Animals have always been a source of food, materials, protection and wellbeing for humans; however, animal diseases, including zoonoses, have both direct and indirect negative effects on human health, economy and the society. Since its establishment, the veterinary profession has provided crucial input in eradicating disease, increasing animal production and reducing losses due to diseases. Currently, foodborne diseases and zoonoses have raised awareness in developed countries, which have excellent systems for disease surveillance and reporting both in humans and animal populations. Due to lack of modern, integrated surveillance and reporting, the burden of zoonoses and foodborne diseases in developing European countries is much harder to assess. Differences in countries’ animal health status (demonstrated through disease surveillance) have been a main pivot point for international trade of animals and animal products. However, rapid and dramatic evolvement of the health trends in the world changed the principles of animal disease surveillance. Approaches requiring lower cost (i.e. risk-based surveillance) are now proposed, not only due to less available public funding, but also because the costs are harder to justify to policy makers if a disease is exotic and/or rare. Therefore, the veterinary profession has faced insufficient interest of governments and funds for further research into many persistent endemic animal diseases and zoonoses. On the other hand, eradication of selected diseases in some areas while elsewhere they still persist, and the continuous emergence of new diseases, cannot guarantee permanent epidemiological stability. As food safety and security become more important, global trends and events have highlighted the biological, health and economic inseparability of the relationships between humans, animals as pets and/or food sources and wildlife within the social and ecological framework of living space that these species share. Veterinarians are called on and expected to offer strategic and operational solutions for better integration of public health systems (i.e. One Health), animal health, food safety and environmental protection. At the same time, the profession faces challenges in the organisation and implementation of surveillance and disease mitigation measures.

Beta lactam antibiotics are widely used in therapy of cattle, particularly for the treatment of mastitis.  Over 95% of residue testing in dairies in Bosnia and Herzegovina is for Beta lactams. The aim of this paper is to compare the efficacy of three most common screening tests for Beta lactam residues in cow's milk in our country. The tests used in the study are SNAP β Lactam test (Idexx), Rosa Charm β Lactam test and Inhibition MRL test. Study samples included: standardized concentrations of penicillin solution (0, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 ppb). In addition we tested milk samples from three equal size study groups (not receiving any antibiotic therapy, treated with Beta lactams for mastitis and treated with Beta lactams for diseases other than mastitis). Sensitivity and specificity were determined for each test, using standard penicillin concentrations with threshold value set at concentration of 4 ppb (Maximum residue level - MLR). Additionally we determined proportions of presumably false negative and false positive results for each test using results of filed samples testing. Agreement of test results for each test pair was assessed through Kappa coefficients interpreted by Landis-Koch scale. Detection level of all tests was shown to be well below MRL. This alongside with effects of natural inhibitors in milk contributed to finding of positive results in untreated and treated animals after the withholding period. Screening tests for beta lactam residues are important tools for ensuring that milk for human consumption is free from antibiotics residues.

Cooperation between veterinary and public health authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina and their respective field services has historically been weak and inefficient. As is the case in many countries, animal health and public health fall under separate ministries with animal health the responsibility of the ministry of agriculture and public health the ministry of health. This model has promoted interagency competition for funding for disease surveillance and control. It has also resulted in poor information exchange, lack of efficient utilization of diagnostic resources, and poor harmonization of policies. Political decentralization, established in Bosnia after the Dayton peace agreement, resulted in the lack of a national-level responsibility for animal or public health. This was instead placed at mid-governmental levels. A state (national) veterinary office was created in 2000, but there still remains no national public health agency. The H5N1 Avian Influenza (AI) outbreak which began in Southeast Asia in 2003 and reached Europe in 2005 raised concerns about Bosnia and Herzegovina's (BiH) preparedness to combat pandemic disease. Accordingly, the state (national) veterinary service of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) conducted exercises which resulted in increased monitoring of wild and domestic bird populations and the drafting and adoption of a contingency plan (CP) for AI. The activities prescribed by the CP were implemented in February 2006 when the H5N1 virus was diagnosed in wild swans. However, no cooperation was established with public health authorities during this incident, further underscoring the need for a one health approach to disease control activities. Adoption of the One Health concept is challenging, and there is no simple plan that can be applied across all cultures. To prevent it from simply existing as an idealistic theory, some revision is needed and practical guidelines must be developed. The authors will include suggestions as to how this might be achieved.

Animal diseases have always heavily influenced human health, animal production and international trade. However, not until the second half of the past century were research efforts directed towards an interdisciplinary approach to this issue, thus creating new disciplines such as animal health economics, veterinary public health and preventive veterinary medicine. In this paper, the authors review the development of current veterinary control approaches and their achievements and deficiencies with special emphasis on infectious, emerging, zoonotic and transboundary diseases. Further on, we evaluate economic, social and political consequences of animal diseases that have occurred during the recent epidemics. In our conclusion, we evaluate/predict future challenges and the needs for new approaches to research the methods of animal disease control.

