PAN Livestock Services > Consultancy

Consultancy


PAN has provided consultancy and training services to governments and projects in over 70 countries since 1986. These activities cover the core expertise of the company in veterinary epidemiology, disease management, livestock economics and livestock information systems. PAN works closely with the Veterinary Epidemiology & Economics Research Unit (VEERU) at The University of Reading, offering flexibility in the combination of consultancy, training and research.

Recent and on-going consultancy activities:

Title

Period

Country / Region

Livestock information systems for dairy farmers and technical advisers – United Kingdom

2003 to date (on-going)

United Kingdom

National livestock database - Malta

2000 to date (on-going)

Malta

Control and/or eradication of animal diseases (rabies & classical swine fever) - Kosovo

2010 to date (on-going)

Kosovo

Animal Identification, Registration and Movement Control Systems - Kosovo

2010 to date (on-going)

Kosovo

Formulation of an animal health master plan, Uganda

2009-2010

Uganda

Project preparation for the post rinderpest eradication phase in Africa

2009-2010

Africa

Risk analysis in livestock production value chains – several countries

2007 - 2020

Various

Information system supporting bovine disease control programmes - Luxembourg

2005 to date (on-going)

Luxembourg

Development of computerised breed society herd books

2003 to date (on-going)

Luxembourg, Guernsey, Colombia

Information systems for quality assurance of beef production - Luxembourg

2003 to date (on-going)

Luxembourg

Monitoring and traceability of sheep - United Kingdom

2009 to date (on-going)

United Kingdom (Wales)

Training of farmers and advisers in effective use of milk recording data – United Kingdom

2006-2009

United Kingdom (England)

Bovine tuberculosis history interviews – United Kingdom

2008 - 2009

United Kingdom

Support to the development of faculties of veterinary medicine – Ethiopia

2008 - 2009

Ethiopia

Epidemiology & control of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI)

2006 - 2010

Vietnam, Egypt, Indonesia

Dog registration study – United Kingdom

2009-2010

United Kingdom

Socio-economic impact assessment of African Horse Sickness control measures – United Kingdom

2009

United Kingdom

Final evaluation of Pan African Control of Epizootics (PACE)  – Africa

2006

Africa

A review of international evidence for transmission of bovine tuberculosis between cattle and wildlife – United Kingdom

2005

United Kingdom

Capacity Building in the Food and Veterinary Regulation Division – Malta (2006-07)

2006 - 2007

Malta

Support to the National Animals Disease Surveillance System of Armenia

2006 - 2007

Armenia

Support to the Centre for Livestock Breeding  - Kosovo

2007 - 2009

Kosovo

Strengthening Of Public Veterinary Services - Kosovo

2004 - 2005

Kosovo

Structural and Legal Reform, Ministry of Agriculture - Macedonia

2005 - 2007

Macedonia

Qualitative veterinary risk assessment of the introduction of rabies into the United Kingdom

2006

United Kingdom

Capacity building in the food and veterinary regulation division in the area of milk production in Malta (2003-04)

2003 – 2004

Malta

Assessment of administrative burden of livestock regulations – United Kingdom

2005

United Kingdom

Analysis of the 2001 foot and mouth disease epidemic – United Kingdom

2002 - 2003

United Kingdom

Risk analysis and modelling of foot and mouth disease for disease control – United Kingdom

2002 - 2003

United Kingdom

Improving livelihoods of landless and refugee affected livestock keepers in Bangladesh and Nepal

2000 – 2004

Bangladesh, Nepal

Veterinary Epidemiology and Economic Unit and Tseste Control Project - Botswana

1996 - 2001

Botswana

Strengthening of veterinary services – India (2001-2003)

2001 – 2003

India

Fluoroquinoline in pigs and poultry – United Kingdom

2000 - 2004

United Kingdom

Agricultural human resources development – India (1995-2001)

1995 – 2001

India

Strengthening of veterinary services – India (1991 – 99)

1991 – 1999

India

Livestock production potential in Gorno Badakhshan  - Tajikistan

1999

Tajikistan

 

 

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Project title: Livestock information systems  for UK Dairy Farmers and technical advisers

Country:       United Kingdom

Dates:          2003 to date (on-going)

Detailed description of project

Type of services provided

Supply of dairy herd management software and training in its effective use by both farmers and technical advisers in the United Kingdom dairy industry. Working with Europe’s largest milk recording organisation, National Milk Records (NMR), software developed by PAN Livestock Services is the leading dairy on-farm software package in the UK. NMR take milk samples and production records from over 6,000 herds (1 million cows), representing approximately 50% of the dairy herds and 70% of milk production in England and Wales.

 

Pan Livestock Services’ herd management package, InterHerd, is used on over 1,000 dairy farms for routine herd management. Detail of recording by farmers varies enormously from everything to the bare minimum. In addition the majority of large animal veterinary practices (over 400 veterinarians) use the software to deliver technical advice based either on data recorded by the farmer or through the import of milk recording data.

