Sorcha O'Connor, Simon J More, David C Speksnijder, Carloalberto Petti
{"title":"The opinions of farm animal veterinarians in Ireland on antibiotic use and their role in antimicrobial stewardship.","authors":"Sorcha O'Connor, Simon J More, David C Speksnijder, Carloalberto Petti","doi":"10.1186/s13620-023-00253-w","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13620-023-00253-w","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Antibiotic use and resistance in animal production are a concern to public health, and there is an urgent need to reduce antibiotic use in farm animals. To prevent blame shifting, professionals from human medicine, animal medicine and environmental backgrounds must collaborate to tackle this issue. Veterinarians are typically responsible for overseeing and prescribing antibiotic use in animals. There are currently no available studies on the opinions of Irish farm animal veterinarians on antibiotic use, reduction opportunities and their relationships with farmers. A digital survey was developed and sent out to Irish farm animal veterinarians. This paper presents the results of a cross-sectional study of Irish farm animal veterinarians' attitudes towards antimicrobial stewardship, their prescribing behaviours, antibiotic reduction opportunities and their attitudes for the future of antibiotic use. The veterinarian-farmer relationship is examined and potential interventions to reduce antibiotic use on farms are identified.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>In total, 114 complete questionnaires were received, representing approximately 11 per cent of all farm animal veterinarians in Ireland. Respondents were aware of the problem of antibiotic resistance and recognise their role in the fight against it. They realise what actions they must take to reduce antibiotic use and identify barriers that prevent their farmer clients from implementing their advice. Many of them say that they can reduce antibiotic use on farms in the future, but some remain doubtful. There was no statistical difference between veterinarians that had less experience working than those that had more experience in their attitudes towards future reduction in antibiotic use.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Most of the respondents seek to use antibiotics as judiciously as they can. The majority agree that antibiotic overuse is the main contributor to antibiotic resistance. Possible solutions to reduce antibiotic use include the development of antibiotic treatment guidelines, assigning one unique practice to each farm and compulsory CPD (Continuous Professional Development) courses.</p>","PeriodicalId":54916,"journal":{"name":"Irish Veterinary Journal","volume":"76 1","pages":"28"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2023-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10544550/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41153965","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Claire McKernan, Catherine Lawler, Blain Murphy, Daniel M Collins, Simon J More, Sean Murray, Patricia Reilly, Rob Doyle, Natascha V Meunier, Aiden Maguire, Locksley L McV Messam
{"title":"A mixed-method survey to understand the role of dog welfare organisations in Ireland, including reported challenges and potential solutions.","authors":"Claire McKernan, Catherine Lawler, Blain Murphy, Daniel M Collins, Simon J More, Sean Murray, Patricia Reilly, Rob Doyle, Natascha V Meunier, Aiden Maguire, Locksley L McV Messam","doi":"10.1186/s13620-023-00249-6","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13620-023-00249-6","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>This novel study forms part of a larger research programme seeking an improved understanding of aspects of the owned dog population in Ireland. Dog welfare organisations (DWOs) in Ireland are recognised as an instrumental pillar of the animal welfare sector with some receiving substantial public funding. We conducted a survey of DWOs in Ireland (n = 39) to gain a better understanding of their role and function, including their policies and procedures and the rehoming of dogs to other regions. In addition, we wanted to get a better understanding of the challenges experienced by DWOs in fulfilling their role and their perspectives on potential solutions to these challenges. The survey questions consisted of closed and open-ended items. Closed items were analysed quantitively; open-ended items were analysed thematically.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Most DWOs (> 80%) had written protocols for important welfare actions including rehoming procedures, assessment of owner suitability and euthanasia. DWOs sent dogs to Northern Ireland (13%), Great Britain (38.5%) and to other countries outside the United Kingdom (36%, including Germany, Sweden, Italy, the Netherlands and Czechia). Reported challenges included a general lack of funding, limited public awareness of the importance of dog welfare and insufficient capacity to handle dog numbers. To address these challenges, the DWOs highlighted the potential contribution of subsidised programmes and access to resources to educate potential owners. In a further qualitative evaluation to capture perceptions of appropriate solutions by DWOs, several themes emerged, relating to legislation, education, an overwhelmed workforce, and funding.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>This study provides important insights into the roles and functions of DWOs and challenges they experience in Ireland. It is hoped that the findings from this research will inform future research investigating potential solutions to these challenges as well as the development of policy in Ireland.</p>","PeriodicalId":54916,"journal":{"name":"Irish Veterinary Journal","volume":"76 1","pages":"27"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2023-09-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10542677/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41120984","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Morgane Mitermite, Jose Maria Urtasun Elizari, Ruoyao Ma, Damien Farrell, Stephen V Gordon
{"title":"Exploring virulence in Mycobacterium bovis: clues from comparative genomics and perspectives for the future.","authors":"Morgane Mitermite, Jose Maria Urtasun Elizari, Ruoyao Ma, Damien Farrell, Stephen V Gordon","doi":"10.1186/s13620-023-00257-6","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13620-023-00257-6","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Here we provide a summary of a plenary lecture delivered on Mycobacterium bovis, the bovine TB bacillus, at the M. bovis 2022 meeting held in Galway, Ireland, in June 2022. We focus on the analysis of genetic differences between M. bovis and the human pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis as a route to gain knowledge on what makes M. bovis function as an animal pathogen. We provide a brief historical background around M. bovis and comparative virulence experiments with M. tuberculosis, before moving to what we have learned from the studies of the M. bovis genome sequence. We discuss the need to translate knowledge on the molecular basis of virulence in M. bovis into improved control of bovine tuberculosis.</p>","PeriodicalId":54916,"journal":{"name":"Irish Veterinary Journal","volume":"76 Suppl 1","pages":"26"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2023-09-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10540498/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41175289","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Animal tuberculosis control in a disease-free country, France: does the long and winding road really lead to eradication?","authors":"María Laura Boschiroli","doi":"10.1186/s13620-023-00258-5","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13620-023-00258-5","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>It took France almost fifty years to attain its officially animal tuberculosis (TB) free status in 2000, granting the country a favourable position for international live animal trading. The initial TB control program has been adapted at different times in its history in order to suit changing epidemiological contexts: it was first focused on detection and elimination of infected animals while later on protecting TB free herds became a priority.In spite of all the efforts put into the program, final eradication has still not been achieved. Instead, the eradication process has stalled, most probably due to changes in breeding practices in the last 30 years. Indeed, the beef industry has overtaken the milk industry, which has led to the occurrence of new TB risks. Novel epidemiological situations in some regions of extensive beef cattle farming, where wildlife species (wild boar, badger) are also infected, have emerged. More adapted measures have thus been implemented, progressively evaluated and improved in order to reinforce prevention of infection, to follow up with the eradication goal and to strengthen, coordinate and re-motivate field resources. These include, among others, introduction of biosecurity measures in the herd, risk based surveillance and management of wildlife and cattle, improvement of screening in the field and at the abattoir, better diagnosis, but also improvement of communication, awareness, training activities of the main field actors. Very importantly, this new plan has been established through the participation of the majority of involved stakeholders -the farmer industry, hunter associations, veterinarians, scientists and the government-, through coordinated specific steering committees and ad hoc working groups.Without doubt, the main challenge for the next few years is reinforcing communication to encourage and strengthen the program in an already faltering agro-social system. In addition, it will be essential to continue sustaining national research and international collaborations to feed the program with relevant scientific data enabling the authorities to undertake the most pertinent measures for tackling the disease in the short term.</p>","PeriodicalId":54916,"journal":{"name":"Irish Veterinary Journal","volume":"76 Suppl 1","pages":"25"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2023-09-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10521394/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41153643","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Christian Gortázar, José de la Fuente, Alberto Perelló, Lucas Domínguez
{"title":"Will we ever eradicate animal tuberculosis?","authors":"Christian Gortázar, José de la Fuente, Alberto Perelló, Lucas Domínguez","doi":"10.1186/s13620-023-00254-9","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13620-023-00254-9","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Two characteristics of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTC) are particularly relevant for tuberculosis (TB) epidemiology and control, namely the ability of this group of pathogens to survive in the environment and thereby facilitate indirect transmission via water or feed, and the capacity to infect multiple host species including human beings, cattle, wildlife, and domestic animals other than cattle. As a consequence, rather than keeping the focus on certain animal species regarded as maintenance hosts, we postulate that it is time to think of complex and dynamic multi-host MTC maintenance communities where several wild and domestic species and the environment contribute to pathogen maintenance. Regarding the global situation of animal TB, many industrialized countries have reached the Officially Tuberculosis Free status. However, infection of cattle with M. bovis still occurs in most countries around the world. In low- and middle-income countries, human and animal TB infection is endemic and bovine TB control programs are often not implemented because standard TB control through testing and culling, movement control and slaughterhouse inspection is too expensive or ethically unacceptable. In facing increasingly complex epidemiological scenarios, modern integrated disease control should rely on three main pillars: (1) a close involvement of farmers including collaborative decision making, (2) expanding the surveillance and control targets to all three host categories, the environment, and their interactions, and (3) setting up new control schemes or upgrading established ones switching from single tool test and cull approaches to integrated ones including farm biosafety and vaccination.</p>","PeriodicalId":54916,"journal":{"name":"Irish Veterinary Journal","volume":"76 Suppl 1","pages":"24"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2023-09-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10515422/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41170530","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jaeyeop Jo, Mingyun Son, Yeon Chae, Taesik Yun, Yoonhoi Koo, Dohee Lee, Hyun-Gu Kang, Byeong-Teck Kang, Mhan-Pyo Yang, Hakhyun Kim
{"title":"T-cell lymphoma infiltrating the uterus and ovaries of a Golden Retriever: a case report.","authors":"Jaeyeop Jo, Mingyun Son, Yeon Chae, Taesik Yun, Yoonhoi Koo, Dohee Lee, Hyun-Gu Kang, Byeong-Teck Kang, Mhan-Pyo Yang, Hakhyun Kim","doi":"10.1186/s13620-023-00252-x","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13620-023-00252-x","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of female genital system infiltration of T-cell lymphoma in veterinary literature.</p><p><strong>Case presentation: </strong>A 1.5-year-old, intact female Golden Retriever was referred due to melena and hyporexia that lasted for three weeks. Fever (40.5℃), tachycardia, tachypnoea, pale mucous membranes, and purulent vaginal discharge were identified on physical examination. Blood analyses revealed leucocytosis, anaemia, hypoalbuminemia, and increased lactate and C-reactive protein levels. On abdominal radiography, the small intestine was moderately deviated because of an oval-shaped mass (13 cm × 8.7 cm) located in the mid-abdomen. An enlarged tubular-shaped structure that had the opacity of soft tissue located in dorsal to the bladder to the middle of the abdomen, and an oval-shaped mass (5.28 cm × 3.26 cm), which was suspected to be a medial iliac lymph node located at the sixth to seventh lumbar level. Abdominal ultrasonography revealed gas and fluid in the lumen of the uterine horn with a severely thickened wall, round enlarged lymph nodes around the genitourinary system, and free fluid in the abdominal cavity. Based on these results, pyometra was suspected, and an exploratory laparotomy was performed for ovariohysterectomy. The resected ovary and uterus were macroscopically hypertrophied. Histopathological examination of the ovary and uterus revealed neoplastic proliferation of large round cells with strong immunoreactivity for CD3, indicating T-cell lymphoma. Therefore, the young dog was diagnosed with genital lymphoma.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The present report describes T-cell lymphoma infiltrating the uterus and ovaries in a young dog, which is rarely diagnosed and could aid in the differential diagnosis of genital diseases in young dogs.</p>","PeriodicalId":54916,"journal":{"name":"Irish Veterinary Journal","volume":"76 1","pages":"23"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2023-09-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10498590/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10243974","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Matthias Gerhard Wagener, Teresa Maria Punsmann, Sven Kleinschmidt, Ralf Surholt, Saskia Neubert, Hannah Marahrens, Thekla Großmann, Martin Ganter
{"title":"Severe anaemia secondary to a perforated gastric ulcer in a male alpaca.","authors":"Matthias Gerhard Wagener, Teresa Maria Punsmann, Sven Kleinschmidt, Ralf Surholt, Saskia Neubert, Hannah Marahrens, Thekla Großmann, Martin Ganter","doi":"10.1186/s13620-023-00251-y","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13620-023-00251-y","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Anaemia is a common condition in alpacas and attributable to a variety of causes. Severe anaemia with a packed cell volume (PCV) less than 10% is frequently diagnosed, usually due to blood loss resulting from haemonchosis. Many South American camelids (SACs) also suffer from gastric ulcers, which are often associated with anaemia in other species. However, in alpacas and llamas, gastric ulcers usually do not lead to anaemia due to blood loss according to the current literature. There are no detailed clinical and laboratory data on this condition in the scientific literature so far.</p><p><strong>Case presentation: </strong>We report on the case of a nine-year-old male alpaca that was presented to the clinic with suspected forestomach acidosis. The animal showed clinical signs of colic, hypothermia, tachypnea, tachycardia, pale mucous membranes, and died shortly after admission to the clinic. Laboratory diagnosis revealed a markedly decreased haematocrit (0.13 l/l), leucopaenia with band neutrophils, azotaemia, hypocalcaemia, hyperphosphataemia and vitamin D deficiency. Post-mortem examination revealed multiple ulcers in the first and third compartment with perforation of one ulcer in the first compartment, resulting in intraluminal blood loss and purulent peritonitis.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>To the authors' knowledge, this is the first detailed description of clinical and laboratory data of severe anaemia due to a perforated gastric ulcer in a SAC. Although the current literature suggests that severe blood loss due to gastric ulcers does not occur in SACs, this condition should be considered as a possible differential diagnosis in anaemic animals. Clinical indicators can be colic and pale mucous membranes.</p>","PeriodicalId":54916,"journal":{"name":"Irish Veterinary Journal","volume":"76 1","pages":"22"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2023-09-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10492335/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10212333","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Bovine TB in New Zealand - journey from epidemic towards eradication.","authors":"Jane Sinclair, Dallas New, Mark Neill","doi":"10.1186/s13620-023-00248-7","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13620-023-00248-7","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Bovine tuberculosis (TB), caused by Mycobacterium bovis, has a unique and complex ecology in New Zealand. Unlike elsewhere in the world, the disease is maintained in Australian brushtail possums (Trichosurus vulpecula) and so they are considered a vector for disease transmission in New Zealand. Possums were initially introduced to the country in the 1800's to establish a fur industry but later becoming a recognized pest to native New Zealand flora and fauna. The TB programme in New Zealand (TBFree NZ Ltd) is managed by a not-for-profit limited company partnership between primary industries and government (OSPRI - Operational Solutions for Primary Industries) that uses the basic tenets of disease management, movement control and vector control to eliminate TB in farmed cattle and deer. Evidence of resounding success in the TB control programme resulted in the 2016 decision to pursue full biological eradication of disease from the country by 2055, with the interim objectives of TB freedom in livestock herds by 2026 and TB freedom in possums by 2040. The programme has progressed from an all-time high of 1698 infected herds in 1995 to the lowest recorded point prevalence of 18 infected herds in May 2022. Enhancements that have contributed to the success of the programme include testing with gamma-interferon release assay (Bovigam™) of animals in infected herds that are negative to the skin test (parallel interpretation), culturing pooled lymph nodes from animals without visible lesions, increased testing of herds post-clearance and introduction of post-movement testing of high-risk animals.</p>","PeriodicalId":54916,"journal":{"name":"Irish Veterinary Journal","volume":"76 Suppl 1","pages":"21"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2023-08-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10466679/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10523047","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Is it possible to control bovine tuberculosis without compensation? Reviewing ten years of the Chilean program and its progress.","authors":"Nicolás Valdivieso, Patricio Retamal","doi":"10.1186/s13620-023-00243-y","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13620-023-00243-y","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In 2011, the Chilean bovine tuberculosis (bTB) program was launched by the Livestock and Agriculture Service (SAG) as a compulsory countrywide program based on testing and culling of bTB reactors at herd-owners expense. This review outlines the rationale and key components of the bTB program, and the dynamic changes that have occurred since 2011. The paper also examines the problems identified by stakeholders and the initiatives put in place to address the constraints to achieving progress.To date, the program has shown progress in controlling bTB. However, in order to achieve bTB eradication it will be essential to improve the commitment of stakeholders, and to develop a framework of strong and workable regulations that will help to manage bTB outbreaks, particularly where clusters of bTB infection are recorded.</p>","PeriodicalId":54916,"journal":{"name":"Irish Veterinary Journal","volume":"76 Suppl 1","pages":"20"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2023-08-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10463577/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10474325","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Selective breeding can contribute to bovine tuberculosis control and eradication.","authors":"Georgios Banos","doi":"10.1186/s13620-023-00250-z","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13620-023-00250-z","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) persists in many countries having a significant impact on public health and livestock industry finances. The incidence and prevalence of new cases in parts of the UK and elsewhere over the past decades warrant intensified efforts towards achieving Officially Tuberculosis Free (OTF) status in the respective regions. Genetic selection aiming to identify and remove inherently susceptible animals from breeding has been proposed as an additional measure in ongoing programmes towards controlling the disease. The presence of genetic variation among individual animals in their capacity to respond to Mycobacterium bovis exposure has been documented and heritability estimates of 0.06-0.18 have been reported. Despite their moderate magnitude, these estimates suggest that host resistance to bTB is amenable to improvement with selective breeding. Although relatively slow, genetic progress can be constant, cumulative and permanent, thereby complementing ongoing disease control measures. Importantly, mostly no antagonistic genetic correlations have been found between bTB resistance and other animal traits suggesting that carefully incorporating the former in breeding decisions should not adversely affect bovine productivity. Simulation studies have demonstrated the potential impact of genetic selection on reducing the probability of a breakdown to occur or the duration and severity of a breakdown that has already been declared. Furthermore, research on the bovine genome has identified multiple genomic markers and genes associated with bTB resistance. Nevertheless, the combined outcomes of these studies suggest that host resistance to bTB is a complex, polygenic trait, with no single gene alone explaining the inherent differences between resistant and susceptible animals. Such results support the development of accurate genomic breeding values that duly capture the collective effect of multiple genes to underpin selective breeding programmes. In addition to improving host resistance to bTB, scientists and practitioners have considered the possibility of reducing host infectivity. Ongoing studies have suggested the presence of genetic variation for infectivity and confirmed that bTB eradication would be accelerated if selective breeding considered both host resistance and infectivity traits. In conclusion, research activity on bTB genetics has generated knowledge and insights to support selective breeding as an additional measure towards controlling and eradicating the disease.</p>","PeriodicalId":54916,"journal":{"name":"Irish Veterinary Journal","volume":"76 Suppl 1","pages":"19"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2023-08-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10464393/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10116730","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}