Faculty of Veterinary Science Web News
Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/2263/11165
This collection contains news articles previously published on the Faculty of Veterinary Science web page and newsletters of departments and communities on campus.
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Item Alumnus and award-winning writer donates copies of her 2016 debut Afrikaans novel to Faculty library(2023-05-19) University of Pretoria. Faculty of Veterinary ScienceDr Ilse van Staden, who qualified as veterinarian at the Faculty of Veterinary Science in 1995, is not only an alumnus of the Faculty, but an acclaimed, award-winning poet, writer and artist who recently donated two copies of her debut Afrikaans novel, ‘Goeie dood wat saggies byt’ (2016) to the Faculty's Jotello F Soga Library.Item A first for South Africa as UP veterinary team performs beak transplant on vulture(2023-06-10) University of Pretoria. Faculty of Veterinary ScienceWhat do you do when a vulture with a crushed beak needs a new beak and two attempts to fit an acrylic beak fail? You improvise and use the beak of a deceased vulture, successfully enabling the injured bird to feed again.Item Veld fires and livestock : UP Faculty of Veterinary Science experts advise on animal treatment decisions(2023-06-08) University of Pretoria. Faculty of Veterinary ScienceVeld fires are common in South Africa and according to local studies will increase in frequency over the next three decades. Farmers are emotionally and financially affected by fires, sustaining losses including feed, facilities, livestock, and future performance of surviving livestock exposed to smoke.Item UP veterinary specialist performs SA’s first medical procedure to restore regular heart rhythm in a horse(2023-05-30) University of Pretoria. Faculty of Veterinary ScienceA veterinary specialist from the University of Pretoria (UP) and the Onderstepoort Veterinary Academic Hospital has performed South Africa’s first transvenous electrical cardioversion (TVEC) on a horse. It is believed this is the first time this procedure is performed in Africa.Item UP Faculty of Veterinary Science assistance with surgical intervention saves cheetah's life in East Africa(2023-05-22) University of Pretoria. Faculty of Veterinary ScienceA recent collaborative effort between the University of Pretoria’s Faculty of Veterinary Science and the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF) of Somaliland in East Africa has most likely saved the life of Janet, a cheetah in a sanctuary just outside Hargeisa, the capital of Somaliland, a country in the so-called ‘Horn of Africa’.Item What a PAWsome two days!(2023-03-07) University of Pretoria. Faculty of Veterinary Science“PAWS”, which stands for Professional Attributes Workshop, is a 2-day in-contact workshop which sees the students take part in various small group, team-building exercises. One of the main objectives of PAWS is to help students get to know each other as well as some of the older students who facilitate the activities mainly from the Faculty’s House Committee (HC) and the Onderstepoort Paraveterinary and Veterinary Student Committee (OPVSC).Item To rescue a secretary bird is no administrative task(2023-05-04) Van Blerk, Chris; Koeppel, Katja Natalie; University of Pretoria. Faculty of Veterinary ScienceRecently a juvenile Secretary bird (Sagittarius serpentarius) was found collapsed in the Mabula Private Game Reserve by a ranger. Members of the Mabula Ground Hornbill Project NPO collected it and rushed it through to the Faculty's Onderstepoort Veterinary Academic Hospital's (OVAH) veterinary wildlife clinic. Apart from being collapsed it was severely dehydrated. With veterinary wildlife specialist, Prof Katja Koeppel in the lead, the bird was stabilised and the team ran some basic blood tests.Item #UPGraduation2023 : lion-hearted PhD graduate attributes success to grit, determination and family support(2023-04-25) University of Pretoria. Faculty of Veterinary Science“There is always a way to pursue your dreams, and anything is achievable with hard work and self-belief – exploit your strengths and try to find a healthy study-life balance.” This is the advice that University of Pretoria (UP) veterinary science graduate Ashleigh Donaldson has for aspirant academics and school-leavers – and she’s certainly walked the talk. Having been fascinated from an early age by ecology and the natural world, Donaldson