Weekly Livestock-Equine News: September 1, 2025

Manitoba planning emergency response to African swine fever

Manitoba has issued a request for proposals for emergency response plans for an African swine fever outbreak which could involve the culling and disposal of hundreds of thousands of pigs. An ASF outbreak in Canada would lead to border closures at a cost to the Manitoba swine sector of $1.2 billion in lost farm and processing revenue over three months. The province is looking for collaboration from Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario and Quebec.

Misdiagnosing brucellosis can increase incidence by millions

Brucellosis is a serious, often neglected disease endemic to many low- and middle-income countries. But its symptoms mimic malaria, typhoid, or even food poisoning, leading to missed diagnoses, according to researchers at Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences. Malaria is caused by parasites spread through mosquitoes while brucellosis is caused by bacteria spread through major livestock species.

Zoetis Award for Veterinary Research goes to Dr. Pamela Ruegg

Dr. Pamela Ruegg, David J. Ellis Chair in Antimicrobial Resistance in the Department of Large Animal Clinical Science at Michigan State University, has been awarded the 2025 Zoetis Award for Veterinary Research Excellence for her work addressing critical challenges in the dairy industry, e.g., mastitis, without worsening the problem of antimicrobial resistance.

Data, logistics planning for livestock truck routes can reduce risk of infection

Researchers from North Carolina State University reported that using data to reroute trucks that transport feed and livestock between pig farms and from farms to market could reduce up to 42% of the contacts between infected and uninfected farms via vehicle movements. Researchers used data about which farms had an illness outbreak, as well as when vehicles were traveling to cleaning and disinfection (C&D) stations.

FDA offers no-cost RFID eartags to swine producers

The FDA’s Animal and Plan Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has awarded a contract to Merck Animal Health to supply up to $20 million in RFID tags over the next five years to commercial sow facilities, exhibition swine facilities and state animal health officials. The tags will be shipped directly from the manufacturer to the producer.

Ohio State funds commercialization of peptide found to accelerate wound repair in horses

Two faculty members in Ohio State’s College of Medicine, Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, received an Ohio State University Accelerator Award to help commercialize a novel peptide that has been shown to be effective in accelerating cutaneous wound repair in horses. The award will fund a market assessment and regulatory landscape analysis to support the potential commercialization of the wound-healing technology.