Diseases In Food Animals Research Articles

U.S. Consumer Attitudes toward Antibiotic Use in Livestock Production

Antimicrobial resistance, which decreases the efficacy of antibiotics and other antimicrobials, has led to concerns about the use of antibiotics in livestock production. Consumers play an important role in influencing producers’ decisions about the use of antimicrobials through their choices in the marketplace, which are driven by attitudes toward these practices. This study examines consumers’ levels of concern about (and acceptance of) the use of antibiotics in livestock production for four objectives: to treat, control, and prevent infections, and to promote growth. Results reveal that the majority of respondents were highly concerned about antibiotic use to promote growth in livestock production and considered this use to be unacceptable. Participants with higher objective knowledge of antibiotic resistance and antibiotic use in livestock production were more likely to accept antibiotic use to treat and control disease, but less likely to accept its use to prevent disease or to promote growth. Participants with high levels of trust in the livestock industry were more likely to accept antibiotic use to control and prevent infections and to be neutral about antibiotic use to promote growth in food animals. Respondents who believed that antibiotic use decreases animal welfare were more likely to be very concerned about antibiotic use to treat, prevent, and control disease, and less likely to accept antibiotic use to treat diseases in food animals. The study findings should be of interest to producers considering the adoption of sustainable technologies and production practices, food retailers making procurement decisions, and policymakers identifying policies that can alleviate antimicrobial resistance in the agri-food sector.

Degenerative joint disease in food animals, osteoarthritis

This datasheet on degenerative joint disease in food animals, osteoarthritis covers Identity, Hosts/Species Affected, Diagnosis.

Prevalence of Salmonella and Antimicrobial Resistance in Isolates from Food Animals - Six PLADs, China, 2019.

What is already known about this topic? Salmonella causes acute and chronic diseases in food animals, and infected food animals are one of the most important source of human infection. What does this report contribute? The prevalence of Salmonella was 10.5% in chicken samples, 24.4% in pig, 23.3% in duck, and 29.4% in milk. Salmonella isolates were highly resistant to ampicillin (59.60%). What are the implications for public health practices? Data on Salmonella infections among food animals in China could help identify sources and factors related to the spread of Salmonella in food animals and food production chains.

3 Addressing Food Animal Veterinary Services Shortages Through Veterinary Continuing Education Courses: A New Role for Extension as a Bridge Between Veterinary and Agriculture Communities

Abstract Food animal veterinary services are in demand due to regulatory changes that require more veterinary oversight in animal agriculture. The USDA identifies 13 counties in Arkansas as having food animal veterinary shortages. In response, the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service developed the Food Animal Medicine Workshop Series to train veterinarians in food animal medicine with the goal of encouraging veterinarians and their staff to provide more food animal services. The workshops are funded by the USDA NIFA Veterinary Services Grant Program, which allows for monthly continuing education (CE) courses for a two year period. Topics covered to date include: how to integrate backyard poultry into your practice, pharmaceutical use in food animal medicine, the Veterinary Feed Directive and the future of antimicrobial use in food animal medicine, infectious diseases in food animals, current issues and advances in food animal wellbeing, small ruminant medicine, cattle medicine, honey bee medicine, field services, and field necropsy. 171 veterinarians have attended the workshops, with an average class size of 18. All participants were awarded CE credits by the Arkansas Veterinary Medical Examining Board. Surveys were given to participants at the end of each course. A Likert scale was used to measure responses to statements about the workshop with 1 being “strongly disagree”, 2 being “disagree”, 3 being “agree” and 4 being “strongly agree”. Participants gave an average score of 3.9 when asked if their knowledge increased from the workshop, an average score of 3.8 when asked if they would attend future workshops in the series, and an average score of 3.2 when asked if they would incorporate what they learned into their practices. Information from the surveys indicates that the workshops are achieving the goal of increasing food animal services. A future survey of attendees will measure the actual increase in such services.

Chitosan Nanoparticle Based Mucosal Vaccines Delivered Against Infectious Diseases of Poultry and Pigs.

