Bovine Practitioners Research Articles

AABP Conference (2016): Cattle Production Veterinarian Hall of Fame Inductees Recognized

Description of the 2016 American Association of Bovine Practitioners.

AABP Conference (2016): President's Reception

Description of the 2016 American Association of Bovine Practitioners Conference.

AABP Conference (2016): Executive Vice President's Report

Description of the 2016 American Association of Bovine Practitioners.

AABP Conference (2016): Alumni Receptions

Description of the 2016 American Association of Bovine Practitioners.

AABP Conference (2016): Welcoming Receptions and Opening Ceremony

Description of the American Association of Bovine Practitioners Conference, 2016.

AABP Conference (2016): Minutes of the American Association of Bovine Practitioners Annual Business Luncheon

Description of the 2016 American Association of Bovine Practitioners.

AABP Conference (2016): Awards

Description of the 2016 American Association of Bovine Practitioners Conference.

AABP Conference (2016): AABP Foundation-Zoetis Scholarship Awards and Amstutz Scholarship Auction

Description of the 2016 American Association of Bovine Practitioners.

Pharmacokinetics and sedative effects of dexmedetomidine in dairy calves

AIMS: To evaluate the pharmacokinetics of dexmedetomidine (DEX) administered I/V at a dose of 5 µg/kg bodyweight in dairy calves and to compare the sedative effects of anaesthetic protocols involving DEX and xylazine.METHODS: Nine dairy calves, aged 17–20 days, were treated with 5 µg/kg I/V dexmedetomidine. For pharmacokinetic evaluation, blood samples were collected over 12 hours and serum samples were analysed by high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. Another nine dairy calves, aged 16–20 days, were treated with 0.2 mg/kg I/V xylazine. After both treatments, heart rate, respiratory rate and rectal temperature were measured for 20 minutes. Sedation quality and recovery times were also assessed.RESULTS: The kinetics of DEX was best described by a two-compartment model. The distribution and elimination half-lives were 8.7 (SD 5.0) and 83.5 (SD 67.5) minutes, respectively. Mean maximum concentration and body clearance were 12.5 (SD 8.6) ng/mL and 27.9 (SD 13.1) mL/minute/kg, respectively; the mean volume of distribution at steady state was 2,170.8 (SD 1,657.5) mL/kg. A decrease in heart rate was observed after treatments with both DEX and xylazine. No differences in heart or respiration rate, or rectal temperature were observed between the two treatment groups. The onset of sedation occurred after 2.7 (SD 0.67) minutes for calves treated with DEX and 2.8 (SD 0.78) minutes for calves treated with xylazine, and was characterised by a similar degree of deep sedation and ease of handling of the calves. All recoveries were eventless, and no adverse reactions were noted.CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Dexmedetomidine treatment resulted in a reliable and long lasting sedation in calves, a transient decrease in heart rate and no modification in respiratory rate or rectal temperature. The results were comparable to xylazine, the most popular alpha-2-agonist among bovine practitioners. The use of DEX in dairy calves for rapid procedures such as dehorning or castration could be suggested.

What bovine practitioners need to know about caseous lymphadenitis

Caseous lymphadenitis (CL) is one of the costliest, but most under-appreciated infectious diseases of sheep and goats, often leading to premature culling or death. Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis in sheep and goats results in lifelong infection, with reoccurring abscesses of the peripheral and/or internal lymph nodes and the associated clinical signs. Transmission is by direct contact and indirectly by contamination of feeders, equipment, and the environment. Diagnosis is by abscess culture or necropsy. The serologic test has limitations but can be used to detect exposure to the organism; it may be used to facilitate segregation or culling in herds with low incidence of CL or to exclude introduction of infected animals. Premises hygiene, vaccination, segregation of herd by disease status, and isolation of clinical animals during treatment are the main strategies used to control CL in heavily infected herds. Intensive management of clinical abscesses with early detection ofripening abscesses, animal isolation until the abscess is healed, lancing abscesses in an isolation environment, and preventing cross-contamination of premises and potential fomites are keys to successful management. Vaccination can be used to reduce the number of animals with abscesses and the number of abscesses per animal, thereby reducing the overall herd exposure in endemic herds. Control and eradication of CL requires longterm commitment to an integrated management approach to reduce environmental contamination and prevent direct transmission in the herd or flock.

