Preventative Health

Introduction

Preventative health care is important for a variety reasons. One of which is, it is beneficial to the animals welfare to not suffer from disease and illness (Dobson, 2008). It is also cheaper to prevent disease and illness than to treat poor health once it becomes more problematic (Dobson, 2008). Preventative healthcare allows for the early detection of disease which often makes it easier to treat than once it has become an issue (Dobson, 2008). In zoos this is particularly important, there are a number of different species, which means there is a high risk of disease spreading (Digregorio, 2007). Although preventative healthcare is important for all species under the zoos care, for the purpose of this website, the focus will be on the bongo (Tragelaphus eurycerus).

Preventative Healthcare Regime

Keepers

Although all members of staff are responsible for the preventative health of the animals at the zoo, the keepers spend the most time with the animals and will be the first to notice if there are any issues. Under the secretary of states modern zoo practice (2012) staff are required to check the condition, health and behaviour of the animals twice daily avoiding unnecessary stress or disturbance (Defra, 2012). This will mostly require a visual check of the animal to ensure there are no visible signs of injury or ill health. Should an animal be found to be distressed, sick or injured, action should be taken immediately (Defra, 2012). It is also the responsibility of the keeper to record any changes in the animals behaviour, health, or any treatment that the animal is receiving (Defra, 2012).

Visual health checks will often require the observation of the animals gait, movement, coat and eyes (Brennan & Christley, 2012). Ensuring that there is no visible discharge, injury or issues with the coat or skin (Brennan & Christley, 2012). As the bongo is a ruminant, if the animal is not seen to be ruminating, this may be a sign of ill health (Baldwin, 1995). The animals hooves will also need to be regularly checked to ensure that they are growing correctly (Dadone et al., 2016). A regular body condition scoring will also be beneficial to notice any changes in the weight of the animal, please refer to figure 1 for a guide on how to body score a bongo ( Wright et al., 2010). Changes in the the amount of food eaten and faecal matter will also need to be recorded, as this is an indication of ill health (Brennan and Christley, 2012).

The keepers will also need to be responsible for good hygiene in order to prevent the spread of disease, or disease occurring. This can be done through continuing good bio-security measures, which includes but is not limited to (Dobson. 2008);

Hand washing before and after interaction with the animals.
Removing food from the enclosure daily
Preparing food in a area away from visitors
Foot baths before entering an enclosure
Using separate tools for each species or enclosure

These measures will help stop the spread of disease, and will also protect the animals from being introduced to any vectors that may potentially carry harmful disease (Dobson, 2008). These measures will need to be implemented daily and are important to not just keep the animals free from disease and injury, but the staff and visitors as well (Dobson, 2008).

Fig 1: a body scoring chart for the bongo, with descriptions of what each score typically displays (Wright et al, 2010).

Veterinarians

Veterinarians have a different role than keepers in terms of preventative health of the animals. Rather than interacting and ensuring the animals are in good health and welfare daily, they carry out routine health checks, procedures and vaccinations (Heatley & Musser, 2017). For the Bongo, procedures will most commonly involve hoof care and trimming as they are ungulates, dentistry may also be needed to ensure that the teeth are in good condition (Loomis, 2017). Veterinarians are also required to vaccinate the animals against any diseases that they may come into contact with (Heatley & Musser, 2017). Although no literature could be sourced on the exact vaccinations that the bongo may receive, for ruminants this is typically annual and may include, but is not limited to; BVD, 8-way Clostridium bacterin, 5-way leptospira bacterin and parainfluenza 3 (Heatley & Musser, 2017). However, this will vary dependant on the location of the zoological park. Veterinarians are also responsible for ensuring that animals either leaving or entering a collection is healthy and does not carry any diseases (EAZA, 2017). This will require a pre-export health check and screening, and will also require a pre-import health check, screening and quarantine (EAZA, 2017). Regular screening of possible zoonotic infections is also recommended to try and prevent possible outbreaks (Dobson, 2008).

Curators

Zoo curators are responsible for ensuring that animals have the correct environment to live in and care (Jeffrey, 2006). Through this role, they are also responsible for the preventative health of the bongo. The curator will need to ensure that the enclosure is designed to prevent the introduction of injury and disease (Jeffrey, 2006). This will often mean designing an enclosure that minimises visitor contact with the animals and their bodily fluids and to prevent the possibility of native species entering the enclosure that may carry disease and is easy to clean (Jeffrey, 2006). For the correct design of an enclosure for a bongo, please see the page 'Enclosure Design'. The curator will also need to ensure that the animals is receiving the correct nutrition, and regularly evaluating the diet of the animal (Nijboer, 2017). This will ensure that the animal does not fall ill with any nutrition related disease (Nijboer, 2017). To see a nutrition plan for the bongo, please see the page 'Diet and Nutrition Management'.

