A high reactivity and leaving no harmful residues make ozone an effective disinfectant for farm hygiene and biosecurity. Our objectives were therefore to (1) characterize the killing capacity of ...aqueous and gaseous ozone at different operational conditions on dairy cattle manure-based pathogens (MBP) contaminated different surfaces (plastic, metal, nylon, rubber, and wood); (2) determine the effect of microbial load on the killing capacity of aqueous ozone. In a crossover design, 14 strips of each material were randomly assigned into 3 groups, treatment (n = 6), positive-control (n = 6), and negative-control (n = 2). The strips were soaked in dairy cattle manure with an inoculum level of 107-108 for 60 minutes. The treatment strips were exposed to aqueous ozone of 2, 4, and 9 ppm and gaseous ozone of 1and 9 ppm for 2, 4, and 8 minutes exposure. 3M™ Petrifilm™ rapid aerobic count plate and plate reader were used for bacterial culture. On smooth surfaces, plastic and metal, aqueous ozone at 4 ppm reduced MBP to a safe level (≥5-log10) within 2 minutes (6.1 and 5.1-log10, respectively). However, gaseous ozone at 9 ppm for 4 minutes inactivated 3.3-log10 of MBP. Aqueous ozone of 9 ppm is sufficient to reduce MBP to a safe level, 6.0 and 5.4- log10, on nylon and rubber surfaces within 2 and 8 minutes, respectively. On complex surfaces, wood, both aqueous and gaseous ozone at up to 9 ppm were unable to reduce MBP to a safe level (3.6 and 0.8-log10, respectively). The bacterial load was a strong predictor for reduction in MBP (P<0.0001, R2 = 0.72). We conclude that aqueous ozone of 4 and 9 ppm for 2 minutes may provide an efficient method to reduce MBP to a safe level on smooth and moderately rough surfaces, respectively. However, ozone alone may not an adequate means of controlling MBP on complex surfaces.
Temperament traits are of high importance across species. In humans, temperament or personality traits correlate with psychological traits and psychiatric disorders. In cattle, they impact animal ...welfare, product quality and human safety, and are therefore of direct commercial importance. We hypothesized that genetic factors that contribute to variation in temperament among individuals within a species will be shared between humans and cattle. Using imputed whole-genome sequence data from 9223 beef cattle from three cohorts, a series of genome-wide association studies was undertaken on cattle flight time, a temperament phenotype measured as the time taken for an animal to cover a short-fixed distance after release from an enclosure. We also investigated the association of cattle temperament with polymorphisms in bovine orthologs of risk genes for neuroticism, schizophrenia, autism spectrum disorders (ASD), and developmental delay disorders in humans.
Variants with the strongest associations were located in the bovine orthologous region that is involved in several behavioural and cognitive disorders in humans. These variants were also partially validated in independent cattle cohorts. Genes in these regions (BARHL2, NDN, SNRPN, MAGEL2, ABCA12, KIFAP3, TOPAZ1, FZD3, UBE3A, and GABRA5) were enriched for the GO term neuron migration and were differentially expressed in brain and pituitary tissues in humans. Moreover, variants within 100 kb of ASD susceptibility genes were associated with cattle temperament and explained 6.5% of the total additive genetic variance in the largest cattle cohort. The ASD genes with the most significant associations were GABRB3 and CUL3. Using the same 100 kb window, a weak association was found with polymorphisms in schizophrenia risk genes and no association with polymorphisms in neuroticism and developmental delay disorders risk genes.
Our analysis showed that genes identified in a meta-analysis of cattle temperament contribute to neuron development functions and are differentially expressed in human brain tissues. Furthermore, some ASD susceptibility genes are associated with cattle temperament. These findings provide evidence that genetic control of temperament might be shared between humans and cattle and highlight the potential for future analyses to leverage results between species.