set a course for success in her chosen field, which has culminated in her graduating with a PhD as part of the University’s autumn graduation sessions. She’s also already been appointed as a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Witwatersrand (Wits).Item #UPGraduation2023 : meet the UP family of vets(2023-05-02) University of Pretoria. Faculty of Veterinary ScienceSiblings Sybrand and Marlie Harris are part of a one-of-a-kind unit: they are two of a family of five veterinarians who have all graduated from the University of Pretoria (UP) – and they were thrilled to be sharing a stage at the Faculty of Veterinary Science’s autumn graduation ceremony, where they both received their degrees.Item Join us in celebrating the achievements of our latest PhD graduates(2023-04-26) Van Blerk, Chris; University of Pretoria. Faculty of Veterinary ScienceThe enhancement of innovative and relevant research and high-quality postgraduate training remains an integral part of the Faculty’s strategic plan. Among other things, an increase in doctoral enrolments and in doctoral and master’s graduates all contribute to the University of Pretoria’s research-intensive identity. The Faculty of Veterinary Science is therefore proud of its latest 12 successful PhD graduates who, on Thursday 20 April, were awarded their doctoral degrees at the autumn graduation ceremony of the University of Pretoria (UP).Item #UPGraduation2023: ‘Having a growth mindset is key to your success’ – UP PhD graduate(2023-04-20) University of Pretoria. Faculty of Veterinary ScienceAny student who hopes to obtain a degree needs the love and support of family, friends, supervisors and faculty administrative staff. This was very much the case for University of Pretoria (UP) veterinary science lecturer, Thembeka Mtetwa, who recently graduated with a PhD in during the University’s autumn graduation ceremonies.Item Faculty's Prof Anita Michel appointed Visiting Professor at Utrecht University(2023-04-17) Van Blerk, Chris; University of Pretoria. Faculty of Veterinary ScienceThe Veterinary Faculties of the University of Pretoria and Utrecht University recently prolonged their collaboration in learning, education and research for another five years by signing a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). Collaboration between the two institutions has already been ongoing since 2000. On that occasion on 16 March the scope of collaboration was further emphasised when Prof Anita Michel, Professor in Bacteriology in the Faculty's Department of Veterinary Tropical Diseases (DVTD) and Head of the WOAH Collaborating Centre in the department was also appointed as Visiting Professor at Utrecht University’s (UU) Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Biomolecular Health Sciences (BHS), Division of Infectious Diseases and Immunology.Item UP’s veterinary staff care about animals on World Stray Animals Day(2023-04-19) Van Blerk, Chris; University of Pretoria. Faculty of Veterinary ScienceEvery year on 4 April, World Stray Animals Day is recognized. It is an emotional day for many dedicated towards animals and a time to show love and attention especially to less fortunate animals. On this day in 2023, staff of the Onderstepoort Veterinary Academic Hospital (OVAH), the teaching hospital of the University of Pretoria’s Faculty of Veterinary Science, participated in bringing compassion, education and much needed healthcare for less privileged animals to Wolmer in the Pretoria area.Item Faculty student excels at South African Powerlifting Championships(2023-04-10) Van Blerk, Chris; University of Pretoria. Faculty of Veterinary ScienceNicole Androulla Hasell, a BVSc student in her fourth year at the Faculty recently distinguished herself at the South African Powerlifting Championships that took place on 30 March 2023. Not only was she the top overall (across all weight classes and age groups) female student lifter for the weekend she also won the junior category (18 - 23 years) in the 57kg weight class and came 4th in the open category (24 - 35 years). In the process she qualified for the Junior World Championships in Romania in August later this year.Item Strategic mentorship to improve the representation of women in science and technology(2023-02-10) Govender, Vashnee; University of Pretoria. Faculty of Veterinary ScienceIn light of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science on 11 February, Dr Vashnee Govender, a