 

The Herd Companion web-based application, based on PAN Livestock Services’ InterTrace database, was developed with National Milk Records (NMR) to analyse and benchmark routine milk recording data for both farmer and technical adviser. With potential access to all 6,000 dairy herds that milk record with NMR, veterinary practices and nutrition consultants have obtained permission from over 4,000 dairy herds for direct access to their herd records in this way. The database contains full milk recording data from approximately one million animals. A series of novel analyses are used extensively by farmers, vets and nutritionists to monitor herd performance and identify the relative strengths and weaknesses in herd performance. These analyses include:

  • Detailed analysis of somatic cell counts
  • Analysis of milk protein yields in early lactation as an indicator of energy deficiency
  • Benchmarking of key parameters of health, fertility and production against other similar milk recording herds  

Further applications on the same database apply to the needs of milk buyers. Based on analysis of past performance and fertility status, milk profiles predict future milk production at the individual cow or herd level. These predictions enable more efficient collection and processing as well as matching future production with market requirements.

 

·       Collection of animal data;

·       Technical advice to farmers and technical advisers;

·       On farm training;

·       Data analysis of results and presentation of data back to the farmer;

·       Provision of aggregate data for bench marking purposes;

·       Provision of livestock software to allow farmers to have up to the minute information on their farms;

 

 

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Project title:

National livestock database for Malta

Country:

Malta

Dates:

2000 to date (on-going)

Detailed description of project

Services provided

Development and implementation of a national livestock database for Malta that provides a framework for establishing effective recording of the movement and essential health events for any species of livestock. The system is readily customizable and accessible to a range of users with controlled levels of access. The system allows full recording and traceability of individual or batches of animals from registration through to final slaughter.

Main features of the system include:

-         Bovine identification and registration to comply with EU legislation.

-         Register of holdings and keepers for all livestock species.

-         Recording and management of veterinary surveillance programmes.

-         Management of EU livestock headage payment schemes.

-         Recording of animal product imports and border inspections.

 

The system, which became fully operational in June 2001, was accepted by the EU as satisfying the requirements demanded for accession of Malta to the EU. On 3 June 2004 there was a Commission Decision ‘recognising the fully operational character of the Maltese database for bovine animals’ as from 1 May 2004. Malta remains the only EU member state to have acquired this status.

 

Other related activities in Malta based around the development of the livestock database have included:

·         An impact assessment study was conducted in three main areas: Specifications and financial costs of changes to official veterinary services, structures and activities; Specifications and financial costs of livestock traceability and information systems; Specifications and financial costs of rendering and/or incineration plant for the disposal of livestock carcasses and abattoir waste.

·         A risk analysis of introducing exotic animal diseases to Malta was conducted to determine what additional restrictions on external and intra-community trade would be required to control the risk of introducing exotic diseases to Malta and to evaluate their cost-effectiveness in terms of risk reduction. Where restrictions could not be justified, alternative policies were analysed.

·         Financial projections on the costs and fee revenues of inspecting animals and animal products.

·         A programme of in-service training for Veterinary Support Officers in Malta was developed.

·         A database system for the management of border inspection posts was developed.

·         A system was developed to manage the EU-supported livestock premium schemes.

A twinning project between the University of Reading and the Food and Veterinary Regulation Division (FVRD) of the Ministry for Rural Affairs and Environment, Republic of Malta, supported regulating food safety, animal welfare and environmental standards.  Technical assistance was to ensure that FVRD was in compliance with EU food safety and animal welfare legislation.  This twinning project was to improve the organisational and individual capacities of the FVRD and the livestock industry to apply more effective controls to ensure that the standards required by EU legislation are achieved throughout the livestock industries.

Livestock information systems;

Software development ;

Livestock databases;

Veterinary epidemiology;

Agricultural policy;

EU Accession.

 

summary description of InterTrace

     

 

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Project title

Control and/or eradication of animal diseases – Kosovo 2010 - 2012

Country

Kosovo

Dates:

2010 - 2012

Detailed description of project

Type of services provided

 

The overall objective of the project is to assess and improve the animal health situation in Kosovo as regards rabies and Classical Swine Fever, and through the control and / or /eradication of these diseases from animal populations contribute to an improved human and animal health status as well as an improved trading status for Kosovo.

 

Project activities include:

 

·         Implement active monitoring and surveillance scheme for Rabies and Classical Swine Fever.

·         Develop reliable epidemiological data on Rabies in foxes and other wild life and Classical Swine Fever in domestic pigs and wild boar.

·         Implement training programme for monitoring and surveillance of Rabies and Classical Swine Fever to include sample collection, packaging, storage and transport to relevant laboratories.

·         Design and implement vaccination programme for Rabies in foxes and other wild life and Classical Swine Fever in domestic pigs and wild boar.

·         Design and implement a public information campaign to raise awareness of the project to ensure optimum effectiveness.

