Ahi Review

About Ahi

Animal Health Ireland: Providing Effective Control Programmes for Non-Regulated Diseases of Livestock

Animal Health Ireland, or AHI, is a non-profit organization that aims to provide the necessary knowledge, education and coordination required to establish effective control programmes for non-regulated diseases of livestock. The organization was established in 2009 as a response to the need for a coordinated approach to animal health issues in Ireland.

AHI works closely with farmers, veterinarians and other stakeholders in the livestock industry to develop and implement effective disease control programmes. The organization's focus is on non-regulated diseases such as Bovine Viral Diarrhoea (BVD), Johne's Disease and Infectious Bovine Rhinotracheitis (IBR).

One of AHI's key objectives is to reduce the prevalence of these diseases in Irish herds through targeted control measures. This not only benefits animal health but also has economic benefits for farmers by reducing production losses associated with disease.

AHI provides a range of services including diagnostic testing, herd health planning and training courses for farmers and veterinarians. The organization also conducts research into various aspects of animal health including disease prevalence, risk factors and control measures.

In addition to its work on non-regulated diseases, AHI also plays an important role in controlling regulated diseases such as bovine tuberculosis (TB) and brucellosis. These are not within AHI’s remit but it works closely with government agencies responsible for their management.

A key aspect of AHI's work is collaboration with other organizations both nationally and internationally. This includes working with similar organizations in other countries such as Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) which has been instrumental in developing Scotland’s BVD eradication programme.

The success of AHI's work can be seen through its impact on reducing the prevalence of non-regulated diseases such as BVD. Since the introduction of national eradication programme there has been significant reduction from 18% down to less than 0.5% over five years period from 2013-2018 which shows how successful this program was implemented by Animal Health Ireland.

In conclusion, Animal Health Ireland plays an important role in promoting animal health through its focus on establishing effective control programmes for non-regulated diseases affecting livestock herds across Ireland. Its collaborative approach involving farmers, veterinarians and other stakeholders ensures that best practices are shared widely leading towards better outcomes both economically & socially while ensuring sustainable farming practices are maintained throughout Irish agriculture sector .