Impact of host plant connectivity, crop border and patch size on adult Colorado potato beetle retention.

Tagged Colorado potato beetles (CPB), Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Say), were released on potato plants, Solanum tuberosum L., and tracked using a portable harmonic radar system to determine the impact of host plant spatial distribution on the tendency of the pest to remain on the colonized host plant or patch. Results confirmed the long residency time on the host plant and showed that close connection of the plant to neighboring plants hastened dispersal between plants. Tracking walking CPB for over 6 h in small potato plots revealed that all types of mixed borders tested (potato/bare ground, potato/timothy and potato/woodland) acted as a strong barrier and retained beetles within the patch. In another experiment in potato patches surrounded by bare ground borders, tracked walking CPB displayed similar behaviour for up to four days. The distribution of turning angles in the CPB walking paths was not uniform and corresponded to beetles following the edge rows of potato patches in response to the crop border barrier or reversing their direction as they reached the end of a row and therefore a border. Patch size had no or little effect on beetle retention in the patch. The relative distribution of counts of tagged beetles detected among small (16 m2), medium (64 m2) and large size (256 m2) patches of potato four days after initial release remained similar to that of numbers released. Even though mixed crop borders were a strong barrier to walking CPB emigrating from potato patches, the departure rate of beetles over time was high. Results suggest that the effect of mixed borders is largely limited to dispersal by walking and does not apply to beetles leaving host patches by flight. The manipulation of crop borders and patch size seem to have limited potential for the management of CPB emigrating from potato fields.

In vivo reactions in mice and in vitro reactions in feline cells to implantable microchip transponders with different surface materials.

Tissues of mice that had had microchip transponders with surfaces made of bioglass, bioglass with a polypropylene cap, parylene C, titanium or aluminium oxide inserted were examined histologically, and the growth of two lines of feline fibroblastoid cells around these transponders was examined in vitro. The results for bioglass and aluminium oxide were similar. In vitro, there were almost no cells around or on the transponders; in vivo, there was often granulomatous inflammation in the surrounding tissue. In the case of the bioglass, this reaction seemed to be induced by petrolatum, which was added by the manufacturer for technical reasons, rather than by the bioglass itself. In some of the mice, polypropylene caused a proliferation of granulation tissue. In vitro, the cellularity around the transponders was high, but only a moderate number of cells were found on the material. In vivo, around the parylene C transponders, there were occasionally small fragments of foreign material, surrounded by a foreign body reaction; in vitro, the results for parylene C resembled those for polypropylene. In vivo, particles of titanium were sometimes visible in the connective tissue adjacent to the titanium transponders, and sometimes accompanied by a foreign body reaction; in vitro, a confluent layer of cells developed on the transponders, with a high cellularity around them.

Evolution of the cooperation between the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and the Codex Alimentarius Commission.

The Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS Agreement) of the World Trade Organization recognises the international standards adopted by the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) in matters of animal health and zoonoses and those adopted by the Codex Alimentarius Commission (the Commission) in matters of food safety. The importance of the production phase in ensuring food safety has been acknowledged and the OIE and the Commission have been working to strengthen their cooperation since 2001, with the intent of promoting a holistic approach to the food chain. Procedures for exchanging information are in place, communication has improved and there is cross-referencing between the respective international standards of the two organisations. Good examples of collaboration in the development of standards include the texts produced by the two organisations regarding meat inspection and animal/product identification and traceability. At the same time, there is still room for improving cooperation and the legal services of the OIE, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the World Health Organization are expected to work together to find options for closer collaboration between the OIE and the Commission.

Traceability of aquatic animals.

Effective methods of traceability are urgently required for use in research as well as in different types of aquaculture operations and to control trade in aquatic animals and products. In regard to the marking of fish, many different tagging methods have been described and the method to be used depends on the purpose and need for tagging. In contrast, for molluscs and crustaceans, only a few methods of marking such animals have been described, due to the practical difficulties. The authors first describe the different methods for tracing fish and fishery products, by means of external tags, such as Floy tags, Carlin tags and passive integrated transponder tags; chemical marking using inorganic substances such as silver nitrate or potassium nitrate, pigments, oxytetracycline, etc.; and several different types of electronic devices in which basic information such as the strain of fish, farm of origin or weight can be stored. Genetic traceability using deoxyribonucleic acid profiling is developing quite rapidly for cultured brood stocks and wild populations. This technique may be used with very high degrees of confidence to assign to or exclude animals or products from their claimed origin, paternity or strain, and may be used as evidence in court proceedings. The second section of this paper describes the traceability of live molluscs for restocking and for human consumption. In these applications, genetic markers have been demonstrated to be suitable. Mechanical tagging on a small scale for research purposes has also been used. Otherwise, the only means of tracing live molluscs are the movement documents and the labelling on boxes that certifies the origin of the commodity. The third section describes the methods available for tracing live and dead crustaceans. A large variety of physical tagging methods for decapod crustaceans is described, such as the injection of biological stains (fast green, Niagara sky blue, trypan red and blue) and external tags such as coloured streamer tags, wire tags and a variety of anchor tags. Furthermore, a number of different internal coding methods, such as the coded micro-wire tags and injected elastomer tags are discussed in detail. As is the case for fish, genetic molecular techniques are also applied in population studies of crustaceans; some of the molecular genetic methods are described. Prawns for human consumption are most frequently packed whole or as tails after the necessary sorting, washing and freezing and the only way of performing a traceback is through documents relating to movement, invoices, health certificates and labelling of the boxes. The minimum requirements for labelling would be the content of the packages, i.e. species, quantity, identification of the manufacturer (name and address), packing place, importer/exporter or vendor of the product, in addition to the loading bill number.

Injectable electronic identification, monitoring, and stimulation systems.

Historically, electronic devices such as pacemakers and neuromuscular stimulators have been surgically implanted into animals and humans. A new class of implants made possible by advances in monolithic electronic design and implant packaging is small enough to be implanted by percutaneous injection through large-gauge hypodermic needles and does not require surgical implantation. Among these, commercially available implants, known as radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, are used for livestock, pet, laboratory animal, and endangered-species identification. The RFID tag is a subminiature glass capsule containing a solenoidal coil and an integrated circuit. Acting as the implanted half of a transcutaneous magnetic link, the RFID tag is powered by and communicates with an extracorporeal magnetic reader. The tag transmits a unique identification code that serves the function of identifying the animal. Millions of RFID tags have been sold since the early 1980s. Based on the success of the RFID tags, research laboratories have developed injectable medical implants, known as micromodules. One type of micromodule, the microstimulator, is designed for use in functional-neuromuscular stimulation. Each microstimulator is uniquely addressable and could comprise one channel of a multichannel functional-neuromuscular stimulation system. Using bidirectional telemetry and commands, from a single extracorporeal transmitter, as many as 256 microstimulators could form the hardware basis for a complex functional-neuromuscular stimulation feedback-control system. Uses include stimulation of paralyzed muscle, therapeutic functional-neuromuscular stimulation, and neuromodulatory functions such as laryngeal stimulation and sleep apnea.