Veterinary dairy herd health management in Europe: constraints and perspectives

The nature of veterinary work in dairy health management in Europe has changed over the past years and will change even more dramatically in the near future. The consumers and the media show increasing concern about animal welfare, safety of products of animal origin and traceability of animal products. Farmers in Europe have to produce under strict, often expensive and laborious regulations, while still commercially competing with farmers outside the EU and not subject to the same rules. Veterinarians should adapt their knowledge and skills to the new challenges and developments of the dairy sector. Dairy farmers nowadays ask for support in areas that go beyond clinical activities: environmental protection, welfare, nutrition, grassland management, economics and business management. Bovine practitioners should be able to advise in many different areas and subjects--that is the challenge to our profession. Veterinary education with regards to cattle health management should start with individual animal clinical work, which constitutes the basis of herd health advisory programmes. The bovine practitioner should then look beyond that and regard the herd as the unit. Each diseased cow or group of cows should be detected early enough to avoid financial losses or such losses should be prevented altogether by detecting and managing risk factors contributing to disease occurrence. Herd health and production management programmes represent the first level to optimise dairy farm performance. Expansions to that should further be considered, comprising both animal health and welfare issues, as well as food safety and public health issues. The latter could be addressed by quality risk management programmes following the HACCP-principles. Cattle veterinarians should follow recent developments and invest in new skills and knowledge in order to maintain their usefulness to the modern dairy farmer. Finally we are convinced that the cattle practitioner should evolve into this direction, otherwise the veterinarian as we know him will miss the train in the next years.     

Esophagoscopy.

Esophageal pathology is one of the areas that had the major benefits from the advent of endoscopy. Esophagoscopy is a highly reliable diagnostic method for evaluating esophageal disorders that affect the mucosa or alter the lumen of the organ, such as foreign bodies, esophagitis, reflux disease, strictures, ulcers, fistula, and neoplasia. With endoscopy, the treatment of esophageal disorders has greatly improved as well, with the retrieval of foreign bodies and the dilation of esophageal strictures under direct visualization the main therapeutic indications.     

Outbreak of clinical listeriosis in sheep: evaluation from possible contamination routes from feed to raw produce and humans

We report the results of clinical and microbiological investigations on Listeria monocytogenes infections in a flock of 55 sheep and describe the implications for the safety of the raw milk and raw-milk cheeses produced in the on-farm dairy. The outbreak was caused by feeding grass silage, which was contaminated with 5 log10 CFU L. monocytogenes/g. Clinically, although having been fed from the same batch of silage, abortive (nine ewes), encephalitic (one ewe) and septicaemic (four ewes) forms of listeriosis were observed during the outbreak phase. As the starting point of feeding the contaminated silage was known we could calculate an incubation period of 18+/-2 and 26 days for the abortive and the encephalitic form of listeriosis, respectively. Pathologically, the septicaemic cases suffered from Listeria accumulation at comparable numbers in visceral organs but not in the brain. Only a single ewe developed central nervous symptoms and a rhomb-encephalitis was immunohistologically confirmed. In this case the infection proceeded from the nasal mucosa into the brain, with no infections of the liver, spleen and other visceral organs. Sampling of the cheese production chain, the farm environment and the persons living at the farm revealed the exposure of a farm-worker to an isolate genetically indistinguishable from the outbreak clone, obviously through the consumption of faecally contaminated bovine raw milk. The cheese under processing was free of Listeria because, as a result of intensive consultations, the farmer ensured a proper acidification of the cheese. The epidemiological findings suggest that food safety matters should be assessed in any case where infection of food-producing animals with potential human pathogens is observed.     

五日龄窝活仔数对窝断奶仔猪数及仔猪成活率的影响

1992年以来,通过对丹麦长白猪及约克夏猪的总产仔数进行选育,使这一性状得到了显著的增长,但同时仔猪死亡率也大大增加。本研究的目标是估算出窝产仔数及成活率遗传和表型参数来寻找一种新的选育标准以改善窝断奶仔猪数。研究共收集了9300窝长白猪及6861窝约克夏猪的数据并利用了基于线性模型的REML进行分析,包括了母猪和与配公猪的遗传效应。结果表明,5日龄窝活仔数（N5D）的选育可以作为改善丹麦长白猪和丹麦约克夏猪的窝断奶仔猪数及仔猪成活率替代选育标准。     

