I read recently that young horses appear to learn faster if they receive food as a reward, according to researchers from France. Yearling horses in the research project were split into two groups - reward group and non-reward group. If horses in the reward group responded appropriately to voice commands, such as remaining immobile while a trainer performed grooming tasks or certain veterinary procedures, the researchers rewarded the horse with grain pellets. (Horses in the non-reward group were not rewarded with grain if they responded appropriately). On average, horses in the non-reward group took 5.2 hours to complete their training, whereas horses in the reward group took 3.7 hours to complete their training. The researcher also stated that the slowest horse in the reward group still performed and learned tasks faster than the fastest horse in the non-reward group.

But when veterinarians and producers are processing cattle (or other species) involving administration of vaccines or biologicals, it's important to remember these products require constant chilling to preserve their integrity and effectiveness. It's critical to have an insulated box or cooler at the work site conveniently located close to the work but protected from the ongoing physical activity avoiding disruption of the cooling effectiveness. Ice packs or even bagged wet ice should be placed on the top of product in the cooler for most effective protection from warming temperature. I sometimes carry an extra cooler to place bottles of vaccine being used leaving the "stock" supply in another cooler so as to not interrupt the temperature of the reserve bottles by opening/closing the cooler each time doses are removed from the bottles in use. Another thing I have found helpful especially during hot summer months is to have yet another cooler with reserve ice or cold pack supply, especially if the workday is long and away from "home base". One additional idea to pass along is to not wrap the ice packs in material such as newspaper as this effectively insulates the cold next to the pack reducing the ability for the cold to escape to the bottles of product. Lastly, if using biologicals requiring reconstitution prior to administration, avoid the mixing of product prematurely. I understand we all have a tendency to get everything ready to prevent interruption of the work process. However, if the reconstituted product is sitting in the cooler (even if adequately chilled) for a couple of hours or longer, the product will possibly have deteriorated before it's given to the animal. Although timely processing is essential in reducing stress on livestock, the administration of ineffective vaccines and biologicals is counter productive as well.

Questions about this article can be sent to adement@cvm.tamu.edu

The CD is configured to automatically launch the Main Index Page (index.htm) of the Beef Herd Health Management Calendar. Minimum hardware requirements are: computer equipped with CD reader, computer monitor with 800 x 600 resolution or higher and computer equipped with soundcard and speakers. Required software items are: Microscoft Excel, Adobe Acrobat Reader® and Adobe Macromedia Flash v.8.

Much of the technical information needed to design and implement programs on scheduling annual health management plans for cow-calf herds is provided on the CD. The interface of the application is exceptionally user-friendly and accessible to even the novice computer user, designed to ensure that beef producers with minimal computer literacy are able to access and learn from the information provided by the Beef Herd Health Management Calendar on CD.

Producers must generate an annual 12-month beef herd health management calendar with planned and scheduled health practices related to when cows calve and not to the season of the year. The calendar of specific dates of tasks will ensure “doing the right thing at the right time” for increased effectiveness of the practices. The goal is to increase the production efficiency of the whole herd, all the cows, calves, heifers and bulls.

Ordering the Calendar:

To order on-line:

You may order on-line with a VISA or MasterCard, using Texas Cooperative Extension, Texas A&M University System secure shopping cart technology at: http://tcebookstore.org/.

To order by phone:
You may call Texas Cooperative Extension, Texas A&M University System toll-free (888) 900-2577 and order with a VISA or MasterCard.

Retail price: $98.00

Who didn’t cry when Old Yeller died? Come on. Surely you shared the sorrow when the classic Disney film’s canine hero met his fate. You remember how Old Yeller defended the family against a wolf gone mad with rabies. Then he was locked in a corn crib until they could be sure he hadn’t contracted the disease. And just as the quarantine was about to end; just when we thought he was in the clear, the symptoms appeared. Snarling and frothing at the mouth, the dog turned on his young master. Dangerous, suffering and doomed to die a painful death, Old Yeller had to be destroyed.
The movie was set on the western frontier, in the 19th century, when rabies was a fearsome disease. It was sometimes called “hydrophobia” because victims often seemed to display a fear or aversion to water along with other symptoms of strange, often aggressive behavior. Folks didn’t fully understand the mechanisms of microbial infections in those days, but they knew that rabies could be spread through the bite of an infected animal. They knew it could be transmitted from wild critters to domestic livestock. Old Yeller’s fans will remember how the family’s cantankerous milk cow also succumbed to rabies. Folks also knew that humans were susceptible and contracting rabies meant you were going to die.
Even today, the same reasons make rabies a threat to livestock and their caretakers. Rabies is a zoonotic disease – one caused by an infectious agent that is transmittable between animals and humans. In the case of rabies, the infectious agent is a virus to which virtually all mammals are susceptible. Though exposure to humans is reduced through widespread vaccination of pet dogs and cats, rabies remains common among wild animals – particularly flesh-eating species. According to Angela Dement, Texas A&M University (TAMU) Extension Assistant for Veterinary Medicine, skunks, raccoons, coyotes and bats rank among the most common carrier species.
Dement says the threat of infection to domestic animals and humans is sufficient to warrant an effort, by TAMU extension personnel, to heighten awareness among livestock producers. In addition to foreign and emerging animal diseases, rabies has been added to the agendas for county meetings held across the state.
“Awareness is the best defense,” states Dement, “so our goal to educate producers about the disease and how to recognize the different behaviors associated with rabies.”
Not all animals afflicted with rabies exhibit the “slobbering fits” described in the Old Yeller movie. Dement says the virus always attacks the central nervous system, but symptomatic behavior may be either of two different types. That which most people consider typical is “furious rabies” where the animal displays restless, but aimless behavior and becomes aggressive, sometimes to the point that it will bite anything that happens to be in its way. Even gentle family pets, if infected, can become vicious.
However, an animal with rabies may never show aggression or become violent. With the other type of behavior, sometimes called “dumb rabies”, the affected animal becomes withdrawn and shy. In any case, rabid animals suffer progressive paralysis. Early signs may include difficulty swallowing. Eventually, even though they are hungry and thirsty, animals are unable to eat or drink - hence the perceived fear of water. After the onset of symptoms, the disease is always fatal.
According to Dement, the virus is present in the saliva of an infected animal. If it bites another animal, or a human, the virus may spread through the wound. However, the virus may also spread when virus-laden saliva comes in contact with scratches or breaks in the skin due to another type of injury. The incubation period for rabies varies by specie, and ranges from 3 to 8 weeks in humans.
“Treatment is available for humans that may be exposed through contact with animals suspected of having rabies. But the only way to be sure if the animal really was infected is to test tissue from its brain. So, while a suspect animal should be destroyed, don’t shoot it in the head,” warns Dement. “If you think you may have been exposed, quickly seek advice from your primary care physician.”
Dement says cases where humans were exposed to rabies through contact with infected cattle or other domestic livestock have been rare in Texas, but it can and does happen. In June, officials with the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control reported that two men were undergoing post-exposure treatment after handling a calf that later tested positive for rabies. The men apparently came in contact with its saliva while assisting the calf found staggering around in a field. Reportedly, the calf was one of a handful of domestic livestock, in South Carolina, that tested positive during the last 20 years.
However, according to Veterinarian W. Dee Whittier, of Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine, the incidence of rabies among cattle varies by region. The opportunity for exposure increases with prevalence of rabies among wild animal carriers. In Virginia, says the bovine specialist, cattle often are the most frequently diagnosed domestic animal.
“Due to their curious nature, cattle will approach an infected wild animal, like a skunk or raccoon, and be bitten on the nose, or feet and legs,” Whittier explains.
In cattle, rabies symptoms can include restlessness, aggression, repeated bellowing and slobbering, or cattle may act depressed or sleepy. They may show weakness, particularly in their hind legs, and appear to be choking.
“Any animal with symptoms of a neurological disease ought to be investigated until and answer is found,” warns Whittier. “And producers ought not to be poking their hands in the mouths of animals to see if something is stuck in their throats. Producers and veterinarians put themselves at risk of infection when conducting oral examinations of salivating cattle.”

This manual is specifically designed to help rural communities prepare for an act of agroterrorism. The author lists known biological and chemical agents and their effects, explains model systems for supporting emergency response efforts, and lays out proven plans for gathering personnel and other resources in an orderly, coordinated way. He spells out who should do what and when, providing a critically needed path through the bureaucratic maze of state, national, and interagency homeland security directives. It closes with a training program including practical exercises.

Agroterrorism: A Guide for First Responders contains resources vital for America's rural communities, agriculture sector that is important to our nation.

It is available at: http://www.tamu.edu/upress/BOOKS/2007/moats.htm

• Cover the bat with a coffee can or a box.
• Gently slip a piece of paper between the can or box and the wall so that the bat is trapped inside the container. The paper serves as a lid.
• Transport the bat in the container.

Most cities have animal control officers who will be happy to help with the bat removal.

The maternity season (May to August) is not an ideal time to exclude bats that have taken up residence in a building attic or other roost because the young are not yet able to fly. If exclude adults now, you may trap young in the roost. The bat exclusion techniques are best applied in early spring or in the fall.

Bats like to swoop down and grab a drink from standing water, such as a farm pond or swimming pool. They are not attacking people in or around the pond or pool. If a bat is ill, it could end up crashing into the pool. Homeowners sometimes find a dead bat floating in the pool or in the pool's "skimmer." In either case, the health risk to people who might swim in the pool is remote.

The rabies virus does not live well outside the animal.
Any virus in the bat would be diluted by the volume of water in the pool.
The chlorine in the pool water would inactivate the virus.

Officials are saying that the vaccine has effectiveness within 7 days from administration giving the animal immunity for 21 days up to 6 months. Edward B. Knipling is quoted as saying, “This signals tremendous promise. Although this is still an experimental vaccine, it has made significant development progress, and we are optimistic about its prospects.”

This vaccine is the first FMD vaccine that has been produced by the U.S. If proven effective, the federal government will create a stockpile in the event FMD is found in the U.S.

Currently if an animal tests positive for FMD there is no way to determine if it had been vaccinated or actually came into contact with the virus. With this vaccine, it is possible to tell if the animal tests positive due to vaccination.

FMD is a devastating disease that effects cloven-hoofed animals (or two-toed animals). If FMD occurs in the U.S. it would have severe consequences on the economy and hurt the agriculture industry as a whole. The U.S. has been FMD free since 1929, but it still remains a significant threat.

http://www.theeagle.com/stories/072006/local_20060720001.php

Initial tests show toxins in horses' stomachs

By HOLLY HUFFMAN
Eagle Staff Writer

Brazos County stable owner Bradley Raphel said Wednesday that he had been following a standard practice when he treated a silo of horse feed with a chemical pesticide last weekend.

The 72-year-old said he did nothing different when applying the chemical tablets designed to kill weevils: He used the same treatment, in the same amount and applied it the same way as he had hundreds of times before, he said.

CONFIRMATORY TESTS BEING CONDUCTED ON MICHIGAN WILD BIRD SAMPLES

The U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Interior today announced that
routine surveillance has indicated the presence of H5 and N1 avian
influenza subtypes in samples from 2 wild mute swans in Michigan, but
testing has ruled out the possibility of this being the highly
pathogenic H5N1 strain that has spread through birds in Asia, Europe
and Africa. Test results thus far indicate this is low pathogenicity
avian influenza [LPAI], which poses no threat to human health.

Jan. 10, 2006
Early Detection of Fire Damage Can Minimize Cattle Losses Due to Fire
Writer: Kay Ledbetter, (806) 677-5608,skledbetter@ag.tamu.edu
Contact: Dr. Floron Faries, (979) 845-4353,ffaries@cvn.tamu.edu
Dr. Ted McCollum, (806) 677-5600,tmccollu@ag.tamu.edu
Dr. Ron Gill, (254) 968-4144,r-gill@tamu.edu

COLLEGE STATION – Analyzing injuries to cattle following a wildfire is important to minimize losses, said a Texas Cooperative Extension specialist.

"It might look like they've made it and there was no visible physical damage," said Dr. Floron "Buddy" Faries, Extension program leader for veterinary medicine. "However, it's important to have them looked at by a veterinarian as soon as possible because there could be secondary problems that lead to infections and further problems."