Author: Rachel Wood

PPR risk associated with herd management system in Tanzania

A study published in Epidemiology and Infection provides an updated picture of the prevalence of Peste-des-petits-ruminants virus (PPRV) in northern Tanzania. According to the research team, livestock managed in a system where they are the sole source of an owners’ livelihood are more likely to become infected with PPRV than livestock managed in a system […]

Avian influenza: study identifies high risk poultry trading practices in Vietnam

Scientists at The Pirbright Institute have found that the transmission of avian influenza viruses in Vietnam is influenced by the structure of live poultry trading networks. Their work has identified the groups that are most likely to employ trade practices that impact the risk of infection in chickens, which could better inform vaccination strategies in […]

PRRSV: strains of low and high virulence compared

A research group from the University of Córdoba, led by Professor Librado Carrasco, has been researching Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) for years, with the aim of developing effective vaccines. Although PRRSV was discovered in the 1990s, in recent years more virulent strains have emerged. As each strain behaves differently, developing effective vaccines […]

Almost 5 million pigs lost to Asia’s ASF outbreak

Close to 5 million pigs in Asia have now died or been culled because of the spread of African swine fever (ASF), first detected in China in August 2018. As of August 2019, ASF is present in six Asian countries: Cambodia, China, DPR Korea, Lao PDR, Mongolia and Vietnam. The latest data provided by FAO […]

Machine learning to fight antibiotic resistance in farmed chickens

A new research project aims to improve the health of farmed chickens in China and reduce the risk of disease and antibiotic resistance transferring to human populations. The FARMWATCH project will use machine learning to find new ways to identify and pinpoint disease in poultry farms, reducing the need for antibiotic treatment and lowering the […]

Tuberculosis test differentiates infected from vaccinated animals

Skin tests that can distinguish between cattle that are infected with tuberculosis (TB) and those that have been vaccinated against the disease have been created by an international team of scientists. The findings of the study are published in Science Advances. The traditional TB tuberculin skin test shows a positive result for cattle that have […]

Feed additives may help stop the spread of viral diseases in pigs

Initial results of a study conducted by Pipestone Applied Research, finds that five commercially available feed additives may stop the spread of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS), porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) and Seneca Valley A (SVA) through contaminated feed. Dr. Scott Dee, Research Director at Pipestone Applied Research, presented the results of the first […]

Changing climate impacts bluetongue vectors

Scientists at The Pirbright Institute, Rothamsted Research, The Centre for Ecology and Hydrology and the Met Office have provided evidence that the UK midge season has extended over the last 40 years due to climate change. The findings could help scientists to make better predictions about how the spread of livestock diseases that are transmitted […]

Antimicrobial resistance at the wildlife-livestock-human interface in Nairobi

In a paper published in The Lancet Planetary Health, scientists from the University of Liverpool and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) show that urban wildlife in Nairobi carry a high burden of clinically relevant antimicrobial resistant (AMR) bacteria, resistant to recently developed drugs that the World Health Organisation deems critically important to human medicine. […]

Developing a peptide-based vaccine for Johne’s disease

Researchers are investigating the possibility of developing a peptide-based vaccine for Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP). Vaccinating animals with dead MAP cells can generate misleading false-positive results when vaccinated cattle are tested for bovine tuberculosis. An alternative approach could come from vaccinating the animals with specific pieces of MAP rather than using the entire bacterium, […]