livestock Archives

Foot-and-mouth disease: A new antiviral stops the super-spreader in its tracks

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Tatsuya Nishi and Kazuki Morioka tested the effectiveness of antiviral drug T-1105 against foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) in pigs.

Dr Tatsuya Nishi and Dr Kazuki Morioka from the National Institute of Animal Health at the National Agriculture and Food Research Organization, Japan, have been testing a promising treatment against foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV). Feeding pigs an antiviral drug (T-1105) may prevent any outbreak from spreading since it inhibits pigs from producing virus particles. Pigs are currently thought to be […]

An in-depth look at the East Coast fever vaccine

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Professor Andrew Peters and Dr Fiona Allan undertook a systematic literature review to better understand the vaccination options for East Coast fever, with an aim to inform policy and practice for liverstock keepers in sub-Saharan Africa.

East Coast fever causes significant losses among cattle in eastern, central and southern Africa, affecting the livelihoods of livestock keepers in these regions. There is no conventional vaccine for this disease and, instead, an infection and treatment method is implemented using Muguga cocktail and oxytetracycline. Professor Andrew Peters and Dr Fiona Allan of the University of Edinburgh conducted a systematic […]

Open range cattle herding in Texas: A very European affair

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Cowboys on horseback are an icon of Texas. The commonly accepted scenario is that cattle herding, first introduced into Mexico, expanded northward via the arid central highlands. However, Professor William E. Doolittle (University of Texas at Austin), has revealed a much more important route via the tropical lowlands of Mexico’s east coast. Cattle were first introduced to this region by […]

Protein as a Unifying Metric for Carbon Footprinting Livestock

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The GHG-protein indicator can be used to inform consumers and producers about the impact of red meat consumption on GHG levels in Canada.

Agriculture and livestock production contribute significantly to greenhouse gas emissions and climate change. To reduce these emissions, some environmental groups advocate reducing the amount of red meat that we consume. James Dyer and Raymond Desjardins, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), were interested in the impact that reducing red meat, diversifying meat consumption and changing cattle diets could potentially have on […]