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For plant and animal immune systems the similarities go beyond sensing
Although profoundly different in terms of physiology, habitat and nutritional needs, plants and animals are confronted with one shared existential problem: how to keep themselves safe in the face of constant exposure to harmful microorganisms. Mounting evidence suggests that plants and animals ha...Read more -
Designing animal studies to improve research reproducibility and reduce animal use
Animal experiments are typically conducted under highly standardized laboratory conditions. While standardization is meant to improve reproducibility of scientific results, in reality reproducibility is surprisingly low. To produce more robust results, experts from different fields of research no...Read more -
Deforestation is changing animal communication
Deforestation is changing the way monkeys communicate in their natural habitat, according to a new study. This study, led by an anthropologist at the University of Waterloo, offers the first evidence in animal communication scholarship of differences in vocal behaviours in response to different t...Read more -
Benefits and risks of antimicrobial use in food-producing animals
Benefits and risks of antimicrobial drugs, used in food-producing animals, continue to be complex and controversial issues. This review comprehensively presents the benefits of antimicrobials drugs regarding control of animal diseases, protection of public health, enhancement of animal production...Read more -
Animal groups consider multiple factors before fighting
Groups of animals consider multiple factors before deciding whether to fight rivals, researchers say. Before one-on-one fights, animals are known to make decisions based on factors including the size and strength of the opponent, the outcome of recent fights and the importance of the prize. But s...Read more -
Age-related impairments reversed in animal model
Frailty and immune decline are two main features of old age. Researchers from the University of Bern and the University Hospital Bern now demonstrate in an animal model that these two age-related impairments can be halted and even partially reversed using a novel cell-based therapeutic approach. ...Read more -
Study reveals valuable disease-fighting qualities in African indigenous cattle
Scientists have revealed a new set of detailed genetic markers and information for African cattle that provide heat and drought tolerance, control of inflammation and tick infestation, and resistance to devastating livestock diseases such as trypanosomiasis The findings, published in Nature Gen...Read more -
New milk plant to benefit Rwandan dairy farmers
Part of a World Vision project, work will begin this week on the US$45,000 facility. When completed, the plant will purchase surplus milk from the farmers. To be run by local cooperative Zirakamwa, the facility will be equipped with modern apparatus to test quality and prevent produce from going ...Read more -
Kenya to use GPS to combat cattle theft
The Kenyan Administration Police plan to use a global positioning system (GPS) to fight cattle theft and recover stolen animals “A GPS chip will be inserted under the skin in one animal of the herd. With it we will be able to monitor the movements of the whole flock,” said Administrat...Read more -
Antiviral Drugs Against Severe Fever With Thrombocytopenia Syndrome Virus Infection
Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) isan emerging tick-borne infectious disease caused by SFTS virus (SFTSV), which is a novel bunyavirus. SFTSVwas first isolated from patients who presented with fever, thrombocytopenia, leukocytopenia, and multiorgan dysfunction in China. Subseque...Read more -
FAO, OIE kickstart global initiative to stop the spread of African Swine Fever
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) are call on all nations and partners to join forces to keep this deadly pig disease at bay under a new initiative The Global Control of ASF Initiative, launched under the GF-TADs u...Read more -
Drought fears prompt drop in Tanzania beef price
Wholesale beef prices have dropped by around 20 per cent in Tanzania, following poor rainfall in 2015 The price per kilo dropped to less than US$2.40 this week from highs of almost US$3 recorded in January, before fears of a potential drought prompted farmers to rush to sell their cattle. Wholesa...Read more -
Cattle keepers and farmers in Bahr El Ghazal agree on peaceful coexistence
Cattle keepers and farmers in Bahr El Ghazal agree on peaceful coexistence during the tense dry season to minimise the annual conflicts that cattle movements during the dry season tend to generate. With South Sudan’s rainy season coming to an end, the challenges of finding water points and grazin...Read more -
Animal AgTech Innovation Summit Preview What’s Next for Protein Markets with Nutreco Executive
As a sneak-peek to the upcoming Animal AgTech Innovation Summit, I spoke to Dr. Genet about the need for innovation in the protein market, industry bottlenecks and why it’s important for Nutreco and others to participate in programs like this one. Why is innovation needed in the protein market? O...Read more -
Feeding the Future with Beef Cattle – a Sustainable Approach to Responsible Food Production
What does the science say? What is the data telling us? These questions driving conversations around human health and the novel coronavirus are also informing how stakeholders in the feed-to-food chain think about livestock production and sustainability, writes Javier Martín-Tereso, Manager Rumin...Read more -
Type of sugar used to sweeten sheep milk kefir may improve consumer acceptance
The study of human emotions can be used to gauge the sensory acceptance of dairy products. A possible route to increase worldwide consumption of sheep milk kefir may be to improve its sensory acceptance, which can be a determining factor for its inclusion in daily diets. In an article appearing i...Read more -
High Forage Diets 3 Things to Consider
The ambiguous title for this article is because the definition of high forage diets is vague and unique to different people. Technically speaking, a diet that is 50% forage or greater is a high forage diet – which could be considered low to normal for the Northeast part of the US, whereas t...Read more -
Zoonosis Threat Urgent Call for More Effective Wildlife Trade Legislation in Wake of COVID-19
International research team including Göttingen University makes urgent call for more effective wildlife trade legislation. Many diseases, such as COVID-19, have made the jump from animals to people with serious consequences for the human host. An international research team, including researcher...Read more -
Emerging Zoonotic Diseases: Should We Rethink the Animal–Human Interface?
INTRODUCTION Humans have always been plagued by epidemics caused primarily by infectious diseases that originated from animals, especially wildlife (1). The establishment of sustained transmission from initial spillover events involves the interplay of complex mechanisms that are difficult to und...Read more -
Vicious Cycle Climate Change Spreading Infectious Diseases, Which Contribute to Climate Change
Sicker livestock may increase climate woes: More parasites means higher emissions of potent greenhouse gas. Climate change is affecting the spread and severity of infectious diseases around the world — and infectious diseases may in turn be contributing to climate change, according to a new paper...Read more -
Scientists Warn About COVID-19 Transmission to Animals – Including Pets and Livestock
As evidence mounts for the possibility of SARS-CoV-2 infecting various animals, scientists at UCL say a global effort is needed to reduce the risk of the virus later returning to people. In a comment piece for The Lancet Microbe, researchers write that if the virus becomes common in an animal pop...Read more -
Pets, touch and COVID-19 Why our furry friends are lifesavers
Lockdowns, job losses and social isolation have been the hallmarks of 2020 as COVID-19 tightens its grip on the world, not only infecting millions and leaving a mounting death toll, but also denying humans the most basic sense — touch. In the absence of human-to-human contact, in millions o...Read more -
Livestock expansion is a factor in global pandemics
The growth of global livestock farming is a threat to our biodiversity and also increases the health risks to both humans and domesticated animals. The patterns that link them are at the heart of a study published in Biological Conservation by a scientist from the Institute of Evolution Sciences ...Read more -
A Risk-Based Permitting Process for the Managed Movement of Animals and Products of Animal Origin as a Tool for Disease Management
During a foreign animal disease (FAD) outbreak, in addition to detecting, controlling, containing, and eradicating the FAD, one of the goals of response in the United States (US), and many other countries, is to allow the managed movement of non-infected animals and non-contaminated animal produc...Read more
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