This is the write up discussed in the BRAIN STORMING WORKSHOP held on 12th May 2014 at Chhattisgarh Kamdhenu Vishwa Vidyalaya,Durg and appeared in the Souvenir on page 49-51. These are the practical suggestions that may certainly reduce parasitic burden of a locality hence any one may try in other places too but of course giving due credit for the idea as honesty desires . It will be my pleasure to help any one in this endeavor.
MC AGRAWAL
Board Member, Chhattisgarh Kamdhenu Vishwa Vidyalaya, Durg
It
is my great privilege and honor that I
have witnessed great eagerness in our Honorable Governor Shri Shekhar Dutt jee as
how he can take Chhattisgarh to new heights- how economy and
health of its people can be enhanced tremendously . Actually, this brain
storming workshop is his brain child, whose deliberations will pave the way to
map out new strategies for development of the state. I consider myself
privileged and lucky to be a part of
this whole program . Looking to my experiences and also importance of the
subject to the state , I have selected above topic. Here, I will not discuss
academic matter but only those issues which have direct bearing in controlling
parasitic infections in the state.
1.
ANY
GOVERNMENT PROGRAM ON CONTROL OF
ANIMAL PARASITES; The central government is running various disease
control programs in humans like control of malaria, tuberculosis, polio ,
lymphatic filariasis. Even in animal’s health, there is control program on Rinder-pest,
foot and mouth disease etc where a lot of funds, technical help, men power are allotted
.
Is there any comparative program of central government to
control any parasitic disease of any animal species ? As per my knowledge there
is none. Why it is so ?
2.
LITTLE OR
NO HARM FROM PARASITES ? Possibly, the parasitic infections in animals have
been neglected being considered causing little or no harm to the animals. This
notion came ,perhaps, by comparing the mortality rate caused by bacterial
,viral infections and those by parasitic infections. No doubt, there is difference in mortality rate between
these infections but many times our
diagnosis has been faulty and failed to identify parasitic etiology of death
as has happened in two outbreaks in
sheep in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh states (Chandra et al 2003 Indian J Vet
Pathol 27:93-94); In one outbreak, 80 sheep out of 400 died
while 50 others showed symptoms
including swollen temporal region ,eye walls and diarrhea with mucus and blood.
In one outbreak the disease was suspected
PPR ( Peste de petits ruminants) while in other Johne’s disease- but parasitic disease in none . However, diagnosis
,carried out by IVRI centre for animal disease
research and diagnosis, revealed the death ,in both outbreaks, due to
ovine schistosomiasis (Schistosoma
indicum). How frequently this faulty diagnosis is occurring under field
conditions ? we do not know ? Does it not reflect our pre-conceived notions
regarding parasitic infections and also how faulty is our diagnosis at field
level ?
3.
DIAGNOSIS OF PARASITIC INFECTIONS IN FIELD
LABORATORIES : The above example showed
that field laboratory could not identify schistosome eggs in the fecal material
.This is since our field veterinarians are
posted not as per their specialization but casually and this is also
happening in our veterinary diagnostic laboratories. It is a fact that our
veterinarians are more conversant about diagnosis of bacterial and viral
infections but have little expertise in diagnosing parasitic diseases. I had an
occasion to check registers of some diagnostic laboratories and surprised to
note their results ; it was like –
positive for helminth eggs, positive for nematode/fluke eggs ,for coccidia ;they
may identify trypanosomes in a blood slide but difficult for many to differentiate
Babesia or Theileria organism from stain granules ; they can identify
coccidian oocysts but could not its merozoites –the stage where damage is being
carried out. We are not sure how many are trained about new techniques related
to diagnosis of pathogens. And then, the expert diagnostician is transferred to
some other place -to be replaced by a poultry or alike expert.
Obviously, this diagnosis
pattern has to be changed ,if we plan to know the harm caused by the
parasites . This needs recognition of specializations
while posting veterinarians in diagnostic laboratories, their training and
overall monitoring of the results proclaimed by the diagnosticians .
