AUTHOR=Laishev K. A. , Yuzhakov A. A. 

TITLE=Veterinary science and veterinary service in Russian reindeer herding

JOURNAL=Pastoralism: Research, Policy and Practice

VOLUME=Volume 15 - 2025

YEAR=2025

URL=https://www.frontierspartnerships.org/journals/pastoralism-research-policy-and-practice/articles/10.3389/past.2025.15115

DOI=10.3389/past.2025.15115

ISSN=2041-7136

ABSTRACT=This paper describes the history of and basic directions of research in Russian reindeer veterinary science. The first reports of mass epizooties of reindeer in northern European Russia date back to the mid-19th century. Epizooties took hundreds of thousands of animals, but it was not until 1910 that the first veterinary station was opened in the tundra of European Russia. Veterinary expeditions were organized by the government in 1911, 1912, and 1914. The first research institute dedicated to studying reindeer diseases was founded in Obdorsk (now Salekhard) in 1925. This marked the initiation of regular studies on infectious and invasive reindeer diseases, as well as efforts to develop methods for preventing and curing them. Apart from Siberian anthrax, the diseases that cause the most economic damage to reindeer herding are necrobacteriosis (foot rot), reindeer fly invasions and other insect infestations, brucellosis, and certain lung diseases. By the 1940s, Siberian anthrax was almost completely eliminated among (semi)domesticated reindeer thanks to annual vaccinations. Parasitic invasions, most notably those by reindeer fly, appeared to be more difficult to struggle against, but some means to treat them have finally been developed. These include drugs such as baitex, fention, etacide, ivomek, and aversekt that kill reindeer fly larvae in the first and second stages of their development. Unfortunately, the decades-long effort to find a vaccine against necrobacteriosis has been unsuccessful, and recommended measures against this disease are limited to symptomatic treatment of animals that are already ill. Brucellosis is still registered in reindeer herds, and no treatment against it has been worked out so far. Reindeer that tested positive for brucellosis on the basis of serum reaction are scheduled for immediate slaughter. The work on developing and testing means for preventing and treating reindeer diseases is currently continuing in several research institutions in Russia. The lack of trained veterinary specialists in reindeer herding regions caused by low salaries and difficulties related to the nomadic way of life that these specialists have to lead represents probably the biggest problem of the modern Russian reindeer veterinary.