The use of small (2.7 mm) screws for arthroscopically guided repair of carpal chip fractures

Reasons for performing the study: Removal of large chip fractures of the carpal bones and the osteochondral deficits that result, have been associated with a worse prognosis than removal of small fragments in similar locations. Hypothesis: Reducing the articular defects by repair of large osteochondral fragments may have advantages over removal. Methods: Horses with osteochondral chip fractures that were of sufficient size and infrastructure to be repaired with small (2.7 mm diameter) AO/ASIF cortex screws were identified and repair effected by arthroscopically guided internal fixation. Results: Thirty‐three horses underwent surgery to repair 35 fractures of the dorsodistal radial carpal bone (n = 25), the dorsal margin of the radial facet of the third carpal bone (n = 9) and the intermediate facet of the distal radius (n = 1). There were no surgical complications and fractures healed satisfactorily in 26 of 28 horses and 23 horses returned to racing performance. Conclusion: Arthroscopically guided repair of carpal chip fractures with small diameter cortex screws is technically feasible and experiences with 33 cases suggest that this may have advantages over fragment removal in managing such cases. Potential relevance: Surgeons treating horses with large chip fractures of the carpal bones should consider arthroscopically guided internal fixation as an alternative to removal.     

Recommendations of the International Roundtable Workshop on Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy.

Recommendations of the working party were summarized as follows: Determine the status in all countries of their national cattle herds with respect to BSE. Attempt to develop a test to recognize BSE-infected animals before they become clinically ill. Establish procedures to prevent spread of BSE agent into the cattle populations, especially by eliminating feeds containing rendered ruminant proteins. Review the rendering processes, identify the sources and destinations of rendered products, and suggest appropriate changes if needed. Especially needed are standardized rendering procedures in regard to use of organic solvents, temperature, and duration of heat treatment. Review import and export regulations to reduce the risk of spreading BSE and to maximize opportunities for safe trading in cattle and cattle products. The scrapie-free certification program of the USDA was supported, and similar programs might be considered by other countries. If BSE/scrapie is diagnosed in a given country, determine baseline incidence of CJD in those countries and consider contributing to an international registry. The WHO should address the problems of BSE, formulate policy, participate in and coordinate research, and provide training opportunities for veterinary and human health care workers from eastern European countries and developing nations. Government and private agencies should consider increasing support for research on transmissibility and pathogenesis of CJD, BSE, CWD, scrapie, and transmissible mink encephalopathy. Prepare and publish a critical neuropathologic review of all spongiform encephalopathies, naturally and experimentally transmitted, defining the characteristics of each disease in the various species known to be susceptible. Consider producing guidelines for the biological and pharmaceutical industries with regard to sourcing, collecting, and processing bovine and ovine materials.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Veterinarian injuries associated with bovine TB testing livestock in Michigan, 2001

Testing all the cattle in an entire state with a uniform procedure for each animal affords an opportunity to relate human injury data to a known number of animals handled while carrying out a standardized procedure. Our objective was to describe the type and incidence density of injuries associated with TB-testing a large number of cattle herds, and to delineate the various factors associated with the risk of injury. A survey was mailed to all veterinarians (N = 259) who had completed at least five official bovine TB (bTB) herd tests in Michigan in 2001. We collected data regarding basic demographics and health status, work experience, veterinary specialty, and practice information. Each veterinarian was also requested to complete a separate injury questionnaire for each injury received while TB testing livestock in 2001. Accurate addresses were found for 247 eligible veterinarians, 175 (71%) of whom returned the survey. Thirty-six veterinarians reported a total of 53 injuries (10 major, 12 minor and 31 self-treated). Hands (29%) and legs (21%) were the anatomic locations most frequently injured, with sprains/strains (30%) and abrasion/contusion (30%) the most common types of injuries sustained. The overall incidence density of injuries was 1.9 per 10,000 animals tested. Female gender (RR = 3.3), being employed by the government (RR = 4.5), and smoking (RR = 6.0) were significantly associated with a higher rate of injury. Significant colliniearities were found between some risk factors associated with an increased rate of injury and participants thought 81% of their injuries could have been prevented. These results are explained by the administrative structure of the bTB testing program in Michigan, and the changing demographics of the veterinary workforce.