Veterinary Extension Program Activities and Accomplishments:Lameness and Welfare of Cattle

In the dairy industry, prevalence of lameness averages somewhere between 20-25% with much higher rates reported in problem herds. Direct effects of lameness are responsible for approximately 15% of cows involuntarily culled from dairy herds. However, when the indirect effects of lameness on milk yield and reproductive performance are considered, involuntary losses associated with impaired locomotion are estimated to increase by an additional 50%. Lameness is therefore recognized as the single most costly clinical disease of dairy cattle (Guard, 2009). The Master Hoof Care Program (now in its 17th year) was designed to address lameness problems on dairies by assuring that foot care technicians are properly trained and equipped to handle common lameness disorders. Over the previous 12 month period, we have conducted multiple training programs (under the heading of the ISU Master Hoof Care Program) on foot care and claw trimming to trimmers and dairy farm managers throughout the United States. The format of these programs consists of approximately a half day of classroom and 1 to 2 days of claw trimming on cadavers and live animals. All training programs are conducted in both English and Spanish and intended to address the needs of the dairy industry’s multicultural workforce. Since large dairies with multiple farm units may have as many as 5 to 10 people serving the foot care needs of the enterprise, on-farm training of foot care technicians may be conducted at the farm of origin with lameness disorders and equipment unique to their workers. Demand for these programs in Iowa has been limited in part because most trimming and foot care is conducted by veterinarians and trimmers. While it is anticipated that this may change as herds get larger, for now the greater need and opportunity lies with the feedyard industry as conditions such as digital dermatitis are becoming major causes of lameness

Lameness and Welfare of Cattle: Extension Program Activities and Accomplishments

Lameness of dairy and beef cattle continues to be an extension program priority. Over the previous 12 month period, we conducted 10 training programs (under the heading of the ISU Master Hoof Care Program) on foot care and claw trimming to trimmers and dairy farm managers throughout the United States. Most of these programs are conducted in Spanish to address the needs of the dairy industry’s multi-cultural workforce. Similar programs were provided to veterinary students at Iowa State University, the University of Minnesota and the University of Florida. These programs consist of approximately a half day of classroom and 1 to 2 days of claw trimming on cadavers and live animals. Beyond these, multiple on-farm visits were conducted to review lameness problems and/or foot care programs in Iowa and elsewhere in the US. Lameness of cattle has also been the subject of presentations delivered at Iowa Dairy Days and multiple other conferences in Iowa and beyond

Lameness and Welfare of Dairy Cattle

A prominent veterinary researcher from Cornell University estimates that the most costly diseases of dairy cattle are displacement of the abomasum and lameness resulting in the $489 and$478 per case, respectively. However, when economic losses are computed on a herd basis, none rival lameness as the most costly disease of dairy cattle. Reasons for this are largely related to its insidious nature and the relatively high incidence of this disease compared to abomasal displacement, mastitis and other common health disorders. Although variable, it is not uncommon to find herds with annual incidence rates of 30% or higher. Lameness disorders are often neglected because early symptoms are subtle causing a failure of owners to observe or recognize them in timely manner. Detection is also complicated by the cow’s natural instinct to disguise her discomfort which results in only mild alterations of gait and posture. Ultimately, this leads to treatment delays and the development of more serious conditions that increase animal suffering and reduce welfare. Despite its impact on performance, profit and animal well-being, attention to this health problem by the dairy industry is lacking. For example, dairy record-keeping systems are designed to capture multiple bits of information on most health disorders in dairy cattle with exception of lameness events. Data that is recorded is usually provided by trimmers, but much of it cannot be conveniently transferred to the farm’s record-keeping system. Furthermore, terms used by trimmers and data captured is not consistent or easily interpreted since there is no standard nomenclature used amongst trimmers. As a consequence, there is little or no data available for regular evaluation of foot care information on farms by veterinarians or others. Another issue of growing concern for the Iowa dairy industry is that promulgated by activist organizations charging that the welfare of animals in production agriculture is compromised for the benefit of profit. These organizations are well organized and support their arguments with video footage taken by persons working undercover in packing plants, livestock markets and on farms. For the most radical of these organizations the primary objective is to end animal agriculture. Unless the dairy industry can develop an effective pro-active approach to assuring consumers of its commitment to humane care of its animals, it faces a greater likelihood of increased regulation by outside agencies

Survey of Veterinarians and Hoof Trimmers on Methods Applied to Treat Claw Lesions in Dairy Cattle

A survey inquiring about treatment approaches for claw horn lesion in dairy cattle was available to veterinarians and hoof trimmers who were members of either the American Association of Bovine Practitioners (AABP) or the Hoof Trimmers Association (HTA) during the winter of 2013. The study showed differences among AABP and HTA members with regards to procedural training and technique as well as treatment approach. No differences were noted when evaluating the use of topical medications along with bandaging materials, but details regarding the types of topical medications used did reveal discrepancies among the AABP and HTA members

