VETERINARY COLLEGE AND RESEARCH INSTITUTE, NAMAKKAL

Historical Perspective

The Department of Veterinary Preventive Medicine was established during 1985 by offering undergraduate courses. The Postgraduate programme was stared in the Department during the year 1993. In addition to the education, this department undertaking various research projects and extension activities to uplift the farming communities.

Objectives

• To impart education to the under graduate and postgraduate students in the subject of Veterinary Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine.
• To adopt suitable research programmes and provide facilities to the postgraduate and doctoral degree students for doing their research work.
• Carrying out research projects funded by the university / external sources.
• Disease surveillance and creation of database for forecasting and control of poultry diseases (Modified objective)
  

Courses Offered

Undergraduate

• VMD 412-Veterinary Preventive Medicine – I (2+0)
• VMD 422-Veterinary Preventive Medicine-II (2+0)
• VMD 512-Pet Animal Breeding, Management, Nutrition and Health care(1+1)
• VMD 513-Zoo/Wild Animal breeding, Management, Nutrition and Health care(1+1)
• VPE 321-Veterinary Epidemiology and Zoonosis (2+1)
• VPE 511-Environment and Environmental Hygiene (2+1)
  

Postgraduate

• VEP 601-Principles of epidemiology (2+0)
• VEP 602-Applied epidemiology (1+1)
• VEP 603-Livestock and poultry disease investigation (0+2)
• VEP 604-Veterinary clinical epidemiology (1+1)
• VEP 605-Biosecurity practices in disease prevention (1+1)
• VEP 606-Infectious diseases of ruminants–I (2+1)
• VEP 607-Infectious diseases of ruminants –II (2+1)
• VEP 608-Infectious diseases of equines (1+1)
• VEP 609-Infectious diseases of canines and felines (2+1)
• VEP 610-Infectious diseases of poultry (2+1)
• VEP 611-Infectious diseases of animal species of regional importance (2+1)
• VEP 612-Infectious diseases of laboratory and zoo animals (1+0)
  

Ph.D.

• VEP 801-Recent concepts in epidemiology and disease forecasting (2+1)
• VEP 802-Herd health management (2+1)
• VEP 803-Data collection management and presentation (2+1)
• VEP 804-Survey and surveillance (2+1)
• VEP 805-Emerging and re-emerging animal diseases (2+0)
• VEP 806-Ecology of diseases (2+0)
• VEP 807-Molecular approaches in epidemiology (2+1)
• VEP 808-Advances in prevention & control of infectious diseases of ruminants (2+1)
• VEP 809-Advances in prevention and control of infectious diseases of equines (2+1)
• VEP 810-Advances in prevention and control of diseases in pet animals (2+1)
• VEP 811-Advances in prevention and control of diseases in poultry (2+1)
• VEP 812-Advances in infectious diseases of laboratory and zoo animals (1+0)
• VEP 813-Advances in diagnosis and management of toxicological conditions (1+1)
• VEP 890-Special problem (0+2)
  

Ongoing Research Projects

Completed Research Projects

Salient Achievements

• Developed inactivated leptospiral vaccine for cattle.
• Developed coupled complex vaccine for infectious bursal disease in poultry.
• Developed cryopreservation of leptospires technique for performing Microscopic Agglutination Test (MAT)
• Assessed the status of IBRT in bovines in Tamil Nadu
• Developed a "Forecasting models for PPR, bluetongue, sheep pox and enterotoxaemia in small ruminants"
• Prevalence and homology of MAP in milch animals in southern districts of Tamil Nadu were assessed.
• Developed E.tenella sporozoite vaccine in broiler chickens
• Developed a forecasting model for enteric diseases in layer chicken.
• Developed indirect ELISA for the diagnosis of canine leptospirosis.
• Status of the canine parvo viral infection in dogs is studied by molecular epidemiology.
• Recorded blue tongue serotype-23 in sheep population at Namakkal-Trichy border region.
• Recorded lineage 4 type of PPR infection in goats at Mohanur.
• Recorded FMD "O" serotype outbreak in dairy animals at Gopichettipalayam, Erode.
• Cases of rabies were confirmed in cattle and buffaloes at Vennadhur, Namakkal district and in pony horse at Trichirappalli district.
• Recorded brucella infection in a sheep flock at Dindigul.
• Prevalence and incidence of leptospirosis was about 60 and 18.2 percent in human and animals respectively.

Infrastructure Facilities

• This department having facilities to offer undergraduate and postgraduate practicals
• Postgraduate laboratory is equipped with Thermal Cycler, Gel Documentation System, Ultra Low Deep Freezer (-86°C), Deep freezer (-20°C), Vertical Laminar flow, Dark field microscope, FAT microscope, Inverted microscope and bacteriological incubator for strengthening research facilities.
• A separate "Leptospirosis laboratory" is being maintained in this department for screening of human and animal sera samples by Dark Field Microscopy (DFM), Microscopic Agglutination Test (MAT) and Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) on cost basis

Investigation of disease epidemics

• During the phase of epidemic epidemiological investigations are being carried out to indentify the cause and creation of disease database.
• Farm animals are being routinely screened against tuberculosis, paratuberculosis and brucellosis to contain the diseases.
• Offering regular disease investigation service on government farms, field outbreaks, captive and wild animals etc.,
• Receiving various clinical samples from the field and processing in the disease investigation laboratory for major infectious diseases of livestock, poultry, companion, captive and wild animals.

Extension Activities

On and off campus training programmes are being offered to progressive farmers and Field Veterinarians to update the knowledge on prevention and control of infectious diseases.

Awareness campaigns are being conducted by this department to the public against Rabies, leptospirosis, tuberculosis, brucellosis and zoonotic parasitic infestations through distribution of pamphlets and in newspapers.

Thrust area of research

• Molecular epidemiology of Mycobacterial infections, MCF, BVD, IBRT, etc.
• Molecular epidemiology of infectious diseases of poultry and canines
• Assessment of production losses caused by subclinical diseases in farm animals.
  

Faculty

• Dr. K.M.Palanivel, Professor and Head
• Dr. R.Rishikesavan, Assistant Professor
• Dr. M.Saravanajayam, Assistant Professor