Disease In Beef Cattle Research Articles

Aplikasi Tepung Biji Pepaya sebagai Alternatif Obat Herbal dalam Pengendalian Penyakit Cacingan pada Sapi Potong

This research aims to analyze the potential of Papaya Seed Flour as an Alternative to Herbal Deworming Medicine in Controlling Worm Disease in Beef Cattle. The research was carried out in Paseh District, Sumedang Regency in January 2024. This research was carried out experimentally. The sampling technique was carried out using purposive random sampling. This research used bulls, aged around 1-1.5 years. This research uses a Pre-test Post-test Control Group Design. The research sample consisted of 10 penned bulls. Before the cow is given treatment in the form of giving the herbal medicine papaya seed flour (Pre-treatment), the cow's feces are taken to be identified and the number of worm eggs infecting the digestive tract is counted. The treatment given is in the form of administering herbal medicine from papaya seed flour (TBP) at a dose of 5g/head, for 3 consecutive days within a period of one week, then testing feces samples (post-treatment) to test the effectiveness of the herbal medicine in reducing levels of and the number of infecting worms. The test parameters in this study were the number of EPGs before and after administration of TBP and FECR until seven days after treatment ended. The research results showed that Papaya Seed Flour has the potential to be an alternative herbal worm medicine in suppressing the growth of digestive tract worms in cattle significantly (p<0.05) with an FECR value reaching 76.9%.

Dogs' ability to detect an inflammatory immune response in cattle via olfaction.

Canine olfaction is a potential means for detection of respiratory disease in beef cattle. In a prior study, two dogs were trained to discriminate between nasal swabs from healthy cattle and cattle that developed Bovine Respiratory Disease. Dogs had some ability to identify samples from BRD-affected cattle, but results were ambiguous. The purpose of this study was to evaluate more dogs using better-controlled training and testing procedures. Nasal and saliva swabs were collected from 96 cattle before and after administering a vaccine to induce an inflammatory immune response. Samples were stored at -80°C for up to 11 months before use, and samples from animals with an elevated body temperature at baseline were omitted. An automated olfactometer apparatus was constructed to improve blinding procedures and reduce opportunities for odor contamination. Four dogs were trained to distinguish between swabs from healthy and sickness-model cattle, including the two dogs from the previous study ("Runnels" and "Cheaps") and two inexperienced dogs ("Molokai" and "Amy"). During a seven-month training period, dogs were exposed to samples from 28 animals. Dogs were tested on 59 sets of unfamiliar samples. Performance varied among dogs (χ2 = 10.48, p = 0.02). Molokai's performance was above chance (0.73 ± 0.06, p = 0.0006), while Amy (0.44 ± 0.06, p = 0.43), Cheaps (0.53 ± 0.07, p = 0.79), and Runnels (0.56 ± 0.06, p = 0.43) did not respond correctly at a rate different from chance. Accuracy did not differ between nasal swabs (0.63 ± 0.08) and saliva swabs (0.53 ± 0.08, χ2 = 0.81, p = 0.37). The results of this study indicate that canine olfaction may be an effective means of detecting illness in beef cattle. However, individual dogs' aptitude for this detection task varies.

PREVALENSI PENYAKIT PINK EYE PADA TERNAK SAPI POTONG DI KABUPATEN MAJENE (Prevalance of pink eye disease in beef cattle in Majene Regency)

PREVALENSI PENYAKIT PINK EYE PADA TERNAK SAPI POTONG DI KABUPATEN MAJENE (Prevalance of pink eye disease in beef cattle in Majene Regency)

Johne’s disease in beef cattle: Correlation of serum ELISA and fecal PCR results from clinical cases and herd surveillance

Johne’s disease is caused by Mycobacterium avium ssp. paratu­berculosis (MAP) and can be a costly and frustrating disease in beef herds. Clinical Johne’s disease in cattle arises years after inoculation as diarrhea and progressive weight loss. Prior to reaching clinical status, subclinically infected cattle can shed bacteria into their environment, leading to continued spread of the disease within herds. The duration of subclinical infection is highly variable, and the humoral immune response and the amount of fecal shedding of MAP can vary greatly between in­dividuals and throughout the year. Currently available diagnos­tic tests (serum ELISA, fecal PCR, fecal culture) each have sig­nificant limitations. Assays may differ in their utility depending on whether they are used to confirm clinical cases of Johne’s disease or to screen healthy cattle for potential infection.

