British Cattle Research Articles

Cattle and sheep anthelmintics: reporting suspected lack of expected efficacy.

This focus article was adapted by Vanessa Swinson and Natalie Jewell of the APHA from one written collaboratively by the Veterinary Medicines Directorate, APHA, British Cattle Veterinary Association, Sheep Veterinary Society and National Office of Animal Health.

Better off by association

As workloads increase for farm vets, the British Cattle Veterinary Association is working hard to represent the farm vet profession at the highest levels, as well as providing educational resources year-round, culminating in the annual Congress each year.

Surveillance and Risk Analysis for Bovine Babesiosis in England and Wales to Inform Disease Distribution

Babesia divergens is a zoonotic piroplasm that infects both cattle and humans in Europe. Disease transmission occurs through Ixodes ricinus tick bites, a species that is increasing in abundance and distribution across Europe in response to climate and land-use changes. Developments in agri-environment policy and changing consumer demands may also have unintended consequences on tick-borne disease rates. Currently, B. divergens surveillance in British cattle is limited, rendering temporal trend analysis and the detection of potential zoonotic hotspots impossible. The objective of this study was to assess syndromic surveillance as a means of determining babesiosis distribution in British cattle, and to evaluate the intrinsic disease risk factors in order to respond to disease threats posed by changing environments. Samples from 95 clinically affected cattle on 70 unique holdings were screened for Babesia spp., using established blood smear examination techniques and a B. divergens-specific PCR method, between April and December 2021. B. divergens was detected in 45/95 animals (47.4%), with PCR offering the advantage of identification at species level. Infection with Anaplasma phagocytophilum was detected in 19/95 animals (20%). Co-infection was detected in five animals. The cases were recorded across multiple geographic regions and throughout the sampling period. Univariate logistic regression analysis failed to identify any statistically significant risk factors for B. divergens presence. This study demonstrates that bovine babesiosis is geographically widespread throughout England and Wales, placing a large proportion of the cattle population at risk of infection, with the potential for zoonotic transmission to humans.

Foraging behavior of Argentine Criollo and Angus cows grazing semi-desert rangelands in the Arid Gran Chaco region of Argentina

We monitored grazing behavior and habitat selection of Argentine Criollo (AC), South American heritage cattle breed, and Angus (AA) cows during summer and winter of 2016 (wetter year) and 2017 (drier year) at a site in La Rioja, Argentina. In each year and season, five AC and five AA cows were fitted with GPS collars configured to log animal position at 10-min intervals for 40 days. Movement, activity, and vegetation use patterns of each breed were derived from the GPS data. In summer, AC cows traveled similar daily distances, explored smaller (wetter year) or slightly larger (drier year) areas of the pasture, tended to move along more sinuous path trajectories, and showed stronger selection of the vegetation unit with higher forage quality and lowest woody cover compared to AA counterparts. AC cows allocated similar (wetter year) or more time to graze (drier year), allocated roughly the same amount of time to travel, and spent similar (wetter year) or less time resting (drier year) than AA cows. In winter, foraging behavior differences between breeds were only observed in the drier year. AC cows traveled farther and spent less time resting than AA counterparts that year. When comparing summer vs. winter movement patterns of each breed, AC cows showed an apparent greater ability to adapt to changing forage conditions (foraging plasticity) compared to AA counterparts which appeared to exhibit more rigid foraging patterns. Criollo cattle could be a tool to increase the resilience of Arid Chaco beef systems in the face of climate change. The rangeland conservation implications of raising Criollo vs. British beef cattle require further investigation.

Analysis of the impact of badger culling on bovine tuberculosis in cattle in the high-risk area of England, 2009-2020.

Since 2013, badger culling has been part of the UK Government's strategy for controlling bovine tuberculosis (bTB) within a high-risk area (HRA) in England. Government surveillance data now enables an examination of bTB herd incidence and prevalence, its headline indicators, within and outside cull areas over the period 2009-2020. Analysis compared herd incidence and prevalence data from within and outside badger culling areas. A range of models (GLMs, GLMMs, GAMs and GAMMs) were used to analyse incidence and prevalence in culled and unculled areas using frequentist and Bayesian approaches. Change in incidence across ten county areas within the HRA for the period 2010-2020 was also compared. Analyses based on Defra published data using a variety of statistical methodologies did not suggest that badger culling affected herd bTB incidence or prevalence over the study period. In 9 of 10 counties, bTB incidence peaked and began to fall before badger culling commenced. There are limitations around the data available on culling location, temporal information and other confounding factors. As such, further analysis of any future datasets that may be released on bTB levels in areas where badger culling has been implemented is warranted. This examination of government data obtained over a wide area and a long time period failed to identify a meaningful effect of badger culling on bTB in English cattle herds. These findings may have implications for the use of badger culling in current and future bTB control policy.