Infectious disease of poultry and pig are major threat to health and cause severe economic loss to the food industry and a global food safety issue. Poultry and pig act as a mixing vessel of zoonotic transmission of disease to humans. Effective mucosal vaccines used in animals could reduce the impact of diseases in food animals. Chitosan is a biocompatible polymer, and its positive charge makes it a natural mucoadhesive agent. Therefore, since last one-decade chitosan derived nanoparticles (CS NPs) have been in use widely to deliver vaccine antigens in animals through mucosal route. Primary route of entry of most infectious disease pathogen is through oral and nasal routes, and the CS NPs based vaccines delivered through that routes enhance the immunogenicity of encapsulated vaccine antigens by targeting the cargo to mucosal microfold cells, dendritic cells and macrophages. Resulting in induction of robust secretory and systemic antibodies and/or cell mediated immune response which provides protection against infections. To date, CS NPs is being widely used for mucosal vaccine delivery in poultry and pigs to control bacterial and viral infections, and tested in several preclinical trials for vaccine delivery in humans. In this review, we highlighted the progress so far made in using CS NPs as a vehicle for mucosal vaccine delivery against infectious and zoonotic diseases of poultry and pigs. Discussed about the need of CS NPs modifications, CS NPs based vaccines induced immune responses and its role in protection, and challenges in vaccination and future directions.

Cross-Sectional Survey on Food Animal Diseases and Pharmaceuticals Prescribing Pattern in Jhenaidah, Bangladesh

Cross-Sectional Survey on Food Animal Diseases and Pharmaceuticals Prescribing Pattern in Jhenaidah, Bangladesh

Animal Breed Composition Is Associated With the Hindgut Microbiota Structure and β-Lactam Resistance in the Multibreed Angus-Brahman Herd.

Antibiotics have been widely used in livestock to treat and prevent bacterial diseases. However, use of antibiotics has led to the emergence of antibiotic resistant microorganisms (ARMs) in food animals. Due to the decreased efficacy of antibiotics, alternatives to antibiotics that can reduce infectious diseases in food animals to enhance animal health and growth performance are urgently required. Here, we show that animal genetics is associated with the hindgut microbiome, which is related to fat deposition and beta-lactam resistance in the gastrointestinal tract. We investigated the hindgut microbiota structure in 95 postweaning heifers belonging to the unique multibreed Angus-Brahman herd with breed composition ranging from 100% Angus to 100% Brahman. The hindgut microbial composition of postweaning heifers differed among breed groups. The mucin-degrading bacterium Akkermansia known for promoting energy expenditure was enriched in Brahman calves that contained less intramuscular fat content, while butyrate-producing bacterium Faecalibacterium was linearly positively correlated with Angus proportion. Moreover, the higher relative abundance of beta-lactam resistant genes including ampC gene and arcA gene was associated with the greater Brahman proportion. As the first study aimed at understanding changes in hindgut microbiota among beef cattle with linear gradient of breed composition and its association with marbling in meat, our results suggest that the effects of animal genetics on the gut microbiota structure is associated with fat deposition and potentially a factor affecting the gut antimicrobial resistance.

Bacteriophages in Food Applications: From Foe to Friend.

Bacteriophages (phages) have traditionally been considered troublesome in food fermentations, as they are an important cause of starter-culture failure and trigger significant financial losses. In addition, from an evolutionary perspective, phages have contributed to the pathogenicity of many bacteria through transduction of virulence genes. In contrast, phages have played an important positive role in molecular biology. Moreover, these agents are increasingly being recognized as a potential solution to the detection and biocontrol of various undesirable bacteria, which cause either spoilage of food materials, decreased microbiological safety of foods, or infectious diseases in food animals and crops. The documented successful applications of phages and various phage-derived molecules are discussed in this review, as are many promising new uses that are currently under development.

Relevance of Breast Cancer Resistance Protein to Pharmacokinetics of Florfenicol in Chickens: A Perspective from In Vivo and In Vitro Studies.