4.
LACK OF HOSPITAL DATA: If we want to assess
correctly damage caused by any ailment , our veterinary hospitals should record
each animal case in such a way that the same may be assessed and analyzed by any researcher . Presently, the veterinary hospitals are recording
the cases in a register which is difficult to analyze.
5.
ECONOMIC ASSESSMENT OF DISEASE LOSSES : This
leads us to a pertinent question how we assess economic losses due to animal
diseases. This loss should not be confined only to mortality but also due to
other losses like milk production, body weight loss, wool quality ,reproduction
etc and then only we will be able to
know the losses made by each disease in each host species. I am glad to inform
this gathering that Chhattisgarh Kamdhenu University has resolved to start a
separate department of veterinary economics and statistics .This department will assess economic losses occurring in
animal industry in the state and will be able to generate data related to animal industries.
6.
HOW WE MAY PLAN CONTROL PROGRAM : Keeping above
facts in mind and also that we do not have any commercial vaccine for any
parasite or a large number of drugs against any parasite , we have to plan both
short and long terms for controlling
parasitic infections in Chhattisgarh
state.
7.
STEREOSCOPIC MICROSCOPE IN DIAGNOSTIC
LABORATORIES : Those who are familiar with parasitic infections are well aware
about the importance of a stereoscopic microscope in identifying free living
parasitic stages like larvae, cercariae, snails, ticks, insects and other parasitic forms which are essential
in parasitic diagnosis. But our field veterinary laboratories are lacking a stereoscopic microscope thus
impeding parasitic diagnosis . The least we can do is to provide a good
stereoscopic microscope in every diagnostic laboratory.
8.
EXPERT DIAGNOSTICIAN : Now time has come when we
should start recognizing importance of specializations in veterinary field .
The veterinarians should be posted as per their post-graduate qualifications.
Thus , diagnostic laboratories should be staffed only with those holding post
graduate degrees in Pathology, Parasitology or Microbiology. They should be
well aware about diagnosis of important parasitic infections or may be trained
for the same.
9.
MANAGEMENT IN ANIMAL HUSBANDRY : In the present
scenario, management in animal husbandry is most important in controlling
parasitic infections and following points may be tried with the condition of
analyzing effect of each factor so that their importance may be identified :
10.
GOBAR GAS PLANT OR VERMICOMPOSE : If we start
collecting cow-dung from all the places and use it either in gobar gas plants
or in preparing vermicompose, this single step will not only improve economy of
rural household but curtail parasitic
infections to a great extend since almost 90% parasites excrete their infective
stages through feces (we have to devise alternative methods for other animal
species ).
11.
NO OVER USE OF MEDICINES AGAINST PARASITIC
INFECTIONS : Presently chemotherapy is
the only remedy used by our field veterinarians against parasitic infections
and to a greater extend there is indiscriminate use of the medicines. We do not
have large number of drugs against parasitic infections ; neither research is
promoted for developing new drugs. There are reports of developing drug
resistance in the parasites and if it increases further, we will not have
effective drugs against dreaded parasites. Therefore, there is the need to use
the drugs judiciously while dealing parasitic infections as well as monitoring
drug resistance in the parasites.
12.
HOW TO USE FAMACHA SYSTEM OF FAO : The
organization has developed a method of assessing anemia in small ruminants by
comparing paleness of conjunctiva and
recommending treatment, against Haemonchus
Contortus infection, of the animals showing anemia, without further
examination . However, this system is developed for the countries where only Haemonchus contortus is a problem. Since
our country has a multiple parasitic problems, each having different treatment,
this system can not be followed in Toto. Instead of taking anemia as the only
criterion, I suggest to check animals for anemia, diarrhea , bottle jaw ; if any of these symptoms are present in the
animal, their excreta should be examined by laboratory methods for parasitic infections and positive
cases should be treated accordingly.
13.
TRIBAL EXPERIENCES AND SEARCH OF MEDICINAL PLANTS : There is a need to study
how tribes are treating their animals against important ailments. As tribal population
in the state is more than fifty percent, their rich experience should be
exploited which may lead us identifying
some new plants having rich anti-parasitic activities.
