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Animal Health Media Coverage
Media coverage
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Diagnostics Critical in Effort to Eradicate PRRS Virus
Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) costs the global pig industry hundreds of millions of Euros each year, writes Nardy Robben, Product Specialist, Thermo Fisher Scientific.
Diagnostics help reduce income loss due to ruminant abortions
Repeated abortions in a herd can have a severe economic impact on farming operations. Industry experts estimate that the cost associated with abortions typically ranges between €500–1,000. Such incidences can lead to decreased milk production and herd replacements, while also increasing costs associated with feed, medical treatment, and artificial insemination.
Risk-based surveillance approach in slaughterhouses
Thermo Fisher Scientific and Vion Food Group (The Netherlands) recently entered into a collaboration to develop and implement antibody tests for the detection of food hazards at the slaughterhouse. Vion is a food company, specializing in meat, that services approximately 100 million consumers worldwide. The company uses food chain information to help ensure that the quality of slaughtered animals complies with their specifications.
Safer and reliable method to test for Trichinella
Pepsin digestion tests are traditionally used to test for Trichinella in pork meat products within the scope of official meat inspection. The poor availability and quality of pepsin, together with increasing prices, prompted this lab to choose an alternative, artificial digestion test. The Gütersloh veterinary services were one of the first to introduce the PrioCHECK Trichinella AAD for routine Trichinella testing in pork meat products.
A safer and cleaner Trichinella testing method for swine
Trichinellosis is a zoonotic disease that occurs worldwide and is caused by the larvae of Trichinella nematodes. Pigs can become infected through feeding on contaminated animal waste products, exposure to living or dead rodents or other wildlife infected with Trichinella larvae, or cannibalism within an infected herd. Humans can be infected by eating raw or insufficiently cooked meat from infected animals.
Early diagnosis and prevention of reproductive diseases can help reduce risk of financial loss
We’ve all heard the horror stories. A ranch that typically sees calving rates over 90% suddenly has a storm of open cows and abortions, and the calving rate drops to 50% or lower. Too late, the rancher discovers the herd is infected with a reproductive disease such as bovine viral diarrhea (BVD) or trichomoniasis (Trich). Losses at that level, or even less profound reductions in reproductive efficiency, add up to a major economic impact to the operation.
Molecular Technology to Enhance Future Diagnostics
Diagnostics are likely to play an increasingly important role in veterinary practice over the next few years, according to speakers at a satellite symposium at WAVLD (World Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians) in Berlin. The application of molecular technology, such as sequencing, is opening up new avenues and allowing the development of faster, more sensitive and more selective tests.
Strategic Use of Diagnostics
With such a wide choice of diagnostic tests available, Life Technologies explains how to choose the best option in any given situation. Large animal veterinarians have never had such a wide range of diagnostic tools to help them maintain and improve the health and productivity of their clients’ animals. The development of new and better tests over the last few decades has made it possible to get faster, more accurate, and more precise information about the health status of…
Serology Versus Molecular Technology
The introduction of routine serological tests in diagnostic laboratories provided veterinarians with a valuable tool for diagnosing and tracking a wide range of common infections in production animals. In particular, the technology provided information about infections caused by viruses, which are extremely difficult to identify by culturing them under laboratory conditions. But has serology been replaced by newer, molecular technology? Life Technologies offers the answer.