lecturer in Veterinary Public Health in the Faculty of Veterinary Science, details how strategic mentorship will improve the representation of women in science and technology fields. The global under-representation of women in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) is well documented. Science and technology are fundamental to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations. These goals require holistic, sustainable solutions that can be constructed only through the collaboration of multidisciplinary teams, which include diverse perspectives. Women enhance decision-making by bringing different perspectives and voices to the table, as they frequently act as caregivers and are able to multitask in running households.Item Cutting-edge artificial insemination technique improves breeding success and animal welfare(2022-10-18) Onderstepoort Veterinary Animal Hospital. Reproduction Clinic; Van Blerk, Chris; University of Pretoria. Faculty of Veterinary ScienceThe Reproduction Clinic of the Onderstepoort Veterinary Academic Hospital (OVAH) at the University of Pretoria’s Faculty of Veterinary Science, uses video-endoscopy, an innovative method for transcervical artificial insemination (AI) of female dogs. This technique, which uses frozen-thawed semen to breed dogs with great success, avoids the use of surgical AI under general anaesthesia. This not only improves fertility with frozen semen AI but importantly, reduces risk to the animals and in turn, contributes to improved animal welfare. The use of frozen semen to breed has become a relatively common procedure. Freezing semen not only ensures the preservation of excellent genes and making these available for use in future generations, it also allows the desired genes to be safely moved to and from international destinations.Item UP Reproduction Clinic helps SA Guide-Dogs Association breed 100th artificial-insemination litter(2022-10-18) Onderstepoort Veterinary Animal Hospital. Reproduction Clinic; Mathibela, Xolani; University of Pretoria. Faculty of Veterinary ScienceStaff at the Reproduction Clinic of the Onderstepoort Veterinary Academic Hospital (OVAH) at the University of Pretoria (UP) Faculty of Veterinary Science joined the South African Guide-Dogs Association (SAGA) in celebrating the 100th guide-dog litter conceived via artificial insemination since the programme was launched in 2014. This special litter of eight puppies was born to a yellow Labrador named Petra on 14 October 2022 at SAGA’s Puppy Centre in Johannesburg. She was inseminated with frozen semen collected by OVAH staff from a dog named MurrayItem Combatting the spread of rabies from the air with the help of the Bateleurs(2022-12-06) McCurrach, Steve; Van Blerk, Chris; University of Pretoria. Faculty of Veterinary ScienceIn South Africa the World Heritage Site of the Cradle of Humankind in Gauteng Province, is a wild area of some 175 km and whilst not a game reserve as such, it is a wilderness area and home to numerous wild animals. Among the inhabitants are black backed jackals and honey badgers, where a rabies outbreak is determined to have occurred. Prof Katja Koeppel, veterinary wildlife specialist and Professor of Wildlife Health in the University of Pretoria’s Faculty of Veterinary Science have a plan of bait dropping. Quite simply a bait with a base ingredient of fishmeal is laced with rabies vaccine and then air dropped in the region. This bait provides inoculation for up to a year and if there were any animals (and there certainly are) currently infected with rabies, then those will perish within this year of coverage and with the surviving remainder being inoculated, the problem is hopefully solvedItem Tracing ancient human diseases(Academy of Science South Africa, 2021-03) Gower, PrimarashniNo abstract available.Item Rabies can be prevented : be aware of its dangers.(2022-09-23) Sabeta, Claude Taurai; Crafford, Jannie; Van Blerk, Chris; University of Pretoria. Faculty of Veterinary Science28 September 2022 is #WorldRabiesDay. The theme for this year is “Rabies: One Health, Zero Deaths”, emphasising the need for us all to work together to achieve the #ZeroBy30 goal. This article by Dr Claude Sabeta and Prof Jannie Crafford, both in the Faculty of Veterinary Science's Department of Veterinary Tropical Diseases highlights the dangers of the disease, how it can be prevented and what must be done if someone was bitten by a potentially rabid animal