END MARKET OPPORTUNITIES MARKET OVERVIEW Throughout Africa and in humid West Africa in particular, small ruminants must be considered primarily as sources of meat and meat products. There is ample evidence from several African regions that demand for meat is strong and increasing. This reflects greater urbanization and associated higher incomes, which have led to large domestic and internationa...

Ruminants are much less sensitive to ochratoxin A (OTA) than non-ruminants. The ruminal microbes, with protozoa being a central group, degrade the mycotoxin extensively, with disappearance half lives of 0.6-3.8 h. However, in some studies OTA was detected systemically when using sensitive analytical methods, probably due to some rumen bypass at proportions of estimated 2-6.5% of dosage (maximum...

Pest des petits ruminants (PPR) is one of the important viral diseases of goats and sheep. The viral agent of PPR, Small ruminant morbillivirus (SRM), has been shown to infect several species among domestic and wild ruminants. In order to investigate the occurrence of SRM infection in Water Buffalo (Bubalus bubalis), blood samples were collected from 150 buffaloes (98 males, 52 females) referre...

Enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157:H7 was first implicated in human disease in the early 1980s, with ruminants cited as the primary reservoirs. Preliminary studies indicated cattle to be the sole source of E. coli O157:H7 outbreaks in humans; however, further epidemiological studies soon demonstrated that E. coli O157:H7 was widespread in other food sources and that a number of transmissi...

Owing to the methane (CH4) produced by rumen fermentation, ruminants are a source of greenhouse gas (GHG) and are perceived as a problem. We propose that with appropriate regenerative crop and grazing management, ruminants not only reduce overall GHG emissions, but also facilitate provision of essential ecosystem services, increase soil carbon (C) sequestration, and reduce environmental damage....

Host factors are regarded as important in shaping the archaeal community in the rumen but few controlled studies have been performed to demonstrate this across host species under the same environmental conditions. A study was designed to investigate the structure of the methanogen community in the rumen of two indigenous (yak and Tibetan sheep) and two introduced domestic ruminant (cattle and c...

Anaplasma spp. and Ehrlichia spp. are tick-transmitted bacteria that are of significant economic importance as they can infect large and small ruminants and also people. There is little information on anaplasmosis and ehrlichiosis in ruminants in China. 16S rRNA FRET-qPCRs were used to screen convenience whole blood samples from 2,240 domestic ruminants in 12 provinces of China for Anaplasma sp...

In the last years, a polymorphic family of placenta-expressed proteins has been discovered in ruminant species and used for pregnancy diagnosis. Pregnancy diagnosis is an important part in reproduction management of ruminants. The pregnancy-associated glycoproteins (PAG) are synthesized in the mono- and binucleate cells of the ruminant's trophectoderm. Part of them is released into maternal blo...

While the international trade in small ruminants and small ruminant products is small relative to the trade in bovine, swine and poultry products, it is still economically important. In addition to wool, it includes some unique products (such as goat and sheep milk cheeses, cashmere fibre and karakul pelts) and the sheep/goat meat trade plays a large part in sustaining livelihoods in several re...