This is the latest of a series of news bulletins, which are being produced monthly. Each bulletin will highlight topics of interest to VetSalus consultants and other interested parties.
Bluetongue: Wake Up Call
VetSalus Director, Dr David Black, is a busy man and recently, wearing another of his many hats as President of the British Cattle Veterinary Association, he addressed the growing concerns around the current Bluetongue outbreak in the United Kingdom. At the organisation's conference in October a panel reviewed the situation which now sees the total number of confirmed cases in the U.K. approaching 4,000.
With that infective base to build on, there are serious concerns about the coming spring situation. Bluetongue is a ‘warm weather’ disease being spread by midges; the disease is now effectively endemic and, as reported in the Veterinary Times, Dr Black outlined another looming concern,
“Bluetongue is now an endemic disease, effectively, so if we can’t cope with a surge of an endemic disease, we have got absolutely no chance if we have a foot-and-mouth incursion….” [1]
A sobering thought indeed.
AgriZero New Zealand
On a more positive note, AgriZero NZ has anointed a new tranche of funding with both the NZ government and private sector introducing new funds so that the total investment now stands at over $NZ300 million (US$170 m). AgriZero was formed in 2023 as a partnership between a number of corporates and farmer co-operatives, and the NZ government, with the aim of investing in technology to reduce the country’s methane output from Agriculture. The group has already invested over $NZ80 million on a wide range of projects including methane inhibitors, vaccines, probiotics and genetics.
As AgriZeroNZ Board Chair, Rob Hewett, said recently,
“Many of our major export customers expect progress on emissions reductions across their supply chains, through to New Zealand farms. If we want to maintain New Zealand’s competitive advantage and reputation as a trusted supplier of premium food products to discerning customers around the world, we’d be wise to listen to them. This is too big for any one organisation to solve alone, and the collaborative support behind AgriZeroNZ shows our partners’ determination to get on with the job.”
El Niño grows…
Meanwhile in an ocean near you, El Niño grows!
The predictions are getting more dire as ocean temperatures in the Pacific rise and the east-west temperature gradient of that ocean increases. But one growing concern is not confined to temperature rise but ocean level rises. New Scientist recently reported that sea levels in the eastern Pacific have risen by 40cm, with the highest levels being recorded around the equator. El Niño is a natural oscillation but this particular event is already showing signs of being the biggest ever and the orbital pattern of the moon, which exhibits an 18 year period, is also aligned and likely to increase ocean levels further.[2] To what degree Global warming and increased levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere will contribute to the event, remains to be seen but the popular press are bound to be throwing everything into the same basket.
Yersinia pestis in Russia?
Reports of the death of a Russian laboratory worker from ”pneumonia of unknown origin” have been causing some concern in the west, including the World Health Organisation. The fact that the unfortunate worker was employed at a high security laboratory, which specialised on work on Yersinia pestis has set the rumour mongers talking. Yersinia pestis is, of course, the cause of the plague which devastated populations in medieval times. The bacteria is usually hosted by small rodents and fleas are involved in its spread. So it is technically a zoonosis but risks are low because the infection can be quickly controlled with modern antibiotics, especially if treatment begins promptly. You can learn more about Yersinia infections and the plague here.[3]
Carbon cycle in amazon
There is a major new investigation underway in the Amazon which will almost certainly improve our understanding of the carbon cycle, reported Nature recently.[4] The experiments will run for ten years and will test the hypothesis that increasedCO2 levels have a fertilisation effect, in that an increase levels of photosynthesis removes more CO2 from the atmosphere. This is the first time a trial like this has been attempted in tropical conditions. Previous attempts, particularly in Australia, failed to demonstrate the effect in that higher CO2 levels while photosynthesised were subsequently emitted by the soil i.e. were not sequestered long term.
The Amazon rain first is frequently at the centre of greenhouse gas studies but this one promised to be highly influential, whatever the final outcome
Successful Launch
The first VetSalus foray into international publishing has been successfully completed with the launch of the “How Vets Change Carbon Footprints on Farms” booklet last month. The publication, which complies a series of articles published by VetSalus over the previous 18 months, is now available on Amazon (in both colour and black and white versions) and Kindle. Click here to order your copy today!
This newsletter has used A.I. resources to search for references but these were reviewed before use and the articles have been written and edited by a human brain.
If you are interested in the work of VetSalus, you will find a wider range of articles and educational material on our web site: www.vetsalus.com