On Farm Emergency Slaughter and Emergency Killing of Acutely Injured Cattle: Analysis of Guidelines From Five Jurisdictions.

BackgroundIn July 2009, the Farm Animal Welfare Advisory Council (FAWAC) in the Republic of Ireland published Animal Welfare Guidelines for the Management of Acutely Injured Animals on Farm in support of a new Irish regulation designed to permit on-farm emergency slaughter (OFES) of cattle. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the FAWAC guidelines, to determine if they remain fit for purpose by comparing them with five guidelines on the management of acutely injured cattle from four jurisdictions purposively selected because of their relevance to OFES, and to represent geographical and organisational diversity; The United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and British Columbia/Canada.MethodologyContent and Thematic Analysis were used to compare the incidence and frequency of themes in the six guidelines using NVIVO 12.ResultsHumane killing and slaughter of animals and the prevention of unnecessary suffering at time of killing were emphasised in all guidelines. Thematic Analysis identified seven primary themes (“parent nodes”): animal welfare; decision tree; certification; legislation; stakeholders; transport and; veterinary ethics. Parent nodes encompassed 26 secondary themes (“child nodes”) including casualty slaughter, on-farm emergency slaughter, euthanasia, unnecessary suffering, animal owner, private veterinary practitioner, official veterinarian and fitness for transport. Guidelines outlined stakeholders' roles in relation to all aspects of managing acutely injured cattle. Results showed similarities between FAWAC, the British Cattle Veterinary Association and the British Columbian/Canadian guidelines in relation to OFES as a method to address acutely injured cattle. OFES is not allowed in Australia or New Zealand as a method of managing acutely injured cattle.ConclusionsAnimal welfare guidelines play a pivotal role in informing all stakeholders involved in the management of acutely injured cattle. Guidelines vary from prescriptive standard operating procedures on actions that should be undertaken for food safety reasons, to descriptive guidance upholding practicalities in relation to equipment and methods to be used in managing acutely injured cattle not meant for human consumption. The FAWAC guidelines remain substantially relevant today and consistent with other welfare guidelines published in the jurisdictions that formed part of the study. However, they need to be reviewed to align with current regulations.

Quantifying changes in the British cattle movement network

The modelling of disease spread is crucial to the farming industry and policy makers. In some of these industries, excellent data exist on animal movements, along with the networks that these movements create, and allow researchers to model spread of disease (both epidemic and endemic). The Cattle Tracing System is an online recording system for cattle births, deaths and between-herd movements in the United Kingdom and is an excellent resource for any researchers interested in networks or modelling infectious disease spread through the UK cattle system. Data exist that cover many years, and it can be useful to know how much change is occurring in a network, to help judge the merit of using historical data within a modelling context. This article uses the data to construct weighted directed monthly movement networks for two distinct periods of time, 2004–2006 and 2015–2017, to quantify by how much the underlying structure of the network has changed. Substantial changes in network structure may influence policy-makers directly or may influence models built upon the network data, and these in turn could impact policy-makers and their assessment of risk. We examined 13 network metrics, ranging from general descriptive metrics such as total number of nodes with movements and total movements, through to metrics to describe the network (e.g., Giant weakly and strongly connected components) and metrics calculated per node (betweenness, degree and strength). Mixed effect models show that there is a statistically significant effect of the period (2004–2006 vs 2015–2017) in the values of nine of the 13 network metrics. For example median total degree decreased by 19%. In addition to examining networks for two time periods, two updates of the data were examined to determine by how much the movement data stored for 2004–2006 had been cleansed between updates. Examination of these updates shows that there are small decreases in problem movements (such as animals leaving slaughterhouses) and therefore evidence of historical data being improved between updates. In combination with the significant effect of period on many of the network metrics, the modification of data between updates provides further evidence that the most recent available data should be used for network modelling. This will ensure that the most representative descriptions of the network are available to provide accurate modelling results to best inform policy makers.