Florfenicol (FFC) is a valuable synthetic fluorinated derivative of thiamphenicol widely used to treat infectious diseases in food animals. The aims of the study were to investigate whether FFC is a substrate for the breast cancer resistance protein (BCRP) and whether the transporter influences oral availability of FFC. In vitro transport assays using MDCK-chAbcg2 cells were conducted to assess chicken BCRP-mediated transport of FFC, while in vivo pharmacokinetic experiments with single or combined BCRP inhibitor gefitinib were employed to study the role of BCRP in oral FFC disposition. According to U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) criteria, FFC was found to be a potential BCRP substrate due to the net efflux ratio being over 2.0 (2.37) in MDCK cells stably transfected with chicken BCRP and the efflux completely reversed by a BCRP inhibitor (Gefitinib). The molecular docking results indicated that florfenicol can form favorable interactions with the binding pocket of homology modeled chicken BCRP. Pharmacokinetic studies of FFC in different aged broilers with different expression levels of BCRP showed that higher BCRP expression would cause a lower Area Under Curve (AUC) and a higher clearance of FFC. In addition, more extensive absorption of florfenicol after the co-administration with gefitinib (a BCRP inhibitor) was observed. The overall results demonstrated that florfenicol is a substrate of the chicken breast cancer resistant protein which in turn affects its pharmacokinetic behavior.

Using Machine Learning to Predict Swine Movements within a Regional Program to Improve Control of Infectious Diseases in the US.

Between-farm animal movement is one of the most important factors influencing the spread of infectious diseases in food animals, including in the US swine industry. Understanding the structural network of contacts in a food animal industry is prerequisite to planning for efficient production strategies and for effective disease control measures. Unfortunately, data regarding between-farm animal movements in the US are not systematically collected and thus, such information is often unavailable. In this paper, we develop a procedure to replicate the structure of a network, making use of partial data available, and subsequently use the model developed to predict animal movements among sites in 34 Minnesota counties. First, we summarized two networks of swine producing facilities in Minnesota, then we used a machine learning technique referred to as random forest, an ensemble of independent classification trees, to estimate the probability of pig movements between farms and/or markets sites located in two counties in Minnesota. The model was calibrated and tested by comparing predicted data and observed data in those two counties for which data were available. Finally, the model was used to predict animal movements in sites located across 34 Minnesota counties. Variables that were important in predicting pig movements included between-site distance, ownership, and production type of the sending and receiving farms and/or markets. Using a weighted-kernel approach to describe spatial variation in the centrality measures of the predicted network, we showed that the south-central region of the study area exhibited high aggregation of predicted pig movements. Our results show an overlap with the distribution of outbreaks of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome, which is believed to be transmitted, at least in part, though animal movements. While the correspondence of movements and disease is not a causal test, it suggests that the predicted network may approximate actual movements. Accordingly, the predictions provided here might help to design and implement control strategies in the region. Additionally, the methodology here may be used to estimate contact networks for other livestock systems when only incomplete information regarding animal movements is available.