Bovine nutrition and ration formulation basics in veterinary medicine

One of the most needed services by clients in food animal production is nutritional consulting. While many of the management tools needed by successful food animal producers can be acquired by experience, hard work, and good instincts, the understanding and application of sound nutritional principles is not easily obtained. Because food animq} veterinarians are well educated, trusted, and in close proximity to their clients and their animals, they are in a unique position to bridge this nutritional knowledge gap. The important relationship of nutrition to disease, healing, and productivity make sub-optimal nutrition a significant deterrent to the goals of both veteriniarian and producer. While most veterinary students receive a relatively brief course on food animal nutrition, many opportunities exist to supplement that education with post-doctoral courses, both formal and informal, that can elevate their nutritional expertise to a level that can have a significant impact on the health of animals, the productivity of producers, and the growth of a veterinary practice. This presentation highlights a few of the ways that an innovative bovine practitioner can acquire and provide these needed services to the beef and dairy communities.

Congratulations Are in Order.

Alex Beck (CVM Class of 2016) was honored with not one but TWO awards at the 48th Annual Conference of the American Association of Bovine Practitioners this September in New Orleans. The awards are the Cargill and the AABP Foundation-Zoetis scholarships. Benjamin Baird ALSO won an AABP Foundation-Zoetis Scholarship this year. Abbi Olson was there to receive her Merck Animal Health Student Recognition Award. The “Coug” team won the AABP Quiz Bowl! The group includes (Right to Left) Benjamin Baird, Kirk Ramsey, Kevin Gavin, and Devon Kartchner. In This Issue

A systematic review and meta-analysis of the antibiotic treatment for infectious bovine keratoconjunctivitis: an update.

Infectious bovine keratoconjunctivitis (IBK) is a common and important disease of calves. Without effective vaccines, antibiotic therapy is often implemented to minimize the impact of IBK. This review updates a previously published systematic review regarding comparative efficacy for antibiotic treatments of IBK. Available years of Centre for Biosciences and Agriculture International and MEDLINE databases were searched, including non-English results. Also searched were the American Association of Bovine Practitioners and World Buiatrics Congress conference proceedings from 1996 to 2016, reviews since 2013, reference lists from relevant trials, and U.S. Food and Drug Administration New Animal Drug Application summaries. Eligible studies assessed antibiotic treatment of naturally-occurring IBK in calves randomly allocated to group at the individual level. Outcomes of interest were clinical score, healing time, unhealed ulcer risk, and ulcer surface area. A mixed-effects model comparing active drug with placebo was employed for all outcomes. Heterogeneity was assessed visually and using Cochran's Q-test. Thirteen trials assessing nine treatments were included. Compared with placebo, most antibiotic treatments were effective. There was evidence that the treatment effect differed by day of outcome measurement. Visually, the largest differences were observed 7-14 days post-treatment. These results indicate improved IBK healing with many antibiotics and suggest the need for randomized trials comparing different antibiotic treatments.

Virus-induced congenital malformations in cattle.

Diagnosing the cause of bovine congenital malformations (BCMs) is challenging for bovine veterinary practitioners and laboratory diagnosticians as many known as well as a large number of not-yet reported syndromes exist. Foetal infection with certain viruses, including bovine virus diarrhea virus (BVDV), Schmallenberg virus (SBV), blue tongue virus (BTV), Akabane virus (AKAV), or Aino virus (AV), is associated with a range of congenital malformations. It is tempting for veterinary practitioners to diagnose such infections based only on the morphology of the defective offspring. However, diagnosing a virus as a cause of BCMs usually requires laboratory examination and even in such cases, interpretation of findings may be challenging due to lack of experience regarding genetic defects causing similar lesions, even in cases where virus or congenital antibodies are present. Intrauterine infection of the foetus during the susceptible periods of development, i.e. around gestation days 60–180, by BVDV, SBV, BTV, AKAV and AV may cause malformations in the central nervous system, especially in the brain. Brain lesions typically consist of hydranencephaly, porencephaly, hydrocephalus and cerebellar hypoplasia, which in case of SBV, AKAV and AV infections may be associated by malformation of the axial and appendicular skeleton, e.g. arthrogryposis multiplex congenita. Doming of the calvarium is present in some, but not all, cases. None of these lesions are pathognomonic so diagnosing a viral cause based on gross lesions is uncertain. Several genetic defects share morphology with virus induced congenital malformations, so expert advice should be sought when BCMs are encountered.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13028-015-0145-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Effect of veterinary student rectal palpation on early pregnancy loss in dairy cattle

