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New Book on Quality Control of Animal Products

Handbook of Quality Control of Dairy and Meat Products

Authors: Sudhi Ranjan Garg and Vijay J. Jadhav

Publisher: Biotech Books, New Delhi

Publication year: 2012

ISBN: 978-81-7622-243-3

Food safety is an increasingly important public health issue that has rising consumer concern all over the world. National and international agencies are constantly intensifying their efforts to improve food safety and quality everywhere. Strict quality control measures are necessary at all stages of the food supply chain to ensure that food supplies are nutritious and safe with good shelf life. Inspection of the food processing plants and food establishments, collection of food samples and laboratory analysis of the samples by the food regulatory agencies is indispensable to establish that necessary control measures for food quality and safety are taken by the manufacturers and distributors. This handbook is a humble attempt to elaborate the procedures and techniques of inspection and analysis of dairy and meat products in a simple but systematic manner.

Contents

1. Sanitary collection of milk samples and rapid quality evaluation tests
2. Grading of milk by dye reduction tests
3. Evaluation of adequacy of pasteurization of milk
4. Microbiological examination of raw and pasteurized milk
5. Microbiological examination of milk products
6. Detection of adulterants in milk
7. Detection of preservatives in milk
8. Isolation and identification of organisms of public health significance from milk and milk products
9. Detection of antimicrobial residues and toxic chemicals in foods
10. Evaluation of dairy plant sanitation
11. Ante-mortem inspection of food animals in abattoir
12. Components of a modern abattoir
13. Procedure of slaughter and dressing
14. Post-mortem inspection of animals in abattoir
15. Sampling of meat and meat products
16. Examination of physical quality of meat
17. Sensory evaluation of fish quality
18. Hygienic quality assessment of meat and meat products
19. Examination of meat and meat products for pathogenic bacteria
20. Identification and differentiation of meat species
21. Inspection of abattoirs, meat processing plants, marketing centers and food service establishments

New Book on Capacity Building of Veterinary and Livestock Sector

Veterinary and Livestock Sector: A Blueprint for Capacity Building

Edited by: Sudhi Ranjan Garg

ISBN 978-93-81226-09-4, Publication year 2012

Publisher: Satish Serial Publishing House, Delhi-110033

Livestock sector is indispensable for food security and well-being of the society. A number of disciplines of Veterinary and Animal Sciences are involved in the task of sustainable development of livestock health, production, food safety and public health. There has been rapid progress in intellectual understanding and accomplishments but the real goals can be achieved only by putting the knowledge into practice at a faster pace to catch up with the changing scenario of global food market, transborder animal infections, zoonotic diseases, public health threats and biological disasters. Based on the gap analysis, this book provides blueprints and action plans envisaged by the top academicians, scientists, administrators and planners for future developments in veterinary and livestock sector. 

Contents

1. Diverse Roles of Contemporary Veterinarians - Sudhi Ranjan Garg 
2. Food Security and Sustainable Development through Livestock Products - J. Sahoo and S.R. Garg 
3. Dairy Research and Development: Challenges Ahead - A.K. Srivastava, Shiv Prasad, A.K. Singh and Smita Sirohi 
4. Sheep and Goat Research: Accomplishments and Future Strategies - P.K. Rout, D. Swarup and M.C. Sharma 
5. Action Plan for Capacity Building of Meat Sector - N. Kondaiah 
6. Rabbit Farming for Sustainable Development - Ved Prakash 
7. Animal Genetic Resources: Conservation, Utilization and Sustainable Development - A.S. Khanna 
8. Nutritional Strategies for Raising Livestock Productivity - A. Sahoo 
9. Tackling Drug Residues in Animal Products - R.C. Patra 
10. Modernization of Veterinary Healthcare Services - P. Dhanapalan and P. Selvaraj 
11. Application of Veterinary Surgical Procedures in Rural Settings - Narinder Singh Saini and Jitender Mohindroo 
12. Mitigation of Infertility in Dairy Animals - R.K. Chandolia 
13. Strategies for Elimination of Rabies - Sudhi Ranjan Garg 
14. Brucellosis: The Future Course of Action - D.K. Singh 
15. Strategic Control of Peste Des Petits Ruminants - R.P. Singh 
16. Bluetongue Control: Indian Perspective - Gaya Prasad and Minakshi 
17. Foot and Mouth Disease Control - R. Sharma and N.K. Kakker 
18. Action Plan for Control of Haemorrhagic Septicaemia and Pasteurellosis - A.A. Kumar and S.B. Shivachandra 
19. Strategies for Mastitis Control - Anshu Sharma and Rajesh Chhabra 
20. Poultry Disease Control Strategies - F.R. Sheriff 
21. Applications of Information and Communication Technology in Livestock Sector - Abdul Samad, Prashant Murdeshwar and Zohaib Hameed 
22. Bioinformatics: A Modern Tool in Livestock Health and Production - M.L. Sangwan 
23. Applications of Geoinformatics in Animal Health - Arun K. Sangwan 
24. Ethnoveterinary Medicine - N. Punniamurthy 
25. Surveillance in Veterinary Medicine - L. Gunaseelan 
26. Essentials of Necropsy and Diagnostic Material Collection - R.P. Gupta, Deepika Lather and Vikas Nehra 
27. Intersectoral Coordination for Control of Zoonotic Infections - B.R. Singh, Vidya Singh and S.R. Garg 
28. Occupational Risk Alleviation in Livestock Sector - B. Sunil and K. Vrinda Menon 
29. Capacity Building of Veterinarians for Disaster Response - S.R. Garg and V.J. Jadhav 
30. Role of Financial Institutions in Livestock Development - D.V. Deshpande 
31. Veterinary Legislations for Good Governance - Renu Gupta, Sandeep Kumar and S.R. Garg 
32. Future Needs of Veterinary Education - R. Prabakaran and J. John Kirubaharan

