Small ruminants are important assets in several regions of the world. They account for more than half of the domesticated ruminants. Despite the growth in goat production in the world (more than 2% per ye.ar), research related to goat production is less than desired. One underused but potentially valuable approach for research on small ruminants is sim­ ulation modelling. Models of the componen...

During the 2003 rainy season, the clinical and serologic incidence of Rift Valley fever was assessed in small ruminant herds living around temporary ponds located in the semi-arid region of the Ferlo, Senegal. No outbreak was detected by the surveillance system. Serologic incidence was estimated at 2.9% (95% confidence interval 1.0-8.7) and occurred in 5 of 7 ponds with large variations in the ...

Scrapie is a small ruminant, transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE). Although in the past scrapie has not been considered a zoonosis, the emergence of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, transmissible to humans and experimentally to sheep, indicates that risk exists for small ruminant TSEs in humans. To identify the risk factors for introducing scrapie into sheep flocks, a case-control stu...

1. A comparison was made of the composition of milk from front and rear tetas in four sows. There were small and not significant differences in fat, protein and lactose contents, and in the fatty-acid composition of the milk fat with the exception of the 18:3 acid where the difference was also small but significant. 2. The effects of intravenous infusions of glucose and insulin in lactating sow...

As small ruminant system sustainability appears to be of great importance in and for the Mediterranean Basin context, the conceptual, ethical and methodological bases which could be central for its assessment are explored, with special emphasis on the multi-criteria approaches. Tools such as the Sustainability Tree, MOTIFS, IDEA, MESMIS, are analysed with reference to the nature of the objectiv...

Ruminants may ingest appreciable quantities of nucleic acids and large amounts are synthesized by the microbial population in the reticulo-rumen. The importance of nucleic acids to the nutrient intake of the ruminant is probably dependent on the amounts of these materials relative to other nitrogenous substances which are presented to the small intestine. These amounts bear little or no relatio...

Anthelmintic resistance has become a serious world-wide problem and has affected ruminant productivity in many countries. Thus the search for alternative methods of worm control has been an important priority in many small ruminant industries. Manihot esculenta had been shown to reduce trichostrongyloid eggs in infected sheep fed with such fresh leaves for prolonged period of time. Thus, this s...

Background Ruminant dung is a highly ephemeral, patchily distributed resource, which is utilized by a diverse community of invertebrate species. This ecologically important community may be affected adversely by insecticide and endectocide residues in the faeces of treated cattle. The aim of the present work was to quantify the aggregation of the insects colonising cow-dung in cattle pastures a...

ABSRTACT Small ruminant is high in number and economically very important animal in Ethiopia. However, it is less productive due to morbidity and mortality from different parasite infection. Among this parasite infection, lungworm is the common parasitic disease of sheep and goat belonging to Metastrongyloidea or Trichostrongyloidea super families. From them, Dictyocaulus and Protostrongylus ar...

Foodborne diseases, in particular those related to meat and meat products, have recently become a matter of great public concern. Sheep and goat meat can transmit infections and diseases either through handling during preparation procedures or as a result of ingestion by the consumer. The authors highlight the second route of contamination in relation to meat and meat products from small rumina...