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Farming gave us salmonella, ancient DNA suggests
Pity the pig. We have blamed it for giving us swine flu, a porcine coronavirus in 2012, and—in some ancient hovel—salmonella, which causes gut distress as well as typhoid fever. Now, though, it seems humans got salmonella first, thousands of years ago, and might have passed it to pigs. A new stud...Read more -
Deadly livestock disease may have spread through infected bull semen
An epidemic of bluetongue disease that has ravaged European sheep and cattle since 2015 may have been caused by infected semen used in cattle breeding, New Scientist reports. Researchers wrote in PLOS Biology yesterday that the genome of the virus is remarkably similar to samples from a previous ...Read more -
Coronavirus rips through Dutch mink farms, triggering culls
In a sad sideshow to the COVID-19 pandemic, authorities in the Netherlands began to gas tens of thousands of mink on 6 June, most of them pups born only weeks ago. SARS-CoV-2 has attacked farms that raise the animals for fur, and the Dutch government worries infected mink could become a viral res...Read more -
Biologists invent a new way to fight viruses with llama blood and molecular superglue
For more than 20 years, researchers have tried with limited success to engineer antibodies into new treatments for bacterial and viral infections. Now, a team of scientists has come up with a new approach: fastening together tiny antibodies from llama blood with a type of bacterial superglue. The...Read more -
Vaccine for African swine fever may save our bacon
Wild boar can be immunized against African Swine Fever by a new vaccine delivered to the animals in their food, says new research. Published in Frontiers in Veterinary Science, it is the first report of a promising inoculation against this deadly disease, which is a worldwide threat to the swine ...Read more -
Genetically modified pigs resist infection with the classical swine fever virus
Researchers have developed genetically modified pigs that are protected from classical swine fever virus (CSFV), according to a study published December 13 in the open-access journal PLOS Pathogens by Hongsheng Ouyang of Jilin University, and colleagues. As noted by the authors, these pigs offer ...Read more -
Gene study shows how sheep first separated from goats
Scientists have cracked the genetic code of sheep to reveal how they became a distinct species from goats around four million years ago. The study is the first to pinpoint the genetic differences that make sheep different from other animals. The findings could aid the development of DNA testing t...Read more -
Challenges for controlling bovine tuberculosis in South Africa
Abstract All effects taken together, bovine tuberculosis (bTB) has a long-term detrimental effect on bovine herds and many wildlife species in South Africa. The disease is not only found in domestic cattle but also in African buffaloes and has to date been diagnosed in 21 wildlife species, includ...Read more -
Scientists work to develop heat-resistant ‘cow of the future’
University of Florida scientists are working to breed the “cow of the future” by studying the more heat-tolerant Brangus cow — a cross between an Angus and a Brahman. Raluca Mateescu, an associate professor in the UF/IFAS department of animal sciences, is part of a team of UF/IF...Read more -
Population of rare Stone’s sheep 20% smaller than previously thought
The already-rare Stone’s sheep of the Yukon is 20 per cent less common than previously thought, according to new research by University of Alberta biologists. The study examined 123 different DNA markers in approximately 2,800 thinhorn sheep in British Columbia and the Yukon, with the goal ...Read more -
Children allergic to cow’s milk smaller and lighter
Children who are allergic to cow’s milk are smaller and weigh less than peers who have allergies to peanuts or tree nuts, and these findings persist into early adolescence. The results from the longitudinal study — believed to be the first to characterize growth patterns from early ch...Read more -
AI system to diagnose pain levels in sheep
The researchers have developed an AI system which uses five different facial expressions to recognise whether a sheep is in pain, and estimate the severity of that pain. The results could be used to improve sheep welfare, and could be applied to other types of animals, such as rodents used in ani...Read more -
Potential benefits of wildlife-livestock coexistence in East Africa
A study of 3,588 square kilometers of privately owned land in central Kenya offers evidence that humans and their livestock can, in the right circumstances, share territory with zebras, giraffes, elephants and other wild mammals — to the benefit of all. The study, reported in the journal Na...Read more -
Goats prefer happy people
Goats can differentiate between human facial expressions and prefer to interact with happy people, according to a new study led by scientists at Queen Mary University of London. The study, which provides the first evidence of how goats read human emotional expressions, implies that the ability of...Read more -
Goats can distinguish emotions from the calls of other goats
Goats can probably distinguish subtle emotional changes in the calls of other goats, according to a new study led by Queen Mary University of London. The researchers measured behavioural and physiological changes in goats to determine if they can differentiate between calls linked to positive and...Read more -
Correct Choice and Administration for Livestock Dewormer
Parasitic disease is one of the most common and important diseases in the breeding industry. It has the characteristics of a wide distribution, high infection rate and great harm. Usually, the control of parasitic diseases is to use chemical drugs to deworm. In recent years, studies have found th...Read more -
Environmentally friendly cattle production (really)
Three hundred years ago, enormous herds of bison, antelope and elk roamed North America, and the land was pristine and the water clean. However, today when cattle congregate, they’re often cast as the poster animals for overgrazing, water pollution and an unsustainable industry. While some ...Read more -
Clay as a feed supplement in dairy cattle has multiple benefits
Dairy producers frequently add clay as a feed supplement to reduce the symptoms of aflatoxin and subacute ruminal acidosis (SARA) in lactating cows. In a new study from the University of Illinois, researchers show that clay can also improve the degradability of feedstuffs. “Farmers are givi...Read more -
Cattle urine’s planet-warming power can be curtailed with land restoration
The exceptional climate-altering capabilities of cattle are mainly due to methane, which they blast into the atmosphere during their daily digestive routine. Cattle urine is a lesser-known climate offender. It produces nitrous oxide (N2O), which has warming power far greater than that of carbon d...Read more -
Cattle ranching could help conserve rare African antelope, lions
Endangered African antelope and the lions that prey on them may benefit from certain cattle ranching practices in Kenya, according to newly published research led by a 2017 University of Wyoming Ph.D. graduate. Caroline Ng’weno, who conducted the research during her UW graduate studies, is ...Read more -
A field study on the efficacy of ivermectin via subcutaneous route against chewing lice (Bovicola caprae) infestation in naturally infested goats
Abstract Caprine pediculosis is an ectoparasitic disease of great concern among goat farmers in India. It may be caused by either sucking lice or chewing lice; the latter one results in severe skin lesions, leading to production loss. This study evaluated the effectiveness of the macrocytic lacto...Read more -
Mystery about history of genetic disease in horses
Warmblood fragile foal syndrome is a severe, usually fatal, genetic disease that manifests itself after birth in affected horses. Due to the defect, the connective tissue is unstable. Under force, for instance, the skin tears from the tissue underneath and the joints can suffer dislocation. A res...Read more -
Leptospirosis strains identified in Uruguay cattle
Leptospirosis infections, caused by Leptospira bacteria, occur in people and animals around the world, but different strains of the bacteria may vary in their ability to cause disease and to jump between species. Now, researchers reporting in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases have for the first ti...Read more -
Early separation of cow and calf has long-term effects on social behavior
Calves of dairy cows are generally separated from their mothers within the first 24 hours after birth. The majority of the milk thus enters the food market and not the stomachs of the calves. However, growing up without a mother has consequences. Scientists at the Vetmeduni Vienna studied the lon...Read more
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