VET DISCOVERS NEW RESEARCH

By Happy Mulolani There are various studies that have been conducted on livestock diseases by experts under the Department of Livestock and Veterinary services in the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, which are worth documenting and enlightening the public on in a quest to share knowledge. One such study was recently conducted by a Veterinary researcher Jimmy Clement Lubinga who investigated the participation of ticks in the spread of the lumpy skin disease virus during his Doctoral study at the University of Pretoria, in South Africa However, before delving into specifics of Dr Lubinga’s findings, it is worth mentioning that Dr. Lubinga obtained his Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine in 1991 and Master Veterinary Medicine in 1998 from the University of Zambia. He worked as District Veterinary Officer and Provincial Veterinary Officer in Eastern and Northern provinces before proceeding to pursue his Doctoral Degree in Veterinary Tropical Diseases at the University of Pretoria from 2010 - 2013 purely researching on lumpy skin disease and the outcome of his research is simply astonishing. Lumpy skin disease was first diagnosed in Kalomo in Zambia in 1929 and then spread to other parts of Southern Africa through Bostwana into South Africa and presently, it covers the whole continent. The epidemiology of lumpy skin transmission has been a challenging problem. While its transmission has been closely associated with flying insects, it has not been clear where the virus stays between epidemics. In this regard, Dr. Lubinga’s study has confirmed the fact that ticks are also vectors for the virus and are possible reservoirs of the virus during the inter-epidemic periods. As part of the evidence, Dr. Lubinga demonstrated lumpy skin disease virus in the saliva and organs of infected ticks. Dr. Lubinga also proved that ticks also act as reservoirs for the virus by showing that the virus can persist in these external parasites over long periods and through the winter when the ticks are free living and not on the animal hosts. Dr. Lubinga further demonstrated capacity of ticks to transmit the virus in various stages of their development. He says “ticks can transmit LSD mechanically if they change animal hosts within same development stage”. He also reported transstadial transmission between developmental stages and transovarial transmission of the virus through the eggs to the larvae of the next tick generation. These findings have been published in seven articles of international peer-reviewed journals. Five (5) of these publications form his Doctoral thesis entitled: “The roles of Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) decoloratus, Rhipicephalus appendiculatus and Amblyomma hebraeum ticks in the transmission of lumpy skin disease virus”. A summary of his work has also been published by the farmers weekly magazine and Afrigriland in South Africa Dr. Lubinga explained that this was an important discovery because ticks should be included in the plans and strategies for control of lumpy skin disease. This may explain, in part, the reservoir hosts for the virus “Ticks should be considered in the strategies of LSD” he explained “and with global warming, there is possibility of ticks to move to parts of the world where normally would not survive and spread the virus with them”. Coupled with that, Dr Lubinga also said the possibility of ticks spreading over long distances is very high as they move with their host animal, such as when feeding on migrating birds. He points out that outbreaks of LSD reduces the meat and milk quality, resulting in economic losses on livestock farmers. ‘’Infected cattle may become infertile due to reduced sperm quality. Abortions and reduced calving rates have been documented. It can cause permanent scarring to cattle hides, thereby reducing their quality,’’ Dr Lubinga said. He further reveals that the mortality rates between 10% and 40% or higher can be experienced during outbreaks. In Zambia, LSD has been reported in most cattle rearing areas. Dr. Lubinga was hopeful that his findings will be used by the livestock owners, veterinarians and other stake holders to include Tick control in their strategies to combat LSD through tick control and other recommended strategies such as vaccinations. This study was funded by The Combating of Infectious Diseases of Livestock for International Development (CIDLID) research programme and The Department for International Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBRSC) in the UK.

Tidens Krav

Tidens Krav is a media house that has internet broadcasting,television,newspaper and radio and has been in existence over 100 years ago in Kristiansund in Norway.
Originally,it started off with a strong backing of the labour party even though over the years that is no longer the case.
This media house effected a multi-media strategy as a unique way of trying to cope with the new forms of technology that has slowly but surely seen the old media,which is the print media industry shrink.
In this regard,the media house started its broadcasts in 1987 before all other social platforms came on board.
According to Tidens Krav Televison Editor Svein Junge says the media house started off as a strong newspaper media before it incorporated other platforms such as the internet.
Junge also disclosed that in this competitive market, the media house has stayed on course because of the various social media it has integrated in its system.
He said the media has well over 62% subscribers and the number has slowly been falling off with the passage of time because of the competitiveness of the market.
''We have lost 5% of our subscribers partly because other media have come on board making it competitive and people always have a choice which media suits their tastes,''said Junge.
The media house like any other media sustains its operations through advertising and commercial sales on the different social medias.
Junge however disclosed that the media house provides its content free to readers on the internet.
An estimated 40,000 people read the newspaper daily and what really helps is that the state subsides the media,so that it is able to meet and runs its costs.
Junge says readers are fed with content that is appropriate as it is local and suits their needs.
''We publish stories that have a local content and mix them up with other developmental stories coupled with that we are also able to criticise government without any interference,''said Jung.
However ,what is very unique about the media in Norway is that,it has no body that regulates journalists in terms of what they write about,which is a very positive thing as most countries especially in Africa are advocating for the media being regulated through a statutory body that would address complaints from the public as well as limit how far journalists can go in their reporting work and also have limited access to information making journalists' work difficult.
And Web Editor Oleknut Alnces also said that the media deals with stories in a such a way that journalists write the story headlines themselves even though editors counter check in case of effecting changes or looking at their appropriateness.
Alnces said journalists work as a team on crucial assignments while also having individual assignments which has built a strong journalistic team that shares different insights with each other.
He further disclosed the media house has a circulation of at least 15,000 on a daily basis.