A new phylodynamic model of Mycobacterium bovis transmission in a multi-host system uncovers the role of the unobserved reservoir.

Multi-host pathogens are particularly difficult to control, especially when at least one of the hosts acts as a hidden reservoir. Deep sequencing of densely sampled pathogens has the potential to transform this understanding, but requires analytical approaches that jointly consider epidemiological and genetic data to best address this problem. While there has been considerable success in analyses of single species systems, the hidden reservoir problem is relatively under-studied. A well-known exemplar of this problem is bovine Tuberculosis, a disease found in British and Irish cattle caused by Mycobacterium bovis, where the Eurasian badger has long been believed to act as a reservoir but remains of poorly quantified importance except in very specific locations. As a result, the effort that should be directed at controlling disease in badgers is unclear. Here, we analyse densely collected epidemiological and genetic data from a cattle population but do not explicitly consider any data from badgers. We use a simulation modelling approach to show that, in our system, a model that exploits available cattle demographic and herd-to-herd movement data, but only considers the ability of a hidden reservoir to generate pathogen diversity, can be used to choose between different epidemiological scenarios. In our analysis, a model where the reservoir does not generate any diversity but contributes to new infections at a local farm scale are significantly preferred over models which generate diversity and/or spread disease at broader spatial scales. While we cannot directly attribute the role of the reservoir to badgers based on this analysis alone, the result supports the hypothesis that under current cattle control regimes, infected cattle alone cannot sustain M. bovis circulation. Given the observed close phylogenetic relationship for the bacteria taken from cattle and badgers sampled near to each other, the most parsimonious hypothesis is that the reservoir is the infected badger population. More broadly, our approach demonstrates that carefully constructed bespoke models can exploit the combination of genetic and epidemiological data to overcome issues of extreme data bias, and uncover important general characteristics of transmission in multi-host pathogen systems.

Antimicrobial Resistance Patterns of Escherichia coli Isolated from Sheep and Beef Farms in England and Wales: A Comparison of Disk Diffusion Interpretation Methods.

Little data exist on the levels of antimicrobial resistance from bacteria isolated from British sheep and beef cattle. The aim of this study was to investigate antimicrobial resistance patterns on sheep and beef farms in England and Wales using multiple interpretation methods. Fecal samples (n = 350) from sheep and beef cattle were collected from 35 farms. Disk diffusion antimicrobial susceptibility testing against ten antimicrobials was carried out for 1115 (699 sheep, 416 beef) β-glucuronidase-positive Escherichia coli isolates. Susceptibility was interpreted using clinical breakpoints, which determine clinically resistant bacteria, and epidemiological and livestock-specific cut-off values, which determine microbiological-resistant bacteria (non-wild type). Using livestock-specific cut-off values, a high frequency of wild type for all ten antimicrobials was observed in isolates from sheep (90%) and beef cattle (85%). Cluster analysis was performed to identify patterns in antimicrobial resistance. Interpretation of susceptibility using livestock-specific cut-off values showed a cluster of isolates that were non-wild type to cefotaxime and amoxicillin/clavulanic acid, whereas clinical breakpoints did not. A multilevel logistic regression model determined that tetracycline use on the farm and soil copper concentration were significantly associated with tetracycline non-wild type isolates. The results suggest that using human clinical breakpoints could lead to both the under-reporting and over-reporting of antimicrobial resistance in sheep and beef cattle.

PSI-30 Evaluation of urine estrone sulfate (P-Test) in beef cattle as an alternative pregnancy detection method