Time-course RNA-Seq analysis defines immunological and inflammatory mechanisms influenced by bovine respiratory disease

Bovine respiratory disease (BRD) remains the leading disease in beef cattle. Host gene expression at facility arrival may indi­cate BRD risk, however, time-course RNA-Seq could define how BRD development influences immunological and inflammatory responses. Here, we evaluated blood transcriptomes of high-risk beef cattle at 3 timepoints to illustrate BRD-associated host response.

Development and application of a new liver pathology recording system for use in cattle abattoirs

Liver disease in beef cattle has a significant global economic impact on feedlot and abattoir industries due to reduced animal performance, carcase yield, and carcase quality. This study aimed to create a post-mortem data collection tool which could be deployed at chain speed on an abattoir floor, as well as to evaluate pathological findings in both normal and condemned livers from an Australian beef cattle population. The first 1006 livers were used to formulate a user-friendly, high-throughput liver grading tool for use in an abattoir setting and to evaluate the histological features of common liver abnormalities. Subsequently, over 11,000 livers from a Southeast Queensland abattoir were analyzed. The most observed defects in condemned livers were liver abscessation, fibrosis, adhesions, and liver fluke, with histological features similar to previous reports. Bacterial culture was performed in 29 cases of liver abscessation, revealing a different balance of flora to that reported internationally. This study has developed an easy to use, efficient data collection tool that enables rapid, highly detailed assessment of large numbers of beef cattle livers at slaughter. This tool will allow thorough investigation into the effect of liver disease on beef production, in both industry and research contexts.

A survey on bloat in southern Australian beef production systems.

Frothy bloat, associated predominantly with grazing legume-based pastures, is considered the second most costly disease in beef cattle in southern Australia, costing $84.4 M annually. It frequently results in the sudden death of cattle. In response to concerns from cattle producers, an online survey was conducted in southern Australia in late 2020 to determine the impact of bloat, identify risk factors and determine the efficacy of current preventive measures. For 217 responses, over two-thirds (70%) of producers reported bloat occurring in the previous 12 months, with estimated morbidity and mortality rates of 3.7% and 5.0% respectively. Bloat was associated with clover or clover-dominant paddocks (79%) and was not associated with grass or grass-dominant pastures or low clover pastures (92%) nor grazing crops (27%). For bloat that occurred in the past 12 months, cattle were very commonly grazing on clover or clover-dominant paddocks (90%) and occasionally lucerne-dominated paddocks (7%). Two-thirds of producers reported having preventive measures in place when losses occurred. Bayesian Network analysis confirmed that grazing clover-based pastures for more than 7 days, yearling cattle and the months of July-September were the main risk factors for bloat occurrence, with pasture type (clover) being the most important. Conversely, no clear relationship between weather conditions and bloat occurrence was evident. This survey highlights the known risk of clover-based pastures for causing bloat in cattle, and that losses occur in many cases despite preventive measures being used. This suggests that current methods for preventing bloat in cattle are suboptimal.

