Animal Biowarfare Research: Historical Perspective and Potential Future Attacks

A biological attack on livestock or poultry could result in the loss of valuable animals, costs related to the containment of outbreaks and the disposal of carcasses, lost trade and other economic effects involving suppliers, transporters, distributors and restaurants; however, it is not possible to secure all livestock, and livestock are much less well guarded than human targets. Thus, the vulnerability of the livestock industry to the introduction of biological agents varies for the following reasons: (i) the majority of lethal and contagious biological agents are environmentally resilient, endemic in foreign countries and harmless to humans, making it easier for terrorists to acquire, handle and deploy these pathogens, (ii) with animals concentrated in fewer production facilities and frequently transported between these facilities, a single pathogen introduction could cause widespread infection and (iii) the extent of human travel around the globe makes it difficult to exclude exotic animal diseases as possible biological agents. Historically, many governments have developed and planned to use biological agents for direct attacks on livestock or poultry. In the past, developed nations have actively developed biological weapons to target animals. The potential spectrum of bioterrorism ranges from isolated acts against individuals by individuals to tactical and strategic military attacks and state‐sponsored international terrorism intended to cause mass casualties in animals, humans or both. This review provides an overview of the past development and use of biological weapons and describes potential future attacks.     

利用耳组织、血液、牛奶样品检测牛病毒性腹泻病毒的比较

牛病毒性腹泻病以发热、口腔及消化道粘膜糜烂、腹泻为主要症状,可引起怀孕母牛流产或产畸型胎儿,给养牛业造成巨大的经济损失,该病已成为当前严重危害我国养牛业的传染病之一。由于大部分感染BVDV的牛不表现特征性的临床症状和病理变化,而且引起腹泻和消化道黏膜糜烂或溃疡的疾病很多,所以确诊需进行实验室检查。目前实验室检测BVDV的主要方法是利用美国IDEXX公司ELISA诊断试剂盒,通过BVDV抗原和抗体的检测区别牛群持续感染牛。用于检测BVDV的样品种类有许多种,绝大多数是采集血液(血清)或牛奶样品进行检测。本试验对奶牛进行耳组织采样,同时采集血液和牛奶,用三种样品在相同条件下同时检测BVDV抗原,用血清和牛奶样品检测抗体,比较样品的检测结果。结果表明,这三种样品检测结果具有一致性,且耳组织采样更宜于大面积筛查。     

生物类黄酮的生理功能及其应用研究进展

本文综述了类黄酮对动物脂质代谢与抗氧化作用的调节及其与动物内分泌、机体免疫的关系 ,并介绍了类黄酮在动物生产上的应用     

西部农村发展奶牛小区的优势及注意问题

西部农村饲草资源充裕,发展奶牛养殖小区有利于减少草料运输费用,有利于减轻城郊养牛环境污染,有利于改善牛奶质量。本文提出小区建设应注意的五个问题:注重奶牛质量;采用胚胎移植技术,提高小区牛群的个体产奶量:种养结合,建立与奶牛养殖业配套的饲草生产基地;改进饲养管理,推行混合日粮饲养技术;实行行业准入制度,控制小区环境污染,提高牛奶质量,生产绿色奶品。     

Genetic parameters for abnormal sucking traits in Austrian Fleckvieh heifers

Cross‐sucking and intersucking are considered abnormal behaviours in cattle and constitute a common problem in dairy farming. Cross‐sucking in calves is defined as sucking any body parts of another calf whereas intersucking in heifers and cows is defined as sucking the udder or udder area. The aim of this study was to determine the genetic variability for abnormal sucking behaviour by estimating genetic parameters and examining individual differences between sires with large progeny groups. By means of a questionnaire, cattle breeders in the federal state Lower Austria were requested to identify all currently kept animals which are known of either inter‐ or cross‐sucking (both defined as the same binary trait ‘sucking’ with 0 and 1 referring to the absence and presence of this abnormal behaviour) or allowing sucking (also treated as a binary trait, scored as 1 if an animal was known of allowing herd mates to suck and 0 otherwise). Records of 1222 farms and 13 332 dual purpose Simmental females aged between 21 and 700 days were investigated applying a linear animal model with fixed herd × year × season and random genetic animal effect and a threshold sire model with the herd × year × season effect being treated as random. In total, 8.6% and 4.1% of all calves/heifers were observed sucking and allowing sucking, respectively. Heritabilities of 0.040 ± 0.014 and 0.007 ± 0.006 (linear animal model) and 0.116 ± 0.041 and 0.026 ± 0.024 (threshold model) were found for the traits sucking and allowing sucking, respectively. Breeding values were estimated applying the same models for the trait sucking. Taking all 254 sires into account, the Pearson and Spearman correlation coefficients between breeding values estimated by linear animal and sire threshold model were 0.86 and 0.80. Thus, little difference was observed between the two methods.     

