This review examined the use of green tea (Camellia sinensis) in the diets of poultry. Research findings were obtained from various recent studies, where much attention was focused on the role of green tea in the promotion of both animal and human health. The review involved some of the currently available information about green tea, pertaining to its chemical composition, anticoccidial and antimicrobial effect, effect on broiler and layer performance and on blood and egg yolk constituents. To the author's knowledge this is the first review paper on this topic. It will be helpful for poultry nutritionists and the poultry industry, although more detailed studies are still needed to elucidate the effects of green tea in poultry nutrition under various circumstances.

The aim of the study was to estimate the prevalence of bovine tuberculosis (BTB) and to identify the mycobacterial species causing BTB in a dairy farm and research farm. Six hundred and eighty-five cattle were screened for BTB by using the Comparative intradermal tuberculin test (CTT). Positive reactors were slaughtered and carcasses were taken for isolation of mycobacterial species. This was followed by speciation of isolates using both standard conventional and molecular assays. Seventeen of the cattle were positive by CTT, giving a crude BTB prevalence of 2.48% among cattle from the two farms. Six of the 17 samples (35.30%) yielded positive acid-fast bacilli cultures and three of the isolates were identified as Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC), which were sub-divided into two Mycobacterium tuberculosis sensu scrito (Mtb) and one Mycobacterium africanum; the remaining three were Mycobacterium other than tuberculoisis (MOTT). Spoligotyping further characterised the two Mtb isolates as Ghana (spoligotype Data Base 4 number 53) and Latin American Mediterranean (LAM), whilst spoligotyping and Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) analysis typed the M. africanum as West African 1. Microseq 500 analysis identified two of the MOTT as Mycobacterium flavescens and Mycobacterium Moriokaense respectively, whilst the remaining one could not be identified. This study observed the prevalence of bovine TB among cattle from two farms in Ghana as 2.48% and confirms the public health importance of M. africanum as a pathogen in Ghana.

Appropriately trained Human Resources for Health (HRH) are key inputs into One Health. '... more than 50% of all infectious diseases of humans originate from animals and that, of the emerging diseases about 75% could be traced back to animal origin' (Rweyemamu et al. 2006). A comprehensive understanding of the social determinants of health, through an appropriate training model for HRH, is a key input. This study aimed to explore if human and veterinary medical schools were using such a model or providing time for this model in their curricula. Specific objectives were to: determine the time that human and veterinary medical schools' curricula provide for subjects or courses related to the social determinants of health; analyse the curricula contents to establish how they relate to the social determinants of health; and explore how a bio-medical model may influence the graduates' understanding and practice of One Health. A review of human and veterinary graduate-level medical schools' curricula in East Africa was performed in April 2013 and May 2013. The findings were: in the curricula, SDH contents for knowledge enhancement about One Health are minimal and that teaching is Germ Theory model-driven and partisan. Out of the total training time for physicians and veterinarians, less than 10% was provided for the social determinants of health-related courses. In conclusion, the curricula and training times provided are inadequate for graduates to fully understand the social determinants of health and their role in One Health. Furthermore, the Germ Theory model that has been adopted addresses secondary causes and is inappropriate. There is a need for more in-depth model. This article suggests that a vicious cycle of ill-health model must be taught.

This study was conducted to determine the spatiotemporal distribution of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) virus (FMDV) serotypes and evaluate the awareness of livestock keepers about FMD in Tanzania. An observational prospective study involving serological analysis, FMDV antigen detection and questionnaire survey was carried out in the lake zone of Tanzania. Seroprevalence of antibodies to the nonstructural protein 3ABC of FMDV and serotype- specific antigen detection were investigated by using SVANOVIR® FMDV 3ABC-Ab ELISA and indirect-sandwich ELISA (sELISA), respectively, whilst a structured questionnaire was used to evaluate the awareness of livestock keepers about FMD. During the period of 2010-2011, both serum and tissue (foot-and-mouth epithelia) samples were collected from cattle suspected of FMD in 13 districts of the four regions of the lake zone. A total of 107 (80.5%) out of 133 tested serum samples were seropositive to nonstructural protein 3ABC, with at least one sample being positive from all 10 districts screened. Fifteen (53.6%) out of 28 tissue epithelial samples collected from FMD cases in eight districts during the course of this study were positive to serotype O FMDV antigen. Of these eight districts, serotype O FMDV antigens were detected from seven districts and no other serotypes were recovered from animal samples screened. Questionnaire surveys in six districts indicated that livestock keepers in the lake zone were aware of the clinical manifestations (26/29 = 90.0%) and economic impact (23/29 = 79.0%) of FMD in the region. The questionnaire data showed that FMD outbreaks often occurred after rainy seasons (22/29 = 75.9%), with the highest peaks predominantly occurring just after the long rains in May and June, and at the end of the short rains in November and December of each year. The spatial distribution of the FMD cases suggested that serotype O virus exposure was the only widespread cause of the 2010-2011 outbreaks in the lake zone.

