Veterinary expeditions of Central and Eastern European countries against brucellosis, tuberculosis and glanders in Mongolia: a historical report

A three-year international programme against animal tuberculosis, brucellosis and glanders in Mongolia, diseases causing enormous losses in animal production and affecting human population even with fatal outcomes, was prepared for the period following the eradication of foot-and-mouth disease in 1964. The aim was to use mass screening to discover all herds affected by these dangerous infections transmissible to man and to initiate particular control programmes. The programme was approved by an international scientific-methodological conference held in Ulaanbaatar, 4-12 March 1965. Five countries of Central and Eastern Europe participated in the programme on a voluntary bilateral basis. During 1966-1968 in all 16 Mongolian provinces there were carried out 37 657 595 specific tests following by the commencement of recovery procedures. Ratios of the number of tests to the number of animals of selected species were as follows: tests on glanders in horses reached 2.48 and in camels 0.53; tests on brucellosis in camels reached 0.69, in cattle 1.42, in sheep 1.53 and in goats 1.37; tests on tuberculosis in cattle reached 1.53. The ratio of all tests to the human population reached 30.15. The ratio itself and in particular its relation to the size of the investigated populations represented at that time a historical record of international diagnostic and control actions against several dangerous zoonoses covering the whole territory of a developing country. From 5 046 070 allergic tests on glanders in horses 241 157 were positive, i.e. 4.39%; out of 332 684 allergic tests on glanders in camels 380 were positive, i.e. 0.12%; from 126 960 serological tests (complement fixation) on glanders in horses 24 760 were positive, i.e. 19.50%. From all 28 743 006 tests (agglutination, CFT) on brucellosis 660 432 were positive, i.e. 2.30%; from 432 919 tests in camels 9 987 were positive, i.e. 2.31%; from 2 892 658 tests in cattle 192 601 were positive, i.e. 6.66%; from 19 533 637 tests in sheep 320 709 were positive, i.e. 1.64%; from 5 834 450 tests in goats 136 222 were positive, i.e. 2.33%. In cattle positive reactions were caused by Brucella abortus and in sheep and goats by Brucella melitensis. Summary data on all 3 408 875 tuberculosis screening results (e.g., 3 113 115 in cattle) were not available to the author with the exception of Czechoslovak expeditions’ results in two provinces: from 677 402 PPD tuberculin tests in cattle 427 were positive, i.e. 0.06%. The programme represents an example of the successful transfer of international scientific knowledge (theoretical and applied research results) into territorial animal health population practice.