Recently, I came across an article in a local newspaper that raised concerns about cattle as a source of zoonotic pathogens, in particular with regard to Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP) – the causative agent of Johne’s disease in cattle and other ruminants.

Body condition scoring (BCS) is a simple and powerful technique that, by evaluating the thickness of subcutaneous fat and therefore its mobilization, evaluates animals’ energy balance, which is highly associated with health and performance.

Mastitis can spell disaster for dairy farmers. This potentially fatal mammary gland infection is the most common disease in dairy cattle in the U.S. and worldwide. But a treatment – dry cow therapy – has proven to be effective.

I grew up not too far from Six Flags Great America. The American Eagle is the tallest and fastest racing wooden roller coaster in the world. Its first drop gives me the feeling most dairy farmers must have felt this spring, not exhilarating, but gut-wrenching. Mandates to dump milk and cut production combined with plummeting milk prices and uncertainty as far as the eye could see were enough to give anyone that nauseous feeling.

Control and even eradication of bovine leukosis, caused by bovine leukemia virus (BLV), is possible in U.S. dairy herds dedicated to prioritizing diagnostic testing, acting on results and employing regular management practices that reduce the risk of transmission.