·       Project management;

·         Monitoring and evaluation.

 

     

 

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Project title:

Follow up on Animal Identification , Registration and Movement Control Systems, inc GIS, Kosovo

Country:

Kosovo

Dates:

2010 - 2012

Detailed description of project

Type of services provided

The EU-IR project “Follow up on animal identification, registration (I&R) and movement control system, including GIS” is upgrading the existing system of Bovine Identification, Registration and Movement Control and extending Identification and Registration to cover sheep, goats and pigs.  Also, the project will assist the Kosovo Food and Veterinary Agency (KFVA) to develop and implement an integrated Veterinary Information System (VIS), Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) and Geographic Information System (GIS) linked to the animal identification, registration and movement control system.

The objective of the project is to improve veterinary control of animal health, veterinary public health and trade with live animals and animal products within Kosovo and for export.

 

Provision of:

·         Team Leader to assess and evaluate the existing bovine I&R scheme in view of inputs required to successfully restart activities in pursuit of full compliance with Title I of the EC Council and Parliament Regulation 1760/2000 and extend the improved bovine I&R system to the remaining livestock species: ovine, caprine and porcine animals.

·         Database Design Expert to install the software program, InterTrace which meets all project and foreseeable future KFVA requirements and provide special data capture and reporting facilities to match procedures and working methods in Kosovo.  E.g. data query and submission through web browsers on computers in offices and mobile telephones in the field and submission of data from veterinary stations to the central database through spreadsheet e-mail attachments.

·         Veterinary Field Work Consultant for planning and direction of the holding registration activities.

     

  

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Project title:

Formulation of an Animal Health Master Plan in the Ministry of Agriculture Animal Industry and Fisheries

Country:

Uganda

Dates:

2000 - 2010

Detailed description of project

Type of services provided

Preparation of a Master Plan for the Uganda Animal Health Services to better prevent, control and, where possible, eradicate diseases of livestock and their vectors in order to realize the millennium development goals and to achieve the following benefits:

·         increased animal production and better quality of livestock products, thus improving the livelihoods of rural livestock keepers through poverty alleviation, also increasing profitability for commercial livestock producers;

·         ability to meet health, quality and safety requirements for export to regional and international markets;

·         food safety and control of zoonoses resulting in better human health;

·         reduction of risk of incursions of major epidemic disease which provides livelihoods security and food security;

·         benefits to the wider economy through positive impacts, for example, on employment, the animal production service industry and tourism;

·         improved animal welfare.

 

·         Team leader veterinarian to manage the study, provide veterinary technical input, organise workshops, literature review and field studies and supervise presentation of the Master Plan document ;

·         Livestock economist to undertake economic analyses related to animal health delivery in Uganda, report on them and contribute to preparation of the Master Plan;

·         Local veterinary expert to provide first hand information on diseases of livestock and their control in Uganda and information on veterinary training facilities in the country; to contribute to preparation of the Master Plan;

·         Provision of project logistical support.

     

 

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Project title:

Preparation of a project for the post rinderpest eradication phase in Africa

Country / Region:

Africa

Dates:

2009 - 2010

Detailed description of project

Type of services provided

Following concerted vaccination programmes and other national and international activities the whole world is expected to be declared  free of rinderpest in 2010 by the Global Rinderpest Eradication Programme (GREP) of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations.

The international activities have emphasised the strengthening of veterinary services and disease surveillance in Africa that has enabled a number of key countries to achieve or progress towards accreditation as rinderpest free in compliance with OIE surveillance requirements.  The last of these activities fall under the SERECU2 programme which is tasked with completing the declaration of freedom from the disease in three SES countries (Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia).

This project was commissioned with the objective of defining an appropriate exit strategy for SERECU2 as the final project addressing rinderpest eradication.

 

 

·         Provision of  three highly experienced veterinarians with extensive knowledge of rinderpest, disease control and veterinary epidemiology.

     

 

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Project title:

Development of methodology for risk analysis in livestock production value chains

Country / Region:

Various

Dates:

2007 - 2010

Detailed description of project

Type of services provided

Development of methodology for disease risk analysis within value chains for foot-and-mouth disease control policy development in Ecuador, Venezuela and South East Asia and for HPAI in Egypt and South East Asia, through field case studies and workshops.

Authorship of a field guide for disease risk analysis within value chains and development and delivery of training courses on methodology for disease risk analysis within value chains

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Epidemiology International Expert / Consultant

     

 

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Project title:

Development of an information system to support the management of paratuberculosis eradication, and other bovine disease control programmes.

Country / Region:

Luxembourg

Dates:

2005 to date (on-going)

Detailed description of project

Type of services provided

Development of an information system to assist the veterinary services of Luxembourg to manage bovine disease control programmes, including paratuberculosis and the recently-introduced bluetongue disease. The central information system receives animal birth, death and movement data from the national identification database.

Sampling policies are then used to prepare sampling lists for veterinarians. This also allows the veterinary service to monitor the progress of the disease control programme.