Abstract Pregnancy detection in cattle can be expensive and labor intensive to producers. A simple, cost-efficient method of determining early pregnancy, chute side, is lacking within the industry. This study tested various proven pregnancy detection methods against an alternative method. Pregnancy was assessed by ultrasonography, blood serum pregnancy-specific protein B (PSPB), and urine estrone sulfate (“P-Test”). A fixed timed AI (FTAI) protocol was conducted on 14 predominantly British cattle housed at Tarleton State University in Stephenville, TX. Cows were synchronized using the co-synch plus 7 day CIDR protocol, with PGF injection of d 7. Heifers were synchronized similarly with the exception of GnRH injection on d 1. Estrotech patch scores (1 – 4, 1 showing little signs of estrus to 4 presenting signs of estrus) were utilized to indicate estrus activity prior to FTAI (21.4% vs. 78.6% females scored 1 vs. 4, respectively). FTAI was performed on protocol d 10 along with a 2mL injection of GnRH. Serum for PSPB analysis was collected at d 30 and 60 post insemination, while urine was sampled on d 60. Overall 53.8% (ultrasonography) and 71.4% (PSPB) of cattle were determined to be pregnant at d 30 post FTAI. Chi squared analysis proved that PSPB and ultrasound were similar at detecting pregnancy (P = 0.04). At d 60 “P-Test” color varied indicating differing levels of estrone sulfate. A t-test revealed increased PSPB from d 30–60 post FTAI (P < 0.0001); however, “P-Test” could not predict similar results (P = 0.655). Data suggest the “P-Test” is not a consistent method to diagnose early pregnancy. Future studies may be warranted to investigate a more desirable time point for utilizing the chute side “P-Test” as a reliable method to determine pregnancy.

Considering your wellbeing needs in practice

As part of the ‘Wellbeing & Diversity’ sessions at The British Cattle Veterinary Association's Congress 2019, David Charles discussed some important things to consider to protect your wellbeing in practice. He also touched on the importance of working to protect the wellbeing of new graduates and new team members in your practice. This article summarises some of the BCVA talk and lessons learned throughout the author's first year in practice.

Quantitative assessment of the probability of introducing bovine brucellosis into English cattle herds by imported live cattle

A stochastic simulation model was developed to estimate the quarterly probability (PIntro) of introducing bovine brucellosis into English cattle herds, by at least one imported live cattle (potential carrier of Brucella abortus). The probability of spread after introduction was not included and imports from several countries were considered. Information used to parameterise model´s inputs was obtained from the literature, legislation and analysis of several national datasets (2013 to 2016), which contained information on imported cattle and testing schemes used in the English cattle population. Exporting countries were divided according to official brucellosis status “J” into: Officially Brucellosis Free (OBF), Non-Officially Brucellosis Free (Non-OBF) and in OBF-Validation (during the first five years of OBF status). The entire English cattle population was divided into eight strata “S” by combination of laboratory testing data and herd type. The only risk mitigation measure considered was the testing for antibodies on animals older than one year and imported from Non-OBF countries. Probabilities of introduction at herd and stratum level were combined into the overall national PIntro. Two scenarios were run. In the baseline scenario, the between herds prevalence BHP(OBF) in OBF countries was set according to information from EFSA and from the EU legislation. In the alternative scenario only the former was used and BHP(OBF) was set very low/negligible. For Non-OBF and OBF-Validation countries, the BHP was set with distributions based on the literature. In the baseline scenario, between 2013 and 2016, the quarterly median PIntro ranged from 1.3% to 5.5%. For the last year considered, the median of the quarterly medians PIntro was 2.8% (median of 5th percentiles = 0.4%; median of 95th percentiles =10.7%). Therefore, on average, at least one introduction could be expected each (approximated) 36 surveillance periods (9, 281), so each ≈ 9 years (2; 70). According to the alternative scenario, the PIntro was very low and on average at least one introduction could be expected each ≈ 125 years.

Cow Trials, Climate Change, and the Causes of Violence

Abstract In 1641, according to the vicar Thomas Johnson, Irish rebels in Mayo, in “meere hatred and derision of the English,” tried a group of English cattle for unspecified charges. They were convicted and executed. Many historians have pointed to this striking event as an example of the deep hatred underlying popular violence in the rebellion. The trials, however, were merely the most spectacular iteration of long-standing conflicts over transformations in animal husbandry between the Munster Plantation in the 1580s and the rebellion of the 1640s. The new pastoralism that emerged during these decades threatened traditional practices and landscapes while creating new vulnerabilities to poor weather and economic downturns. The combination of economic crises and harsh weather associated with the Little Ice Age exposed these vulnerabilities. The cow trials show that environmental forces shaped the 1641 Rebellion but demonstrate that historians assessing the impacts of climate and weather must attend to the social and economic contexts that produce vulnerability.

Serological survey of wild cervids in England and Wales for bovine viral diarrhoea virus

BackgroundBovine viral diarrhoea (BVD) is a production disease commonly found in British cattle herds. Species other than cattle have been shown to be infected with the virus, thereby providing a...