Trondheim

Trondheim is the third largest town in Norway and is really a place to marvel about.It is surrounded by many tourist attractions.It has a a very big church in the city centre which is a lutheran church.People are allowed to go in the church during the course of the week to lite a candle,which is a sign of remembering their beloved ones that have died over the years or any close family or friends that are presently sick.
The church also has guided tours of its church building and explains the different meanings of its practices--unlike in certain places where people can not just walk in church to view,in Trondheim,its a different, people can simply walk in church take pictures,have a cup of coffee or lite a candle!

Roros

Roros is a small town in Norway,which has a rich historic background.It started off as a mining town in the early 1600s and was ultimately explored by the local people before they were invaded by the Germans.
According to the history of Roros,the Germans explored and invaded areas that had alot of potential for precious minerals and land.
As was the trend with Germans,their occupation of the area revealed that Roros was a rich small town as it was found to be rich in copper deposits which the local people in Norway did not pay particular attention to at the time and as such were displaced of their potentially rich town. Therefore,the Germans built permanent settlements in the area and engaged in mining copper which was the dominant mineral they knew about at the time.
However,all these mines and other infrastructure that they built have been preserved and tourists are always flocking to these areas as they have now become tourist atraction centres.
Among the many tourist centres that exist include a theatre,mine,houses made out of wood and the like that have been left as historic sites.
The town has at least 3,500 people in the suburban and 2,500 in surrounding areas that are far flung within the town's vicinity.
The town is unique because it not only attracts tourists but also stands out as a rich cultural heritage which has been preserved!

Lecturers Shortage

The Faculty of Science at the University of Namibia (UNAM) has expressed concern at the shortage of lecturers in the department.

Science Faculty Representative Liinda Iileka said the staffing levels were a source of concern to the students as they needed to have more academic assistance in their studies.

Iileka said the most affected department is biological sciences.

She appealed to management to promptly assist in tackling the problem.

Office Block

The University of Namibia (UNAM) has embarked on the construction of fifty offices for academic staff at a cost of eight million Namibian dollars.
UNAM Assistant Director for Physical Planning Gordon McGregory said the office blocks were being built from the university’s own funds.
‘’The university has sourced its own funds in order to construct some more offices for its academic staff,’’said Gregory.
McGregory said UNAM had been hit with a severe shortage of office accommodation which had prompted the university to source for funds to erect an office block within the university premises near the staff cafeteria and next to the grab.
‘’The state of office accommodation for academic staff is very severe and as such the university has taken a step in trying to rectify the situation at hand,’’said McGregory.
He explained that the cost of building the offices were slightly lower because the construction works were being done over already existing infrastructure which already had telephones, electricity and water.
McGregory noted that if the construction works were started without existing infrastructure, it would have cost the university double the amount that they are going to spend on the current construction work which was currently still going on.

Musician Appeals

An upcoming musician has appealed to young artists to partner with him in promoting rap music.
Matthias alas Young Cee who is also a second year Computer Science student at the University of Namibia said he ventured in music production this year and has so far worked on one single Party day which features Snow Flakes.
Young Cee said he hopes to produce a couple of singles before he finally releases his debut album later.
He has worked along with Snow Flakes on the first single track Party day which is now a hit on most radio stations and has also been giving a couple of beats to another rapper Slayar.
Young Cee is overwhelmed that his single track has been getting air time on most radio stations in Namibia which not only markets his music but also builds his music career and is an inspiration to other artists as well.
He said so far he has also received a lot of support in the music production that he has been doing and has advised fellow talented students and other music artists to work together in order to promote rap and music production.
‘’Rap music is really growing in Namibia and not only among popular artists but the young artists that have emerged which is a very good development and encouraging,’’said Young Cee.
He said he had the passion for rap music and its production hence the keen interest that he had in seeing that other upcoming artists reach higher heights in their music career.
‘’It is always important to support one another and give advise where need arises, it is the only way rap music will continue to grow,’’said Young Cee.
He also advised rappers to avoid the use of vulgar language and use clean rap because they will be appreciated and earn more respect in the rap music circles.