Public health and livestock: Emerging diseases in food animals

Despite public health and veterinary public health improvements within the past century, human and animal populations remain vulnerable to health threats caused by infectious diseases. Noticeably, the rate of emerging infectious diseases is increasing (one new emerging or re-emerging disease every eight months). Meanwhile, many endemic diseases have increased in incidence. Out of 1,400 microbes that could cause human infections, more than 60% are also pathogenic for wild or domestic animals (OIE, 2012). These zoonotic agents cause 75% of human emerging infections (OIE, 2012). Since they can be contagious to humans or compromise the food safety, the infectious diseases of animals represent a direct public health issue (OIE, 2012). They also carry an indirect threat since they account for the majority of the 20% losses that affect the livestock sector at the production level and since they could severely hamper the animal traction resources that are needed to produce or transport goods. These losses raise an issue of food security to sustain an increasing demand for proteins of animal origin. By 2020, the livestock sector is expected to represent 50% of the agriculture outputs in value. In developing countries, uncontrolled re-emergence of infectious diseases threatens the main asset of families, thus preventing them to escape from poverty. Additionally, the animal morbidity and mortality generated by infections represent an unjustified emission of greenhouse gases, thus raising an environmental issue. In a growing number of countries, infections are also perceived as a primary concern for animal welfare. The rapid pace of infection emergence is not only connected to more suitable conditions for pathogen appearance and spreading, it is also linked to improved methods and technologies for surveillance, pathogen detection, and identification. There are all kinds of pathogen agents of concern: prion, viruses, bacteria, and mono-cellular and pluri-cellular parasites. Several drivers of infectious diseases have been identified, many of which are of anthropogenic origin: i) Indeed, the role of the expansion and intensification of animal agriculture has been pointed out. Changes in nutritional and agricultural practices, associated to the second livestock revolution (1980s through 1990s), have led to intensive production systems, the frequent use of antimicrobial agents, high densities of animals with suboptimal husbandry conditions, and a decline in genetic diversity. ii) The ongoing global change and the resulting climate-driven environmental change, as well as natural disasters, have introduced ecological perturbations and flux shifts into finely tuned ecosystems consisting, for example, in modified interactions between pathogen vectors and hosts. iii) The population growth, associated with a facilitated access to travel means, has a strong impact. Socio-economical determinants such as political instability and the resulting migrations should be emphasized. iv) Fast and large-range trade of animal and food products have a major influence. Various kinds of changes in food-processing practices were also strongly influential. v) Several shifts in land use should be mentioned such as: accelerated urbanization, deforestation, and the encroachment on wildlife with extensive and closer contacts among humans, livestock animals, and wildlife. Species barriers crossing often occur at ecological interfaces. vi) Finally, it should be stressed that countries where a capacity breakdown occurs in the domains of public health and animal health management, become a weak link in the global effort to prevent, detect, and respond to disease outbreaks. Moreover, poor socio-economic conditions are generally associated with closer contacts between humans and animals, as well as greater exposure to vectors, thus increasing the risk of disease emergence in these countries.

Adjuvanted poly(lactic-co-glycolic) acid nanoparticle-entrapped inactivated porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus vaccine elicits cross-protective immune response in pigs

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS), caused by the PRRS virus (PRRSV), is an economically devastating disease, causing daily losses of approximately $3 million to the US pork industry. Current vaccines have failed to completely prevent PRRS outbreaks. Recently, we have shown that poly(lactic-co-glycolic) acid (PLGA) nanoparticle-entrapped inactivated PRRSV vaccine (NP-KAg) induces a cross-protective immune response in pigs. To further improve its cross-protective efficacy, the NP-KAg vaccine formulation was slightly modified, and pigs were coadministered the vaccine twice intranasally with a potent adjuvant: Mycobacterium tuberculosis whole-cell lysate. In vaccinated virulent heterologous PRRSV-challenged pigs, the immune correlates in the blood were as follows: 1) enhanced PRRSV-specific antibody response with enhanced avidity of both immunoglobulin (Ig)-G and IgA isotypes, associated with augmented virus-neutralizing antibody titers; 2) comparable and increased levels of virus-specific IgG1 and IgG2 antibody subtypes and production of high levels of both T-helper (Th)-1 and Th2 cytokines, indicative of a balanced Th1–Th2 response; 3) suppressed immunosuppressive cytokine response; 4) increased frequency of interferon-γ+ lymphocyte subsets and expanded population of antigen-presenting cells; and most importantly 5) complete clearance of detectable replicating challenged heterologous PRRSV and close to threefold reduction in viral ribonucleic acid load detected in the blood. In conclusion, intranasal delivery of adjuvanted NP-KAg vaccine formulation to growing pigs elicited a broadly cross-protective immune response, showing the potential of this innovative vaccination strategy to prevent PRRS outbreaks in pigs. A similar approach to control other respiratory diseases in food animals and humans appears to be feasible.

산란계 계란 난황으로부터 대장균 E68과 H28에 반응하는 항체 생산

1) Antibodies are used for preventing several infectious diseases in food animals. Though, antibiotics can deal with infection however, their widespread usage may cause developments of resistance and can also get transferred to humans through animal products. Therefore, production of antibodies against infectious agents in the egg yolk could be an interesting alternative. The present study was conducted with a focus on producing the antibody against Escherichia coli E68 and H28 in egg yolk of laying hens, which are believed to be a cause for diarrhea and beriberi in piglets. The result received from the experiment were promising and have shown efficiency of antibody production in the range of 2-7.3% in the groups which are infected with E68 only and the one which was infected with both strains. The outcome of present research has revealed the potentiality of egg yolk in production of antibody for laying hens, could open a new approach for production of antibodies to manage diarrhea and beriberi. (