The aim of the study was to determine the relationship between the behaviour of Holstein-Friesian and Simmental bulls and the quality of their semen. A total of 76 breeding bulls of the ...Holstein-Friesian and dual-purpose Simmental breeds were investigated. Analysis was made of the response of bulls to humans and other bulls, facial hair whorl position and length, scrotal circumference, and semen characteristics (mean ejaculate volume, mean sperm concentration, and sperm wave motion). The age and breed of the bulls had a statistically significant effect on semen quality, scrotal circumference and the animal's response to an unfamiliar human (P<0.05; P<0.01). The coefficients of correlation between the bull's response to a handler and to other bulls averaged 0.73. In general, only weak correlations were found between behavioural traits of the bulls and quality of their semen. It is worth noting a good correlation (r=0.50; P<0.05) between hair whorl position and sperm concentration in Simmental bulls.
This paper describes some of the major points of progress and challenges in health management of dairy cattle in the last 25 yr. A selection of the leading contributors in the field is acknowledged. ...Specific advances in the areas of transition cow management, epidemiology, udder health, applied immunology, housing design, calf health, and health-monitoring tools are described. The greatest advances in dairy health in the last 25 yr have been the shifts to disease prevention, rather than treatment, as well as from focus on individual animals to groups and herds. A fundamental advancement has been recognition of the multifactorial nature of almost all diseases of importance in dairy cattle. Epidemiology has been a critical new tool used to describe and quantify the interconnected risk factors that produce disease. Another major advance has been redefining disease more broadly, to include subclinical conditions (e.g., subclinical mastitis, ketosis, rumen acidosis, and endometritis). This expansion resulted both from improved technology to measure function at the organ level and, just as importantly, from the evolution of the health management paradigm in which any factor that limits animal or herd performance might be considered a component of disease. Links between cattle and people through consideration of environmental or ecosystem health are likely to further expand the concept of disease prevention in the future.
Notable successes are decreases in the incidence of milk fever, clinical respiratory disease in adults, contagious mastitis, and clinical parasitism. There has also been improved protection through vaccination against coliform mastitis and bovine virus diarrhea. Since 1980, average herd size and milk production per cow have increased dramatically. Despite these increased demands on cows’ metabolism and humans’ management skills, the incidence of most common and important diseases has remained stable. Great progress has been made in understanding the biology of energy metabolism and immune function in transition dairy cows, the time at which the majority of disease occurs. Coupled with an emerging understanding of how best to provide for dairy cows’ behavioral needs, transition cow management promises to be the foundation for progress in maintenance and enhancement of the health of dairy cows in the next 25 yr.
Abstract
Assisted calves are often born weak, injured, or oxygen deprived and have a higher risk of morbidity and mortality. The objective was to investigate the impact of using pain mitigation at ...birth in assisted beef calves on physiological indicators of pain and inflammation, passive immunity, health, and growth. Thirty-three primiparous cows and their calves requiring assistance at birth on two ranches located in southern Alberta were enrolled. Data collected at birth include date and time of calving, calf sex, meconium staining, presentation of calf, and calving difficulty (easy assist: one person manually delivered the calf; difficult assist: delivery by two or more people, or mechanical assistance). Within 10 min of birth, calves were stratified by calving difficulty, randomized to a medication group, and received a subcutaneous dose of meloxicam (0.5 mg/kg BW) or an equivalent volume of placebo. Cow–calf pairs were then placed in individual box stalls for observation and sampling. At birth, 1, 4, and 24 h after birth, heart rate, respiratory rate, and rectal temperature were assessed and blood samples collected to measure indicators of pain and inflammation (cortisol, corticosterone, substance P, and haptoglobin). Serum IgG concentration and failed transfer of passive immunity (serum IgG concentration <24 g/L) were assessed in the 24-h blood samples. Preweaning treatment for disease and mortality information was collected and calves were weighed at 7 to 10 d of age and at weaning. Of the 33 calves enrolled, 17 calves received meloxicam and 16 calves received a placebo. Meloxicam-medicated calves had significantly greater ADG to 7 to 10 d of age (P = 0.05) (mean = 0.9 kg/d; SE = 0.10) compared with placebo-medicated calves (mean = 0.6 kg/d; SE = 0.12). There was no significant effect of meloxicam on physiological indicators of pain and inflammation, standing or nursing by 1 h, passive immunity, health outcomes, or ADG to weaning (P > 0.1). Although this was a small sample population, meloxicam given to assisted calves at birth improved ADG in the first week of life, which may indicate an important production management tool for improving well-being in assisted calves.
