Corso di Laurea in Produzioni e Gestione degli Animali in Allevamento e Selvatici - PGAAS

This Integrated Course in Management and Prophylaxis of Health Problems in Farm Animals  is composed of 4 different modules (DM): DM1 (VET00221A – An introduction to infectious diseases prophylaxis); DM2 (VET00221D – An introduction to surgery); DM3 (VET00221B – The prevention of health risks); DM4 (VET00221C - Use of drugs in livestock breeding) with a total of 96 teaching hours, 8 ECTS.

The overall goal of this course is to provide future graduates in Animal Production with the basics and fundamental knowledge for the management and control of diseases in production animals and it provides a fully integrated course leading to a solid grounding in the four component subjects.

The primary goals of each of the four modules DM (DM1-4) are as follows:

DM1: to introduce students to the basics of prophylaxis and control of some of the most important livestock diseases, including zoonoses (note: although the diseases taught are mainly infectious diseases, these can serve as models for the prevention/control measures applicable also to parasitic diseases); to introduce the essential elements of the Italian and international animal health legislation (i.e. Veterinary Health regulation, OIE International Animal Health code).

DM2: to provide students with the basic training and fundamental knowledge needed to manage various health problems by using routine surgical procedures in livestock breeding.

DM3:  to provide students with basics of clinical diagnostic skills to identify affected animals; to provide fundamentals on herd medicine seen as relationship between disease risk factors, management factors and the consequent occurrence of pathology affecting the herd –detectable by accurate environmental anamnestic analysis.

DM4:  to provide students with fundamentals of the kinetics and pharmacodynamic of the most commonly used drugs in/livestock breeding as well as basics on the current legislation on drug usage in farm animals and on toxicity associated with some pesticides and toxins.

In addition, the overall goals are achieved by giving ad hoc lectures on selected topics - agreed upon by all teachers - which are transversal amongst the 4 DMs (i.e. mastitis, respiratory infections, development of drug-resistance, etc.). Lectures’ contents are delivered with an integrated teaching approach, and are reviewed during field trips, seminars and/or presentation of case studies related to cross-curricular topics.

1.KNOWLEDGE AND LEARNING SKILLS: The student will be able to demonstrate that he/she has acquired basic knowledge and skills to approach independently the management of the most important health problems in animal production (ref. descriptor n.1:  skills are to be acquired mainly through class teaching and partially through project work and are assessed using a final exam).

2. USE OF KNOWLEDGE AND LEARNING SKILL: The student will be able to demonstrate that he/she has acquired the necessary skills to solve real/practical problems in livestock production by applying knowledge and understanding. Such skills are assessed through practical teaching activities, and possibly through subsequent traineeship activities, besides passing the final exam

3. INDIPENDENT JUDGEMENT: The student will be able to demonstrate that he/she has acquired independent judgment to evaluate the real animal health problems at farm level; this skill is assessed during practical training activities in some D.M., where tasks based on a problem solving approach are presented

4. COMMUNICATION SKILLS: The student will be able to demonstrate that he/she has acquired adequate communication skills, not only with their classmates and teachers, but also with famers and livestock breeders. This skill is assessed and enhanced during field trips.

5.LEARNING ABILITIES: The student will be able to demonstrate that he/she has learnt the basics of prevention/management of the pathologies in livestock farming and he/she is also able to further develop elaboration and learning skills independently; this skill is assessed both by meeting the level requirement / passing the final exam and by the accurate observation and evaluation of the “student-teacher” and “student-student” interaction level, during group discussion and problem solving tasks.

Practical activities are carried out with small or medium-sized groups of students (according to topic taught or kind of livestock breeding). Project work and field trips include the evaluation of health-hygienic aspects and structural characteristics of buildings, different types of health management, case studies and simulation exercises in the classroom (group work), ad hoc seminars, audiovisual teaching material.  

A final written test (multiple choice questions-MCQ) is administered to candidates:  31 MCQ (3-4 answer options, only one correct); 7-8 questions per D.M. are provided. Questions refer to topics/subjects taught during the 4 D.M. course (during both class lectures and simulations and on-the-farm practical activities); modalities to attribute the final score (in a 30/30 scale) are as follow: 1 point per each correct answer; - 0.25 p.ts (penalty) per each wrong answer; no penalty for un-answered questions. Note: candidates must answer at least 50% + 1 of the questions per each D.M.

DM1- control of infectious diseases according to the Italian and international veterinary legislation; prophylaxis of selected viral and bacterial diseases (direct transmission and vector-transmitted diseases) namely Foot-and-Mouth disease, Caprine arthritis-encephalitis, rabies, brucellosis, tuberculosis, and major spore-forming bacterial infections; the fore mentioned diseases are given as diseases models only, to be selectively taught after specific selection criteria based on the occurrence and current epidemiological pattern of those diseases at national and/or international level.

DM2 – major surgical problems in livestock with special reference to foot diseases; congenital lesions and diseases of cattle foot, functional and therapeutic hoof trimming, prevention of toes pathologies; analysis of surgical problems in pig breeding

DM3 – major clinical signs in livestock and relevant diagnostic procedures - direct and indirect - to identify them; herd medicine/herd examination to correctly identify risk factors in case of pathologies occurring in many animals of the herd/flock; data collection and registration for health herd management; principles on management practices control to reduce health risks.

DM4 – pharmacognosy, pharmacodynamics, pharmacokynetics, administration routes and side-effects of chemio-antibiotics; nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs; antiparasitic drugs; antiseptics and disinfectants. Principles of drug legislation and regulatory pharmacology (residues, MRI, withdrawal times); evaluation of biochemical and endocrinal effects induced by fraudulent administration of anabolic steroids in livestock; major pharmaceutical forms  to be used in livestock ; intoxication sources, toxic dynamic and kynetic of some pesticides.

The topics taught during the class lectures of the D.Ms are then integrated with project work and field trips, through seminars, simulation exercises, case study presentation and problem solving, etc. These activities are mainly finalized to the completion of the curricular training, but can be also used by the teachers to evaluate –although in a subjective manner- the achievement of the minimum expected learning outcomes, a sufficient level of communication skills, independence of judgment and potential ability to carry out further self-study activities independently.

The IC course programme is meant to be an educational path whose contents are as much as possible integrated and transversal and where some of the most common animal health issues in the different livestock breeding systems are addressed from different points of view. For example, management and prevention of gastrointestinal and respiratory diseases, foot problems, mastitis, are approached from the point of view of etiology, pathogenesis, clinical and management aspects at farm level, and therapy. These issues refer in particular to cattle, pigs, small ruminants and partially to equids.