Detection and Control of Prion Diseases in Food Animals

Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs), or prion diseases, represent a unique form of infectious disease based on misfolding of a self-protein (PrPC) into a pathological, infectious conformation (PrPSc). Prion diseases of food animals gained notoriety during the bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) outbreak of the 1980s. In particular, disease transmission to humans, to the generation of a fatal, untreatable disease, elevated the perspective on livestock prion diseases from food production to food safety. While the immediate threat posed by BSE has been successfully addressed through surveillance and improved management practices, another prion disease is rapidly spreading. Chronic wasting disease (CWD), a prion disease of cervids, has been confirmed in wild and captive populations with devastating impact on the farmed cervid industries. Furthermore, the unabated spread of this disease through wild populations threatens a natural resource that is a source of considerable economic benefit and national pride. In a worst-case scenario, CWD may represent a zoonotic threat either through direct transmission via consumption of infected cervids or through a secondary food animal, such as cattle. This has energized efforts to understand prion diseases as well as to develop tools for disease detection, prevention, and management. Progress in each of these areas is discussed.

The prevalence and clinico-haematological changes of protozoan diseases in food animals in Alabata, Abeokuta

One hundred and fifty eight samples were collected from various species of food animals, namely bovine, ovine, porcine and caprine to investigate the prevalence of various natural haemoparasitic protozoan infections namely trypanosomosis, anaplasmosis, babesiosis and theileriosis. Most importantly, the bovine and ovine showed high susceptibility to haemoparasiticprotozoan infection with 13.6% and 15.18% respectively. The ovine also showed 16% prevalence with mixed infection of two or more of anaplasmosis, babesiosis and theileriosis respectively. Porcine is the least predisposed to haemoparasitic infections. The clinico-haematological picture shows that anaemia is common to all species, there was eosinophilia and lymphocytosis in sheep and goats with varying extent of neutrophilia in bovine and ovine, while the porcine manifested neutropaenia, but there was lymphocytosis. The haematological parameters of naturally infected animals improved after treatment in virtually all species.

Multi-locus variable number tandem repeat analysis for investigation of the genetic association of Clostridium difficile isolates from food, food animals and humans

Clostridium difficile is the primary known cause of antibiotic-associated diarrhea. Diarrheal disease in food animals due to C. difficile infection has been well documented. Recently, reports of C. difficile infections in patients with no known risk factors for disease have raised concern of community acquisition through food animals and food. In this study, multi-locus variable number tandem repeat analysis (MLVA) was performed on a collection of 97 C. difficile isolates of human, animal and food origin belonging to either the North American pulsed-field type (NAP) 1 or NAP7/NAP8. MLVA discriminated between NAP1 and NAP7/NAP8 populations. Three clusters of food, food animal and human NAP1 isolates were highly related by MLVA. These data suggest the possibility of either laboratory contamination or widespread distribution of clonal C. difficile populations. Community-associated NAP1 isolates were unrelated to NAP1 food and food animal isolates. Two MLVA loci were absent and 1 was invariant in all NAP7/NAP8 isolates. Therefore, MLVA discrimination was not sufficient to make assessments regarding the genetic associations among food, food animal and human isolates belonging to the NAP7/NAP8 pulsovar. Rigorous epidemiologic and laboratory investigations that employ highly discriminatory genotyping methods are necessary to compare C. difficile isolates from food and food animals to those from humans.

Incidence of Hydatid cyst disease in food animals slaughtered at Sokoto Central Abattoir, Sokoto State, Nigeria

An abattoir based study was conducted to determine the incidence of hydatid cyst disease in cattle, camel, sheep and goats, over a one year period (Oct 2003- Sept 2004). Forty six thousand two hundred and twenty three (46223) cattle; 3545 camel; 16345 sheep and 14134 goats were examined at post mortem for evidence of hydatid cyst lesions. Incidences of 34 (0.07%), 318 (8.97%), 23 (0.14%) and 4 (0.03%) were found for cattle, camel, sheep and goats, respectively. Locations of the cyst lesions in the examined animals shows liver was the most predominant site in cattle 21(61.76%), sheep 18(78.26%) and goats 3(75.0%). For camels, lungs showed the most number of CE lesions 291(91.51%). Overall, the least number of hydatid cyst lesions were observed in the heart. There was significant association (p < 0.001) between the species of animals and infection. The public health importance of the disease and the findings were discussed.

