Neil Dyer, professor of animal sciences and director of the Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory at NDSU, recently spent two weeks teaching at Mongolia State University of Agriculture’s School of Veterinary Medicine in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
The trip was a continuation of an educational cooperation agreement between Mongolian Agriculture University, Mongolia Veterinarians and Educators Training Professionals non-government organization and NDSU.
Dyer was in Mongolia from Sept. 29 to Oct. 13. He conducted lectures on animal disease syndromes, such as enteritis in calves or respiratory disease in horses. Dyer also conducted laboratory anatomy sessions.
Dyer visited the Institute of Veterinary Medicine, a national animal health research facility, and State Central Veterinary Laboratory, a facility Dyer said is similar in function to NDSU’s Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory. He also conducted clinical pathology and necropsy work for a small animal clinic.
Mongolia’s rural areas feature a nomadic society that raises cattle, sheep, goats, camels and yaks, according to Dyer. “Many of the herders are just now finding out about antibiotics and parasiticides that actually work and how they can benefit from their use,” he said. “Vaccines are very uncommon.”
This was Dyer’s second trip to Mongolia through the agreement.
“My portion of the Mongolian project is to try and bring some change at the veterinary student level and to make suggestions relative to diagnostic medicine,” Dyer said. “It is gratifying work, but there is much to be done.”
NDSU is recognized as one of the nation's top 108 public and private universities by the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education.