Improvement of the health status of hoofed animals

The mission of the Veterinary Institute of the Republic of Srpska "Dr. Vaso Butozan" Banja Luka in the field of equine breeding is to monitor and improve the health status of equines, thereby creating the basis for the survival of equines in this area and helping the development of modern equine breeding in the Republic of Srpska. During the new modern era, with the development of industry and mechanization, the horse lost its primary role as an animal for work and transportation, which is why the number of horses in the world has drastically decreased and the number of these animals has reached a historical minimum. In the Republic of Srpska, with great efforts by the state, only a few horse stud farms have been maintained, while a smaller number of horses, mainly for work in the forest, and a certain number of horses for sport and leisure owned by enthusiasts and sincere lovers of these animals, have remained in individual keeping. The number of donkeys has also been significantly reduced for the same reasons.

During its 80 years of existence, the experts of the Veterinary Institute of the Republika Srpska "Dr. Vaso Butozan" Banja Luka have made a decisive contribution, through their epidemiological work and constant improvement of laboratory diagnostics, to the eradication of infectious equine diseases that were entrenched in these areas decades ago, such as foot-and-mouth disease and dourine, which caused enormous damage, and have significantly helped to clarify the modes of transmission and reduce the incidence of other numerous infectious equine diseases of viral, bacterial and parasitic etiology.

Today, the Veterinary Institute has trained experts who, working in the Institute's epidemiological service, monitor the trend of infectious diseases in equines, propose systemic solutions for preventing the emergence of new ones and for controlling and eradicating existing infectious diseases. Also, the Institute's highly equipped infectious disease laboratories are staffed by dedicated experts trained in the diagnosis of the most important equine diseases.

In cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management, the Program for the Suppression and Eradication of Equine Infectious Anemia has been implemented since 2010, during which a large number of blood samples from equines are sampled and laboratory processed. Thus, in 2014, 1884 horses were tested for IAK, in 2015, 1065, in 2016, 1517, and in 2017, 1205 horses.

Serological testing of equidae for IAC is performed once a year in all horses in stud farms, stud farms, sports clubs and forest work sites, always when a purchased head is introduced into breeding or equidae are brought to exhibitions, shows, sports competitions and harnessing in stud farms, then in stallions before licensing and every time equidae are placed on the market for further keeping. During the implementation of IAC control measures, a clinical examination of equidae is carried out for other infectious diseases such as African horse plague, Venezuelan equine encephalitis, saccadia, dourine and leptospirosis, and from the samples submitted to the laboratories of the Veterinary Institute for monitoring purposes, tests are also carried out for other infectious diseases of equidae such as West Nile encephalitis, equine arteritis, leptospirosis, brucellosis and others.

Regarding equine diseases and the improvement of horse breeding, the Veterinary Institute has scientific and professional cooperation with top experts in this field, and we especially emphasize the cooperation with the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Belgrade.

We are also open to cooperation with all business entities, associations and organizations whose work is dedicated to improving equine health and the development of horse breeding in general.

Припремио:
Darko Despotović, Specialist Dr Vet.