October 2017
UCD CVERA Statement of Strategy 2017-20
During the past six months, a strategic review of CVERA has taken place in conjunction with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, the UCD School of Veterinary Medicine and other principal stakeholders. As a result of the review, CVERA has developed clearly defined strategic goals, objectives and expected outcomes for the medium term. These are presented in the CVERA Statement of Strategy 2017-20 which can be found at http://www.ucd.ie/cvera/. Three priority areas have been identified for immediate action, including the establishment of an independent management board, the introduction of systems to improve task management within CVERA, and a communications plan (of which our e-zine is part).
M. bovis 2020
The Seventh International Conference on Mycobacterium bovis (M. bovis 2020 for short) will take place in Galway. M. bovis 2020 will gather together scientists, policy makers, veterinarians and industry stakeholders from around the world with the aim of identifying constraints and providing practical solutions for the control and eradication of M. bovis. The conference will bring together experts on a wide range of M. bovis related themes including: the science/policy interface, epidemiology, surveillance, diagnostics, wildlife reservoirs, social science & economics, vaccination, practical delivery, and innovation for TB control and eradication. For more information please visit (opens in a new window)http://www.mbovis2022.com/ or follow us on Twitter @mbovis2022
The performance of the interferon gamma assay when used to test for bovine tuberculosis in infected cattle herds in Ireland
Recent research conducted by CVERA in conjunction with DAFM has looked at the performance of the interferon gamma (IFN-γ) assay. This assay is used as an ancillary test for bovine tuberculosis in infected cattle herds. The results of this study highlighted the risk associated with retaining animals that were positive to the IFN-γ, and suggested prompt removal of these animals. More details of the study can be found at (opens in a new window)here.
Comparing European cattle trade markets
CVERA’s Jamie Tratalos has recently begun a collaboration with Vittoria Colizza (Inserm, Paris, France), Eugenio Valdano (Universitat Roviri i Virgili, Tarragona, Spain) and other researchers from 15 European countries, conducting a comparative study of European cattle trade markets, to examine similarities and specific characteristics of each and to assess the implications for infectious disease spread, public health and animal welfare. This will allow us to see how Ireland differs from its neighbours, and in turn what this says about our vulnerability to disease and how best to conduct monitoring programmes. This involves running generic computer code on Irish movement data in CVERA and sharing the resulting metrics with the larger project, but no sharing of the raw data.
World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Commission for Agricultural Meteorology (CAgM)
CVERA’s Guy McGrath is currently acting as the European (World Region VI) representative in a focus group for the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Commission for Agricultural Meteorology (CAgM). The WMO is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with 191 Member States and Territories. It is the UN system's authoritative voice on the state and behaviour of the Earth's atmosphere, its interaction with the land and oceans, the weather and climate it produces and the resulting distribution of water resources. As one of the eight technical commissions of the WMO, CAgM provides guidance in the field of agricultural meteorology by studying and reviewing the available science and technology. The ‘Expert Team on Livestock, Poultry, and Inland Fisheries: Agromet Services and Products’ have been tasked with producing a handbook and a report which will be available from the WMO in 2018. For more information, please visit:
(opens in a new window)https://public.wmo.int/en
Veterinary ethical challenges
Manuel Magalhães-Sant’Ana and others have published a series of papers in the Irish Veterinary Journal on the “challenges facing the veterinary profession in Ireland”. Each paper focuses on a specific issue relating to the veterinary profession including clinical veterinary services, the on-farm use of veterinary antimicrobials and emergency & casualty slaughter certification. The papers are available at (opens in a new window)here.
UCD Research Repository
The Selected Papers 1990-2003 are now available to download from the UCD Research Repository. The Selected Papers are a collection of reports produced by, or in association with CVERA members on a wide range of issues related to bovine tuberculosis, BSE and brucellosis. Several other documents relating to research conducted by, or in association with, CVERA have also been uploaded to the UCD Research Repository. These include reports on the “Challenges and solutions to support good equine welfare practice in Ireland” and the “Current and future ethical challenges facing the veterinary profession in Ireland”. We’d like to thank Joseph Greene from the UCD Research Repository for his help in this matter. The CVERA Research Collection can be found at (opens in a new window)http://researchrepository.ucd.ie/handle/10197/5728