David Burch
David Burch is a veterinarian with over 30 years experience in practice, industry and consultancy. He is a director of his own consultancy company Octagon Services Ltd and the past president of the UK’s Pig Veterinary Society.
Latest Blogs (1-10 of 56)
Antimicrobial resistance day, week, year is almost over – where are we?
The European Commission’s DG Sanco has come out with their five-year Action Plan to fight antimicrobial resistance based on 12 key actions – so where are we and where do we envisage we are going?
November - is it going to be antimicrobial resistance month?
With Europe on the brink of financial and political chaos, I would like to try to turn your attention to more mundane matters such as antimicrobial resistance and its future control in the EU. In the Netherlands, there will be an important international meeting reviewing the subject on the 14-16th of November and on November the 18th it is Antimicrobial Resistance Day. We are also awaiting the results and conclusions of DG Sanco’s review of antimicrobial use in Europe and how we can best control antimicrobial resistance spreading from animals to man.
Farrowing crates – freedom farrowing – are we getting there?
I have personally been sceptical about the banning of farrowing crates to allow the sow her natural nesting behaviour – but progress is being made.
Cephalosporin antibiotics: Control or ban?
The Panel of Biological Hazards (BIOHAZ) of EFSA has just published an opinion on the public health risks of bacterial strains (primarily E. coli and Salmonella species) producing extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) enzymes or AmpC beta lactamases in food producing animals and food.
Improving milk production – are we missing some tricks?
At the recent ESPHM meeting in Helsinki, I was fortunate to attend an impressive lecture by Chantal Farmer from Canada on factors affecting milk production and mammary development in swine. Although not usually a veterinary topic, with the current trend to use hyper-prolific sow lines it has become increasingly important to be able to feed all these extra piglets.
Pig veterinary conferences – are they getting a little overcrowded?
There appears to be an increasing number of pig veterinary conferences on the horizon and some are overlapping. This is rather a shame as it dilutes resources and opportunities for sponsorship as well as attendees and the chances for participants to share and present new information.
Medicated feed premixes – is carryover in feed really a problem?
It was reported last week that the Dutch are planning to ban the use of medicated feed premixes in 2011 from April 1st, in an attempt to reduce their overall usage of antibiotics in farm animals. It will be an interesting experiment. One of their concerns was the carryover of antibiotics from one batch of medicated feed to the next and the possibility that low levels of antimicrobial contamination may play a role in selecting for resistant strains of bacteria.
Antibiotic arguments
DG Sanco is coming to the end of their review of antimicrobial use in the EU, shortly, what will be their recommendations?
Cost/ benefit analysis – Salmonella control in slaughter pigs
EFSA have published an excellent analysis of the costs for reducing Salmonella in slaughter pigs and the benefits or savings in reducing salmonella cases in man – whoops there are none.
IPVS 2010 Vancouver, Canada – What a spectacular event
Vancouver lived up to its reputation of being one of the most stunning cities in the world. It was magnificent, a wonderful venue for the IPVS Congress. The next one will be in 2012 on the island of Jeju, off S.W. Korea and famous for honeymooners. Cancun in Mexico was chosen for 2014, over strong opposition from Dublin and Madrid. Scientifically, there was an extensive programme with 6 concurrent sessions going on at any one time, so a limited overview of some of the topics that were of personal interest are described.