Use of nCounter mRNA profiling to identify at-arrival gene expression patterns for predicting bovine respiratory disease in beef cattle

BackgroundTranscriptomics has identified at-arrival differentially expressed genes associated with bovine respiratory disease (BRD) development; however, their use as prediction molecules necessitates further evaluation. Therefore, we aimed to selectively analyze and corroborate at-arrival mRNA expression from multiple independent populations of beef cattle. In a nested case-control study, we evaluated the expression of 56 mRNA molecules from at-arrival blood samples of 234 cattle across seven populations via NanoString nCounter gene expression profiling. Analysis of mRNA was performed with nSolver Advanced Analysis software (p < 0.05), comparing cattle groups based on the diagnosis of clinical BRD within 28 days of facility arrival (n = 115 Healthy; n = 119 BRD); BRD was further stratified for severity based on frequency of treatment and/or mortality (Treated_1, n = 89; Treated_2+, n = 30). Gene expression homogeneity of variance, receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve, and decision tree analyses were performed between severity cohorts.ResultsIncreased expression of mRNAs involved in specialized pro-resolving mediator synthesis (ALOX15, HPGD), leukocyte differentiation (LOC100297044, GCSAML, KLF17), and antimicrobial peptide production (CATHL3, GZMB, LTF) were identified in Healthy cattle. BRD cattle possessed increased expression of CFB, and mRNA related to granulocytic processes (DSG1, LRG1, MCF2L) and type-I interferon activity (HERC6, IFI6, ISG15, MX1). Healthy and Treated_1 cattle were similar in terms of gene expression, while Treated_2+ cattle were the most distinct. ROC cutoffs were used to generate an at-arrival treatment decision tree, which classified 90% of Treated_2+ individuals.ConclusionsIncreased expression of complement factor B, pro-inflammatory, and type I interferon-associated mRNA hallmark the at-arrival expression patterns of cattle that develop severe clinical BRD. Here, we corroborate at-arrival mRNA markers identified in previous transcriptome studies and generate a prediction model to be evaluated in future studies. Further research is necessary to evaluate these expression patterns in a prospective manner.

Effects of danofloxacin dosing regimen on gastrointestinal pharmacokinetics and fecal microbiome in steers

Fluoroquinolones are a class of antimicrobial commonly used in human medicine, and deemed critical by the World Health Organization. Nonetheless, two formulations are approved for the treatment of respiratory disease in beef cattle. The objective of this study was to determine the gastrointestinal pharmacokinetics and impact on enteric bacteria of cattle when receiving one of the two dosing regimens (high: 40 mg/kg SC once or low: 20 mg/kg IM q48hr) of danofloxacin, a commonly utilized synthetic fluoroquinolone in veterinary medicine. Danofloxacin was administered to 12 steers (age 7 months) fitted with intestinal ultrafiltration devices at two different dosing regimens to assess the gastrointestinal pharmacokinetics, the shifts in the gastrointestinal microbiome and the development of resistant bacterial isolates. Our results demonstrated high intestinal penetration of danofloxacin for both dosing groups, as well as, significant differences in MIC values for E. coli and Enterococcus between dosing groups at selected time points over a 38 day period. Danofloxacin treatment consistently resulted in the Euryarchaeota phyla decreasing over time, specifically due to a decrease in Methanobrevibacter. Although microbiome differences were minor between dosing groups, the low dose group had a higher number of isolates with MIC values high enough to cause clinically relevant resistance. This information would help guide veterinarians as to appropriate dosing schemes to minimize the spread of antimicrobial resistance.

Longitudinal assessment of the bovine ocular bacterial community dynamics in calves

