Health and herd health planning in organic dairy herds

The status in European organic dairy production does not in all aspects, meet organic principles with regards to the aims of good animal welfare and health, and consumers’ expectations, and therefore needs to be improved. The aims of this thesis were to; assess the status of animal health in organic dairy herds; assess the structural characteristics, and their relation to implementation, of animal health plans; and to investigate a structured participatory and farm-centric approach. In total, 218 farms in Germany, Spain, France and Sweden were included in the study. All farms were visited, and general characteristics were collected through an on-farm protocol. Common procedures for calculations were made to arrive at comparable herd level indicators. A sample of the lactating cows on each farm was scored for lameness. Data for the analysis of farm structures (192 farms), contained a battery of farm and farmer descriptors from which typologies were derived. Three farm clusters were identified and rates of implementation of health improvement actions were explored. Actions, as part of a health plan, were identified during a structured participatory approach, with farmer, veterinarian and advisor, by use of an impact matrix analysis, on 122 farms in France, Germany and Sweden. The prevalence of animal health indicators varied widely between farms and countries. The odds of lameness were five to six times higher in France and Germany, and slightly higher in Spain, than in Sweden. This may be particularly true in large herds with cows of the Holstein breed and zero-grazing herds. Farms in the different clusters implemented different strategies towards animal health planning. The degree of implementation of the actions was good. At follow-up (by data), no direct associations were seen between change in animal health indicators and the structured participatory approach. The great difference in prevalence of production diseases implies that there is room for improvements. The need to enhance the quality and availability of data is reinforced by the fact that there is no unified recording in European organic dairy herds. The results may be used as a background for tailored advisory service strategies, i.e. different types (clusters) of organic dairy farms needs different type of advisory approach to reach improvements (adapted to the specific farm situation)

Epstein-Barr virus is not detected in mucosal lichen planus

Lichen planus (LP) is a chronic inflammatory, immunological, mucocutaneous disease can affect skin, genital and oral mucosa. Oral lichen planus (OLP) is the most common noninfectious, chronic inflammatory oral disease affecting 1-2% of the general adult population. World Health Organization (WHO) classifies OLP as a potentially malignant disorder. Epstein Barr virus or human herpesvirus-4, is a member of the herpes virus family and one of the most ubiquitous viruses known to human, infecting approximately 90% of the world?s adult population. The virus often infects B lymphocytes resulting in a wide spectrum of mucocutaneous and systemic diseases, ranging from mild lesions to aggressive malignancies. The aim of this study was to investigate expression of the EBV encoded RNAs EBER1 and EBER2 in oral and genital lichen planus and compare results with normal tissues in situ hybridization which is considered the golden standard for detection of EBER. A total of 68 biopsies, 25 oral LP, 26 genital LP, 10 oral controls and finally 7 genital controls were analysed using situ hybridization. All samples had RNA as shown by the control slide, whereas no case contained neither EBER1 nor EBER2. Based on results from our study EBV is not involved in aetiology of lichen planus

Improving animal health on organic dairy farms: stakeholder views on policy options

Although ensuring good animal health is a stated aim of organic livestock farming and an important reason why consumers purchase organic products, the health states actually achieved are comparable to those in conventional farming. Unfortunately, there have been no studies to date that have assessed stakeholder views on different policy options for improving animal health on organic dairy farms. To address this deficit, stakeholder consultations were conducted in four European countries, involving 39 supply-chain stakeholders (farmers, advisors, veterinarians, inspectors, processors, and retailers). Stakeholders were encouraged to discuss different ways, including policy change, of improving organic health states. Acknowledging the need for further health improvements in organic dairy herds, stakeholders generally favoured establishing outcome-oriented animal health requirements as a way of achieving this. However, as a result of differing priorities for animal health improvement, there was disagreement on questions such as: who should be responsible for assessing animal health status on organic farms; and how to define and implement minimum health requirements. The results of the study suggest that future research must fully explore the opportunities and risks of different policy options and also suggest ways to overcome the divergence of stakeholders’ interests in public debates

Biosecurity and animal disease management in organic and conventional Swedish dairy herds: a questionnaire study

Background: Good animal health is a notion that is germane to organic dairy production, and it is expected that such herds would pay significant attention on the health of their animals. However, it is not known if the applied animal disease management is actually more adequate in organic dairy cattle herds than in conventional dairy herds. A questionnaire study on biosecurity and animal disease management activities was therefore conducted among Swedish farmers with organic and conventional dairy cattle herds. Results: A total of 192 useable questionnaires were returned; response rates of 30.3 and 20.2% for organic and conventional farmers, respectively. Herd characteristics of the two herd types were very similar, except that pipeline/tie-stall systems were less common in organic farms and that organic farmers had a higher education level than their conventional counterparts. Also, very few systematic differences in general or specific disease management activities were observed between the two types of farms. The main exceptions being how milk from cows during antibiotic treatment was used, views on policy actions in relation to antibiotic use, and attitudes towards calling for veterinary support. Using milk from cows during antibiotic treatment was more common in conventional herds, although it was mainly given to bull calves. Farmers of organic herds were more positive to policy actions to reduce the use and need for antibiotics, and they reported waiting longer before contacting a veterinarian for calves with diarrhoea and cows with subclinical mastitis. Conclusions: The stated biosecurity and animal disease management was relatively equal in Swedish organic and conventional dairy herds. Our results thus indicate that animal health is as important in conventionally managed dairy herds in Sweden as in organically managed herds

Antibiotic use in organic and non-organic Swedish dairy farms: a comparison of three recording methods

Biases of antimicrobial use (AMU) reporting systems pose a challenge to monitoring of AMU. Our study aimed to cross-compare three data sources of AMU in Swedish dairy herds to provide an account of the validity of AMU reports. We studied AMU differences between two production systems, to investigate how the reporting system affected this comparison. On-farm quantification of AMU via a manual collection of empty drug containers (BIN) took place in organic (n = 30) and conventional (n = 30) dairy herds during two periods between February 2016 and March 2017. A data extract mirroring these periods was obtained from two linked datasets that contain AMU data as reported by the prescribing veterinarians. These included data from the Swedish Board of Agriculture system (SBA) and Växa milk recording system (VXA). Using the European Medicines Agency technical units, the total number of defined daily doses (DDDvet), and defined course doses (DCDvet) per animal/year were calculated for each herd/period/dataset. Descriptive statistics and Bland–Altman plots were used to evaluate the agreement and systematic bias between the datasets. Mixed models for repeated measures were used to assess AMU differences between production systems. We found consistent numerical differences for the calculated AMU metrics, with BIN presenting higher usage compared to the SBA and VXA. This was driven by a disparity in intramammary tubes (IMt) which appear to be underreported in the national datasets. A statistically significant interaction (BIN dataset) between the production system and drug administration form was found, where AMU for injectable and lactating cow IMt drug forms differed by the production system, but no difference was found for dry-cow IMt. We conclude that calculating AMU using DDDvet and DCDvet metrics at a herd level based on Swedish national datasets is useful, with the caveat of IMt potentially being misrepresented. The BIN method offers an alternative to monitoring AMU, but scaling up requires considerations. The lower disease caseload in organic herds partly explains the lower AMU in particular drug forms. The fact that organic and conventional herds' had equally low AMU for dry-cow IMt, coupled with mismatches in IMt report across herds indicated an area of further research

Dielectric secondary relaxation of water in aqueous binary glass-formers

The dielectric relaxation of water in glassy aqueous binary mixtures exhibits an Arrhenius behaviour with a nearly universal activation energy. We here demonstrate that its characteristic relaxation time follows a remarkably general functional dependence on the weight fraction of water for a wide range of molecular systems

Dissemination of Resistant Escherichia coli Among Wild Birds, Rodents, Flies, and Calves on Dairy Farms

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in bacteria in the livestock is a growing problem, partly due to inappropriate use of antimicrobial drugs. Antimicrobial use (AMU) occurs in Swedish dairy farming but is restricted to the treatment of sick animals based on prescription by a veterinary practitioner. Despite these strict rules, calves shedding antimicrobial resistant Enterobacteriaceae have been recorded both in dairy farms and in slaughterhouses. Yet, not much is known how these bacteria disseminate into the local environment around dairy farms. In this study, we collected samples from four animal sources (fecal samples from calves, birds and rodents, and whole flies) and two environmental sources (cow manure drains and manure pits). From the samples, Escherichia coli was isolated and antimicrobial susceptibility testing performed. A subset of isolates was whole genome sequenced to evaluate relatedness between sources and genomic determinants such as antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs) and the presence of plasmids were assessed. We detected both ARGs, mobile genetic elements and low rates of AMR. In particular, we observed four potential instances of bacterial clonal sharing in two different animal sources. This demonstrates resistant E. coli dissemination potential within the dairy farm, between calves and scavenger animals (rodents and flies). AMR dissemination and the zoonotic AMR risk is generally low in countries with low and restricted AMU. However, we show that interspecies dissemination does occur, and in countries that have little to no AMU restrictions this risk could be under-estimated

