7^th International Veterinary Congress

At the world level, the camel farming is changing in many countries in relationship with 3 main drivers: The market integration of the camel products in a globalized and more urbanized world, the climatic changes leading to a scarcity of the natural resources and consequently to the intensification of camel production, and the growing interest for the camel products (especially milk and meat) due to their dietetic and medicinal properties (true or expected). Especially, the intensification of camel farming (in-door feeding, use of biotechnology of reproduction, milking machine, etc.) has a significant impact on the health status of the animal. Among the changes induced by the modern farming system, we can list the followings: The change from poor nutritive but diversified feeding in desert to monotonous but rich diet (energy-protein) with a decrease in the mobility; the early weaning of the camel calf for getting the milk; the concentration of the animals, formerly poorly gregarious and the use of techniques (for example milking machine) based on cow’s management not necessary adapted to camel. Those changes could lead to the increasing risk of metabolic diseases, to the emergence of “diseases of production” (infertility, mastitis), and to a large dissemination of parasitic diseases (as mange for example). Face to these changes, the veterinarian has to develop investigations or specific approaches (like Ecopathology) to document the health status of the camels in this new context. Some examples are given in the present communication.