Rectal palpation is the most commonly used method for pregnancy determination in cattle. Surveys of bovine practitioners seeking to hire new graduates rank it as a skill they expect students to perform proficiently. Teaching this important technique to veterinary students is a challenge in an academic setting because of the perceived detrimental effect student palpation may have on a client’s animals. Additionally an inability by the instructor to guide a student's hand while rectally palpating makes verification of learning difficult. The goal of this study was to determine if student palpation led to an increase in pregnancy loss. We hypothesized that there would be no difference in pregnancy loss between cows that were palpated using transrectal ultrasonography by a clinician to cows that were ultrasounded by a clinician and then palpated by a fourth year veterinary student. Further, we hypothesized that students that had taken the elective formal palpation training class through The Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine (VETPREV 796.17: Bovine Palpation) would be more likely to cause early pregnancy loss in dairy cattle. The concern was that the advanced trained students may be more aggressive in their palpation technique.

A bull breeding soundness evaluation system with greater emphasis on scrotal circumference

Bull breeding soundness evaluation (BBSE) is a method applied to reduce the risk of using subfertile bulls in herds. There are currently two BBSE systems, those of the Society for Theriogenology (SFT) and the Western Canadian Association of Bovine Practitioners (WCABP). Scrotal circumference (SC), sperm motility (SM) and normal sperm (NS) of 454 bulls aged between 12 and 15 months of a Spanish beef breed were used to compare both systems, and since there is no agreement on that BBSE system must be applied in Spain, a single one was proposed for its consideration. SC was adjusted to 15 months (SC15) and the mean of the BBSE traits was: SC15 (34.2±2.4cm), SM (76.6±14.6%) and NS (76.8±12.3%). In the PROPOSED system, the SM and NS thresholds were those defined by the WCABP system, while the SC15 thresholds were set by combining the SFT threshold and SC15±1SD in order to establish four classification categories, the three proposed by the WCABP system: unsatisfactory, questionable and satisfactory, and other category, called superior, for bulls with SM≥60%, NS≥70% and SC15≥Mean+1SD. The PROPOSED system scored fewer bulls as unsatisfactory than the SFT and the WCABP systems (8.6%, 23.6% and 22.5%, respectively; P<0.01), while the percentage of bulls from worst to best in the other three categories under the PROPOSED system was: 26.0%, 54.2% and 11.2%, respectively. In conclusion, the PROPOSED system gives more emphasis to SC, sets differences between bulls classified as satisfactory by the other systems and can be considered a good system for Spain and for other countries that have no defined their own system.

EFSA's assistance for the 2015 Codex Committee on Residues of Veterinary Drugs in Food (CCRVDF) in relation to rBST

EFSA's assistance for the 2015 Codex Committee on Residues of Veterinary Drugs in Food (CCRVDF) in relation to rBST

Bovine Practitioner Vol. 49, No. 1 (2015 Spring). Front matter

Cover, masthead, table of contents, and other editorial information.

AABP Association and Conference News

Description and highlights of the 47th Annual Convention American Association of Bovine Practitioners (2014) and information about officers, district news, events, awards, and other news.

What bovine practitioners need to know about traceability and scrapie

Veterinarians serving clients with small ruminants or working with small ruminants at fairs, shows, auctions or other activities must be familiar with identification requirements for sheep and goats. Scrapie program identification and records serve as the sheep and goat requirements for Animal Disease Traceability. Many online resources are available through USDA-APHIS to familiarize veterinarians with National Scrapie Eradication Program (NSEP) program requirements and clinical recognition of scrapie cases. Regulatory veterinarians, designated scrapie epidemiologists, and official testing laboratories conduct many elements of the NSEP, but private practitioners play a key role in assisting owners and community members in complying with NSEP animal identification and recordkeeping standards, completing certificates of veterinary inspection for animal movement, and recognizing clinical scrapie suspects in the field. Engagement by all veterinary practitioners, whether or not sheep and goats are a significant part of their practice, is needed to succeed in the eradication of scrapie from the United States.