A warm summer day is often a most desirable time on the ranch, especially when a “leisure” trip to check the pastures and cow-calf pairs is on the day’s agenda. But this relaxing trip quickly turns stressful when the first calf we encounter is teary-eyed, followed by another and another.

The Idaho State Department of Agriculture (ISDA) announced in July that its Animal Health Laboratory has officially been accepted as a member of the National Animal Health Laboratory Network (NAHLN), becoming the first laboratory in Idaho to earn this designation.

Beware Typhoid Mary in your herd. She may not be showing signs of infection, but could be carrying and shedding Salmonella Dublin, a bacterium that can be transmitted from lactating cows to calves.

Even though digital dermatitis is not exactly a new problem, questions still abound about proper prevention and control. Here are some tips for managing cattle and their environment that might help out your operation.

Bovine leukosis is a persistent and incurable disease affecting the health, productivity and profitability of dairies. It is caused by the bovine leukemia virus (BLV), which primarily infects lymphocytes, the immune cells responsible for antibody production and combatting viral disease. Read about a project to validate different BLV test options and strategies.

HPAI has left the dairy industry scrambling for treatment, fast-tracking vaccines, developing containment strategies, implementing biosecurity protocols and reassuring the public that dairy products are not the source of a potential foodborne public health crisis. 

Among the more problematic pathogens affecting cattle, Mycoplasma bovis (M. bovis) stands out for its involvement in chronic infections. The interaction between the outer makeup of the microorganism and the animal’s immune response contributes to its insidious nature, making treatment as well as prevention difficult.

Canadian dairy is well equipped to manage an emerging disease in ways that mitigate risks to animals and farmers.