Bas-Congo Virus: An Emerging Human Pathogen associated with Acute Hemorrhagic Fever in Central Africa

A novel rhabdovirus, Bas-Congo virus (BASV) has been discovered very recently and associated with a 2009 outbreak of 3 human cases of deadly acute hemorrhagic fever in Mangala village in Democratic Republic of Congo, Africa (Grard et al. 2012). The cases, presenting over a 3-week period, were characterized by abrupt disease onset, high fever and mucosal hemorrhage. The disease killed two patients while one person became gravely ill. The natural animal reservoir host or arthropod vector and precise mode of transmission for the virus remain unclear. The study suggests that BASV may be spread by human-to-human contact.

Source: Grard G, Fair JN, Lee D, Slikas E, Steffen I et al. (2012) A Novel Rhabdovirus Associated with Acute Hemorrhagic Fever in Central Africa. PLoS Pathogens 8(9): e1002924. doi:10.1371/journal.ppat.1002924

Veterinary and Livestock Sector: A Blueprint for Capacity Building

Livestock sector is indispensable for food security and well-being of the society. There has been rapid progress in the intellectual understanding and accomplishments in veterinary and livestock sectors, but the scenario of global food market, trans-border animal infections, zoonotic diseases, public health threats and biological disasters is changing very fast. A new book “Veterinary and Livestock Sector: A Blueprint for Capacity Building” edited by Dr. Sudhi Ranjan Garg was recently released by Mr. R. R. Jowel, Vice Chancellor, Lala Lajpat Rai University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Hisar at a university function. The book provides the blueprints and action plans for development in these sectors. The book is a rich source of invaluable information for the policymakers, planners, Boards and organizations concerned with animal health, animal welfare, livestock production, disease control, zoonoses and public health.  

Handbook of Quality Control of Dairy and Meat Products

With the consumers becoming more and more demanding on food quality and safety, the food industry has to build up its capacity to meet the national and international regulatory requirements. It is essential that food inspectors and quality control analysts are competent and skilled in order to maintain the credibility of the regulatory system. Mr. R. R. Jowel, Vice Chancellor, Lala Lajpat Rai University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Hisar, recently released a book “Handbook of Quality Control of Dairy and Meat Products” written by Dr. Sudhi Ranjan Garg and Dr. Vijay J. Jadhav. The book systematically elaborates the techniques of inspection and analysis of dairy and meat products. The latest regulatory guidelines given in the book make it a handy tool for unwavering judgement of the product quality. The handbook is a unique resource for the students, teachers and laboratory workers associated with food hygiene, food safety and quality control. 

Parasitic worms in contaminated soil affect the world’s poorest communities

Approximately two billion people, or almost 29% of the world's population are infected with soil-transmitted helminth (parasitic worms) infections worldwide. These are transmitted to people through contaminated soil and affect the poorest and most deprived communities. The main species of soil-transmitted helminths that infect people are the roundworm (Ascaris lumbricoides), the whipworm (Trichuris trichiura) and the hookworms (Necator americanus and Ancylostoma duodenale). Such infections are widely distributed in tropical and subtropical areas, with the greatest numbers occurring in sub-Saharan Africa, the Americas, China and east Asia. Over 270 million preschool-age children and over 600 million school-age children live in areas where these parasites are intensively transmitted, and are in need of treatment and preventive interventions.