Zoonotic Health Issues

A zoonotic disease is a disease that can be passed through a variety of vectors inter-species (Marshall, 201). This means that a disease can be passed from human to animal, vice-versa, or from animal to animal. There is a limited amount of literature on the discussion on the zoonotic diseases that the bongo is prone to. It can be assumed that they are prone to similar diseases to other ruminants due to their anatomical and physiological similarities. Although there are a number of zoonotic diseases that ruminants are exposed to, for the purpose of this website, only tuberculosis and foot and mouth disease will be discussed.

In literature there is one mention of a bongo contracting tuberculosis (Montali et al., 2001). However, it is known to effect bongos in the wild (Di Nardo et al., 2015) and has been known to infect similar species such as the giraffe (Lewerin et al., 2005). This is an important disease to be aware of as it is a notifiable disease (PHE, 2010). The symptoms in animals and humans generally include coughing, a light fever, weight loss and a lack of appetite (Defra, 2014). The disease is transmitted through aerosol inhalation near animals that have the disease, urine, faeces and uneaten food (Defra, 2014). To prevent and control this, it is best to follow good hygiene, keep the enclosure clean and to not share food between different enclosures (Defra, 2014). Although there are considerations of implementing a vaccine system to protect endangered species in zoos, there are still issues with it, such as it is impossible when tested to differentiate between and animal with the disease, and and animal the vaccine was administered to (Heatley & Musser, 2017).

Another zoonotic disease (although it is considered to not be harmful to humans) is foot and mouth disease (Schaftenaar, 2009). Although there are no specific cases in literature of the bongo having this disease, they fall under the order artiodactylids and the bovidae family which are affected by the disease (Schaftenaar, 2009). Similar to tuberculosis this is also a notifiable disease (Defra 2010). The symptoms are generally a high fever and lesions on the mucous membranes of the animals (Schaftenaar, 2009). The disease is often transferred through respiratory secretion, urine and faecal matter and can be carried on people and vehicles (Schaftenaar, 2009). Much like with tuberculosis, the best way to prevent contamination is good bio-security (such as foot baths), good hygiene and maintaining a clean environment (Dobson, 2008).

Non-Zoonotic Health Issues

There is minimal literature on the diseases that the bongo is prone to, however, it is likely they are prone to similar diseases as other ruminants. Although there are a number of health issues that a ruminant can express, only a couple of these will be discussed. One of these diseases is acidosis, this occurs when the food that is fed is too easily digested, this can lead to a drop in the stomach pH to 5.5 (Wright et al., 2010). This drop leads to the rumen not continuing to move, and displays the symptoms of weight loss and a decreased appetite (Gressley et al., 2011). To prevent this, it is best to feed undigestable, lower quality feed which means the rumen will have to continue to digest (Krause & Oetzel, 2006).

Another disease to be cautious of is Johne's disease. This is known to affect ruminants and is an infection of the small intestine (Tracey et al., 2017). Signs of this disease is coat wasting, weight loss and diarrhoea (Tracey et al., 2017). Animals should be tested for this before introduction into the group, particularly for breeding, as the disease is normally contracted before the animal is a year old, but is slow to show symptoms (Tracey et al., 2017).

Requirements of Quarantine

Prior to introduction into a zoo, an animal will have to be placed in quarantine. Quarantine facilities will often require an animal to be separated from the rest of the zoo, with cleaning equipment for the area only. Washing facilities upon entering and leaving the area will also be needed. Quarantine length varies depending on the species, ruminants are required to stay in quarantine for 30 days, or until all test results are back (EAZA, 2017). Here they will be tested for various diseases through haemotology and biochemistry screening and faecal cultures (EAZA, 2017). They will also be treated for parasites (EAZA, 2017).

Conclusions

Preventative health is an important aspect of running a zoo. It is important to maintain animal health and to prevent possible health issues as much as is possible. This is improves the welfare of the animals at the zoo, helps maintain a healthy population for breeding programmes and is cheaper than treating a health issue should it arise. A number of staff play an important role in maintaining the animals health, and it is achieved through a number of different methods.