Incidence and ecology of Campylobacter jejuni and coli in animals

Since its initial emergence in the 1970s, Campylobacter has become one of the most common causative agents of bacterial foodborne illness. Campylobacter species readily colonize the gastrointestinal tracts of domestic, feral and wild animals and while they rarely cause clinical disease in food animals, they can produce severe acute gastroenteritis in humans. Prevalence of Campylobacter in food animals can exceed 80% thus challenging processors to employ post-harvest pathogen reduction strategies. Reduction of pathogens before arrival to the abattoir is also of interest because the implementation of pre-harvest interventions may compliment existing post-harvest control techniques to further diminish possible retail sources of infection. Such multiple hurdle approaches that simultaneously utilize pre- and post-harvest control techniques are expected to be the most effective approach for decreasing human illness associated with foodborne pathogens.

Effects of feed additives on the development on the ileal bacterial community of the broiler chicken

Intensifying concerns about the use of antimicrobials in meat and poultry production has enhanced interest in the application of prebiotics, probiotics and enzymes to enhance growth and prevent disease in food animals. Growth-promoting antibiotics enhance growth of animals by reducing the load of bacteria in the intestine, by reducing colonization by intestinal pathogens or by enhancing the growth and/or metabolism of beneficial bacteria in the intestine. Recently, molecular ecology, utilizing DNA-sequence heterogeneity of the 16S rRNA gene, has revealed a surprising diversity of uncharacterized bacteria inhabiting this ecosystem. We used this approach to determine the effect of growth-promoting antibiotics on the development and composition of the ileal bacterial community. Pairwise comparisons, correspondence analysis and community diversity indices revealed significant differences among the treatments (bacitracin/virginiamycin or monensin) and controls. Antibiotics reduced the diversity of the ileal bacterial community and induced communities rich in Clostridia throughout the life of the broiler chicken. These results indicate that some bacterial species, such as lactobacilli, were suppressed and also suggest that many intestinal Clostridia may be non-pathogenic. Future studies should focus on characterizing the important bacterial species needed to stabilize the intestinal microbiota and identifying those commensals that stimulate and enhance development of intestinal function.

Characterization of Escherichia coli isolates incriminated in colisepticaemia in mink.

Colisepticaemia is a major health and economic concern for the mink industry, yet little information is available about the Escherichia coli that cause this disease. In this study, 40 E. coli, isolated from mink clinically diagnosed with colisepticaemia that had been submitted to the North Dakota State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, were randomly selected for characterization. These isolates were serotyped and screened for resistance to 18 antimicrobials, possession of transmissible R plasmids, and the presence of several virulence traits or genes using bioassays or the polymerase chain reaction. Several serotypes were identified that have previously been associated with septicaemia in other animal species. The majority of the isolates exhibited multiple antimicrobial resistance phenotypes. Common resistance phenotypes observed included those to tetracycline, sulfamethoxazole, streptomycin, ampicillin and kanamycin. Several of the isolates that could be studied by conjugation contained transmissible R plasmids coding for multiple antimicrobial resistance phenotypes. About half of the isolates produced colicin; all produced enterobactin: and all but one-quarter produced aerobactin. None of the isolates tested produced enterohaemolysin, and one-fifth were considered to be beta haemolytic. About half appeared to contain the gene encoding cytotoxic necrotizing factor-1; three contained the gene encoding EAE, but none appeared to contain the genes coding for LT, Sta/b, SLT-I/II or CNF-II toxins or K99 antigen. Approximately one-third of the isolates elaborated capsule. The results show that the E. coli isolates implicated in mink colisepticaemia possess similar virulence traits and antimicrobial resistance phenotypes to those associated with diarrhoeal diseases in food animals.