Planetary boundaries and Veterinary Services.

National Veterinary Services (NVS) play a crucial role in animal health, production and welfare. They are also intimately involved with safeguarding global health security and the health of the planet. Climate change is just one of the nine planetary boundaries (PBs), i.e. Earth system processes, that can be used to monitor the vital signs of our living planet. In this paper, the authors identify the positive and negative impacts of humaninduced management of aquatic and terrestrial animals in relation to these PBs. In the context of NVS, the authors provide an overview of the real and potential impacts of NVS policies on Earth systems and offer suggestions as to how new sustainability paradigms may assist with reviewing and revising NVS mandates and facilitating stakeholder engagement. Opportunities are proposed for the World Organisation for Animal Health to contribute to the global debate on the role of aquatic and terrestrial animal agriculture and wildlife in sustainable development. In addition, the paper suggests that a wider debate is required in relation to recent significant increases in domestic animal populations and PBs. Intersectoral and interdisciplinary collaboration are required to achieve the transformation of the framework in which NVS operate. While such transformations cannot be driven by the veterinary profession alone, veterinarians have proven very effective operators in the One Health arena. By building on these intersectoral linkages, it will be possible for our profession and NVS to actively contribute to the crucial discussions and transformations required to pull Earth system metrics back within safe boundaries.

Les Services vétérinaires nationaux jouent un rôle crucial dans les domaines de la santé animale, de la production animale et du bien-être des animaux. Mais ils sont aussi fortement engagés dans la protection de la sécurité sanitaire mondiale et de la santé de la planète. Le changement climatique est l'une des neuf frontières planétaires existantes, c'est-à-dire les neuf processus du système terrestre qui peuvent nous aider à surveiller les signes vitaux de notre planète vivante. Les auteurs font le point sur les impacts positifs et négatifs de la gestion par l'homme des animaux aquatiques et terrestres dans la perspective de ces frontières planétaires. S'agissant des Services vétérinaires nationaux, les auteurs donnent un aperçu de l'impact réel des politiques des Services vétérinaires sur les systèmes terrestres ainsi que des possibilités en la matière et font quelques propositions pour que les mandats de ces Services soient repensés et modifiés et la participation des parties prenantes facilitée à la lumière des nouveaux paradigmes de durabilité. Ils évoquent plusieurs occasions au cours desquelles l'Organisation mondiale de la santé animale (OIE) pourrait contribuer aux discussions à l'échelle mondiale sur le rôle des animaux terrestres et aquatiques, tant d'élevage que sauvages, dans le développement durable. En outre, les auteurs estiment qu'un débat plus général est nécessaire concernant l'augmentation récente et significative des populations d'animaux domestiques et les frontières planétaires. Une collaboration intersectorielle et interdisciplinaire sera nécessaire pour transformer le cadre dans lequel interviennent les Services vétérinaires nationaux. Certes, une transformation de cette nature ne peut être menée par la profession vétérinaire seule, mais les vétérinaires ont déjà fait preuve de l'efficacité de leurs capacités opérationnelles dans l'arène Une seule santé. En s'appuyant sur ces liens intersectoriels, la profession vétérinaire et les Services vétérinaires nationaux seront à même de contribuer activement aux discussions cruciales ainsi qu'aux transformations indispensables pour ramener les variables mesurables de la Terre à l'intérieur de frontières sûres.

La función de los Servicios Veterinarios nacionales, además de ser crucial para la sanidad, la producción y el bienestar animales, guarda estrecha relación con la salvaguarda de la seguridad sanitaria mundial y la salud del planeta. El cambio climático es solo uno de los nueve límites planetarios, esto es, procesos del sistema terrestre, que cabe utilizar para seguir de cerca los signos vitales del ser vivo que es nuestro planeta. Los autores exponen los efectos tanto positivos como negativos que en relación con estos límites planetarios trae consigo la gestión antrópica de animales acuáticos y terrestres. Por lo que respecta a los Servicios Veterinarios nacionales, los autores presentan a grandes líneas las repercusiones que las políticas de estos Servicios Veterinarios tienen o pueden tener en los sistemas terrestres y proponen fórmulas para que los nuevos paradigmas de la sostenibilidad ayuden a examinar y revisar el mandato de los Servicios Veterinarios nacionales y a facilitar la participación de los demás interlocutores. También señalan las oportunidades que tiene ante sí la Organización Mundial de Sanidad Animal para contribuir a las deliberaciones mundiales sobre la función de la producción de animales acuáticos y terrestres y de la gestión de la fauna silvestre con vistas al desarrollo sostenible. Los autores, además, consideran necesario un debate más amplio en relación con el reciente y considerable crecimiento de las poblaciones de animales domésticos y los límites planetarios. Para lograr una transformación de las coordenadas en las que operan los Servicios Veterinarios de los países se requiere una colaboración tanto intersectorial como interdisciplinar. Aunque estos cambios no pueden venir únicamente de la mano de la profesión veterinaria, la labor de los veterinarios en el ruedo de Una sola salud ha demostrado que son agentes muy eficaces. Profundizando en estos vínculos intersectoriales, será posible que nuestra profesión y los Servicios Veterinarios nacionales contribuyan activamente a las cruciales deliberaciones y transformaciones que se necesitan para que el valor de los parámetros del sistema terrestre vuelva a situarse dentro de los márgenes de seguridad.