BackgroundInfectious Bovine Keratoconjunctivitis (IBK), commonly known as pinkeye, is one of the most significant diseases of beef cattle. As such, IBK costs the US beef industry at least 150 million annually. However, strategies to prevent IBK are limited, with most cases resulting in treatment with antibiotics once the disease has developed. Longitudinal studies evaluating establishment of the ocular microbiota may identify critical risk periods for IBK outbreaks or changes in the microbiota that may predispose animals to IBK.ResultsIn an attempt to characterize the establishment and colonization patterns of the bovine ocular microbiota, we conducted a longitudinal study consisting of 227 calves and evaluated the microbiota composition over time using amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) based on 16S rRNA sequencing data and culture-based approaches. Beef calves on trial consisted of both male (intact) and females. Breeds were composed of purebred Angus and composites with varying percentages of Simmental, Angus, and Red Angus breeds. Average age at the start of the trial was 65 days ±15.02 and all calves remained nursing on their dam until weaning (day 139 of the study). The trial consisted of 139 days with four sampling time points on day 0, 21, 41, and 139. The experimental population received three different vaccination treatments (autogenous, commercial (both inactivated bacteria), and adjuvant placebo), to assess the effectiveness of different vaccines for IBK prevention. A significant change in bacterial community composition was observed across time periods sampled compared to the baseline (p < 0.001). However, no treatment effect of vaccine was detected within the ocular bacterial community. The bacterial community composition with the greatest time span between sampling time periods (98d span) was most similar to the baseline sample collected, suggesting re-establishment of the ocular microbiota to baseline levels over time after perturbation. The effect of IgA levels on the microbial community was investigated in a subset of cattle within the study. However, no significant effect of IgA was observed. Significant changes in the ocular microbiota were identified when comparing communities pre- and post-clinical signs of IBK. Additionally, dynamic changes in opportunistic pathogens Moraxella spp. were observed and confirmed using culture based methods.ConclusionsOur results indicate that the bovine ocular microbiota is well represented by opportunistic pathogens such as Moraxella and Mycoplasma. Furthermore, this study characterizes the diversity of the ocular microbiota in calves and demonstrates the plasticity of the ocular microbiota to change. Additionally, we demonstrate the ocular microbiome in calves is similar between the eyes and the perturbation of one eye results in similar changes in the other eye. We also demonstrate the bovine ocular microbiota is slow to recover post perturbation and as a result provide opportunistic pathogens a chance to establish within the eye leading to IBK and other diseases. Characterizing the dynamic nature of the ocular microbiota provides novel opportunities to develop potential probiotic intervention to reduce IBK outbreaks in cattle.

Risk factors for bovine respiratory disease in beef cattle.

Bovine respiratory disease (BRD) is the leading cause of death in beef calves 3 weeks of age to weaning and is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in beef feeding and finishing systems. Each outbreak of respiratory disease is the result of the completion of a sufficient cause, which might have also included components of viral and bacterial pathogens, a certain state of immunity, or other component causes of respiratory disease in cattle that we fail to understand. Disease is expressed when a sufficient cause is completed. Disease events we observe, such as the occurrence of BRD, usually have relationships with risk factors that are commonly the subject of epidemiologic research and the primary subject of this paper. However, it is important to understand that underlying systems produce those relationships and, ultimately, the occurrence of disease. The risk factors for BRD include a complex set of component causes that include bacterial and viral pathogens, level of host immunity, and environmental conditions that favor pathogen transmission and stress-induced susceptibility. During the post-weaning phase, these factors are superimposed on a system of marketing, transportation, and decisions made to support economic opportunity that further increase the risk for BRD.

Longitudinal blood transcriptomic analysis to identify molecular regulatory patterns of bovine respiratory disease in beef cattle

Bovine respiratory disease (BRD) is the most common disease in beef cattle and leads to considerable economic losses in both beef and dairy cattle. It is important to uncover the molecular mechanisms underlying BRD and to identify biomarkers for early identification of BRD cattle in order to address its impact on production and welfare. In this study, a longitudinal transcriptomic analysis was conducted using blood samples collected from 24 beef cattle at three production stages in the feedlot: 1) arrival (Entry group); 2) when identified as sick (diagnosed as BRD) and separated for treatment (Pulled); 3) prior to marketing (Close-out, representing healthy animals). Expressed genes were significantly different in the same animal among Entry, Pulled and Close-out stages (false discovery rate (FDR) < 0.01 & |Fold Change| > 2). Beef steers at both Entry and Pulled stages presented obvious difference in GO terms (FDR < 0.05) and affected biological functions (FDR < 0.05 & |Z-score| > 2) when compared with animals at Close-out. However, no significant functional difference was observed between Entry and Pulled animals. The interferon signaling pathway showed the most significant difference between animals at Entry/Pulled and Close-out stages (P < .001 & |Z-score| > 2), suggesting the animals initiated antiviral responses at an early stage of infection. Six key genes including IFI6, IFIT3, ISG15, MX1, and OAS2 were identified as biomarkers to predict and recognize sick cattle at Entry. A gene module with 169 co-expressed genes obtained from WGCNA analysis was most positively correlated (R = 0.59, P = 6E-08) with sickness, which was regulated by 11 transcription factors. Our findings provide an initial understanding of the BRD infection process in the field and suggests a subset of novel marker genes for identifying BRD in cattle at an early stage of infection.

