Scaling up One Health: A network analysis in Lao PDR.

Background: One Health focuses on sustainable health for humans, animals, and ecosystems. The approach has been well demonstrated, yet most efforts have not been scaled up. Understanding the organisations involved in scaling up processes is critical to translating research into practice. The Lao People's Democratic Republic has successfully implemented One Health projects for multiple decades; however, the organisational network has not been described and scaling up efforts have been limited. Methods: Data from organisations involved in One Health projects over the past five years were collected by key-informant interview or workshop. The network was investigated using a mixture of quantitative network analysis and qualitative thematic analysis. Results: The organisational network was quantitatively described as sparse and centralised. Organisations were required to harness pre-existing relationships to maximise scarce resources and make co-ordination and alignment of priorities more efficient. A lack of international organisations in the top 10% of resource sharing metrics suggests a potential disconnect between donors. This was reflected in the challenges faced by national organisations and a feeling of being stretched thin over numerous externally funded projects with donor-driven priorities. Conclusions: It appears that high-level political support for country ownership of development and aid priorities remains unrealised. Developing network capacity and capability may assist scaling up efforts and build resilience in the network and its core organisations. This may allow for the inclusion of more development, education, environment, and water, sanitation, and hygiene organisations that were perceived to be lacking. Future One Health programmes should focus on practical activities that do not overload staff capacity. There is much for One Health to learn about the art of scaling up and organisations are encouraged to include implementation science in their research to inform future scaling up efforts.

Effects of high dietary sodium chloride content on performance and sodium and potassium balance in growing pigs.

Thirty castrated male Moo Lath pigs (6-8 weeks of age) were used in a 15-week growth trial to study the effect of high dietary sodium chloride (NaCl) content on feed and water intake, performance, sodium (Na) and potassium (K) balance, and plasma aldosterone concentration. The pigs were randomly allocated (ten per treatment) to diets containing 0.24 % Na (Na0.24), 0.28 % Na (Na0.28), and 0.32 % Na (Na0.32) per kg diet. Feed and water was provided ad libitum, and water consumption, feed offered, and feed residues were recorded daily. Every third week, the pigs were weighed, blood samples were collected, and a 3-day total collection of urine and feces was performed. Water intake was higher (P = 0.001) in pigs fed with diets Na0.28 (3.7 L/day) and Na0.32 (3.9 L/day) than in pigs fed with diet Na0.24 (3.4 L/day), and dry matter (DM) intake was higher on diet Na0.32 (P = 0.041) than on the other diets. The average daily body weight (BW) gain was higher on diet Na0.32 than on the other diets (P = 0.031). The feed conversion ratio (in kilogram feed DM to kilogram BW gain) was 4.6, 4.6, and 4.1 on treatments Na0.24, Na0.28, and Na0.32, respectively (P = 0.14). The highest Na balance was observed on diet Na0.32 followed by diets Na0.28 and Na0.24 (P < 0.001), while there was no treatment-related pattern for the K balance. The Na/K ratio in feces and urine increased (P < 0.001), and the K/Na ratio in feces (P < 0.001) decreased with increasing Na content in the diet. Plasma aldosterone concentration decreased (P < 0.001) with increasing dietary content of Na. These results indicate that high NaCl intake and free access to water will increase Na balance but do not negatively influence feed intake and performance of growing local pigs.

A field study on feed supplementation, body weight and selected blood parameters in local pigs in Laos.

The aim of the present study was to investigate feed allowances, body weight (BW), haematocrit, haemoglobin, plasma ionised calcium (iCa), sodium, potassium, pH and glucose concentration and faecal K/Na ratio in local growing pigs, sows and piglets kept by small-holder farmers in Laos. Starting hypotheses were that (1) local pigs are under fed, (2) BW is higher in pigs receiving supplementary feed and (3) the blood profile of pigs subjected to very poor nutrition is outside the normal range. On 54 pig-keeping smallholdings in Borikhamxay province, Lao PDR, daily feed allowances were weighed and BW recorded for 27 lactating sows, 54 piglets and 27 growing pigs. Blood samples were collected from the vena jugularis in all pigs. Feed supplementation did not affect BW, but plasma iCa concentration was outside the normal range for all pigs. There was a tendency for lower faecal K/Na ratio in Na-supplemented sows. The results confirm that local pigs in small-scale production systems in Laos suffer from poor nutrition. The most important challenge for farmers appears to be provision of more feed, particularly feed with a high Ca content.

Feeding regime and management of local Lao pigs in Central Lao PDR.

A survey was carried out in smallholder farming systems in the districts of Borrikun, Khamkeuth, and Pakkading, in central Lao People's Democratic Republic, to assess the feeding regime and health status of local Lao pigs. In total, 216 farmers, 72 in each district, were interviewed using a questionnaire. Feed samples were collected for nutrient analysis and pen soil samples for mineral content determination. Farmers kept sows of native breeds such as Moo Lath, Moo Chid, and Moo Hmong. The number of sows per household was low (1.1 ± 0.1, 1.1 ± 0.1, and 1.2 ± 0.1 in Borrikun, Khamkeuth, and Pakkading, respectively) and pigs were mainly fed with rice bran and fresh cassava roots. Daily protein and mineral (Calcium, phosphorus, potassium, and sodium) allowances were lower than requirements. In all districts, the number of piglets at birth was around seven and pre-weaning piglet mortality was around 20 %. The most common causes of piglet death, before weaning, were diarrhea, runts, and squashed piglets. Most piglets were weaned after 4 months of age, but in the Borrikun and Pakkading districts, 11-16 % of households were weaned at <4 months. In all districts, pig management was mainly women's responsibility (around 90 %) and most farmers spent less than 1 h per day on pig management. A feasible and cheap way to increase nutrient supply to local pigs in central Lao People's Democratic Republic would be to include more fresh plant material (e.g., thick head, taro) and salt in the diet. Information and education on improving pig management should be targeted towards women.