Cattle

CattleReview

Johne's disease (JD) in cattle is a significant global animal health challenge. Johne's disease is chronic, affecting the gastrointestinal tract of cattle and other ruminants and is caused by the...

Bovine respiratory disease: prevention and control

It is not usually possible to determine the aetiology of BRD based on clinical examination alone; signs consistent with pneumonia are often observed irrespective of the causative agent. Both bacterial...

Impact of bovine herpesvirus-1 infection on fertility in dairy cattle

Primary infection with BoHV-1 results in local dissemination as the virus spreads from cell to cell across the mucosal surface, either in the respiratory or reproductive tract mucosa. It has proved...

Harnessing farmer engagement to develop a 10-point plan to control Johne's disease in dairy herds

This article uses a mixture of academic literature and expert opinions to establish common reasons for the success or failure of farmer and veterinary engagement in disease management programmes, with...

Managing the risk of ketosis

Monensin achieves its effect by increasing propionic acid production in the rumen. This was previously believed to be a consequence of a greater effect of monensin on Gram-positive bacteria than on...

CPD article: The California mastitis test: what is the value?

Milk is drawn from each quarter of the udder into a corresponding well in the paddle (Figure 1). Excess milk is drained away by tilting the paddle until approximately 3 ml of milk is left in each...

A brief review of bovine dystocia: risk factors, causes, approach and outcomes

For the sake of this article, short-term risk factors of dystocia are those that occur from the point of conception. The author will discuss these chronologically, starting with the breeding of the...

Why is longevity an important metric for the modern dairy herd?

The exact definition of longevity varies among studies, with productive life often discussed as the time a cow remains in the herd from first calving until culling or death (Brickell and Wathes, 2011;...

Control of infectious bovine rhinotracheitis

Infected animals excrete high quantities of virus during primary infection. BoHV-1 is mainly spread directly by close contact between animals (Figure 1). It can also be shed from the reproductive...

Building for the dairy cow

Getting the housing right is important for any herd, but it becomes increasingly so the longer the housing period. Just as there is an increase in numbers of seasonally block-calving herds in the UK,...

Update on liver fluke in sheep and cattle

The liver fluke life cycle takes around 20 weeks to complete and requires a snail intermediate host (Figure 1). Mature flukes (Figure 2) reside in the liver of the definitive host. Fluke eggs are...

Looking into lungworm

Where lungworm is a known problem, there is no easy way to predict when it will hit and waiting until coughing starts is less than ideal. Using a preventative vaccine on farms with a known lungworm...