Australian beef producers’ knowledge and attitudes relating to hydatid disease are associated with their control practices

Despite available control strategies, hydatid disease in beef cattle has been shown to have a wider geographic range and higher prevalence than previously recognised in Australia. The aim of the current study was to determine whether producer knowledge and attitudes are associated with farm management practices that could influence transmission among domestic dogs, wildlife, livestock and humans.Between June and August 2019, a cross-sectional study was conducted among beef producers throughout Australia (N = 62). Producers were asked to complete an online survey to obtain information on their knowledge about hydatid disease, their attitudes towards the disease and their farm management practices that could affect transmission. Descriptive statistics were conducted to investigate potential predictors for practices that might influence transmission of the parasite. A Bayesian network (BN) model was then constructed to evaluate the interrelationships between variables.The results show that most respondents (87 %; 54/62) had heard of hydatid disease. However, only 61 % of respondents knew how hydatid disease is transmitted (38/62) and only half knew how to prevent transmission (52 %; 32/62). Of respondents that knew that hydatid disease could affect humans (44/62), many did not think their family was at risk (46 %, 20/44) because they dewormed their dogs and prevented their dogs’ access to offal. However, most respondents who owned dogs did not deworm their dogs frequently enough to prevent patency of Echinococcus granulosus infection (86 %; 49/57). Almost all respondents (94 %; 58/62) said they would take action if they found out their cattle were infected. BN analysis revealed that implementation of practices that could reduce the risk of hydatid disease transmission were associated with producers’ knowledge and attitudes. In the model, practices were most influenced by attitudes (percentage change in variance = 42 %). All respondents in the “hydatid prevention” practices group were in the “good” knowledge group and the “less concerned” attitudes group. In comparison, most of the respondents in the “standard husbandry” practices group were in the “poor” knowledge group and the “more concerned” attitudes group.In summary, the results indicate that greater knowledge of hydatid disease among beef producers is associated with practices that reduce hydatid risk and attitudes of less concern about hydatid impact on properties. Therefore, increasing producer knowledge is warranted to encourage adoption and improvement of hydatid prevention practices and would be well received by beef producers.

Assessment of the direct economic losses associated with hydatid disease (Echinococcus granulosus sensu stricto) in beef cattle slaughtered at an Australian abattoir

