The beginning of the 21st Century has been characterised by changed political and economic realities affecting the prevention, control and eradication of animal diseases and zoonoses and presenting new challenges to the veterinary profession. Veterinary Services (VS) need to have the capacity and capabilities to face these challenges and be able to detect, prevent, control and eradicate disease...

National Veterinary Services administer a number of regulatory programmes, such as foreign animal disease (FAD) surveillance and exclusion of FADs, and certification of regions as free from disease. Laboratory testing is an important part of any surveillance or control programme. Most countries have a national laboratory which performs testing for FADs and provides support for national disease ...

Populations in the developing world that are targeted for disease eradication programs are commonly seen as passive recipients of international aid. Poor people can, however, "participate" in these interventions in unexpected ways. In the absence of traditional sources of leverage, some marginalized people have used their one remaining form of influence--their noncompliance in public health ini...

There has been a national bovine tuberculosis eradication programme in Ireland since 1954. Initial progress was rapid, but has subsequently stalled despite the implementation of each of the accepted elements of disease control. Based on results from the East Offaly and four area projects, there is now conclusive evidence that wildlife (specifically transmission of infection badgers to cattle) a...

Despite modern medical interventions, infectious diseases continue to generate huge socio-economic losses. The benefits of eradicating a disease are therefore high. While successful with smallpox and rinderpest, many other eradication attempts have failed. Eradications require huge and costly efforts, which can be sustained only if sufficient progress can be achieved. While initial successes ar...

Mass-vaccination campaigns are an important strategy in the global fight against poliomyelitis and measles. The large-scale logistics required for these mass immunisation campaigns magnifies the need for research into the effectiveness and optimal deployment of pulse vaccination. In order to better understand this control strategy, we propose a mathematical model accounting for the disease dyna...