Results are received electronically from the testing laboratories and used to determine farms’ status, movement restrictions and future testing requirements.

 

 

 

 

 

 

·            Livestock information systems;

·            Software development ;

·            Livestock databases;

·            Disease control;

·            Agricultural policy;

 

     

 

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Project title:

Development of  Herdbooks for  the Fédération des Herdbooks Luxembourgeois; (2) The Island of Guernsey Breed Society;  (3) Breed societies of The Republic of Colombia

Country / Region:

Luxembourg, Guernsey, Colombia

Dates:

2003 to date (on-going)

Detailed description of project

Type of services provided

Development of a central database (the InterTrace database) enabling full herd book registration of all animals in the breed society, allowing animal and holding registration and full recording of animal productivity. These developments include linking with other existing databases to avoid duplication of data entry.

 

Countries:

1. Luxembourg: Fédération des Herdbooks Luxembourgeois, 2003 to date

2. Colombia: Since 2001 the InterTrace program has been used to develop an appropriate herdbook register of all animals in the Normando Breed Society of Colombia. The system stores pedigree information as well as the basic register of animals and producers. Herd management reports are also produced. The program has been in full operation since January 2002 and currently contains registers of 1,500 farms in 22 districts of Colombia. The database stores in excess of 55,000 animal registers, of which approximately 20,000 are current animals.

Since 2003 the National Union of Colombian Breed Societies has used the InterTrace program to combine all the major breed societies in the country. These include the Brown Swiss,  Ayrshire, Limousin,  Simmental,  Angus and Criollo Breed Associations.   In addition to providing the Herdbook facilities for each breed society, this enables comprehensive analyses of bulls as part of a six year national testing programme. All the software used in Colombia operates in the Spanish language.

3. The Island of Guernsey: Developing the InterTrace system for the management of cattle breed society records for genetic analysis and providing management information for producers

·            Livestock information systems;

·            Software development ;

·            Livestock databases;

·            Training

 

     

 

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Project title:

Information systems for full herd book registration and traceability for a premium label beef quality assurance scheme for a major supermarket

Country / Region:

Luxembourg

Dates:

2003 to date (on-going)

Detailed description of project

Type of services provided

 

Operational since 2003 and linking with the breed society herd book database (InterTrace) ,an application offering full traceability and quality assurance for beef marketed under a special label by  the Cactus supermarket chain in Luxembourg. In order to be eligible, cattle must be reared on strictly monitored suckler and fattening farms.

 

The cattle are individually inspected and weighed at weaning and must meet growth rate and conformation criteria. From the records in the database, it is possible at the time of slaughter to determine whether any animal qualifies for the label. The scheme is so successful that demand for this quality-assured beef exceeds supply.

 

 

 

·         Animal Identification Scheme

·         Livestock information systems;

·         Software development ;

·         Livestock traceability and quality assurance

·         Training

 

     

 

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Project title:

Registration and Monitoring of sheep from birth to slaughter

Country / Region:

United Kingdom (Wales)

Dates:

2009 to date (on-going)

Detailed description of project

Type of services provided

 

Supply of central database (InterTrace)  for a traceability pilot project in the sheep sector including electronic identification systems. This pilot project, based around a sheep producers cooperative in Wales supplying a major UK supermarket, facilitates data collection and analysis both on-farm and through the electronic capture of abattoir data allowing individual performance assessment of ewes and health planning based on carcase classification and health inspection data.

 

 

 

 

 

 

·            Livestock information systems;

·            Software development ;

·            Livestock databases;

 

     

 

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Project title:

Improving efficiency of commercial dairy herds through a team approach to the analysis of milk recording data

Country / Region:

United Kingdom (England)

Dates:

2006 - 2009

Detailed description of project

Type of services provided

Over 1 million cows on 6,000 commercial dairy farms are milk recorded on a monthly basis in the United Kingdom by Europe’s largest milk recording organisation National Milk Records (NMR). New and existing computer software can analyse these data to provide farmers and their technical advisers with vital information relating to the performance of their animals and herds.

The project delivered one-day workshops where farmers were taken through key analyses on laptop computers, using data from their own herds. Key areas covered included novel analyses of somatic cell counts, nutrition, milk yield and fertility. Farmers were also able to benchmark the performance levels of their herds against those of other farms providing new opportunities to identify areas of strength and weakness as well as opportunities to discuss best practice. These activities emphasised the use of available information as the focus for a team approach to planning and management decision taking.

·         88 workshops delivered across all dairy producing areas of England

·         1,300 dairy farmers and technical advisers (vets, nutritionists, management consultants) trained in routine analysis of milk recording data.

