Most people’s connotation of rabies is a snarling mad dog, foaming at the mouth. But livestock are also susceptible, and the symptoms easily can be mistaken for some other problem. Unfortunately, the result is often human exposure when the owner or veterinarian tries to examine or treat the animal.
A widespread zoonotic disease, leptospirosis is transmitted naturally from domestic and wild animals to humans. The contagious disease, which is caused by Leptospira bacteria, is spread through contact with food, water or soil contaminated with urine from infected animals. It can affect all farm animals, rodents and wildlife....More
FDA’s Center forVeterinary Medicine (CVM) released a final rule in early January prohibiting some extralabel uses of cephalosporins in food animals. Let’s discuss which antibiotics are included in this group, the rationale, and changes coming down the road.
But, first of all, it’s important to understand that the cephalosporins aren’t being withdrawn from the market. You’ll still be able to use ceftiofur products according to label directions when the drug is prescribed by a veterinarian for this use....More
USDA’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) this week prohibited certain uses of cephalosporin antibiotics in animals. The move, FDA says, is aimed at preventing antibiotic resistance and preserving the drug's effectiveness for treating human diseases....More
USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has released its Cattle and Calves Non-Predator Death Loss in the U.S., 2010 report. Produced by APHIS’s National Animal Health Monitoring System (NAHMS), the report provides a breakdown of cattle and calf death losses in 2009 for all causes by size group and by region, with special emphasis on non-predator (NP) causes....More
With no notice other than a holiday-eve posting in the Federal Register, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has reneged on its long-stated intention to compel large-scale agriculture to curb overuse of agricultural antibiotics...More
Minnesota cattle producers faced six emotional and financially challenging years, but now they celebrate a reopening of markets nationwide after the state has been declared free of bovine tuberculosis (TB)....More
Research has shown that parasites cost the beef industry over $3 billion annually in lost weight gains, poor feed conversion and increased disease....More
For more than 10 years, a group of consultants have provided this year-round review of cattle industry events. This past year has been a particularly challenging one. As usual, individual opinions vary but that helps make it interesting....More
As we sat down to our Thanksgiving feast last week, most of us just assumed that the turkey, potatoes, vegetables and fruit we stuffed ourselves with was safe....More