Quantitative analysis of calf mortality in Great Britain

National bodies in Great Britain (GB) have expressed concern over young stock health and welfare and identified calf survival as a priority; however, no national data have been available to quantify mortality rates. The aim of this study was to quantify the temporal incidence rate, distributional features, and factors affecting variation in mortality rates in calves in GB since 2011. The purpose was to provide information to national stakeholder groups to inform resource allocation both for knowledge exchange and future research. Cattle birth and death registrations from the national British Cattle Movement Service were analyzed to determine rates of both slaughter and on-farm mortality. The number of births and deaths registered between 2011 and 2018 within GB were 21.2 and 21.6 million, respectively. Of the 3.3 million on-farm deaths, 1.8 million occurred before 24 mo of age (54%) and 818,845 (25%) happened within the first 3 mo of age. The on-farm mortality rate was 3.87% by 3 mo of age, remained relatively stable over time, and was higher for male calves (4.32%) than female calves (3.45%). Dairy calves experience higher on farm mortality rates than nondairy (beef) calves in the first 3 mo of life, with 6.00 and 2.86% mortality rates, respectively. The 0- to 3-mo death rate at slaughterhouse for male dairy calves has increased from 17.40% in 2011 to 26.16% in 2018, and has remained low (<0.5%) for female dairy calves and beef calves of both sexes. Multivariate adaptive regression spline models were able to explain a large degree of the variation in mortality rates (coefficient of determination = 96%). Mean monthly environmental temperature and month of birth appeared to play an important role in neonatal on-farm mortality rates, with increased temperatures significantly reducing mortality rates. Taking the optimal month of birth and environmental temperature as indicators of the best possible environmental conditions, maintaining these conditions throughout the year would be expected to result in a reduction in annual 0- to 3-mo mortality of 37,571 deaths per year, with an estimated economic saving of around £11.6 million (USD $15.3 million) per annum. National cattle registers have great potential for monitoring trends in calf mortality and can provide valuable insights to the cattle industry. Environmental conditions play a significant role in calf mortality rates and further research is needed to explore how to optimize conditions to reduce calf mortality rates in GB.

Farmers' Uptake of Animal Health and Welfare Technological Innovations. Implications for Animal Health Policies.

The paper analyses the uptake of animal health and welfare technologies by livestock farmers focusing on the identification of different behavioral patterns occurring in subpopulations of farmers and the assessment of the effect socio-economic and attitudinal factors have on these patterns. The technologies of interest include new genomic technologies, animal electronic identification (EID) for farm management, cattle surveillance, welfare qualitative behavioral assessment, anaerobic digestion, pedometers or activity monitors to detect oestrus and increase fertility/conception, and webcams/smart phones/tablets for animal husbandry. We use latent class analysis modeling and cross-section survey data to construct typologies of farmers based on technological uptake and heterogeneous characteristics. Our results suggest that, while three fifths of the farmers are “non-adopters,” a third is classified as “current adopters” of animal EID for farm management, and a twelfth as “future adopters” of either or more types of animal health and welfare technologies. Age, agricultural income, perceived difficulty to invest in new technologies, agri-environmental scheme membership, and frequency of access to information on animal EID for farm management and cattle surveillance through British Cattle Movement Service, are significant predictors of typology membership. The findings are policy relevant as they give quantitative evidence on the factors influencing technological uptake and, as such, help identify the most likely adopters and optimize the cost of targeting them. As information access was found to be among the factors influencing multiple technology adoption, policy instruments should include the provision of training as regards the implementation of technologies and their combined impact on farm. Farmers' adoption of interrelated innovations suggests the need to coordinate individual policies aimed at encouraging uptake of different technologies. As shown here, this would concern not only synchronizing animal health and welfare policies, but also their interaction with others such as agri-environmental ones. Moreover, the results show that animal health policies requiring regulatory compliance may lead to voluntary uptake of additional or complementary technologies which relate to not just meeting but exceeding standards of animal welfare and health practices.

Do Young Calves Influence Movement Patterns of Nursing Raramuri Criollo Cows on Rangeland?

