Thoughts of a Vet Student

Ruminants are known as the biggest contributors to global warming. Their production of methane is more harmful for our planet than CO2. On top of their own production of greenhouse gasses, their transport requires fossil fuels and therefore emit CO2. Besides, keeping cattle requires enormous amounts of water. Therefore, we should all stop eating meat. Problem solved. 

Last week one of my peers of the Scientific English course I take, gave a presentation about cows and global warming. A vet student, just like me. Obviously, it was not the first time I heard something about the role of cattle in the light of global warming but still, this topic triggered me. Most probably because of a TED -talk by Allan Savory I came across recently. He claims that the solution for global warming can be found in the increase of livestock, rather than a decrease. 

Allan Savory, is a 83 years old Zimbabwean ecologist and live- stock farmer. In his TED talk Savory puts forward a new theory concerning the reverse of desertification. Desertification is a term used to describe the phenomenon of lands turning into desert. He argues that technology is not going to solve any problems, though, livestock will. The answer will be in rotational grazing, a strategy used before we started with intensive agriculture. Big herds of livestock are kept on a certain piece of ground for a short amount of time. Livestock eats and excretes and before the ground is exhausted, the herd leaves. Therefore the damage of the ground will be minimal and it has time to recover. Savory also explains how this strategy of farming can decrease the emission of greenhouse gasses but because of my lack of expertise in this field, I would recommend you to watch his video yourself.

To be honest, I’m a laic when it comes to ecology and I did not do my own research in this field. Savory caught me with his idea about the huge numbers of livestock that have always been living on the African grounds. Like Savory, I would’t deny global warming. I truly believe there is a problem caused by human kind what needs to be solved. I also think there is is a lot wrong with the way we produce meat nowadays and how we manage livestock. However, rather than blaming cattle for all the damage, I think it is worth considering to leave technology and intensive agriculture and return to a system of rotational grazing. 

If your vet asked you to get a vaccin to protect your horse against the flu, it’s likely that you would. Especially when you could also protect all other horses in your area. However, I wonder if it’s as easy as it seems. I’m from a small village in the Dutch countryside. My area is a paradise for equestrian- lovers. Last December there was a flu outbreak in several sportstables. In order to fight this outbreak, a local equine clinic urged horse- owners to come for a booster vaccination as soon as possible. 

Like in people, the flu in horses is caused by a type of influenza virus. Infected horses suffer from severe airway problems and typically high fevers. The infection is self limiting so after some rest the horse will recover by itself. In absence of a secondary infection, like a bacterial one, the flu is rarely fatal. Which brings me to my first concern. A vaccination causes an immune response in the body and it starts producing antibodies against the flu. This is exactly what you want. However, with the vaccine several other foreign bodies come in. While the body is busy fighting these, won’t it be more vulnerable for a bacterial infection? 

Vets consider vaccination as an acceptable prevention for the flu. You should get your vaccination every 6 months to keep an adequate immune status. However, just like the flu in people, the virus circulating among horses changes rapidly. This makes the development of a proper vaccin difficult. So, even if your horse has its vaccinations, it can get the flu.  Moreover, it takes 2- 14 days after vaccination to gain a sufficient immunity status. In other words, your horse can still get infected by influenza in those days. So, you challenge your horse’s immune system and it’s still vulnerable of influenza.

Vaccination is a complicated topic and the immune system is complex. I’m convinced that the booster- campaign was started with the best intention but I wonder whether it is the best option. The World Organisation for Animal Health recommends a movement restriction to fight an influenza outbreak. The flu spreads easily through the air, via other horses, people or equipment. Taking your horse to a vet, would mean a higher risk to come in contact with the virus.I would favor to give our horses some rest if they get the flu, instead of giving them injections two times a year while there’s still the risk of getting ill.