Animal diseases have always heavily influenced human health, animal production and international trade. However, not until the second half of the past century were research efforts directed towards an interdisciplinary approach to this issue, thus creating new disciplines such as animal health economics, veterinary public health and preventive veterinary medicine. In this paper, the authors review the development of current veterinary control approaches and their achievements and deficiencies with special emphasis on infectious, emerging, zoonotic and transboundary diseases. Further on, we evaluate economic, social and political consequences of animal diseases that have occurred during the recent epidemics. In our conclusion, we evaluate/predict future challenges and the needs for new approaches to research the methods of animal disease control. Key words: animal diseases, influences, control, interdisciplinarity

Integration and industrialization of food production chain and implementation of the surveillance system “from a stable to the table” have decreased frequency of outbreaks of food-borne diseases and concurrently increased magnitude of their consequences (number of cases, severity of clinical symptoms, antimicrobial resistance, etc.). The lack of a uniform reporting system on food-borne illnesses in humans, under-reporting and poor communication between veterinary and public health sectors in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), additionally impair the insight into the state and size of the problems in this area. Certain progress in forming and strengthening of the institutional capacities as well as recent frequent occurrences of “food poisoning” have had huge impact on reaffirmation of the needs for systematic epidemiological research in the area of food safety. As a part of the feasibility study for the “Regional Center for Food, Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine”, financed by the EU RED (Regional Economic Development) Fund, we conducted the random survey of the population sample in Srednjobosanski and Zenicko-dobojski Canton during 2006. In the overall sample of participants we had identified cases (families with recorded cases of food-borne illnesses in a previous year) and controls. Cases and controls were matched one on one according to the family size (number of adults and children), educational level of adults and category of the monthly income. Investigated outcome was recorded dichotomously and numerically as well as the type and kind of the incriminated food source, and severity of clinical symptoms. Our study shows that nowadays, food represents a much higher risk for human health despite increased attention given to the food safety by today’s consumers, producers and food inspectors. Key words: case control, food-borne illnesses, central region of BiH

The current animal health situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina requires the prioritization of diseases for the application of control measures. One of the diseases requiring high priority is brucellosis of ruminants. Brucellosis is a zoonotic infectious disease and one of the most important zoonoses in the world. Brucellosis has been recognized during the past five decades as an important infectious disease in ruminants in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Control and eradication of brucellosis in animals is based on test and slaughter control policy. When the existing brucellosis control program was instituted, the veterinary and animal production sector was almost exclusively owned by the government, an arrangement that promoted compliance with the program and resulted in the successful control of the disease. This paper provides an overview of the current institutional and legislative framework for brucellosis control including the laboratory detection system and the epidemiological status of brucellosis in ruminants in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Relevant data were collected during the period spanning from the beginning of 2001 until the middle of 2007. Data we collected reveal an increase in the number of reported outbreaks in ruminants as well as a related increase in the number of human cases. This has brought serious consequences to public health, animal health and production and international trade.

Abstract:  Acute infections in humans and animals caused by Coxiella burnetii (C. burnetii) are becoming an important medical problem for Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H). From a clinical and epidemiological aspect, Q fever represents a complex medical problem, considering that one of the highest incidence rates of Q fever in Europe has been recorded during the last few years in B&H. The first case of this disease in B&H was described in 1950, by Muray et al., and the first epidemic, with 16 infected individuals, was recorded the same year. Confirmed animal infections by C. burnetii in B&H were first reported in 1985 when, of all tested sheep, positive results were found in 12.4%. During 2001, 2.11% of tested sheep and goats were found to have a positive result, which was also confirmed by studies from the following years in particular regions of B&H. These studies suggest that endemic loci of infected animals are established in particular geographic regions in B&H, which is important to emphasize for better understanding of the sources and routes of C. burnetii transmission to the human population. This conclusion is based on the studies from 2000, when 2.17% of positive cattle, 1.85% of positive sheep, and 0.27% of positive goats were registered. During the same period, in B&H, in 6 different regions, 156 individuals with Q fever were registered as were 3 separate epidemics with 115 infected individuals. Official data on the number of detected animal C. burnetii infections during 2002 suggest that 10 positive cattle and 88 positive sheep or goats were registered. During 2003, 24 positive cattle, 29 positive goats, and 167 positive sheep were detected, while in 2004, 71 positive cattle, 4 positive goats, 37 positive sheep, and 72 positive animals from the sheep–goat group were registered. According to official reports from 2001, 19 individuals with Q fever were registered in B&H, while in 2002, the number of infected individuals increased to 250. In five cantons in B&H, 43 infected individuals were registered during 2002, while in Republika Srpska of B&H, 207 infected individuals in the region of Banja Luka were registered. From 1998 to 2003, 373 individuals with Q fever were reported in B&H, whereof 265 individuals (71.04%) were infected during epidemics, and 108 (28.95%) sporadically. Q fever incidence rates in B&H were high during 1998 (5.68%ooo) and very high in 2000, with 115 individuals with an acute clinical form and an incidence rate of 6.95%ooo. The incubation time varied between 9 and 28 days.

Veterinary Faculty, Animal health economics center, Zmaja od Bosne 90, 71000 Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Centers for Epidemiology and Animal Health, USDA:APHIS:VS, 555 S Howes Street, Fort Collins, CO 80521; University of South Florida, 4202 E Fowler Avenue, Tampa, FL 33620; Animal Population Health Institute, Colorado State University, 1681 Campus Delivery, Fort Collins, Colorado 80523-1681, USA, Global Influenza Programme, Department of Epidemic and Pandemic Alert and Response World Health Organization, Avenue Appia 20, CH – 1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland