P. Chowdhury , P.H. Hemsworth , A.D. Fisher , M. Rice , R.Y. Galea , P.S. Taylor , M. Stevenson
{"title":"Risk factors for smothering in three commercial free-range layer poultry farms, Australia 2019–2022","authors":"P. Chowdhury , P.H. Hemsworth , A.D. Fisher , M. Rice , R.Y. Galea , P.S. Taylor , M. Stevenson","doi":"10.1016/j.prevetmed.2025.106568","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.prevetmed.2025.106568","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In intensively managed poultry production systems the term ‘smothering’ refers to deaths from suffocation that occur as a consequence of piling behaviour where birds crowd together into densely packed groups. Smothering is a non-negligible source of loss in free-range layer hens, having both negative welfare and economic effects. Smothering events are rarely observed and are usually detected by the discovery of groups of dead hens. The aim of this study was to identify risk factors for smothering deaths in three commercial free-range layer poultry farms in Australia. This was a prospective cohort study of poultry flocks managed by three commercial free-range layer farms in eastern Australia. Flocks were enrolled into the study from 1 January 2019–29 March 2021 and were followed until the end of lay or until the end of the study on 31 March 2022, whichever occurred first. Throughout the follow-up period of the study, daily production and weather data, details of flock management and details of the place and time of smothering events were recorded. Time to event (survival) analyses were used to quantify the association between hypothesised risk factors and the number of days in lay at the time of smothering. Shed and bird level characteristics associated with time to event were quantified using a stratified Cox proportional hazards model which included a frailty term to account for birds clustered within sheds within farm. Across the three farms, for every 100 birds placed into a shed, there were 12 deaths over the duration of the production period. Of the 12 deaths per 100 birds, 2 were due to smothering. Our Cox proportional hazards regression analyses showed that the daily hazard of smothering was increased for birds housed in aviary sheds compared with flat-deck sheds (HR 4.0, 95 % CI 1.7–9.7). The daily hazard of smothering mortality was increased on warm, humid and rainy days, and in birds with low fear of humans and high fear of novel objects. Rainy days on which outdoor daily average humidity was greater than or equal to 70 % were associated with a 3.7 (95 % CI 3.5–3.9) fold increase in the daily hazard of indoor smothering deaths, compared with days when outdoor daily average humidity was less than 70 % and no rain. This study provides useful insight into the determinants of smothering in Australian free-range layer hens, in particular risk factors that do not change over time (e.g., shed type) and those that change daily (e.g., weather conditions). This information allows flock management strategies to be adapted accordingly.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20413,"journal":{"name":"Preventive veterinary medicine","volume":"242 ","pages":"Article 106568"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-05-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144070833","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Justine Eppe , Corine Van Leeuw , Elena Borelli , Hélène Casalta , Salem Djebala , Anne-Sophie Rao , Léonard Théron , Calixte Bayrou
{"title":"A nutritional prognostic model for hospitalized Belgian blue calves: The Calf-CONUT ratio for predicting survival","authors":"Justine Eppe , Corine Van Leeuw , Elena Borelli , Hélène Casalta , Salem Djebala , Anne-Sophie Rao , Léonard Théron , Calixte Bayrou","doi":"10.1016/j.prevetmed.2025.106557","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.prevetmed.2025.106557","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Malnutrition is a major factor in disease management failure. In humans, the CONUT (COntrolling NUTritional status) score assesses nutritional status based on albumin, cholesterol, and lymphocyte levels (sensitivity 92,30 %; specificity of 85 %). In bovine medicine, few studies focus on calf nutrition status. This study compares serum urea, cholesterol, and albumin levels in Belgian Blue calves between hospital admission and discharge (or death) and between survivors (S) and non-survivors (NS). At admission, cholesterol levels did not significantly differ between groups (p > 0.1). Albumin levels were higher in S (p = 0.02), while urea levels were lower (p = 0.04). At discharge, S showed a significant increase in cholesterol (p < 0.05) and a decrease in urea (p < 0.01) and albumin (p < 0.05). A urea/albumin ratio, named the Calf-CONUT ratio, above 2.64 was associated with increased mortality risk (Relative Risk: 2.29, Odds Ratio: 5.75) but demonstrated low sensitivity (46 %) and high specificity (87 %), suggesting limited standalone predictive power. If the analysis focuses solely on calves suffering from enteritis, the threshold value is 2.85, with improved sensitivity and specificity (Se 83 %; Sp 78 %; relative risk: 10; odd ratio: 15). This study provides initial insights into the nutritional assessment of hospitalized calves and paves the way for innovative approaches to their nutritional and medical management. Further research on specific diseases and breeds is needed to refine these thresholds.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20413,"journal":{"name":"Preventive veterinary medicine","volume":"241 ","pages":"Article 106557"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-05-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143916391","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jacinta D. Bus , Guilherme A. Franchi , Iris J.M.M. Boumans , Dennis E. te Beest , Laura E. Webb , Margit Bak Jensen , Lene Juul Pedersen , Eddie A.M. Bokkers
{"title":"Short-term associations between ambient ammonia concentrations and growing-finishing pig performance and health","authors":"Jacinta D. Bus , Guilherme A. Franchi , Iris J.M.M. Boumans , Dennis E. te Beest , Laura E. Webb , Margit Bak Jensen , Lene Juul Pedersen , Eddie A.M. Bokkers","doi":"10.1016/j.prevetmed.2025.106555","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.prevetmed.2025.106555","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Using sensors, the health and welfare of growing-finishing pigs can be continuously monitored by detecting deviations from pigs’ normal behaviour, but the validity of such algorithms requires improvement. As changes in the environment influence pig behaviour, monitoring temporal changes in environmental factors may help identify periods with a higher risk of welfare issues. The real-time relationships between pig welfare and many environmental factors are, however, not well-understood. This study examined the short-term associations of ambient ammonia with indicators of pig production and health. Ambient ammonia concentrations were monitored with sensors during the growing-finishing period of three rounds at a German (farm G, n = 110 pigs/round) and one round at a Danish farm (farm D, n = 144 pigs). Body weight was estimated daily using 3D cameras (both farms), feed intake was recorded using electronic feeding stations (only farm G), and health indicators were recorded during twice- (farm G) or thrice-weekly (farm D) farm visits. Using splines (generalised additive models), ammonia concentrations were linked to indicators of pig production and health in real time and, for body weight, at a lag of 1, 2, 3 and 7 d. We found a range of relationships between ambient ammonia (5 – 50 ppm) and production or health indicators (i.e. body weight (real-time and lagged), feed intake, coughing, sneezing, pen fouling, diarrhoea, and tear staining), but they were highly inconsistent between farms and pig rounds. Part of this inconsistency may be due to differences in manure management and sensor locations, or could be explained by age or seasonal effects (e.g. heat stress). More robust relationships were identified for clinical measures related to pig behaviour, where tail damage and skin lesions linearly increased with ammonia from low concentrations (5 – 10 ppm) onwards, hence suggesting more tail biting and aggression at higher ammonia concentrations. In conclusion, ambient ammonia did not clearly associate with pig performance and health in the short term, while higher ammonia concentrations were related to higher occurrences of clinical signs reflecting undesirable behaviours. Therefore, daily ammonia measurements using sensors may be of limited value in identifying health issues in pigs, but they may aid in detecting periods with high risk of aggressive or tail biting behaviours that require interventions. As ambient ammonia was confounded with other environmental measurements, such as ambient temperature or carbon dioxide concentrations, identified associations should be interpreted cautiously or with ammonia as general indicator of air quality.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20413,"journal":{"name":"Preventive veterinary medicine","volume":"242 ","pages":"Article 106555"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-05-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143941704","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Daniel Hjorth Lund , Lis Alban , Claus Hansen , Anders Dalsgaard , Matt Denwood , Abbey Olsen
{"title":"Using latent class modelling to evaluate the performance of a computer vision system for pig carcass contamination","authors":"Daniel Hjorth Lund , Lis Alban , Claus Hansen , Anders Dalsgaard , Matt Denwood , Abbey Olsen","doi":"10.1016/j.prevetmed.2025.106556","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.prevetmed.2025.106556","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study evaluates the performance of a computer vision system (CVS) for measuring pig carcass contamination using latent class modelling, a statistical approach that does not depend on a gold standard. Developed by the Danish Technological Institute, the CVS integrates output from various cameras to inspect pig carcasses for presence of faecal contamination. Data from a 16-day period involving 69,215 carcasses were analysed, comparing CVS results with those from official auxiliaries. Descriptive analyses identified four meat inspection findings that were statistically associated with an increased relative risk of positives from the CVS, particularly oil contamination (RR = 4.1, P < 0.001), which the CVS could not differentiate from faecal contamination. Agreement between the CVS and official auxiliary was assessed using Cohen’s kappa and prevalence- and bias-adjusted kappa (PABAK), with Cohen’s Kappa indicating minimal agreement (κ = 0.17) and PABAK indicating moderate agreement (κ = 0.79). Sensitivity and specificity were estimated using a latent class model fit within a Bayesian framework, without assuming that either the CVS or official auxiliaries were perfect tests. The latent class model showed that the CVS had a median sensitivity of 31.6 % (95 % CI: 27.6 %-39.1 %) and specificity of 97.9 % (95 % CI: 96.1–99.9 %), compared to 22 % (95 % CI: 17.6 %-28.9 %) sensitivity and 99 % (95 % CI: 98.2 %-100 %) specificity for the official auxiliaries. These findings underscore the CVS’s strength in detecting true contaminations and official auxiliaries’ ability to rule out non-contaminations. This study demonstrates the applicability of latent class modelling for evaluating CVS, offering a flexible and reliable framework that addresses the limitations of traditional gold standard methods. The findings support the use CVS technology alongside traditional inspections to enhance food safety, paving the way for future integration of CVS in meat inspection, pending legislative adjustments.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20413,"journal":{"name":"Preventive veterinary medicine","volume":"241 ","pages":"Article 106556"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-05-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143935870","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nelima Ibrahim , Ilias Chantziaras , Shovon Chakma , Sk Shaheenur Islam , Arthi Amalraj , Nele Caekebeke , Helena de Carvalho Ferreira , Jeroen Dewulf
{"title":"Biocheck.UGent: A risk-based tool to assess the status of biosecurity in backyard poultry in low- and middle-income countries","authors":"Nelima Ibrahim , Ilias Chantziaras , Shovon Chakma , Sk Shaheenur Islam , Arthi Amalraj , Nele Caekebeke , Helena de Carvalho Ferreira , Jeroen Dewulf","doi":"10.1016/j.prevetmed.2025.106540","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.prevetmed.2025.106540","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Backyard poultry farming is common in rural areas worldwide, especially in low- and middle-income countries, where approximately 80 % of rural households are involved. Effective biosecurity assessments are essential to prevent diseases and therefore, this study aimed to develop a risk-based weighted scoring system to evaluate biosecurity levels in backyard poultry households in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), as well as to describe its use in Bangladesh. A questionnaire was drafted with input from backyard poultry experts, followed by weights were attributed to the answers to obtain a weighted and risk-based questionnaire where scores represent the level of biosecurity measures. A score of 0 indicates absence of biosecurity measures, while 100 implies optimal biosecurity. The questionnaire was pretested with 20 households in Savar, Dhaka. Subsequently, 384 households were randomly selected from six districts in Bangladesh, based on the poultry population and consistent backyard poultry rearing. The scoring system is freely available online at <span><span>https://biocheckgent.com/en/</span><svg><path></path></svg></span>. External biosecurity (50 questions) was assessed in the following subcategories: purchase of eggs or day-old chicks, purchase of laying hens, depopulation and transport of poultry and poultry products, feed and water supply, visitors and farm personnel, manure and carcass removal, infrastructure and biological vectors of the farm, location of the farm. Internal biosecurity (13 questions) was subdivided in disease management and cleaning and disinfection<strong>.</strong> The average biosecurity scores for the external and internal categories were 30.3 % and 32.4 %, respectively. The two highest mean external biosecurity scores were obtained for depopulation and transport of poultry and poultry products (mean= 56.0 %) and manure and carcass removal (mean = 37.5 %) while the lowest means score was obtained for the category visitors and farm workers (mean = 12.4 %). In the internal biosecurity category, cleaning and disinfection had the highest mean score (34.1 %). Besides backyard production, small-scale commercial broiler production was present in 7 % of the visited households and the biosecurity score in these households was on average higher compared to those without commercial farming. This study reveals sub-optimal levels of biosecurity among backyard poultry in Bangladesh, as evaluated through the Biocheck.UGent scoring tool which has shown to be valuable for addressing biosecurity challenges in backyard production in low- and middle-income countries. The observed biosecurity gaps expose the poultry system to considerable risks of introduction and spread of infectious diseases.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20413,"journal":{"name":"Preventive veterinary medicine","volume":"241 ","pages":"Article 106540"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143935312","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Sarah Ishak , Raphaël Guatteo , Anne-Raphaëlle Entraygues , Marie Gall , Aurore Duvauchelle-Waché , Anne Relun
{"title":"Apparent prevalence and distribution of foot lesions in finishing French young bulls: A slaughterhouse cross-sectional study","authors":"Sarah Ishak , Raphaël Guatteo , Anne-Raphaëlle Entraygues , Marie Gall , Aurore Duvauchelle-Waché , Anne Relun","doi":"10.1016/j.prevetmed.2025.106554","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.prevetmed.2025.106554","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study aimed to estimate the apparent prevalence of foot lesions and their distribution at the animal and batch levels in finishing French young bulls at slaughter, using a cross-sectional study conducted in four slaughterhouses. All 4 feet of 2102 young bulls (19.2 ± 2.4 months old) were collected and examined in spring and autumn 2023. Two methods were used to estimate lesion prevalence: a direct estimation based on all observed animals, and a logistic mixed-effects model accounting for clustering at the slaughterhouse and farm levels as random effects. The results presented here refer to the adjusted estimates, based on a subset of 1387 animals coming from 99 farms. Almost all animals were affected by at least one foot lesion. The most common included diffuse sole hemorrhages (SHD), affecting 83.1 % of animals and 99.4 % of batches, white line hemorrhages (WLH) affecting 49.5 % of animals and 97.1 % of batches, and heel horn erosion (HHE) present in 73.6 % of animals and 97.9 % of batches. Digital dermatitis (DD) affected 26.8 % of animals and approximately half the batches. Alarm lesions, potentially indicative of lameness, were observed in 30.8 % of young bulls. Among these, WLF and Bulb ulcer (BU) were more prevalent on hind feet, while other lesions showed no foot preference. Charolais young bulls showed a higher lesion prevalence than other breeds. This study provides valuable insights into foot health of finishing young bulls in France, highlighting frequent lesions in these indoor-reared animals and the presence of potentially lame individuals and widespread digital dermatitis.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20413,"journal":{"name":"Preventive veterinary medicine","volume":"241 ","pages":"Article 106554"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-04-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143923649","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Rozenn Souillard , Virginie Allain , Anne Christine Dufay-Lefort , Nathalie Rousset , Arthi Amalraj , Annick Spaans , Artur Zbikowski , Alessandra Piccirillo , Sandra Sevilla-Navarro , László Kovács , Sophie Le Bouquin
{"title":"Advisers’ perception of biosecurity implementation on large-scale poultry farms in Europe","authors":"Rozenn Souillard , Virginie Allain , Anne Christine Dufay-Lefort , Nathalie Rousset , Arthi Amalraj , Annick Spaans , Artur Zbikowski , Alessandra Piccirillo , Sandra Sevilla-Navarro , László Kovács , Sophie Le Bouquin","doi":"10.1016/j.prevetmed.2025.106552","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.prevetmed.2025.106552","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Biosecurity is a fundamental preventive tool to control animal infectious diseases. The relationship between advisers and farmers plays a key role in determining farmers’ compliance with on-farm biosecurity measures (BMs). The aims of this survey were (1) to provide an overview on the implementation of biosecurity in European poultry farms as declared by the advisers and (2) to better understand advisers’ perception of the reasons why farmers do not comply with biosecurity rules and pinpoint potential obstacles to their implementation. One hundred and fifty-seven advisers working in various poultry sectors (breeders, enclosed and free-range layers, enclosed and free-range meat poultry) were interviewed to give their opinion on the implementation of 62 BMs. The advisers’ replies (n = 6485) on the implementation of BMs were reported as “always” (67.6 %), “sometimes” (19.8 %) and “never” (8.1 %) implemented. The advisers from the local governmental institutions declared a significantly lower percentage of “always implemented” replies (62 %) than those from other categories (producer organisations (73.7 %), companies (73.8 %) and veterinary clinics (67 %)). Regardless of the poultry sector, the most commonly implemented BMs declared by the advisers were the “daily surveillance of birds”, “flock register”, “rodent control” and “feed storage protection”. The BMs declared as the least commonly implemented were “visitors and personnel showering before entering the poultry house” for all the surveyed productions and “personnel hand washing” for all the production types except breeders. Some hygiene practices were also declared to be poorly implemented in most of the surveyed productions such as the “cleaning/disinfection of the rendering tank after each collection”, the “presence of concrete area around the house”, the “use of separate material for the poultry house” and the “restriction of domestic animals entering the site” and especially in meat poultry “the bacterial self-check of the house” and “the cleaning/disinfection of the feed silo between each flock”. According to the advisers ‘reports, the reasons why farmers do not comply with biosecurity on their farm were insufficient knowledge of biosecurity issues (“not enough training” 12.3 % and “not enough advice” 8.5 %), low awareness of the expected benefits (“no known advantages” 14 % and “not useful” 4.6 %), the lack of time (17.8 %), financial issues (16.8 %) and the unsuitability of the measures (17.4 %). This study highlighted, from the European advisers ’point of view, the shortcomings of the implementation of biosecurity on poultry farms and a room of improvement requiring adapted and tailored support measures for a better biosecurity compliance.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20413,"journal":{"name":"Preventive veterinary medicine","volume":"241 ","pages":"Article 106552"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-04-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143912104","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Carolina Allievi , Emilio Lana , Rita Rizzi , Alessandro Zanon , Michele Mortarino , Maria Teresa Manfredi
{"title":"Abattoir monitoring of liver lesions caused by Ascaris suum larvae: A longitudinal study conducted in northern Italy","authors":"Carolina Allievi , Emilio Lana , Rita Rizzi , Alessandro Zanon , Michele Mortarino , Maria Teresa Manfredi","doi":"10.1016/j.prevetmed.2025.106553","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.prevetmed.2025.106553","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Introduction</h3><div>Data supplied by the abattoir monitoring system offer a useful tool both for tracing the prevalence of <em>Ascaris suum</em> milk spot lesions and for conducting large-scale epidemiological studies.</div></div><div><h3>Materials</h3><div>In this study, livers of 754833 slaughtered pigs from 5835 batches and 399 farms located in northern Italy, were evaluated in one of the largest national abattoirs during a year of survey. From each farm data concerning the breeding region and province, the season of post-mortem inspection, the farm size and the type of farm production were collected and the probability of finding a positive animal, i.e. with at least one milk spot lesion, in relation to these factors was estimated by a generalised linear mixed model (GLMM).</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>368 out of 399 farms tested positive (92.2 %), out of 5835 batches of animals, 4395 (75.3 %) had at least one positive pig, and out of 754833 carcasses, 198964 showed milk spots, with an overall prevalence of 26.4 %. The breeding province and the season of post-mortem inspection were two significant risk factors: a higher risk of finding animals with milk spots was recorded in some Italian provinces and in spring.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusions</h3><div>This study provides data on the prevalence of milk spots caused by <em>A. suum</em> migrating larvae in an area characterised by a high density of pig farms. Given the high prevalence recorded, it is necessary to promote effective communication between abattoir, veterinarians and farmers, monitoring the circulation of <em>A. suum</em>, developing specific control plans and enhancing animal health surveillance.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20413,"journal":{"name":"Preventive veterinary medicine","volume":"241 ","pages":"Article 106553"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-04-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143891369","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Christian Bernal-Córdoba , Rúbia Branco-Lopes , Yael Alonso-López , Caroline Minjee-Lee , Diana Pérez-Solano , Erik D. Fausak , Richard V. Pereira , Noelia Silva-del-Río
{"title":"Antimicrobial drugs used in the prevention and control of protozoal and bacterial calf diarrhea: A scoping review","authors":"Christian Bernal-Córdoba , Rúbia Branco-Lopes , Yael Alonso-López , Caroline Minjee-Lee , Diana Pérez-Solano , Erik D. Fausak , Richard V. Pereira , Noelia Silva-del-Río","doi":"10.1016/j.prevetmed.2025.106543","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.prevetmed.2025.106543","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This scoping review examined the scientific literature on antimicrobial use (<strong>AMU</strong>) for preventing and controlling calf diarrhea. Secondary aims included describing health assessment methods and exploring the feasibility of meta-analyses to assess antimicrobial drug (<strong>AMs</strong>) efficacy. Following a registered protocol, four electronic databases were searched (initial search 2019; last update 2023). Eligibility criteria required controlled trials evaluating AMU for diarrhea prevention and control in calves ≤ 6 months, with efficacy assessed through health outcomes and/or fecal pathogen shedding. The search yielded 4486 references. After deduplication, two reviewers screened titles (n = 3259), abstracts (n = 341), and full texts (n = 106), resulting in the inclusion of 43 articles encompassing 62 trials. Pathogens associated with diarrhea included <em>Eimeria</em> spp. (41.9 %), <em>Cryptosporidium</em> spp. (40.3 %), <em>Salmonella</em> spp. (8.1 %), and <em>Escherichia coli</em> (3.2 %). High variability and frequent incomplete reporting of trial methodologies were observed. The most frequently assessed AMs were diclazuril, toltrazuril, and lasalocid for <em>Eimeria</em>, and halofuginone, chlortetracycline, and oxytetracycline for <em>Cryptosporidium</em>, <em>Salmonella</em>, and <em>E</em>. <em>coli</em>, respectively. Fecal consistency (93.5 %) and stool blood (48.4 %) were the most commonly evaluated fecal traits, while microscopy-based quantitative (50 %) and semi-quantitative (48.4 %) tests were frequently used for fecal pathogen shedding. Results suggest that meta-analyses could be performed to evaluate AM efficacy for diarrhea associated with <em>Cryptosporidium</em> and <em>Eimeria</em>. Future research should assess the efficacy of AMs approved by regulatory agencies, refine diagnostic methods for evaluating diarrhea etiology, validate health assessment techniques, and compare the efficacy of management practices in preventing and controlling calf diarrhea.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20413,"journal":{"name":"Preventive veterinary medicine","volume":"241 ","pages":"Article 106543"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-04-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143899043","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Emma Nicole Taylor-Holt , Sam Strain , Nicholas Mark Taylor , Sitira Williams , Nicholas Wheelhouse , James Hanks , Peter Guy Orpin , David C. Rose , Abel Bulamu Ekiri
{"title":"Utilising on-farm risk assessment data for the management of Johne’s disease in dairy cattle in Northern Ireland","authors":"Emma Nicole Taylor-Holt , Sam Strain , Nicholas Mark Taylor , Sitira Williams , Nicholas Wheelhouse , James Hanks , Peter Guy Orpin , David C. Rose , Abel Bulamu Ekiri","doi":"10.1016/j.prevetmed.2025.106538","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.prevetmed.2025.106538","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Johne’s disease (JD) causes weight loss, diarrhoea, and reduced milk yields in clinically infected cattle. In 2020, Animal Health and Welfare Northern Ireland (AHWNI) launched a voluntary JD control programme (JDCP) which focuses on bio-exclusion, biocontainment and market reassurance. Authorised veterinary practitioners (AVPs) conduct a Veterinary Risk Assessment and Management Plan (VRAMP) and use this information to make up to three recommendations. Between August 2022 and January 2024, 2274 herds enrolled in the NI JDCP and conducted up to three VRAMPs. This study characterised the JD-related risks and veterinary recommendations, identified the risks related to confirmed cases of JD and assessed if farmers changed their practices in response to AVP recommendations. AVPs assigned risk scores to management practices. Practices related to the calving area, particularly an absence of or delayed snatch calving, demonstrated the highest average risk score. Thematic analysis highlighted five main themes within AVP recommendations, including the use of diagnostic testing and management of calving areas. Multivariable binomial logistic regression identified five management practices which significantly increased the likelihood of herds having had a confirmed case of JD, including the segregation of clinically infected or test-positive cows from the rest of the herd in the calving area. Analysis of the risk scores and responses to closed questions from 278 herds which conducted first and second VRAMPs suggested that farmers had not changed their JD-related management practices in response to AVP recommendations. These findings simultaneously outline the challenges in JD control, reinforce the use of VRAMPs in identifying JD-related risks, demonstrate the harmonisation in AVP recommendation themes and provide data which can be considered by industry and policy makers.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20413,"journal":{"name":"Preventive veterinary medicine","volume":"241 ","pages":"Article 106538"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-04-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143902086","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}