Bovine hydatid disease, characterised by fluid-filled hydatid cysts, is regularly found in the offal of beef cattle at slaughter. Organs found to be infected at slaughter are removed to preclude them from entering the human food chain. The organs are either downgraded to pet food or condemned. Previous studies have focussed on total economic losses, but have not calculated the cost of disease per animal, which would be useful information for producers when determining how best to manage hydatid disease. This study estimated the direct losses associated with hydatid disease in beef cattle slaughtered at an Australian beef abattoir both at the population (all cattle slaughtered) and individual animal level.Data on annual prevalence of hydatid disease in beef cattle were obtained from an Australian abattoir for the years 2011–2017. The direct losses resulting from the condemnation and downgrading of offal infected with hydatid cysts at the abattoir were estimated using data stratified by age, sex and feed-type. Official and literature-based sources of organ weight and price were used to estimate direct losses associated with hydatid disease in beef cattle slaughtered at the abattoir. Uncertainty and variability in input parameters were represented using uniform distributions and Monte Carlo sampling was used to model output parameter uncertainty.Out of 1,097,958 beef cattle slaughtered between January 2011 and December 2017, 97,832 (8.9%) were reported infected with hydatid disease. The median estimated direct loss to the abattoir for the duration of the study period was AU$655,560 (95% confidence interval [CI] AU$544,366–787,235). This equated to approximately AU$6.70 (95% CI AU$5.56–8.05) lost per infected animal. The annual median estimated direct losses due to hydatid disease at the abattoir were AU$93,651 (95% CI AU$77,767–112,462). Direct losses varied each year of the study and ranged from AU$38,683 in 2016 to AU$163,006 in 2014.This estimate of the direct losses associated with bovine hydatid disease most likely underestimates the true extent of the overall losses because indirect losses such as reduced carcass weights were not estimated in this study. Nevertheless, these estimates illustrate the negative economic impact of bovine hydatid disease and demonstrate that improved surveillance to enable control of hydatid disease should be considered both in Australia and globally. It would be worthwhile to estimate the losses in other beef abattoirs for the same time period to compare results, and to investigate the cost-benefit of control programs for bovine hydatid disease.

Echinococcus granulosus in the Northern Territory, Australia: hydatid disease reported in beef cattle from the region

Hydatid disease in beef cattle has been reported to be widespread throughout Australia, but cattle bred and raised in the Northern Territory were previously believed to be free of the disease. Between 2010 and 2016, 1061 cattle from the Northern Territory were slaughtered at a New South Wales abattoir and inspected for hydatid disease. The proportion of cattle reported infected with hydatid disease was 3.5%. Individual cattle identification numbers indicated that the cattle included in the study had most likely remained within the Northern Territory from birth until immediately prior to slaughter, so were assumed to have become infected within the region. We suspect that the sylvatic cycle of Echinococcus granulosus transmission could be responsible for infection of cattle in this region.

Molecular identification and phylogeny of bovine herpesvirus-1 (BoHV-1) from cattle associated with respiratory disorders and death in Turkey

This study aimed to investigate the presence of bovine herpesvirus 1 by molecular techniques in two cases of respiratory disease in beef cattle, reported from Amasya Province of Turkey in 2018. Nasal swab and lung tissue samples were taken. The presence of bovine herpesvirus-1 (BoHV-1) was confirmed by the PCR method using glycoprotein B (gB) gene-specific primers, and then the isolates were also subjected to partial sequencing. The results of the phylogenetic analysis revealed that the two new isolates in Turkey belonged to the same subclade as subtype 1.1 of BoHV-1, and both also had a 100% nucleotide (nt) homology with the Cooper reference strain of BoHV-1. These findings can enrich the gB sequence content data for BoHV-1 found in GenBank regarding Turkey.

A systematic review and network meta-analysis of bacterial and viral vaccines, administered at or near arrival at the feedlot, for control of bovine respiratory disease in beef cattle.

Vaccination against putative causal organisms is a frequently used and preferred approach to controlling bovine respiratory disease complex (BRD) because it reduces the need for antibiotic use. Because approximately 90% of feedlots use and 90% of beef cattle receive vaccines in the USA, information about their comparative efficacy would be useful for selecting a vaccine. We conducted a systematic review and network meta-analysis of studies assessing the comparative efficacy of vaccines to control BRD when administered to beef cattle at or near their arrival at the feedlot. We searched MEDLINE, MEDLINE In-Process, MEDLINE Daily Epub Ahead of Print, AGRICOLA, Cambridge Agricultural and Biological Index, Science Citation Index, and Conference Proceedings Citation Index - Science and hand-searched the conference proceedings of the American Association of Bovine Practitioners and World Buiatrics Congress. We found 53 studies that reported BRD morbidity within 45 days of feedlot arrival. The largest connected network of studies, which involved 17 vaccine protocols from 14 studies, was included in the meta-analysis. Consistent with previous reviews, we found little compelling evidence that vaccines used at or near arrival at the feedlot reduce the incidence of BRD diagnosis.

Immune competence traits assessed during the stress of weaning are heritable and favorably genetically correlated with temperament traits in Angus cattle1.

Selection for production traits with little or no emphasis on health-related traits has the potential to increase susceptibility to disease in food-producing animals. A possible genetic strategy to mitigate such effects is to include both production and health traits in the breeding objective when selecting animals. For this to occur, reliable methodologies are required to assess beneficial health traits, such as the immune capacity of animals. We describe here a methodology to assess the immune competence of beef cattle which is both practical to apply on farm and does not restrict the future sale of tested animals. The methodology also accommodates variation in prior vaccination history of cohorts of animals being tested. In the present study, the immune competence phenotype of 1,100 Angus calves was assessed during yard weaning. Genetic parameters associated with immune competence traits were estimated and associations between immune competence, temperament, and stress-coping ability traits were investigated. Results suggested that immune competence traits, related to an animal's ability to mount both antibody and cell-mediated immune responses, are moderately heritable (h2 = 0.32 ± 0.09 and 0.27 ± 0.08, respectively) and favorably genetically correlated with the temperament trait, flight time (r = 0.63 ± 0.31 and 0.60 ± 0.29 with antibody and cell-mediated immune responses, respectively). Development of methodologies to assess the immune competence phenotype of beef cattle is a critical first step in the establishment of genetic selection strategies aimed at improving the general disease resistance of beef herds. Strategies aimed at reducing the incidence of disease in beef cattle are expected to significantly improve animal health and welfare, reduce reliance on the use of antibiotics to treat disease, and reduce disease-associated costs incurred by producers.

Evaluation of the diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of meat inspection for hepatic hydatid disease in beef cattle in an Australian abattoir

Hydatid disease, caused by Echinococcus granulosus, is a widespread, endemic disease of Australian livestock, wildlife, and occasionally, humans. In the Australian beef industry, the disease is believed to have a substantial economic impact. The reference standard test (gold standard) for detection of hepatic hydatid cysts is gross identification of cysts following cutting of livers into 5–6 mm slices with histological identification in the case of equivocal cysts. This test is not feasible in abattoirs because it takes too long, destroys inspected livers which have monetary value, and could require laboratory facilities. Therefore, routine meat inspection in abattoirs comprises visualisation of the organ surface and palpation to detect hydatid cysts. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of current routine meat inspection processes in an abattoir to detect hepatic hydatid disease (the index test) in comparison to the reference standard test. Both the index and reference standard tests were performed on a systematic random sample of 636 livers from 5023 cattle slaughtered during the study period. Relative proportions of the true positives and false negatives were calculated for categories age, sex, feed-type (grass- or grain-fed), number of cysts, and size of cysts. Pearson’s Chi-squared analyses were used to assess the significance of these proportions. Relative diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of the index test were determined whilst accounting for the sampling fraction.The relative proportion of true positives to false negatives in livers with one cyst (True Positives [TP] = 30.2%) was significantly lower than in livers with 2–5 cysts (TP = 59.2%; P < 0.05), and livers with more than ten cysts (TP = 75%; P < 0.001). The diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of the index test was 24.9% (95% Confidence Interval [CI] 18.9–32.3) and 98.9% (95% CI 97.6–99.6), respectively. The high specificity demonstrates that truly uninfected livers are generally correctly reported. However, the low sensitivity of the index test indicates that prevalence reported by the focus abattoir is underestimated. Although the intended use of routine meat inspection for hydatid disease – to remove “unwholesome” meat from the line of human consumption – is conducted, the results of this study demonstrate that the prevalence of E. granulosus might be higher than reported in abattoir data.

Comparative efficacies of enrofloxacin and tulathromycin for the control of respiratory disease in beef cattle

Comparative efficacies of enrofloxacin and tulathromycin for the control of respiratory disease in beef cattle