We compared movement patterns of nursing versus non-nursing cows and characterized cow-calf proximity patterns over 2 years in two herds of Raramuri Criollo (RC) cattle that grazed either desert rangeland of southern New Mexico, United States, or woodlands of west-central Chihuahua, Mexico. At each site, 9−14 randomly selected mature cows were fitted with Global Positioning System (GPS) collars configured to record animal position at 5-min intervals. Four to five GPS-collared nursing cows and their calves were also fitted with proximity loggers that recorded initiation time and duration of dam-calf contact events (< 1 m logger-to-logger distance). All calves were < 2 wk old at the onset of the study. Collared animals grazed with a herd of 30 and 35 cows at the NM site and with 68 and 87 cows at the Chihuahua site in 2015 and 2016, respectively. Non-nursing RC cows exhibited straighter travel paths and explored larger daily areas than their nursing counterparts. However, nursing and non-nursing RC cows in this study traveled similar distances each day, moved at comparable velocities, spent similar amounts of time close to drinkers, and did not differ in daily time spent grazing, resting, or traveling. A higher number of cow-calf contact events occurred during day versus nighttime hours, but total day versus night contact time was similar. As calves became older, the number of both day and nighttime contact events, as well as dam-offspring contact time, decreased significantly. Relative to their calves, dams explored larger areas of the pasture each day; however, cow-calf contact events occurred throughout the entire area grazed by the dams including areas surrounding the drinkers. Cow-calf interactions of RC cows resembled those of a strong follower regardless of the grazing environment and differed from previously reported mother-offspring relations in mainstream British beef cattle breeds.

Advances in Bovine Digital Diseases

A full week was devoted to discussion, sometimes heated, of bovine digital problems at a meeting organized by the British Cattle Veterinary Association in Liverpool, England, July 16-20, 1990. The first and last days, confined to members of the international study group on diseases of the ruminant digit (sixth meeting) involved twenty papers and considerable discussion on recent observations and studies. The three intervening days' program was a forum for an "Update in Cattle Lameness" (US $20 or £12 sterling post free from Dr. R. D. Murray, Department of Veterinary Clinical Studies, University of Liverpool Field Station, "Leahurst", Neaton, S. Wirral, Cheshire L64 7TE, England) attended by over 200 veterinarians and others, including large, predominantly European and Japanese contingents. This study was conceived in response to NCA's resolution to encourage biological and pharmaceutical manufacturers to provide tissue reaction data on all animal health products and to encourage development of acceptable alternative routes of administration to the problematic IM method.

CattleReview

Introduction: This addition of Cattle Review considers papers on contact networks between British cattle farms, footbaths in the treatments and control of digital dermatitis (DD) and the impact of Mycoplasma bovis in Danish dairy herds.

Detection of extended-spectrum β-lactam, AmpC and carbapenem resistance in Enterobacteriaceae in beef cattle in Great Britain in 2015.

This study investigated the occurrence and genetic diversity of Enterobacteriaceae with extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)-, AmpC- and carbapenemase-mediated resistance in British beef cattle, and related risk factors. Faecal samples (n=776) were obtained from farms in England and Wales (n=20) and Scotland (n=20) in 2015. Isolates from selective agars were identified by MALDI ToF mass spectrometry. Selected isolates were characterized by multiplex PCR (blaCTX -M, blaOXA , blaSHV and blaTEM genes), whole-genome sequencing (WGS), minimum inhibitory concentrations and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. None of the faecal samples yielded carbapenem-resistant Escherichia coli. Ten (25%) of the farms tested positive for ESBL-producing CTX-M Enterobacteriaceae, 15 (37·5%) of the farms were positive for AmpC phenotype E.coli and none were positive for carbapenem-resistant E.coli. WGS showed a total of 30 different resistance genes associated with E.coli, Citrobacter and Serratia from ESBL agars, and colocation of resistance genes with blaCTX -M1 . Buying bulls and bringing in fattening cattle from another farm were identified as significant risk factors for positive samples harbouring CTX-M Enterobacteriaceae or AmpC phenotype E.coli respectively. Beef cattle on a proportion of farms in GB carry ESBL-producing Enterobacteriaceae. Factors, such as operating as a closed herd, may have an important role in reducing introduction and transmission of resistant Enterobacteriaceae. The results indicate management factors may play an important role in impacting ESBL prevalence. In particular, further study would be valuable to understand the impact of maintaining a closed herd on reducing the introduction of resistant Enterobacteriaceae. This is the first study showing the presence of ESBL-producing Enterobacteriaceae in British beef cattle.