     

 

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Project title:

Descriptive epidemiology of the bovine TB outbreak in England since 1980

Country / Region:

United Kingdom (England)

Dates:

2008 - 2009

Detailed description of project

Type of services provided

The objective of this piece of work was to begin a process of descriptive epidemiology; to produce a factual and definitive history of the re-emergence of bovine tuberculosis in England since the 1980s. The work used from first-hand accounts provided by vets (State and Private) and farmers via a voluntary online survey and face to face interviews, alongside analysis of official data to describe how the occurrence of disease has evolved over time in different parts of the country. The work was supplemented by a summary of key reports and documents covering particularly the changes in bTB control strategy over the years.

A major impetus for this work was the desire within Defra to document ‘institutional memory’ and thus provide a resource that facilitates easy succession in the Defra policy group in the face of changes in personnel.

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • Field researchers and consultants...
  • Field research – epidemiology
  • Epidemiology desk-top research and report writing

 

     

 

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Project title:

Support to the development of faculties of Veterinary Medicine in Ethiopia

Country / Region:

Ethiopia

Dates:

2006 - 2009

Detailed description of project

Type of services provided

The project assisted two Faculties of Veterinary Medicine (at Haramaya and Gondar Universities) in upgrading their staff and in improving their curriculum and by developing teaching modules. It also improved some of the teaching facilities (library books, teaching aids, ICT, laboratory and other equipment) at the faculties. The project contributed to establishing international networking relationships with overseas universities.

Course modules in the following:

  • Diagnostic methods for viral disease
  • Histopathological diagnosis of disease
  • Methods of disease surveillance & economic analysis
  • Dairy cattle health management
  • Important surgical procedures in animals
  • Wildlife disease management
  • Diseases of small ruminants
  • Veterinary Ethics and Jurisprudence
  • Production, health & management of working animals
  • Traditional veterinary practices
  • Veterinary Laboratory Techniques
  • Introduction to epidemiological field studies – design, implementation and analysis
  • Supply of subject matter specialists
  • Project management

 

     

 

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Project title:

The epidemiology and control of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) – Vietnam, Egypt, Indonesia

Country / Region:

Vietnam, Egypt, Indonesia

Dates:

2005 – 2010

Detailed description of project

Type of services provided

Activities have included:

Training workshops in Surveillance, Investigation, Control and Prevention of Avian Influenza for veterinary officers from provincial sub-departments and regional centres of northern, central and southern Vietnam. Part of the WB/FAO Avian Influenza emergency Recovery Project.

Analysis of data relating to the mass vaccination campaigns for HPAI in Vietnam.

Short-term inputs providing advice on vaccination and surveillance strategy for HPAI in Vietnam

Development of a poultry population model to support planning of HPAI vaccination in Vietnam, Egypt and Indonesia.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Epidemiology International Expert / Consultant

 

     

 

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Project title:

Examining the potential for dog licensing in the United Kingdom

Country / Region:

United kingdom

Dates:

2009 – 2010

Detailed description of project

Type of services provided

This study was commissioned in the light of an apparent increase in the numbers of stray dogs impounded and the proportion being euthanized, potential costs of dog borne zoonotic diseases and dog attacks on humans. 

The objectives were first to review numbers of dogs and strays and associated regulations in the four devolved countries of the UK and compare these with information from 3 case-study locations (Germany, Pescara province of Italy and Victoria State of Australia) and second to review the expected costs and benefits of alternative schemes for dog registration and licensing in Britain.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Field research – interviewing

Economics

Desk-top research, analysis and report writing

 

     

 

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Project title:

Socio-economic impact assessment of African Horse Sickness control measures – United Kingdom

Country / Region:

United Kingdom

Dates:

2009

Detailed description of project

Type of services provided

A rapid initial overview assessment of the costs and benefits of the European Directive on AHS control measures in relation to the economic and social impact on the rural sector, (in the context of the size and nature of the commercial and leisure equine sector – horses ponies and donkeys), that is guided by the disease biology, veterinary considerations, epidemiology and meteorology.

The focus of the work included the economic cost and social impact, relating to horses ridden for pleasure or sporting purposes, of the control measures that would be triggered by an outbreak of AHS in UK in relation to the EU directive 92/35/EEC. Of particular importance were proposed movement controls and an analysis of what factors affect the magnitude of the impact most and what factors are uncertain.

 

 

 

 

 

 

·         Cost : Benefit analysis of the European Directive on AHS control measures

·         Field research – interviewing

·         Economics

·         Desk-top research, analysis and report writing

     

 

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Project title:

Final evaluation of Pan African Control of Epizootics (PACE)

Country / Region:

Africa

Dates:

2006

Detailed description of project

Type of services provided

Member of the mission to undertake the final evaluation of the EU-supported Pan African Control of Epizootics (PACE) Project.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

·         Team Leader / Veterinarian

     

 

 
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Project title:

A review of the international evidence for an interrelationship between cattle and wildlife in the transmission of bovine tuberculosis

Country / Region:

United Kingdom

Dates:

2005

Detailed description of project

Type of services provided

Review the international evidence for an interrelationship between cattle and wildlife in the transmission of bovine tuberculosis and advise Defra on policy options with regard to control of the disease in the UK cattle population.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two Veterinary Epidemiologists reviewed the international evidence for an interrelationship between cattle and wildlife in the transmission and maintenance of bovine tuberculosis, particularly with regard to the disease in badgers in UK.  Using evidence from the review, policy options for control of the disease were provided to Defra.