Antibody prevalence of low-pathogenicity avian influenza and evaluation of management practices in Minnesota backyard poultry flocks

Low‐pathogenicity avian influenza (LPAI) viruses have caused illness in poultry and humans with poultry contact. To determine whether there is evidence of exposure to avian influenza viruses (AIV) among backyard poultry in Minnesota and their human caretakers, 150 flocks of backyard birds were sampled for antibodies to AIV from August 2007 through December 2008. One hundred flocks were tested through routine slaughter surveillance by the Minnesota Board of Animal Health and an additional 50 flocks were contacted and sampled by study investigators. Blood was collected from 10 to 13 birds from each flock and a survey of biosecurity and management practices was administered to the flock owner. Blood samples were tested by agar gel immunodiffusion (AGID) for influenza A antibodies. Tested flocks had a median flock size of 100 birds (range: 12–800 birds), and were most commonly owned for meat for personal use (81% of respondents), fun or hobby (58%) and eggs for personal use (56%). Although 7% of flock owners reported that their birds had shown respiratory signs in the previous 3 months, only 1 of 150 flocks tested positive for influenza by AGID. Antibodies to LPAI H6N1 were detected in the positive flock. The owner of the positive flock did not have antibodies to H6 or other common AIV. Based on the findings of this study, the risk of transmission of LPAI viruses from backyard poultry to owners in Minnesota appears to be low under current conditions and management practices.     

A retrospective analysis of the efficacy of Oncept vaccine for the adjunct treatment of canine oral malignant melanoma

Oral malignant melanoma (OMM) in the dog is often locally aggressive with a high metastatic potential and there are few treatment options that have been demonstrated to improve outcome of this disease. The purpose of this study was to determine whether adjunctive treatment with the Oncept melanoma vaccine affected the outcome of dogs with OMM that had achieved loco‐regional cancer control. Medical records from 45 dogs that presented to the Animal Cancer and Imaging Center were reviewed, including 30 dogs with stage II and III disease. Dogs that received the vaccine did not achieve a greater progression‐free survival, disease‐free interval or median survival time than dogs that did not receive the vaccine.     

Feeding value of pastures for ruminants

Perennial ryegrass is the primary forage component of ruminant diets in New Zealand. It is persistent and palatable, and immature ryegrass has a high nutritive value (NV). However, seed-head development substantially lowers its feeding value (FV) as fibre concentration increases, the rate and extent of digestibility decreases, and voluntary intake declines. Ryegrass pastures are susceptible to accumulation of endophytic and saprophytic fungi in dead material at the base of the sward, especially when mature and laxly grazed. Feeding forage legumes to ruminants grazing grass-dominant pastures will improve animal performance and lessen the reliance on a single species to meet all nutritional requirements.

The FV of forage is a function of intake and NV, measured by chemical analyses and animal feeding trials. Performance of individual animals grazing forages is usually limited by energy intake because structural fibre can slow digestion and clearance from the rumen and because of competition between individuals for available feed. The use of metabolisable energy (ME) content of forage to signify FV can give a reasonable indication of animal performance, but it should be used in conjunction with chemical analyses to improve the accuracy of predictions.

The relationship between FV, pasture production, animal performance and profitability is complex. The importance of skilled management to maintain pasture quality and optimise animal performance under inconsistent climatic conditions should not be underestimated. Acceptable animal performance with minimal veterinary intervention requires good nutrition, but the genetic potential of livestock in New Zealand cannot be met solely by grazing pasture, especially when a high utilisation of pasture is required to maintain quality and profitability.

Producers are responding to industry demands to reduce the seasonality in supply of milk and meat by changing lambing and calving dates, and extending lactation length in dairy cows. Social changes include adoption of once-daily milking in the dairy industry. Some changes have necessitated increased use of supplements and others can be met by feeding forages with a higher FV than ryegrass, all of which require an improved knowledge of feed quality. This information is available through rapid and inexpensive near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) analysis, enabling animal nutritional needs to be balanced by appropriate nutrient supply. It is essential that producers continue to improve animal welfare, limit excessive use of fertilisers and meet the demands of overseas consumers. Good nutrition, with an increased use of legumes and other forages to complement ryegrass pastures, will enable these objectives to be achieved.     

A design for studies on cognitive bias in the domestic pig

Studies on consequences of affect on cognitive processing (cognitive bias) seem to provide proxy measures of the valence (positive/negative) of affective states. This article presents a pilot study testing a design for studies of judgment bias we adapted to the specific needs and abilities of domestic pigs. We used a spatial judgment paradigm, in which subjects learned to discriminate a food rewarded from an unrewarded position of a goal box during a training period, and then were tested for their responses to 3 equidistant intermediate probe positions during a testing period. After the training period, half of the subjects were repeatedly isolated from their social group to manipulate their affective state. Subjects learned the required discrimination task (positive vs. negative stimulus) and showed consistent differences in approach latencies toward and exploration of stimuli of different valence. Hence, the subjects' expectations could be inferred from their behavior. However, repeated social isolation had no effect on judgment of ambiguous stimuli and on both basal and test-related cortisol levels. In conclusion, the spatial judgment approach seems to provide a useful tool to detect and discriminate diverse affective states in domestic pigs based on their responses to graded ambiguous stimuli.     

加速发展社会主义现代化草原畜牧业

目前我国进入“WTO后过渡期”,加快向市场经济和自由贸易制度靠拢。这就要求我国草原畜牧业要改变传统经营方式,从宏观层面合理配置畜牧业资源。通过实施“北繁南育”战略,将北方地区草食家畜的繁殖优势与南方区域的草食家畜育肥优势有机结合起来,生产符合国内外市场需要的绿色畜产品,同时有效解决我国生态环境恶化、畜产品竞争力低下、农牧民增收困难的矛盾,实现我国传统草原畜牧业向现代化草原畜牧业的转变。