Source: World Health Organization Media centre (Fact sheet No. 366, June 2012)

H1N1 discovery paves way for universal flu vaccine

University of British Columbia researchers have found a potential way to develop universal flu vaccines and eliminate the need for seasonal flu vaccinations. Led by Prof. John Schrader, Canada Research Chair in Immunology and Director of UBC’s Biomedical Research Centre, the research team found that the 2009 H1N1 “swine flu” vaccine triggers antibodies that protect against many influenza viruses, including the lethal avian H5N1 “bird flu” strain. “The flu virus has a protein called hemagglutinin, or HA for short. This protein is like a flower with a head and a stem,” says Schrader. “The flu virus binds to human cells via the head of the HA, much like a socket and plug. Current flu vaccines target the head of the HA to prevent infections, but because the flu virus mutates very quickly, this part of the HA changes rapidly, hence the need for different vaccines every flu season.” 


Vaccines contain bits of weak or dead germs that prompt the human immune system to produce antibodies that circulate in the blood to kill those specific germs. However, the research team found that the 2009 pandemic H1N1 vaccine induced broadly protective antibodies capable of fighting different variants of the flu virus. “This is because, rather than attacking the variable head of the HA, the antibodies attacked the stem of the HA, neutralizing the flu virus,” says Schrader. “The stem plays such an integral role in penetrating the cell that it cannot change between different variants of the flu virus.” 


The new discovery could pave the way to developing universal flu vaccines. 


Source: The University of British Columbia Media Release, 8 May 2012

Sixty-fifth World Health Assembly

The Sixty-fifth session of the World Health Assembly will take place in Geneva during 21-26 May 2012. At this session, the Health Assembly will discuss a number of public health issues such as universal health coverage, Millennium Development Goals, noncommunicable diseases, mental disorders, nutrition and adolescent pregnancy.

Source: WHO

A giant leap towards One Health indeed

On April 26 - 28, 2012, the Past President of the World Veterinary Association, Dr Tjeerd Jorna, was invited to the meeting of the Council of the World Medical Association, which was held in Prague. The meeting, was attended by more than 100 WMA-Councillors coming from all corners of the world. Dr Jorna gave a presentation about WVA and also highlighted the need for close cooperation between medical doctors and veterinarians for achieving the "One Health" objectives. WVA and WMA are preparing a Memorandum of Understanding to underline the importance of their collaboration.

Source: World Veterinary Association

Detection of BSE in the United States

On April 24, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) confirmed the nation's 4th case of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) in an animal that was sampled for the disease at a rendering facility in central California. It is important that this animal was never presented for slaughter for human consumption, did not enter food supply channels, and at no time presented any risk to human health. The positive animal was tested as part of targeted BSE surveillance at rendering facilities. The United States has a longstanding system of three interlocking safeguards against BSE that protects public and animal health in the country, the most important of which is the removal of specified risk materials - or the parts of an animal that would contain BSE should an animal have the disease - from all animals presented for slaughter in the United States. The second safeguard is a strong feed ban that protects cattle from the disease. The third safeguard - which led to this detection - is the country’s ongoing BSE surveillance programme that allows USDA to detect the disease if it exists at very low levels in the U.S. cattle population.

Source: United States Department of Agriculture

Q-fever deaths in the Netherlands

The number of people killed by Q-fever, a flu-like illness which mainly infects sheep and goats, was at least 24, the Head of the Public Health Institute RIVM in the Netherlands told the television current affairs show Nieuwsuur recently. The previous official death toll stood at 19. The outbreak of Q-fever began in 2007 and led to the slaughter of some 40,000 goats in an effort to get the spread under control. Some 4,000 humans became ill with the disease but that total could be far higher, Roel Coutinho, Head of the RIVM's infectious diseases unit, told the show.

Source: 

New Public Health: A Novel Domain

The New Public Health (NPH) is a contemporary application of a broad range of evidence based scientific, technological, and management systems implementing measure to improve the health of individuals and populations. Its main objectives are the political and practical application of lessons learned from past successes and failures in disease control and the promotion of preventive measures to combat existing, evolving and re-emerging health threats and risks. We address present and anticipated health problems in a complex world with great inequalities with specific targets which would help to achieve higher standards of health and a more just and socially responsible distribution of resources. The NPH is a moving target, as the science and practice of public health grow in strength. It is relevant to all countries, developing, transitional, or industrialized, all facing different combinations of epidemiologic, demographic, economic and health systems challenges. It has been conceptualized because of growing interest in the subtle interaction of the environment with people living in affluent societies. It is much more concerned with the interplay between affluence, social well being, education and health, social capital and health. In societies where the basic public health engineering, immunization and food safety are well in place and require surveillance but not reinvention, the new factors – the social, economic and community quality factors – are rising in importance as determinants of health and causes of illness. The challenges of the NPH include cardiovascular diseases and diabetes, healthy food consumption patterns, adequate physical activity, prevention of injury and violence, consumption of alcohol during pregnancy and addictions (tobacco, alcohol and drugs), biopreparedness and preparedness to adapt new advances of research in genetics and nanotechnology. 