     

 

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Project title:

Twinning Project Capacity Building in the Food and Veterinary Regulation Division, Ministry for Rural Affairs and the Environment.

Country / Region:

Malta

Dates:

2006 - 2007

Detailed description of project

Type of services provided

Support to the Food and Veterinary Regulation Division (FVRD) of the Ministry for Rural Affairs and Environment, Republic of Malta, in regulating food safety, animal welfare and environmental standards.  Technical assistance to ensure that FVRD is in compliance with EU food safety and animal welfare legislation.  This twinning project is to improve the organisational and individual capacities of the FVRD and the livestock industry to apply more effective controls to ensure that the standards required by EU legislation are achieved throughout the livestock industries.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Practical training of FVRD staff through sustained assistance from medium term experts in: animal welfare; veterinary medicine and feed additive registration procedures; milk production and dairy herd health; quality and safety of livestock feeds; slaughter house procedures.

     

 

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Project title:

Support to the National Animal Disease Surveillance System of Armenia

Country / Region:

Armenia

Dates:

2006 - 2007

Detailed description of project

Type of services provided

The overall objective of the project was “to improve the health status of livestock populations producing safe products of good quality.” The development of the National Animal Disease Surveillance System (NADSS) was a necessary step towards achieving this objective.

The main activities were:

1.     training of NADSS staff in epidemiology and animal health economics;

2.     overseas study tour for senior staff;

3.     workshops involving District veterinarians;

4.     ‘on the job’ training with NADSS staff – assistance with data analysis for trimester reports, newsletters and policy analysis.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Epidemiology International Expert / Consultant

Project management

Sub-contracting of other necessary experts (animal health economics)

     

 

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Project title:

Support to the Kosovo Centre for Livestock Breeding

Country / Region:

Kosovo

Dates:

2007 - 2009

Detailed description of project

Type of services provided

This project in which PAN was a major partner, assisted in increasing livestock productivity in Kosovo, stimulating the rural economy, reducing rural poverty and ensuring food security, while also ensuring the sustainable management of natural resources. More specifically, the project provides the necessary expertise to support the development of the Kosovo Centre for Livestock Breeding (KCLB) as well as providing policy guidelines to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Development (MAFRD) on livestock breeding development and for the establishment and maintenance of the livestock breed herd-books following the implementation of the Law on livestock production and genetic material control.

 

The KCLB project is the logical follow-on to the “10 years livestock sector strategy” developed by the MAFRD. Based on this strategy, the project is providing targeted support to the KCLB, which is part of the institutional framework designed by the MAFRD to modernise the livestock sub-sector in Kosovo. The project is also considering the organisation and restructuring requirements of the MAFRD, the changes of rules and regulations affecting livestock sub-sector development and the role and messages to be passed by the agricultural advisory support services to develop the Kosovo livestock.

 

The project’s dissemination activities are focusing on enabling livestock breeders a better understanding and choice on breeding issues and provide them with the necessary skills and information than will enable them to take the right decision in terms of production. The project is also providing support in establishing livestock breeders’ associations and strengthening linkages with breeders’ associations in the Balkans region and in the EU.

·         Support to and strengthening of the institutional, legal and management framework of the KCLB;

·         Development of a livestock pedigree database (herd-book) by using the livestock Identification and Registration (I&R) database from the MAFRD;

·         Dissemination of selected livestock performance analysis results and breeding advice to livestock breeders;

·         Support to KCLB in providing background information for policy advice to the MAFRD.

 

     

 

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Project title:

Strengthening Of Public Veterinary Services In Kosovo

Country / Region:

Kosovo

Dates:

2004 - 2005

Detailed description of project

Type of services provided

The project was developed in the light of reconstruction of Kosovo and in transforming the centrally planned agricultural economy towards a market economy. Through the project, support was given for livestock production, trade and veterinary public health.

 

PAN provided the Veterinarian / Team Leader. The project activities contained amongst others improving animal health surveillance, animal disease control programmes and veterinary border inspection. Food safety was improved, and therefore protection of consumers, by assisting in the implementation of monitoring and surveillance of food of animal origin, drug and residue surveillance and control of food imports. In addition, the project ensured appropriate standards of animal welfare by monitoring and provided advice on animal husbandry (livestock and pet animals) by monitoring of stray cats and dogs, animal transport and livestock slaughtering practices.

 

PAN also supplied short term consultancy input on data management training for veterinary staff

 

 

·       Veterinary Information Systems

·       Food Safety;

·       Disease Control;

·       Policy advice;

·       Training;

·       Livestock Production;

·       Capacity Building.