14.
COLLABORATION WITH OTHERS : There are many
stakeholders who are working on animal diseases either directly or indirectly
but are working in isolation. The university is not an executive body hence it
is important to have a close link with executive body i.e. animal husbandry
department. Likewise, there is a need of collaboration with public health
institutes particularly for preparing strategies for zoonotic diseases and all
the stakeholders must work in collaboration for controlling communicable
diseases. I have already emphasized the need for a National Institute on
Parasitology (www.indianschistosomiasis.blogspot.com) .
15.
USE OF INTERNET /VIDEOS /MOBILES : We are living
in twenty first century which is witnessing spread of internet and mobiles with
high speed. Therefore, it will be prudent on the part of the university/AH
Department to prepare short videos of
about 5-10 minutes depicting important control strategies , diagnosis
methodologies with photographs of the parasitic stages and to up-load the same
on different websites including you tube. These devises should also be used to
redress any problem ,faced by field staff or animal owners.
16.
PRIORITIES IN OUR RESEARCH AREAS : We
have to reschedule priorities of our research areas which should help in
controlling parasitic infections. All the above fields require constant
monitoring so that best results may be identified. Thus , there is the need to
assess importance of each animal species (with its age and sex) in spreading
one or other parasitic infection in each geographical area ; to check efficacy
of laboratory diagnostic techniques , ante-mortem and post mortem, in
diagnosing parasitic infections; developing new parasitic techniques for
diagnosis( but can not over-emphasize
immuno-diagnosis) ; economic losses at every stage of the infection, knowing
local medicinal plants for curing parasitic infections and other new research
fields . Here, I will like to mention following points also ,regarding our
research priorities :
(a).CLINCAL
NUTRITION : This aspect has been neglected in veterinary medicine and a new
course on “Clinical Nutrition” should be introduced at post-graduate level .
This will have two parts. The first part is about the nutrition like protein
diet ,minerals, vitamins etc which help in increasing resistance against the
disease while second part, less studied , is about the deficiencies caused by
the diseases at different times and the need of supplementing these
constituents while treating the animal for particular disease.
(b).
PARASITIC SUSCEPTIBILITIES : Generally, the animals are found infected , in
nature, not with one parasitic infection but a multiple parasitic infections.
Many times, it has been difficult to pin point pathogenic effect due to a specific parasitic species.
Again,
there are reports that infection of one parasitic infection makes animal
susceptible to another important parasitic species. For example, in one
experimental study at IVRI sheep , infected with Schistosoma indicum, were found harboring three times more number of Haemonchus
contortus in its abomasum in comparison to the control sheep and the
difference was attributed to schistosome infection (Srivastava et al ,1964 Indian J Vet Sci
34:35-40). Obviously, such studies are very few but require our attention.
(c )
MENTION OF PARASITIC SPECIES NOT EXISTING IN INDIA : In the technical or semi
technical writings , I have witnessed mentioning of many parasitic species, by
the veterinarians , that are not existing in India and which are even difficult
to establish in India due to absence of particular intermediate host (at times,
it creates problems to other stakeholders ). Thus , I have seen the papers
about existing of Schistosoma japonicum
or Fasciola hepatica (in non- hilly
region ) , Trypanosoma bruci or alike ones which are not
existing in the country. A some what similar problem is in mentioning drugs/ molluscicides
/insecticides that are absent from Indian markets.
If
we scrutinize the problem ,it appears that at undergraduate level , the
teachers fail to emphasize about the parasitic species which are not existing
in the country. As our VCI has reduced undergraduate courses in parasitology,
will it not be a good proposition to teach , at undergraduate level, only those
parasites which are existing in the country ? And in post-graduate courses
details of all parasites should be taught so that scholars should understand
epizootiology of each infection, very clearly.
In
my opinion, professor level scientists should be given hard research areas and
we must discard the research which has continuously proved unfruitful .
