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Non-PR, IFPRI5; CRP4; 2 Promoting Healthy Diets and Nutrition for all, A4NH, CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH); CGIAR Research Program on Livestock, Use of antimicrobials in livestock and fish production has been increasing drastically in the last decades, with trends pointing towards further increases over the coming years. The situation is particularly complex in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC), where excessive use in intensifying systems and limited access to drugs in some areas are a problem. In more intensive farms, antimicrobials are commonly used to treat and prevent disease in livestock and fish, often masking poor husbandry practice and high level of endemic diseases. On the other hand, the poorest farmers could increase productivity with better access to veterinary drugs to appropriately treat sick livestock. Tackling problems around antimicrobial resistance (AMR) requires a multi-sectoral and multi-disciplinary approach, facilitating synergies, and mitigating trade-offs. On one hand, crucial knowledge gaps exist on transmission on AMR genes at the human, animal and environmental interface, while social science insights are needed to improve understanding of drivers and decision making around use of antimicrobials in agricultural and aquaculture settings. This evidence will then help to define and evaluate interventions needed to achieve development outcomes and to sustainably contain the risks around AMR. Directly linked are important synergies in such that improving husbandry and strengthen disease prevention would promote more productive and sustainable production systems, while at the same reducing need for use of antimicrobials. This in turn would reduce selection pressure and reduce antimicrobial residues in animal source foods. The proposed CGIAR AMR-strategy recognizes these trade-offs and sees opportunities to promote synergies by mitigating AMR risks. The strategy aims to address knowledge gaps and evaluate interventions to reduce use of antimicrobials in agriculture, with focus on livestock and aquaculture. Coordinated through a proposed CGIAR AMR-hub at ILRI, the strategy comprises

The wild mink has gained acceptance as a sentinel species in environmental monitoring. However, only limited data are available in the literature on factors driving variability in concentrations of organic pollutants in this species. This study characterizes the differences in contaminant concentrations in subcutaneous fat of male mink from four different areas in Sweden and demonstrates how age, season and body condition influence concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners, polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) congeners (including methoxylated forms, MeO-PBDEs), as well as the pesticides dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE), chlordane and hexachlorobenzene (HCB). The data were statistically treated using multiple regression and principal component analysis. The ∑PCB concentration and concentrations of PCB congeners 138, 156, 157, 180, 170/190, 189, 194, 206, 209 as well as PBDE 153/154 varied with age. Season had an influence on ∑PCB, PBDE 47 and PBDE 153/154 concentrations, as well as concentrations of most PCB congeners, with the exception of PCB 101, 110, 141 and 182/187. Lean mink had higher concentrations of most PCBs and PBDEs than mink with larger fat depots. The analyzed pesticides (DDE, oxychlordane, HCB) showed no systematic variation with season, age or body condition. The concentrations of MeO-PBDEs were generally low and 6MeO-PBDE 47 was the most commonly detected MeO-PBDE in mink from marine, brackish and freshwater areas. The results indicate that age, season and body condition are factors that may influence the concentrations of PCBs and PBDEs, and it is thus recommended to take these factors into account when analyzing mink exposure data.

In current Swedish organic piglet production full reproductive potential of the sows and growth potential of piglets are not achieved. The efficiency is held back by occurrence of lactational oestrus, low litter weight and large weight variation within litter. Therefore it is critical that these obstacles are reduced in a way that is easy to adapt in practice and does not contradict the ideas behind organic animal husbandry. This project aims to an improvement of the conditions needed to efficiently produce organic piglets in a batch wise manner. The batch wise breeding will reduce production costs and increase disease control. Our preliminary results indicate that the sow’s weaning to oestrus interval can be affected by the time spent in individual farrowing pen during the lactational period.

In a split-litter design experiment, boars were exposed orally three times weekly to 300 mg/kg of di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) between 3 and 7 weeks of age. Post-puberty, i.e. at 6 months of age the effects on endocrinology and mating behavior were examined. The response to stimulation with a synthetic GnRH-analogue at 9 months of age resulted initially in lower concentration of LH in the exposed animals, compared to the control animals. We did not find any effects of DEHP on the mating behavior. Also, the effects of DEHP during the treatment period on the plasma concentrations of testosterone, oestradiol and LH were examined. During the exposure period there was a transient decrease in plasma concentrations of LH in the control group, which did not occur in the boars exposed to DEHR The data suggest that DEHP in low repeated oral doses causes lasting effects on the hypothalamus-pituitary-gonadal axis. (c) 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The immediate and delayed effects of prepubertal exposure to di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (DEHP) or oestradiol benzoate on the plasma concentrations of testosterone, oestradiol and LH, as well as testicular morphology were examined in prepubertal boars. In a split litter design experiment, prepubertal boars were intramuscularly exposed to DEHP, oestradiol or vehicle during five weeks, starting at six weeks of age. The dose of DEHP was 50 mg/kg of bodyweight twice weekly, which is in the same range as recently used oral doses in rodents. Oestradiol-benzoate was administered at 0.25 mg/kg of bodyweight twice weekly. One set of animals was examined immediately after the exposure, and the other set was examined at an age of 7.5 months. During the exposure period concentrations of LH in plasma were lower (p = 0.02) in the oestradiol-treated animals than in the control group. In the group exposed to oestradiol, the relative to the body weight of the testicles tended to be lower (p = 0.07) than control immediately after five weeks of exposure, and the relative to the body weight of the seminal vesicles tended to be lower (p = 0.05) than control at 7.5 months of age. In the DEHP-exposed group an elevated (p = 0.005) concentration of testosterone and increased (p = 0.04) area of the Leydig cells in the testicles compared to the control group were seen at 7.5 months of age. These data suggest that DEHP early in life causes delayed effects on the reproductive system in the adult.