Latest News From Animal health

Numerous controlled and blinded trials have shown that in high-risk calves arriving at feedlots or stocker operations, mass treatment with an antibiotic significantly reduces BRD sick pulls and mortality.

In the United States, tick-borne disease cases more than doubled, from 22,000 in 2004 to more than 48,000 in 2016, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.

Animal welfare, sustainability and economics are affected when beef cattle suffer from bovine respiratory disease, or BRD.

Research and practical experience have shown a genetic component to the ability of individual cattle, or sire lines, to resist BRD pathogens.

This summer’s outbreak of vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) appears to be losing steam, with no new states reporting positive cases in the USDA’s latest weekly situation report.

Zoonotic diseases could pose a risk to animals, producers, public health and livestock markets.

We need to better address all three components of the disease triad.

While researchers and the industry work to develop systems to better prevent BRD, timely treatments with antibiotics will remain a critical tool for minimizing losses associated with morbidity.

Assessing the risk of cattle needing treatment for bovine respiratory disease (BRD) requires consideration of far more than exposure to patahogens.

So far this summer, the USDA has confirmed vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) on premises in six states.

While the cattle industry continues to refine preventive measures, treatments and overall management, feedlot morbidity, mortality and costs associated with bovine respiratory disease (BRD) stubbornly refuse to improve.

Rift Valley fever virus is a global health concern that is caused by infected mosquitos and the handling of infected animal carcasses.

This summer’s outbreak has mostly affected equines, with just two cattle operations reporting the disease so far.

APHIS’ Wildlife Services and its cooperators will begin distributing baits on or about August 2 across rural areas by airplanes and in suburban or urban areas by helicopters, vehicles and bait stations.

If a vaccine isn’t preventing disease, perhaps the money would be better spent on adding real value to calves.

This summer’s outbreak of vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) has mostly affected horses, but continues to spread across state lines and to new premises within states with previous cases.

Animal-health officials suspect the Asian longhorned tick could be transmitting a foreign animal disease in Virginia.

As the summer progresses, insect-borne vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) appeared in Wyoming for the first time this year and spread to new premises in Texas.

If reproductive efficiencies seem to be slipping, the underlying cause may be the result of leptospirosis

In a release earlier this month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced approval of Monovet 90, the first generic monensin product for use in cattle and goats.

Cases of anthrax continue to appear in Texas livestock, but so far, the outbreak this summer has mostly remained confined to an area with a history of anthrax.

Tips to break the fluke life cycle in cattle

Colorado, New Mexico and Texas reported new premises infected with vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) over the past week.

Skin tests that can distinguish between cattle that are infected with tuberculosis (TB) and those that have been vaccinated against the disease have been created by an international team of scientists.

The website’s mission is to support veterinarians, producers and industry professionals in the control of BVDV across the United States.

The FDA reminds harvesters that crops harvested from flooded fields are often unacceptable because of contamination.

The July weather pattern is posing to offer challenges this week for feedlot operators and cattle producers.

The USDA’s ORV program is designed to control rabies in wildlife such as raccoons and skunks.

Zoonotic diseases could pose a risk to animals, producers, public health and livestock markets.

As the summer heats up and insect disease vectors multiply, the USDA has begun issuing its weekly reports on cases of vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) in livestock.

While rabies remains one of the most threatening zoonotic diseases worldwide, vaccination has greatly reduced the incidence of infection among pets, livestock and even wildlife.

For most of us, July 4th means cookouts, parades and fireworks. But for livestock, it’s the unofficial entry to the “dog days of summer,” with the associated threat of damaging heat stress.

Anaplasmosis and pinkeye can negatively impact the health, performance, and profit potential of the cattle operation. These control measures can help.

The USDA’s National Veterinary Services Laboratories in Ames, Iowa, has confirmed the first 2019 cases of vesicular stomatitis on three premises in Texas and New Mexico.

Dilution of fescue pastures by interseeding novel fescue is one way to solve the problem of toxic summer pastures.

One of the things University of Missouri researchers discovered as they looked at heifer development is the importance of identifying the fertility response of heifers before breeding.

We know a lack of water will affect cattle health and performance. What we may forget is that water is a nutrient and has nutritional value that can affect livestock as its quality changes.

When the rinderpest virus broke out in Africa in the 1890s, death loss in cattle herds across eastern and southern Africa reached 80 to 90%, triggering a massive famine, with millions of people dying across the region.

Incidences of both diseases can easily occur in periods of dry weather after floodwaters recede.

Risk of Antibiotic Resistance

Veterinarians and producers in western states should be on the lookout for signs of vesicular stomatitis (VS), which in recent years has been reported in states across the western United States.

Spores of the bacteria Bacillus anthracis, which cause anthrax when consumed, can survive in the soil for years.

Now we have another good excuse to cull cows due to bad temperament.  Producers that routinely breed cows artificially realize that cows that are unruly and nervous are less likely to conceive by AI.

In spite of generally favorable living conditions, preweaned calves often suffer losses from BRD.

Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC) livestock inspectors discovered fever ticks on cattle originating from a Webb County premises during a routine voluntary inspection.

After a long winter, don’t think the spring and summer will be without challenges of their own. Here’s six impact areas you need to be ready for, as they might affect your profitability this year.  

Parasite control should be the cornerstone of your animal health program because parasites negatively impact the overall health and performance of cattle.

Toxins produced by blue-green algae in the presence of chemical runoff, rainfall and hot temperatures can be fatal to cattle. 

Selecting cattle for mild temperament can pay off in a number of ways. In addition to handler safety, more docile cattle might provide an advantage in reproduction.

The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, the Center for Food Security and Public Health and Iowa State University will host the free workshop.