2025

Animal Production and Veterinary Medicine in the Tropics

Name: Animal Production and Veterinary Medicine in the Tropics
Code: ZOO14009I
3 ECTS
Duration: 15 weeks/78 hours
Scientific Area: Veterinary Medicine, Animal Science

Teaching languages: Portuguese
Languages of tutoring support: Portuguese, English
Regime de Frequência: Presencial

Presentation

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Sustainable Development Goals

Learning Goals

This course recovers thematic previously perceived in other U.C. but inserted in different geographic, climatic and social-economic contexts. The integration of these fundamental differences leads to a diversity of production systems, with different species and many different degrees of technological intensification.The skills to be acquired are developed in two main areas: scientific and professional. The scientifically it is intended to provide to the student the concepts and the knowledge for the elaboration of an alternative way of thinking. It is intended to create conditions for the student to be able to identify and understand less efficient situations relation with the production systems and to develop working hypotheses that study the possible factors of inefficiency. In the professional field, are expected that students can evaluate productive realities in several tropical environments and develop alternatives that elicit different approaches and productive options.

Contents

The Tropical environment, abiotic and biotic factors. Bioclimatology and Adaptation. Tropical parasitology. Gastrointestinal parasites, distribution, relationship with climatic types of prophylaxis methods and integrated control. Ectoparasites, insects and arachnids, importance, prophylaxis and management. Particularities of pathology in tropical environments and animal production in particular of ruminants bacterial, viral and parasitic diseases endemic. Epidemiological relevance and economic impact, preventive and prophylactic approach, the importance of vectors, differential diagnoses, prognosis and treatments. Agricultural production systems. Types of pastures and forages. Grasses and legumes. Pasture management and supplementation strategies. Silvopastoral systems and desertification. Production of cattle and small ruminants in extensive systems. Biotechnologies adapted to tropical regions. Water buffaloes Trypan-colorant animals. Programs for sanitary control and local, national

Teaching Methods

Constrained by the course unit's time limits, a syllabus distribution was adopted that fulfils the dual objective of first presenting the topics and subsequently consolidating them by revisiting them throughout the programme. In this way, it becomes possible to highlight the importance of functional interdependencies and to promote a deeper understanding of the subjects. Although the teaching methods are based on theoretical-practical classes, the syllabus content is intended to be delivered alongside an applied component through case studies.

Assessment

Presentation and discussion of an individual seminar on a topic chosen by the student (25%). Oral exam covering all the course material (75%).