To produce milk that is healthier for human consumption, the present study evaluated the effect of including canola oil in the diet of dairy cows on milk production and composition as well as the ...nutritional quality of this milk fat. Eighteen Holstein cows with an average daily milk yield of 22 (± 4) kg/d in the middle stage of lactation were used. The cows were distributed in 6 contemporary 3x3 Latin squares consisting of 3 periods and 3 treatments: control diet (without oil), 3% inclusion of canola oil in the diet and 6% inclusion of canola oil in the diet (dry matter basis). The inclusion of 6% canola oil in the diet of lactating cows linearly reduced the milk yield by 2.51 kg/d, short-chain fatty acids (FA) by 41.42%, medium chain FA by 27.32%, saturated FA by 20.24%, saturated/unsaturated FA ratio by 39.20%, omega-6/omega-3 ratio by 39.45%, and atherogenicity index by 48.36% compared with the control treatment. Moreover, with the 6% inclusion of canola oil in the diet of cows, there was an increase in the concentration of long chain FA by 45.91%, unsaturated FA by 34.08%, monounsaturated FA by 40.37%, polyunsaturated FA by 17.88%, milk concentration of omega-3 by 115%, rumenic acid (CLA) by 16.50%, oleic acid by 44.87% and h/H milk index by 94.44% compared with the control treatment. Thus, the inclusion of canola oil in the diet of lactating dairy cows makes the milk fatty acid profile nutritionally healthier for the human diet; however, the lactating performance of dairy cows is reduce.
•First longitudinal survey of Anaplasma species in Tunisian cattle.•Average prevalence rates were 7, 4.9, 4.7 and 0% in A. centrale, A. bovis, A. marginale and A. phagocytophilum, ...respectively.•Seasonal and bioclimatic variations of Anaplasma spp. infection and co-infection rates were recorded.•Genotyping of msp4 gene revealed two different variants of A. marginale.•Genotyping of 16S rRNA gene revealed two and three different variants of A. centrale and A. bovis, respectively.
In cattle, anaplasmosis is a tick-borne rickettsial disease caused by Anaplasma marginale, A. centrale, A. phagocytophilum, and A. bovis. To date, no information concerning the seasonal dynamics of single and/or mixed infections by different Anaplasma species in bovines are available in Tunisia. In this work, a total of 1035 blood bovine samples were collected in spring (n=367), summer (n=248), autumn (n=244) and winter (n=176) from five different governorates belonging to three bioclimatic zones from the North of Tunisia. Molecular survey of A. marginale, A. centrale and A. bovis in cattle showed that average prevalence rates were 4.7% (minimum 4.1% in autumn and maximum 5.6% in summer), 7% (minimum 3.9% in winter and maximum 10.7% in autumn) and 4.9% (minimum 2.7% in spring and maximum 7.3% in summer), respectively. A. phagocytophilum was not detected in all investigated cattle. Seasonal variations of Anaplasma spp. infection and co-infection rates in overall and/or according to each bioclimatic area were recorded. Molecular characterization of A. marginale msp4 gene indicated a high sequence homology of revealed strains with A. marginale sequences from African countries. Alignment of 16S rRNA A. centrale sequences showed that Tunisian strains were identical to the vaccine strain from several sub-Saharan African and European countries. The comparison of the 16S rRNA sequences of A. bovis variants showed a perfect homology between Tunisian variants isolated from cattle, goats and sheep. These present data are essential to estimate the risk of bovine anaplasmosis in order to develop integrated control policies against multi-species pathogen communities, infecting humans and different animal species, in the country.