Brain Research to Ameliorate Impaired Neurodevelopment - Home-based Intervention Trial (BRAIN-HIT)

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>This randomized controlled trial aims to evaluate the effects of an early developmental intervention program on the development of young children in low- and low-middle-income countries who are at risk for neurodevelopmental disability because of birth asphyxia. A group of children without perinatal complications are evaluated in the same protocol to compare the effects of early developmental intervention in healthy infants in the same communities. Birth asphyxia is the leading specific cause of neonatal mortality in low- and low-middle-income countries and is also the main cause of neonatal and long-term morbidity including mental retardation, cerebral palsy, and other neurodevelopmental disorders. Mortality and morbidity from birth asphyxia disproportionately affect more infants in low- and low-middle-income countries, particularly those from the lowest socioeconomic groups. There is evidence that relatively inexpensive programs of early developmental intervention, delivered during home visit by parent trainers, are capable of improving neurodevelopment in infants following brain insult due to birth asphyxia.</p> <p>Methods/Design</p> <p>This trial is a block-randomized controlled trial that has enrolled 174 children with birth asphyxia and 257 without perinatal complications, comparing early developmental intervention plus health and safety counseling to the control intervention receiving health and safety counseling only, in sites in India, Pakistan, and Zambia. The interventions are delivered in home visits every two weeks by parent trainers from 2 weeks after birth until age 36 months. The primary outcome of the trial is cognitive development, and secondary outcomes include social-emotional and motor development. Child, parent, and family characteristics and number of home visits completed are evaluated as moderating factors.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>The trial is supervised by a trial steering committee, and an independent data monitoring committee monitors the trial. Findings from this trial have the potential to inform about strategies for reducing neurodevelopmental disabilities in at-risk young children in low and middle income countries.</p> <p>Trial Registration</p> <p>Clinicaltrials.gov NCT00639184</p

Sleep and immune function

Sleep and the circadian system exert a strong regulatory influence on immune functions. Investigations of the normal sleep–wake cycle showed that immune parameters like numbers of undifferentiated naïve T cells and the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines exhibit peaks during early nocturnal sleep whereas circulating numbers of immune cells with immediate effector functions, like cytotoxic natural killer cells, as well as anti-inflammatory cytokine activity peak during daytime wakefulness. Although it is difficult to entirely dissect the influence of sleep from that of the circadian rhythm, comparisons of the effects of nocturnal sleep with those of 24-h periods of wakefulness suggest that sleep facilitates the extravasation of T cells and their possible redistribution to lymph nodes. Moreover, such studies revealed a selectively enhancing influence of sleep on cytokines promoting the interaction between antigen presenting cells and T helper cells, like interleukin-12. Sleep on the night after experimental vaccinations against hepatitis A produced a strong and persistent increase in the number of antigen-specific Th cells and antibody titres. Together these findings indicate a specific role of sleep in the formation of immunological memory. This role appears to be associated in particular with the stage of slow wave sleep and the accompanying pro-inflammatory endocrine milieu that is hallmarked by high growth hormone and prolactin levels and low cortisol and catecholamine concentrations

Ebola: translational science considerations

We are currently in the midst of the most aggressive and fulminating outbreak of Ebola-related disease, commonly referred to as “Ebola”, ever recorded. In less than a year, the Ebola virus (EBOV, Zaire ebolavirus species) has infected over 10,000 people, indiscriminately of gender or age, with a fatality rate of about 50%. Whereas at its onset this Ebola outbreak was limited to three countries in West Africa (Guinea, where it was first reported in late March 2014, Liberia, where it has been most rampant in its capital city, Monrovia and other metropolitan cities, and Sierra Leone), cases were later reported in Nigeria, Mali and Senegal, as well as in Western Europe (i.e., Madrid, Spain) and the US (i.e., Dallas, Texas; New York City) by late October 2014. World and US health agencies declared that the current Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak has a strong likelihood of growing exponentially across the world before an effective vaccine, treatment or cure can be developed, tested, validated and distributed widely. In the meantime, the spread of the disease may rapidly evolve from an epidemics to a full-blown pandemic. The scientific and healthcare communities actively research and define an emerging kaleidoscope of knowledge about critical translational research parameters, including the virology of EBOV, the molecular biomarkers of the pathological manifestations of EVD, putative central nervous system involvement in EVD, and the cellular immune surveillance to EBOV, patient-centered anthropological and societal parameters of EVD, as well as translational effectiveness about novel putative patient-targeted vaccine and pharmaceutical interventions, which hold strong promise, if not hope, to curb this and future Ebola outbreaks. This work reviews and discusses the principal known facts about EBOV and EVD, and certain among the most interesting ongoing or future avenues of research in the field, including vaccination programs for the wild animal vectors of the virus and the disease from global translational science perspective