Australian veterinarians - global challenges.

This paper discusses the wide range of roles that Government veterinarians play both in Australia and globally. The paper was presented as a plenary session at the National Australian Veterinary Association Annual Conference.

Applying the OIE Terrestrial Animal Health Code to the welfare of animals exported from Australia.

Australia has implemented a through-chain regulatory framework to address animal welfare issues in the livestock export trade. The framework places the responsibility for ensuring that the welfare of exported animals meets internationally accepted standards on those who hold the licences issued for the export of Australian livestock. It applies to all livestock (cattle, buffalo, sheep, goats, camels) exported from Australia, either for immediate slaughter or for feeding and eventual slaughter. The development of the framework began when the Australian Standards for the Export of Livestock were implemented in December 2004, to safeguard animal welfare from the point when the animals are selected for export up until the moment when they are offloaded in the destination country. The framework has recently been extended to incorporate animal welfare requirements through to the point of slaughter in the destination country. The requirements draw on, and are consistent with, the animal welfare chapters of the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) Terrestrial Animal Health Code.

Severe hepatic injury in interleukin 18 (IL-18) transgenic mice: a key role for IL-18 in regulating hepatocyte apoptosis in vivo.

BACKGROUND: Interleukin 18 (IL-18) is a cytokine with pleiotropic activity that augments T helper 1 responses and cytotoxic activity of natural killer cells. METHODS: To assess the function of IL-18 in vivo, we generated IL-18 transgenic (IL-18 Tg) mice under the control of a CD2 promoter/enhancer construct. RESULTS: Macroscopically, IL-18 Tg mice showed reduced relative liver weight compared with wild-type littermates. TUNEL assays demonstrated increased hepatocyte apoptosis, and primary hepatocytes isolated from IL-18 Tg mice exhibited an increased spontaneous apoptosis rate. Furthermore, cross linking of Fas increased significantly the apoptosis rate in hepatocytes isolated from wild- type mice but to a much lesser extent in IL-18 Tg mice, suggesting spontaneous activation of the Fas pathway in the latter mice. In fact, in vivo blockade of Fas signal transduction by an adenovirus overexpressing the dominant negative form of the Fas associated death domain rescued hepatocytes from undergoing apoptosis. Finally, adoptive transfer of CD4(+) T cells from IL-18 Tg mice but not from wild-type littermates in SCID mice resulted in severe liver failure with massive periportal fibrosis due to hepatocyte apoptosis. CONCLUSION: IL-18 plays a fundamental role in regulating hepatocyte apoptosis. Furthermore, our transgenic model provides a novel tool to study the mechanisms of IL-18 dependent liver injury in vivo.

Treatment of allergic airway inflammation and hyperresponsiveness by antisense-induced local blockade of GATA-3 expression.

Recent studies in transgenic mice have revealed that expression of a dominant negative form of the transcription factor GATA-3 in T cells can prevent T helper cell type 2 (Th2)-mediated allergic airway inflammation in mice. However, it remains unclear whether GATA-3 plays a role in the effector phase of allergic airway inflammation and whether antagonizing the expression and/or function of GATA-3 can be used for the therapy of allergic airway inflammation and hyperresponsiveness. Here, we analyzed the effects of locally antagonizing GATA-3 function in a murine model of asthma. We could suppress GATA-3 expression in interleukin (IL)-4-producing T cells in vitro and in vivo by an antisense phosphorothioate oligonucleotide overlapping the translation start site of GATA-3, whereas nonsense control oligonucleotides were virtually inactive. In a murine model of asthma associated with allergic pulmonary inflammation and hyperresponsiveness in ovalbumin (OVA)-sensitized mice, local intranasal administration of fluorescein isothiocyanate-labeled GATA-3 antisense oligonucleotides led to DNA uptake in lung cells associated with a reduction of intracellular GATA-3 expression. Such intrapulmonary blockade of GATA-3 expression caused an abrogation of signs of lung inflammation including infiltration of eosinophils and Th2 cytokine production. Furthermore, treatment with antisense but not nonsense oligonucleotides induced a significant reduction of airway hyperresponsiveness in OVA-sensitized mice to levels comparable to saline-treated control mice, as assessed by both enhanced pause (PenH) responses and pulmonary resistance determined by body plethysmography. These data indicate a critical role for GATA-3 in the effector phase of a murine asthma model and suggest that local delivery of GATA-3 antisense oligonucleotides may be a novel approach for the treatment of airway hyperresponsiveness such as in asthma. This approach has the potential advantage of suppressing the expression of various proinflammatory Th2 cytokines simultaneously rather than suppressing the activity of a single cytokine.