BACKGROUND Given the theoretical proposal that bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) could have originated from sheep scrapie, this study investigated the pathogenicity for cattle, by intracerebral (i.c.) inoculation, of two pools of scrapie agents sourced in Great Britain before and during the BSE epidemic. Two groups of ten cattle were each inoculated with pools of brain material from sheep ...

The Neolithic introduction of domestic cattle into Europe was followed by differential adaptation, selection, migration and genetic isolation, leading ultimately to the emergence of specialized breeds. We have studied the differentiation of European cattle by amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) fingerprinting. Combining AFLP data sets from two laboratories yielded 81 biallelic polymor...

The main purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the presence of Neospora caninum infection in beef cattle from Hamedan province, Western Iran. Blood samples were collected from 514 industrial beef cattle and tested using ELISA. IgG antibodies against N. caninum were found in 102 (19.8%) sera. Significant differences were observed between seropositive cattle and age group (p=0.022). No si...

A cohort study was conducted to evaluate the risk of bovine leukemia virus (BLV) transmission to uninfected cattle by adjacent infected cattle in 6 dairy farms. Animals were initially tested in 2010-2011 using a commercial ELISA kit. Uninfected cattle were repeatedly tested every 4 to 6 months until fall of 2012. The Cox proportional hazard model with frailty showed that uninfected cattle neigh...

John M. Marsh (406) 994-5621 [email protected] Prices received by cow-calf producers depend upon many factors including retail beef demand, red meat and poultry supplies, food safety, trade in live cattle and beef, and breeding cattle inventories. In addition, feed grain supplies and prices are important since they impact the cost of gain in cattle finishing. Cost of gain influences feedlot de...

The Australian brushtail possum is the major source of infection for new cases of bovine tuberculosis in cattle in New Zealand. Using hypothetical values for the cost of putative cattle and possum Tb vaccines, the relative efforts required to eradicate Tb in cattle using possum culling, possum vaccination or cattle vaccination are compared. For realistic assumed costs for 1080 poison bait, poss...

BACKGROUND Interferon tau (IFNT), which is secreted into the uterine cavity during the maternal recognition period (MRP), is a key factor for establishment of pregnancy. The present study aims to clarify the relationship between the ability of a bovine conceptus to produce IFNT during the MRP and the conceptus's ability to establish pregnancy. METHODS In the first experiment, IFNT (0, 500, or...

BACKGROUND Ambiguous genitalia are a major cause of parental anxiety and can create social problems if not properly managed. Diagnosis and management can however be challenging. The aim of this study is to highlight some of the challenges in management of ambiguous genitalia in our environment. PATIENTS AND METHODS All cases of ambiguous genitalia managed at the Paediatric surgical unit of th...

Tuberculosis (TB) is endemic in Eurasian wild boar (Sus scrofa) and red deer (Cervus elaphus) in south central Spain, where evidence suggests transmission to domestic cattle. Known risk factors for TB at the interface between livestock and wild ungulate species include density and spatial overlap, particularly around waterholes during summer. We evaluated the effectiveness of selective exclusio...

Slaughter cattle (n = 360), selected and allocated to types according to their phenotypic breed type characteristics, were slaughtered in lots of 15 head at a large commercial packing plant. By-product weights were obtained for these lots of 15 head after plant personnel had separated the by-products according to plant procedures. Percentage of slaughter weight in each by-product was calculated...