care in helping the animal health advisors in their daily task : gaining a good knowledge of the basic sanitary problems that can encounter a farmer in developing countries, screening these problems, taking safely appropriate samples for the laboratory and, once the results of the laboratory are available, giving the best advice to prevent or solve these problems.
Thus, the book intentionally covers a wide range of laboratory current activities in developing country, which in the real life are often carried out simultaneously, and sometimes by the (same) small staff: Setting up and using the laboratory (chapter 1), Use and maintenance of its equipment and supplies (chapter 2), Parasitology (chapter 3), Microbiology (chapter 4), Haematology (chapter 5) Serology/Immunology (chapter 6), Clinical Chemistry (chapter 7), Pathology/Cytology (chapter 8), Special Topics eg. wildlife diseases and laboratory animals (chapter 9). A list of zoonotic diseases, decision flow charts, or useful contacts ( eg., with laboratory equipment suppliers) are included in the last chapter.
In each of these chapters, the reader will also find references for further reading, mostly from British or American authors. The Manual of Standards for Diagnostic Test and Vaccine of the Office international des épizooties, being updated every 4 years, might have been helpful for microbial diseases.
Aquatic animal diseases are not specifically addressed in the book, as well as other topics that would have been beyond the scope of a small unit, eg: epidemiology and disease modelling, polymerase chain reaction, genetic profiling, ....
Each chapter is clearly illustrated with excellent original drawings or colour photographs. It includes an introduction, reminding the relevant scientific knowledge, then it assist the veterinary laboratory technicians throughout the process of performing the diagnostic or interpretation the results, as well as it helps the animal health advisors to select and recommend the appropriate measures to prevent, control or eradicate the main animal diseases.
This Manual is therefore as complete as possible for a book of this size, and one can hardly find serious gaps or errors in the contents. Some minor mistakes in the names of the pathogens should nevertheless be corrected (eg. Pasteurella 'multicida', Chlamydia 'psittici') , and some other should be updated (eg. since 1993 the agents of Glanders or Meliodosis are Burkholderia sp. and not Pseudomonas, and the agent of the Cat scratch disease is now identified as Bartonella henselae). More details could have been provided on some pathogens important for African countries , namely Dermatophilus congolensis or Mycoplasma mycoides subsp. mycoides
The target audience for the book is thus clearly all the veterinary laboratory technicians and animal health advisors who are involved in the initiation and the implementation of programmes to assist veterinary services in rural areas of developing countries. They will find a helpful and a reliable guide for their daily tasks with the Veterinary Laboratory and Field Manual on their benchmark.
In the past, donor agencies or international organisations have frequently emphasised the need of an "appropriate technology for the developing world", as recalled by Dorothy B. Preslar, Director of the ILIAD, in her foreword. This book, that has been already used as a pilot test in Tanzania, will certainly meet their expectations.
Dr Jean Blancou,
Honorary Director General of the OIE ( World Organisation for Animal Health)
Paris, France.
An interesting book by a practicing veterinarian and livestock connoisseur and above all an experienced international consultant with more than 20 years as a veterinary educator who also serves as a roving diplomat.
This book can serve as an informative and helpful guideline that veterinarians can use to navigate through the complex modern landscape of international veterinary medicine, develop a greater knowledge of the terrain, and better appreciate the expanded role they can play in creating a safer, healthier, and more equitable world.
Based on his vast international consultant's experience (transboundary animal disease controls, community-based animal health services, dairy goat production and health, veterinary medicine education and applied livestock disease research) the author gives a highly informative though quite critical view of the many trends and influences that are at work effecting the veterinary profession. This is a novelty; as these factors, whose influence is growing, are very rarely discussed in text books and even conference presentations. Right- through the book the author emphasises the economic, cultural, geopolitical and other external conditions that influence the choice and development of the various animal management and production systems.
The book is judiciously subdivided in 10 sections, the titles of which indicate the very wide scope covered:
Chapter 1 - The Global Society and Veterinary Medicine
Chapter 2 - Animal Domestication and Human Society
Chapter 3 - Cultural Attitudes Concerning the Use of Animals
Chapter 4 - Animal Agriculture and Food Production Worldwide
Chapter 5 - Animals, Food Security, and Socioeconomic Development
Chapter 6 - Animals and the Environment
Chapter 7 - Preservation of Biodiversity, Wildlife, and Conservation Medicine
Chapter 8 - Delivery of Animal Health Care Services Worldwide
Chapter 9 - International Trade, Food Safety, and Animal Disease Control
Chapter 10 - Career Opportunities in International Veterinary Medicine
The book presented with a very north-American global flavour, ends with a valuable appendix that, as the author indicates, "provides contact information for various organizations relevant to the subject of international veterinary medicine. These are divided into several categories, including biodiversity, wildlife, and environmental groups; donor and lending institutions; international development and aid agencies; international technical organizations; nongovernmental organizations involved in general relief and development; nongovernmental organizations focused on veterinary relief and development; pharmaceutical and animal nutrition firms; private consulting firms; professional veterinary and related organizations; research and policy institutions; training, fellowship, and grant opportunities; and United States government agencies".
Professor Jean Boyazoglu
University of Thessaloniki, Greece
OIE, Paris, France
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