The mission of the NPH is to maximize human health and well-being and to help redress societal and global inequities. Inequities in health across the world are part of the challenges of the NPH. These social inequities have been highlighted by public health thinkers since the 19th century and again stressed recently by the WHO Commission on the Social Determinants of Health. 

Contributed by

Dr. D. N. Garg

Former Dean, College of Veterinary Sciences,

Lala Lajpat Rai University of Veterinary & Animal Sciences,

Hisar (Haryana) India

To read more click the link below.

WHO takes India off polio list

India, which has been polio-free for over a year now, has been taken off the list of polio endemic countries by the World Health Organisation. The Health Minister announced this at the polio summit 2012 in New Delhi. There were only four countries in the WHO endemic list, including Pakistan, Nigeria and Afghanistan. The Prime Minister, while lauding the achievement, said the real credit goes to 23 lakh volunteers who repeatedly vaccinated children even in the most remote areas. He said the success of the effort shows that “team work pays”. After being removed from the list, India will have to remain polio free for the next two years to achieve the polio-free status with concerted efforts and an emergency preparedness and response plan, WHO representative in India Natela Menabde said. She said it is not just an achievement for India but a major progress for global polio eradication.

Emergence of Schmallenberg virus in Western Europe

Schmallenberg virus was first officially characterised in November 2011 in Germany from samples collected in summer/autumn 2011 from diseased dairy cattle. It was also initially detected in dairy cows and in newborn lambs in the Netherlands where the presence of the virus was confirmed in December 2011. In February 2012, the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, the United Kingdom and France have reported Schmallenberg virus outbreaks to the OIE as an emerging disease.

Following the emergence of Schmallenberg virus in Western Europe, the OIE convened a meeting of experts to review existing knowledge of the new virus and provide information to its Members and to stakeholders. Identified hosts so far are cattle, sheep, goats and bisons. Based on current available information, experts concluded that the risk for human health is negligible. The experts also determined that the viraemic period (the time during which the virus circulates in the bloodstream of an infected animal) of Schmallenberg virus is short and that virus transmission most likely occurs by vectors such as mosquitoes or biting midges, with apparent similarity to the transmission of the bluetongue virus. 

Source: World Organisation for Animal Health, Paris

Final push needed to end leprosy in the Western Pacific

WHO's Western Pacific Regional Office has urged its Member States to make a final push to address leprosy in the Region. In 1991, WHO launched a global campaign to eliminate leprosy as a public health threat and set a leprosy elimination target of less than one case per 10000 of population. In that same year, the Western Pacific Region met the elimination target. Over the past two decades, new leprosy cases in the Western Pacific Region have declined by nearly 90%. Political commitment is all that is needed now to finish the job. We have the drugs and we have the knowledge, therefore WHO has urged Member States to make a final push to eliminate leprosy in the Region.

Source:

India records one year without polio cases

The Scientific Consortium for Health Without Borders salutes all those making it possible.


WHO News Release 12 JANUARY 2012

India appears to have interrupted wild poliovirus transmission, completing one year without polio since its last case, in a 2-year-old girl in the state of West Bengal, on 13 January 2011. 

India was once recognized as the world’s epicentre of polio. If all pending laboratory investigations return negative, in the coming weeks India will officially be deemed to have stopped indigenous transmission of wild poliovirus. The number of polio-endemic countries, those which have never stopped indigenous wild poliovirus transmission, will then be reduced to a historical low of three: Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan.

However, there remains no room for complacency. India must maintain sensitive surveillance and high childhood immunity against wild poliovirus to guard against any importation of polio until eradication is achieved globally. In 2011, Afghanistan and Pakistan have both seen alarming increases in polio cases, and poliovirus from Pakistan re-infected China (which had been polio-free since 1999). In Africa, active polio transmission continues in Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Nigeria, with outbreaks in West and Central Africa in the past 12 months reminding the world that as long as polio exists anywhere, it remains a threat everywhere.

Global health leaders today paid tribute to the Government of India for its leadership and financial commitment to the polio eradication effort, and to the millions of vaccinators, community mobilizers, Rotarians, parents and caregivers who have supported polio eradication for more than a decade. The scale of the eradication effort in India is mind-boggling: each year, more than 170 million children under the age of 5 are vaccinated in two national immunization campaigns, with up to 70 million children in the highest-risk areas vaccinated multiple times in additional special campaigns; the whole effort requires nearly a billion doses of oral polio vaccine annually.