     
 
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Project title:

Structural and Legal Reform of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Economy (MAFWE)

Country / Region:

Macedonia

Dates:

2005 - 2007

Detailed description of project

Type of services provided

Training relating to EU Acquis approximation and the CAP relating to:

 

1. Development of horizontal services:  European integration coordination and monitoring - building the accession machinery and tracking progress; Strengthening legal harmonization capacity, strategic planning, policy analysis and formulation, integrating agricultural information services, human resource management, budget planning and control/audit functions.

 

2. Development of administrative systems: Set up payments system for administering AMS and future support measures, development of a system for defining and registering agricultural holdings and introduction of an Integrated Accounting and Control System (IACS) 

 

3. Rural Development: Preparation of a National rural development strategy and plan, including institutional development to provide implementation of rural development measures consistent with EU rural development practices.  

 

4. Agriculture markets and standards: develop measures to address market failures and enhance competitiveness and introduction of regulations in line with Common Market Organisations for selected commodities including assistance to domestic seed regulatory bodies.  

 

5. Veterinary services: Enhance institutional capacity and assist with alignment of FYR Macedonia legal framework with EU acquis in animal health and veterinary public health. Strengthen capacity to carry out EU compliant and effective border inspection, surveillance, notification, prevention, control and eradication of infectious or contagious animal diseases and meet requirements applicable to third countries when importing live animals and products of animal origin into the European Union.

 

·       Veterinary Information Systems

·       Livestock advice;

·       Policy advice;

·       Capacity Building;

·       Animal Heath.

 

     

 

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Project title:

Qualitative veterinary risk assessment of the introduction of rabies into the United Kingdom

Country / Region:

United Kingdom

Dates:

2006

Detailed description of project

Type of services provided

A review of the literature on the epidemiology of rabies, its impact and its control.  Review its distribution worldwide and current legislation to control it in UK and other countries. Ascertain what are the state of the art diagnostic tests and vaccines for the disease.  Undertake a qualitative veterinary risk analysis and submit policy options to Defra.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

·            Livestock information systems;

·            Software development ;

·            Livestock databases;

·            Disease control;

·            Agricultural policy;

     

 

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Project title:

Twinning light project under a decentralised EU pre-accession programme – capacity building in the food and veterinary regulation division in the area of milk production in Malta.

Country / Region:

Malta

Dates:

2003 - 2004

Detailed description of project

Type of services provided

The objective was to develop capacity in the Food and Veterinary Division and farmers’ organizations to provide effective support for farmers to improve productivity and comply with current and forthcoming EU legislation relating to milk production, specifically Council Directive 92/46/EEC laying down health rules for the production and placing on the market of raw milk, heat-treated milk and milk based products.

The project initiated an improvement in the quality of cow’s milk, especially with regard to the somatic cell count (SCC) and total bacterial count (TBC).

The project has identified a follow up programme to ensure that the improved management practices are maintained and extended to all dairy farms in Malta and Gozo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Project Leader

Dairy Herd Health and Fertility Management Specialist.

     

 

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Project title:

Strengthening of veterinary services for livestock disease control – Reducing administrative burden

Country / Region:

United Kingdom

Dates:

2005

Detailed description of project

Type of services provided

Cataloguing the Department of Environment, Food & Rural Affairs’ regulations in force through national and EU legislation; Assessment of the administrative burden each regulation engenders.  Objective to assist Defra achieve a targeted 25% reduction of the work load this Government Department spends on regulating according to National and EU laws.  PAN Livestock Services dealt with those regulations concerning Animal Health and Welfare

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Provision of a team of veterinarians and livestock economists to undertake the study

     

 

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Project title:

Detailed investigation of the methods and characteristics of spread of FMD in specific geographic clusters and the effects of control measures during the 2001 epidemic in England

Country / Region:

United Kingdom

Dates:

2004 - 2005

Detailed description of project

Type of services provided

The project:

1. Described in detail the epidemiology of the FMD epidemic in Cumbria. Epidemiological parameters were quantified and the relationships between control measures and development of the epidemic within sub-clusters was examined.

2. Specifically examined the possible importance of milk tankers as a means of spread of FMD during the epidemic in Cumbria.

3. Quantified the relative importance of possible farm level risk factors associated with FMD infection during the epidemic.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Field research – epidemiology

Epidemiology desk-top research, analysis and report writing

 

     

  

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Project title:

Risk analysis and modelling of foot and mouth disease for disease control

Country / Region:

United Kingdom

Dates:

2002 - 2003

Detailed description of project

Type of services provided

The goals of the project were:

To model FMD outbreaks and make risk analyses of the probability of FMD outbreaks in UK.  Model different animal movement regimes and their effects on the spread of FMD in UK and calculate the cost/benefits of the different regimes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Project technical and financial management:

Provision of a team leader.

