Vets have always been in the vanguard and served as the front lines for the detection and reporting of foreign animal diseases. We have been exceedingly fortunate in the U.S. to have not experienced a recent outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease, for example. It is unrealistic to envision that this status will continue indefinitely. Should an outbreak of foot-and-mouth or any other foreign animal disease occur, it will be your vet who is trained to make the initial diagnosis and take steps to immediately contain a potentially catastrophic disease outbreak.

Herd health is the result of multiple, interconnected factors. Nutrition, herd health protocols and vaccination programs often come to mind when looking for ways to improve health through all stages of an animal’s life cycle. While all are proven to make a difference, one often overlooked yet essential area of focus is your facilities.

Managing mastitis begins with controlling the factors that make infection more probable. Cleanliness in both the barn and the milking parlor, and proper maintenance and use of milking equipment, are all factors that make infection less likely to occur. Overall cow health also plays a major role in decreasing the likelihood, or the severity, of infection. “Mastitis is the result of a bacterial infection in the mammary gland when it is weakened or overwhelmed,” Robert J. Van Saun, Penn State Extension veterinarian, said, addressing participants in the recent Penn State Mastitis and Milk Quality Conference.

Silage avalanches are real, and there is no way to predict when and where they will occur. It only takes a fraction of a second for part of a silage feedout face to silently break off and fall, and the result can be deadly for anyone beneath it. Recently, there have been numerous avalanche fatalities, including an 11-year-old boy in New Hampshire, a 19-year-old young man in New York, a 30-year-old truck driver in Idaho and a 63-year-old employee in Pennsylvania.