'One health' is particularly suited to serve mobile pastoralists. Dinka pastoralists in Sudan inspired Calvin Schwabe to coin the term 'one medicine', indicating that there is no difference in paradigm between human and veterinary medicine. Our contemporary definition of 'one health' is any added value in terms of improved health of humans and animals or financial savings or environmental services resulting from a closer cooperation of human and animal health sectors. Here we present a summary of 'one health' studies with mobile pastoralists in Africa which were done in research partnership, demonstrating such an added value. Initial joint human and animal health studies revealed higher livestock vaccination coverage than in the pastoralist community, leading to joint animal and human vaccination intervention studies which demonstrated a better access to primary health care services for pastoralists in Chad. Further simultaneous animal and human serological studies showed that camel breeding was associated with human Q-fever seropositivity. In Borana communities in Ethiopia, human cases of Mycobacterium bovis infection could be related to strains isolated from cattle. A challenge remained with regard to how to assess vaccination coverage in mobile populations. With the advent of mobile phones, health and demographic surveillance could be established for mobile pastoralists and their animals. This presents vast possibilities for surveillance and control of human and animal diseases. Pastoralists prefer a 'one health' approach and therefore contribute toward the validation of this concept by showing real added value of the cooperation between human and animal health services.

Speed is paramount in the diagnosis of highly infectious diseases, such as foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), as well as for emerging diseases; however, simplicity is required if a test is to be deployed in the field. Recent developments in molecular biology have enabled the specific detection of FMD virus (FMDV) by reverse-transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP), real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and sequencing. RT-LAMP enables amplification of the FMDV RNA-dependent RNA polymerase 3D(pol) gene at 63 °C (in the presence of a primer mixture and both reverse transcriptase and Bst DNA polymerase) for 1 h, whilst RT-qPCR amplifies the same gene in approximately 2 h 30 min. In this study, we compared the sensitivity and effectiveness of RT-LAMP against RT-qPCR for the detection of the FMDV 3D(pol) gene in 179 oesophageal-pharyngeal scraping samples (collected by probang) obtained from clinically healthy cattle and buffalo in Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania in 2010. The FMDV detection rate was higher with RT-LAMP (30.2%; n = 54) than with RT-qPCR (17.3%; n = 31). All samples positive by RT-qPCR (Cq < 32.0) were also positive for the RT-LAMP assay; and both assays proved to be highly specific for the FMDV target sequence. In addition, the VP1 sequences of 10 viruses isolated from positive samples corresponded to the respective FMDV serotypes and genotypes. Our findings indicate that the performance of RT-LAMP is superior to RT-qPCR. Accordingly, we consider this test to have great potential with regard to the specific detection and surveillance of infectious diseases of humans and animals in resource-compromised developing countries.

The practice of One Health approaches in human and animal health programmes is influenced by type and scope of bridges for and barriers to partnerships. It was thus essential to evaluate the nature and scope of collaborative arrangements among human, animal and wildlife health experts in dealing with health challenges which demand intersectoral partnership. The nature of collaborative arrangement was assessed, and the respective bridges and barriers over a period of 12 months (July 2011 - June 2012) were identified. The specific objectives were to: (1) determine the proportions of health experts who had collaborated with other experts of disciplines different from theirs, (2) rank the general bridges for and barriers to collaboration according to the views of the health experts, and (3) find the actual bridges for and barriers to collaboration among the health experts interviewed. It was found that 27.0% of animal health officers interviewed had collaborated with medical officers while 12.4% of medical officers interviewed had collaborated with animal health experts. Only 6.7% of the wildlife officers had collaborated with animal health experts. The main bridges for collaboration were instruction by upper level leaders, zoonotic diseases of serious impact and availability of funding. The main barriers to collaboration were lack of knowledge about animal or human health issues, lack of networks for collaboration and lack of plans to collaborate. This situation calls for the need to curb barriers in order to enhance intersectoral collaboration for more effective management of risks attributable to infectious diseases of humans and animals.

decision makers and empowering stakeholders at local, regional, and international levels towards a coordinated fight against NZDs. ADVANZ is establishing an African platform to share experiences in the prevention and control of NZDs. The platform will compile and package existing knowledge or data on NZDs and generate evidence-based algorithms for improving surveillance and control with the ultimate aim of eliminating and eradicating these diseases. The platform will serve as a forum for African and international stakeholders, as well as existing One Health and NZD networks and harness and consolidate their efforts in the control and prevention of NZDs. The platform had its first meeting in Johannesburg, South Africa in March 2013.