Life-long learning in laboratory animal science and ethics for veterinary and para-veterinary professionals in South Africa.

Veterinary and para-veterinary professionals working in the animal research sector are critical to ensure scientific quality and the humane care and use of animals. However, there are few focused education and training opportunities available for these professionals in South Africa. A survey of veterinarians working in animal research, undertaken by the South African Association for Laboratory Animal Science, identified the need for more advanced education and training opportunities beyond the routine Day 1 Skills currently provided for in undergraduate education. These could be broadly categorised into knowledge and skills relating to species-specific husbandry, procedures and clinical approaches, research-related biosecurity and biosafety, and study-specific ethical and animal welfare considerations. A subsequent workshop, attended by 85 veterinary and para-veterinary professionals in the animal research sector, identified 53 life-long learning needs, each with an associated learning outcome, for this professional community. These were grouped into five overarching themes: Personal development (9); Leadership and management skills (12); Education and training skills (5); Welfare, ethics and clinical skills (20); and Regulations and quality-assurance (7). Of the 53 learning outcomes, 14 were knowledge-based, ten were competencies, and 29 both knowledge and competence. These life-long learning opportunities, if available and implemented, will address important needs of veterinary and paraveterinary professionals in the animal research sector in South Africa. This would empower these professionals, assist in improving animal and human wellbeing, support high-quality ethical science, and maintain public confidence in the sector, thus enabling a more satisfactory career environment.

The use of toxicokinetics and exposure studies to show that carprofen in cattle tissue could lead to secondary toxicity and death in wild vultures.

Veterinary medicines can be extremely damaging to the environment, as seen with the catastrophic declines in Gyps vulture in South Asia due to their secondary exposure to diclofenac in their primary food source. Not surprisingly, concern has been raised over other similar drugs. In this study, we evaluate the toxicity of carprofen to the Gyps vulture clade through plasma pharmacokinetics evaluations in Bos taurus cattle (their food source) and Gyps africanus (a validated model species); tissue residues in cattle; and the effect of carprofen as a secondary toxicant as both tissue-bound residue or pure drug at levels expected in cattle tissues. Carprofen residues were highest in cattle kidney (7.72 ± 2.38 mg/kg) and injection site muscle (289.05 ± 98.96 mg/kg of dimension of 5 × 5 × 5 cm). Vultures exposed to carprofen as residues in the kidney tissue or pure drug equivalents showed no toxic signs. When exposed to average injection site concentrations (64 mg/kg) one of two birds died with evidence of severe renal and liver damage. Toxicokinetic analysis revealed a prolonged drug half-life of 37.75 h in the dead bird as opposed to 13.99 ± 5.61 h from healthy birds dosed intravenously at 5 mg/kg. While carprofen may generally be harmless to Gyps vultures, its high levels at the injection site in treated cattle can result in lethal exposure in foraging vultures, due to relative small area of tissue it is found therein. We thus suggest that carprofen not be used in domesticated ungulates in areas where carcasses are accessible or provided to vultures at supplementary feeding sites.

Metabolism of aceclofenac in cattle to vulture-killing diclofenac.

The nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) diclofenac is highly toxic to Gyps vultures, and its recent widespread use in South Asia caused catastrophic declines in at least 3 scavenging raptors. The manufacture of veterinary formulations of diclofenac has since been banned across the region with mixed success. However, at least 12 other NSAIDs are available for veterinary use in South Asia. Aceclofenac is one of these compounds, and it is known to metabolize into diclofenac in some mammal species. The metabolic pathway of aceclofenac in cattle, the primary food of vultures in South Asia, is unknown. We gave 6 cattle the recommended dose of aceclofenac (2 mg/kg), collected blood thereafter at intervals for up to 12 h, and used liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry in a pharmacokinetic analysis of aceclofenac and diclofenac in the plasma. Nearly all the aceclofenac administered to the cattle was very rapidly metabolized into diclofenac. At 2 h, half the aceclofenac had been converted into diclofenac, and at 12 h four-fifths of the aceclofenac had been converted into diclofenac. Therefore, administering aceclofenac to livestock poses the same risk to vultures as administering diclofenac to livestock. This, coupled with the risk that aceclofenac may replace diclofenac in the veterinary market, points to the need for an immediate ban on all aceclofenac formulations that can be used to treat livestock. Without such a ban, the recovery of vultures across South Asia will not be successful.