Livestock News for July 9

Partnership aims to develop African swine fever antivirals

Belgian biotechnology company ViroVet will partner with researchers at The Pirbright Institute to develop the first antiviral drugs that act against African swine fever (ASF), according to a release. In the absence of a vaccine, antiviral drugs could provide an alternative control method which would help limit clinical signs in pigs and lower virus replication. This could reduce the spread of disease and help to contain outbreaks, ultimately reducing the number of pigs lost to this deadly viral infection. The research, partly funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council LINK programme, will test antiviral drugs that have already been screened in the laboratory by ViroVet and shown to reduce viral replication in cells in the absence of cellular toxicity.

Ceva Santé Animale completes acquisition of IDT veterinary asset

Feedstuffs reported that Ceva Santé Animale and IDT Biologika GmbH announced July 3 that Ceva successfully completed the acquisition of IDT’s veterinary biopharmaceutical and research and development activities. With the completion, Ceva said the product portfolio will be transferred to its branding as quickly as possible, and a new global innovation center focused on swine vaccines will be created within IDT’s existing site in Dessau, Germany.

External parasite control helps reduce anaplasmosis and pinkeye in cattle

Drover’s CattleNetwork reported that anaplasmosis and pinkeye are cattle problems that negatively impact the health, performance, and profit potential of the cattle operation according to University of Missouri Extension Livestock Field Specialist Patrick Davis. “External parasite control may help reduce these problems,” said Davis. Causative agents of pinkeye include bacterial agents Moraxella bovis, Moraxella ovis, Moraxella bovoculi, and mycoplasma species. Face flies transmit pinkeye causative agents in cattle. “Reducing face flies potentially reduces pinkeye problems,” says Davis. Some of the methods available include sprays, backrubbers, dust bags, feed additives, insecticide boluses, and fly tags.

New app helps estimate herd prevalence of Bovine Respiratory Disease

Bovine respiratory disease (BRD) is one of the most significant illnesses impacting the health of pre-weaned calves. According to a UC Davis Veterinary Medicine blog, producers now have a new diagnostic tool in hand, a phone app that leads them through a scoring system for BRD. Producers can view and select photos of clinical signs in the app if they are normal or abnormal. The app tallies the scores and creates a report that can also be shared with the herd veterinarian. “The strength of this app is not in the simple scoring of one calf,” said Dr. Sharif Aly, professor of epidemiology and biostatistics with the school’s Veterinary Medicine Teaching and Research Center in Tulare. “Using a random survey sample, the app can estimate a calf herd’s BRD prevalence. Given inputs such as the number of calves and the desired accuracy of the prevalence estimate, the app guides the producer through the appropriate sample of calves to score. We have a lot of large herds in California and it would take hours to walk through and score them all.”

Aureomycin® from Zoetis now labeled for bacterial pneumonia control in dairy heifers

Dairy producers can now add Aureomycin® from Zoetis to replacement heifer feed for control of bacterial pneumonia, according to a release. This expanded label provides another option against costly pneumonia for veterinarians and dairy producers. This label update recently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration allows for this feed additive to be fed to dairy replacement heifers at a rate of 350 milligrams per head per day with a veterinary feed directive (VFD) from a licensed veterinarian.