Provision of a team of veterinarians and livestock economists to undertake the study

     

 

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Project title:

Using livestock to improve livelihoods of landless and refugee affected livestock keepers in Bangladesh and Nepal

Country / Region:

Nepal and Bangladesh

Dates:

2000 - 2004

Detailed description of project

Type of services provided

Participatory Livelihoods Assessments were made to assess the potential for livestock keeping, work already done for livestock keepers was evaluated. An action research programme assessed selected interventions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Team leader / socioeconomist and veterinary epidemiologist investigated constraints and opportunities in livestock keeping and evaluated work that had been done before.

 

     

  

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Project title:

Veterinary Epidemiology And Economics Unit And Tsetse Control Project

Country / Region:

Botswana

Dates:

1996 - 2001

Detailed description of project

Type of services provided

To contribute towards the goal of Renewable Natural Resources strategy through enhancing the sustainable contribution of the livestock and wildlife sector to livelihood security and Botswana’s diversified economic development.

To strengthen The Department of Animal Health & Production’s (DAHP) capacity to implement new animal health policies which are cost effective, promote the integration of wildlife and livestock and maximise the use of Botswana’s rangelands, targeting areas of greatest poverty.

Developed DAHP capacity to formulate cost-effective disease control programs; established animal health and production information systems for epidemiological and economic analysis; animal disease surveillance and forcasting methods were developed and used; cost effective interventions for animal disease management were developed and implemented, disease constraints in livestock/wildlife systems were identified and disease control methods developed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Veterinary Epidemiologist and Team leader, Livestock Economist, Wildlife Epidemiologist,

Consultants in: Management, Livestock Information Systems, Data Analysis, Small Ruminants, Sociology, Modelling/Risk Analysis, Laboratory Diagnosis, Wildlife Capture, Veterinary Legislation, Institutional Development & Environmental Audit.

     

 

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Project title:

Strengthening Of Veterinary Services Project

Country / Region:

India

Dates:

2001 to 2003

Detailed description of project

Type of services provided

Designed and implemented a series of training courses in basic epidemiology and economics for provincial veterinary officers.

Supplied consultancy on practical application of epidemiological, economic and planning skills by working with local project and government veterinary staff on a disease control policy and planning exercise for classical swine fever.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Provision of veterinary epidemiologist and livestock economist/socio-economist.

     

 

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Project title:

Assessment of factors influencing the development of resistance to fluoroquinolone antibiotics used in pigs and poultry

Country / Region:

United Kingdom

Dates:

2000 - 2004

Detailed description of project

Type of services provided

The main objectives of this project were as follows:

- To assess at the national level the farm prevalence of fluoroquinolone resistant Campylobacter and E. coli in pigs and poultry on-farm under different production systems.

- To identify risk factors associated with fluoroquinolone resistance.

- To carry out work on selected samples and E.coli or Campylobacter isolates:

-           to assess the proportion of the total population of organisms in the sample that they represent;

-           to evaluate disinfectant resistance and effect of exposure to disinfectants on fluoroquinolone resistance, and selection of resistant organisms, and;

-           to further characterise organisms to identify molecular mechanisms of resistance and similarity to those involved in human disease.

- To produce draft guidance pamphlets for veterinarians and farming company livestock managers on the optimum use of fluoroquinolones to reduce the problem of antimicrobial resistance.

 

 

 

Field research – epidemiology

Epidemiology desk-top research, analysis and report writing

 

Database development

 

     

 

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Project title:

Agricultural Human Resources Development Project

Country / Region:

India

Dates:

1996 - 2001

Detailed description of project

Type of services provided

Advised on improving the quality of education in the Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University and Madras Veterinary College.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Provision of consultant veterinary epidemiologist Conduct a critical review of epidemiology and economics in both the current MVC curriculum and, the soon to be adopted, curriculum recommended as minimum standard by the Veterinary Council of India.

     

 

 

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Project title:

Strengthening of veterinary services for livestock disease control

Country / Region:

India

Dates:

1991 - 1999

Detailed description of project

Type of services provided

The goals of the project were:

a) through the strengthening of veterinary services, to eradicate rinderpest from India,  remove the last focus of CBPP, and assure the results of eradication are maintained. 

b) to develop high quality information to manage the eradication programme and strengthen the national disease reporting system.

The differential diagnostic capacity in India was improved at central and state level.  Technical support was given to vaccine production and diagnostic laboratories.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Project technical and financial management:. Provision of long term TA for project management, training and veterinary epidemiology in country

Provision of specialised short term TA in country

Training programmes in India and abroad

Disease modelling

Technical and management back stopping.

     

 

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Project title:

Livestock Production Potential In Gorno Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast

Country / Region:

Tajikistan

Dates:

1999

Detailed description of project

Type of services provided

This project was to investigate ways of reducing the dependency of the people of Gorno Badakhshan on imported cereals for famine relief by diversification of their agriculture to include improved livestock production.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Provided consultant to visit Gorno Badakshan and make recommendations for disease control in cattle and small ruminants in the valleys, and yaks and small ruminants in the high plateaux of the Pamir range of the Himalayas