GD specialist: Ruth Bouwstra The specialists of GD Animal Health focus their daily work on gathering and spreading their extensive knowledge of animal diseases. We pay special attention to a specific sector in each edition of the GD Update. This time: Ruth Bouwstra, Manager Poultry Health Department. She recently shared her knowledge of laboratory testing and monitoring at conferences in the Ukraine and Turkey. “The Netherlands is a pioneer when it comes to animal health monitoring. GD Animal Health believes it is important to share this knowledge with organisations worldwide. For that reason, I regularly speak at conferences abroad. This February, it was the Ukraine and Turkey on my schedule. The most important objective during foreign conferences is to convey knowledge. It is always worthwhile to invest energy in the dialogue with farmers. The Netherlands has vast expertise in poultry and it is important to show what others can do in the event of an outbreak of a disease. At the Agro Animal Show in the Ukraine, my subject was animal health monitoring at integrations. It works slightly different there, because of the integrated system. On occasions like this, it is essential that we can show how our approach can also be deployed at these farms. The knowledge shared in Turkey also needed to be adjusted. The Dutch poultry structure is relatively unique, after all. Whereas our sector is characterised by many small farms, there we see a pyramid structure, with one large farm to which many locations are linked. I often speak with CEOs in order to discuss the opportunities, and our team of poultry experts could provide the farm managers and veterinarians with a custom-made training to enhance their knowledge. I also introduce people abroad to our modern laboratory and to the available options, such as the proficiency testing schemes. It is important that more and more countries submit samples to the GD Animal Health lab. This is still very limited at present, as strict regulations make it difficult to submit samples from non-European countries. The FTA cards are a useful tool in helping this process along. And so I try to introduce the GD Animal Health strategy for improving animal health in general. If we can all cooperate, we can prevent diseases and that might also lead to reduction of antibiotics and better profitability. In order to achieve this, we set targets, register and process data, draw up a plan of action and evaluate the situation carefully. That is the basic cycle with which we can improve animal health.�
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