Programme de bourses "Echanges Universitaires"
Epidemiological study on the impact of ticks and tick-borne pathogens in different cattle breeds in the northern part of Bangladesh (Professional training and teaching in order to strengthen the research and teaching capacities)
Livestock plays a crucial role in the agricultural economy of Bangladesh. About 36 percent of the total animal protein comes from the livestock products which also help to earn foreign exchange by exporting hides & skins every year. 25 percent of the population is directly engaged in livestock sector and 50 percent is partially associated in livestock production. The contribution of livestock sub-sector to the GDP is 3% with about 17% GDP of agriculture. Unfortunately there are no accurate and recent estimates available of the damages caused by disease vectors. Ticks and tick-borne pathogens are known to be an important factor in Bangladesh.On the basis of a ten year collaboration between Bangladesh institutions and the University of Neuchâtel, mainly financed through private funds, the Federal Commission for Scholarships for foreign students and the KFPE, the project had as a general objective to institutionalize the scientific expertise gained on ticks and tick-transmitted diseases through the University exchange program. It was intended to use the scientific data to plan a national program for the control of ticks and tick-borne diseases in close collaboration with different national institutions of Bangladesh.
The specific objectives were to identify tick and pathogens present; to complete RLB-PCR analysis of blood and tick samples in order to identify potentially new pathogen species in Bangladesh; to analyze all results of the field study; to organize mutual visits of competent Bangladesh partners and Swiss partners and finally to organize a workshop in Bangladesh with participants from different Universities of Bangladesh, the department of Livestock Services (DLS) and the Ministry of Science and Information & Communication Technology (MOSICT) of Bangladesh. The workshop had as a goal to define the needs and the possibilities in order to establish a national survey and control program.
The support from the KFPE was an excellent opportunity for Bangladesh institutions to work together with a Swiss University institution. It allowed establishing collaborations at Institutional levels of both countries. Tick and tick-borne diseases are now recognized as an important problem in Bangladesh. The possibility to combine field sampling with taxonomy and molecular analysis (RLB-PCR) for the detection of tick-borne pathogens in Bangladesh allowed producing new and far reaching results. It will allow potentially transferring the molecular techniques from parasitology laboratory, Neuchatel to the Hajee Mohammad Danesh Science and Technology University (HSTU) in Dinajpur, Bangladesh which will help them to develop further the research projects. The work also provided a basis to plan a strategy to control ticks and tick-borne diseases in the country.
The successful completion of the workshop has allowed HSTU Dinajpur to become a recognized platform to carry out further research in the context of ticks and tick-borne pathogens in livestock in Bangladesh and to improve the cattle productivity in the country. The final positive outcome was always based on the eleven principles of the KFPE and allowed to identify competent and scientifically interested people in Bangladesh.
We are thankful to the Institute of Biological Sciences, University of Rajshahi, Bangladesh for its support in the beginning of the project, the Department of Livestock Services, Government People’s Republic of Bangladesh for their continuing support of the work. We highly appreciate the professional support obtained from the Hajee Mohammad Danesh Science and Technology (HSTU) University Dinajpur, Bangladesh in difficult moments and for their help to organize the workshop successfully.
Group discussions during tick and tick control workshop in Dinajpur
Organizing committee of the international workshop on tick and tick-borne pathogens at Hajee Mohammad Danesh Science and Technology University (HSTU) in Dinajpur 2011
Contacts:
Prof. B. Betschart
Institute of Biology
University of Neuchâtel
Rue Emile-Argand 11
2000 Neuchâtel
Switzerland
bruno.Betschart@unine.ch
Dr. Nadira Akhtar
Hajee Mohammad Danesh Science and Technology University(HSTU)
Dinajpur
Bangladesh
ndrakhtar639@yahoo.com
Partner institution:
Department of Livestock Services (DLS), Bangladesh