Bovine mastitis (BM) is a disease with high incidence worldwide and one of the most relevant bovine pathologies and the most costly to the dairy industry. BM is an inflammation of the udder and ...represents one of the most difficult veterinary diseases to control. Biofilm formation is considered a selective advantage for pathogens causing mastitis, facilitating bacterial persistence in the udder. In fact, recently some authors drew attention to the biofilm formation ability presented by several mastitis causing pathogens and to its possible relation with recurrent mastitis infections and with the increased resistance to antimicrobial agents and host immune defence system. Actually, up to now, several researchers reported the potential role of cells in this mode of growth in the previous facts mentioned. As a consequence of the presence of biofilms, the infection here focused is more difficult to treat and eradicate, making this problem a more relevant pressing issue. Thus, we believe that a deeper knowledge of these structures in mastitis can help to determine the best control strategy to be used in veterinary practice in order to reduce losses in the dairy industry and to ensure milk safety and quality. The aim of this paper was to review the existing research and consequently to provide an overview of the role of biofilms in BM infections.
This review provides an important input of knowledge on the relevance of biofilm formation in bovine mastitis infections and their role in antimicrobial resistance.
Graphical Abstract Figure.
This review provides an important input of knowledge on the relevance of biofilm formation in bovine mastitis infections and their role in antimicrobial resistance.
Brosimum alicastrum en el manejo agrosilvopastoril Lizeth González Zepeda, Arianna; Inés Valencia Zepeda, Ma; Josué Núñez Zuazo, Christian
Avances en investigación agropecuaria,
01/2023, Letnik:
27, Številka:
S2
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Introducción. El grupo denominado Las Marías, del ejido Las Ramas, en el municipio de Casimiro Castillo, Jalisco, se encuentra legalmente constituido bajo la denominación de Sociedad de Producción ...Rural de Responsabilidad Limitada de Capital Variable (S.P.R. de R.L de C.V). Es un grupo integrado por mujeres que tienen una trayectoria de trabajo de más de 13 años realizando la cosecha, procesamiento y venta de los frutos de Brosimum alicastrum (conocido localmente como mojote) y Theobroma cacao (cacao) en diferentes presentaciones comerciales. Objetivo. Diversificar los ingresos de las familias productoras a partir de los insumos obtenidos en el sistema agrosilvopastoril. Métodos. A partir del es tablecimiento de árboles multiuso en parcelas locales se proporcionan productos y servicios donde cada uno de los elementos del ecosistema son aprovechados, desde el manejo del ganado bajo ramoneo en parcelas con presencia de mojote, cacao y pastos nativos, hasta la recolección de los frutos de mojote y cacao para su procesamiento, transformación y venta de productos que diversifican los ingresos de la familia. Resultados y discusión. El grupo Las Marías inició el proyecto de manera autónoma a partir de 2016, la Junta Intermunicipal de Medio Ambiente de la Costa Sur (JICOSUR) se suma a la iniciativa con apoyo al fortalecimiento de sus capacidades productivas y promoción de su constitución legal, así como el registro de la marca ante el Instituto Mexicano de la Propiedad Industrial (IMPI). Actualmente, Las Marías tienen un sistema agrosilvopastoril que genera alimento para ganado bovino e insumos para la producción de sustituto de café, cuenta con una hectárea de cacao y una capacidad de producción de dos toneladas de sustituto de café anuales a partir del mojote recolectado (JICOSUR, 2017). Conclusión. El aprovechamiento de los recursos que proporciona el sistema agrosilvopastoril permite diversificar los ingresos de las familias productoras a partir del aprovechamiento del sistema producto ganado, mojote y cacao.
Two Holstein Friesian crossbred lactating and pregnant cows were presented with reddened vesicles, pustules and scaby lesions on skin and oozing fluid from some lesions and crusting skin on teats ...along with lateral and medial aspect of both thighs in first cow whereas in second cow, the lesions were present on tail and tail base extending towards posterior aspect of udder. Both cows were treated with homemade ethnoveterinary medicine formulation prepared by grinding and mixing of 5 garlic pearls, 10 gram turmeric powder, 15 gram cumin seed, one handful holy basil leaves, one handful neem leaves and 50 gram butter as paste and applied on lesions after proper washing and cleansing with clean water. Both cows recovered uneventfully in 10 and 4 days, respectively. Keywords: Cow; ethnoveterinary medicine; pseudo cowpox