Use and implementation of new knowledges in teaching animal hygiene and welfare at the University of Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy in Košice

During the studies at the University of Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy in Košice, students of the following study programmes become acquainted to a various degree with the technologies of animal rearing and maintenance of herd hygiene: General veterinary medicine, Food hygiene, as well as the more recent programmes Man-animal relationship in canistherapy and hippotherapy. In several past decades many significant changes have occurred in the technology of animal rearing. Considerable progress has been achieved in technical solution of the ventilation system, removal of excrements and feeding and watering lines. Thus it is necessary to innovate the study materials and implement the new findings regarding the available technological procedures important for improvement of animal hygiene. However, the changes in technologies change not only the microclimate in animal housings but also affect the outer atmosphere and its microbial contamination. This new practice may affect also the occurrence of antibiotic-resistant microorganisms as farms and other related facilities may become a source of spreading of this resistance into individual environmental components as well as the food chain.