Structural characteristics of organic dairy farms in four European countries and their association with the implementation of animal health plans

The aim of the present study was to classify the diversity of organic dairy farms in four European countries according to their structural characteristics and investigate the association of these farm types with implementation of herd health plans. A Multiple Correspondence Analysis (MCA), followed by Agglomerative Hierarchical Clustering (AHC), was used to classify the farms. Data for the analysis came from a survey of 192 organic farms from France, Germany, Spain and Sweden and contained farm and farmer descriptions from which the typologies were derived. Herd health plans was agreed for each farm, via a participatory approach involving the farmers, their veterinarians and other advisors (e.g. dairy advisors) by the use of an impact matrix. The MCA yielded two principal component axes explaining 51.3% of variance. Three farm groups were identified by AHC using the factor scores derived from the MCA. Cluster 1, the most numerous group (56.7% of the sample), had medium herd sizes with moderate use of pasture and moderate intensity of input use. Cluster 2, representing 17.7% of the sample, were the most extensive system and mainly of very small farm size. Cluster 3 (25.5% of the sample and only found in Sweden), had an intensive management approach, but relatively low stocking rate. The analysis also showed that organic dairy farms adopted differentiated strategies towards economic assets and animal health status, according to group membership. The typology therefore provides insights into the potential for advisory strategies relating to husbandry practices, different housing, pasture management and intensity, etc. adapted to different groups of farms. Regarding herd health plan implementation, Cluster 1 was the group with most implemented actions and Cluster 2 with lowest rate of implemented actions. These results may be used as background for directing (tailored) advice strategies, i.e. different types of organic dairy farms (clusters) may require different types of advisory services and recommendations adapted to the specific farm situation in order to deliver future improvements in animal health.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Brittle basement deformation during the Caledonian Orogeny observed by K‐Ar geochronology of illite‐bearing fault gouge in west‐central Sweden

This study presents K-Ar ages of illite from fault gouges in crystalline basement in centralwestern Sweden. Samples were taken from two faults that localized brittle deformation marginal to and within mafic dikes that intruded Paleoproterozoic granitoids. K-Ar ages from ten separated grain fractions span from 823 to 392 Ma. Older ages obtained (823 to 477 Ma) were influenced by a mixture of illite and K-feldspar; the latter likely formed during a hydrothermal event prior to faulting. The remaining ages (442.1±9.7 to 391.7±6.1 Ma) were obtained from fractions from both faults hosting only authigenic illite, and show that illite crystallized during the Scandian Caledonian orogeny. These results indicate that previously presumed autochthonous Caledonian basement was involved in continental contraction and subsequent collapse of the Caledonian orogen, influencing both the mode and depth of penetration of deformation into Baltica

Chemical pulping: the influence of the molecular weight of added xylan on pulp properties

The aim of this study was to investigate if added beech xylan with low molecule weight (Mw) could penetrate into the fiber wall to a greater extent compared to xylan with high Mw. The high Mw (ca 11000) xylan was degraded using enzymes to obtain xylan with low Mw (ca 1800). The influence from the added xylan on the strength properties was evaluated. The cooks in this study were performed without mechanical damage introduced during the cooking process, thus any conclusions of the impact from adding low Mw xylan on the sensitivity towards mechanical damage was not possible. The different microscopy analyses performed could not show any evidence for a higher penetration of xylan into the fiber wall when producing the pulp with addition of low molecular weight (low Mw) xylan. The low Mw xylan did not contribute to any improved pulp properties, rather the opposite. Addition of low Mw-xylan did not result in straighter fibers compared to the Ref-pulp, which was the case for the high Mw-xylan-pulp. The tensile indexdevelopment (tensile vs PFI-beating and tensile vs density) for the low Mw-pulp was even worse compared to the Ref-pulp. The pulp produced with addition of the high Mw-xylan showed, as earlier seen, an improved tensile index development compared to the Ref-pul