Istituto per il Sistema Produzione Animale in Ambiente Mediterraneo - CNR-ISPAAM, Traversa La Crucca 3, località Baldinca, 07100, Sassari, Italy.
Present address: Wellcome Trust Centre for Cell Biology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
J Ethnobiol Ethnomed. 2018 Jul 20;14(1):50. doi: 10.1186/s13002-018-0250-7.
Mediterranean farmers traditionally utilized plants, animals, and minerals sourced locally to treat their animals. Research is needed to understand at what extent such knowledge of domestic animal care still survives and to document such traditions for further developments.
We carried out our field study to recover ancient ethno-veterinary practices by means of questionnaires and interviews to farmers in rural areas of the Mediterranean island of Sardinia (Italy). Quantitative indices were used to evaluate the distribution and diversity of the acquired information.
We report here 98 sources (42 plant taxa, 14 animal-based substances, 15 minerals, and 27 other materials of various origin) emerged from the survey for the care of 41 ailments of cattle, pigs, and horses. Ethno-veterinary treatments, detailed in their formulations and applications, were used against ecto- and endo-parasites, gastrointestinal diseases, heart diseases, viral and bacterial diseases, wounds, sprains, and bruises.
Our survey can be useful to implement the use of phyto-therapeutics and other remedies of non-herbal origin for diseased animals, and, as elderly farmers held most of the knowledge, it can contribute to the conservation of Mediterranean ethno-veterinary knowledge.
地中海地区的农民传统上利用当地的植物、动物和矿物质来治疗他们的动物。需要研究的是，这种对家畜护理的知识在多大程度上仍然存在，并记录这些传统，以便进一步发展。
我们通过问卷调查和访谈的方式，对意大利地中海岛屿撒丁岛的农村农民进行了实地研究，以了解古代民族兽医实践。使用定量指标来评估所获得信息的分布和多样性。
我们在此报告了 98 种来源（42 种植物类群、14 种动物来源物质、15 种矿物质和 27 种其他各种来源的材料），用于治疗牛、猪和马的 41 种疾病。民族兽医治疗方法详细说明了其配方和应用，用于治疗外寄生虫和内寄生虫、胃肠道疾病、心脏病、病毒和细菌疾病、伤口、扭伤和瘀伤。
我们的调查可以为患病动物使用植物疗法和其他非草药来源的疗法提供参考，而且由于老年农民掌握了大部分知识，因此有助于保护地中海民族兽医知识。
