This study presents a multi-disciplinary decision-support tool, which integrates geo-statistics, social network analysis (SNA), spatial-stochastic spread model, economic analysis and mapping/visualization capabilities for the evaluation of the sanitary and socio-economic impact of livestock diseases under diverse epidemiologic scenarios. We illustrate the applicability of this tool using foot-a...

BACKGROUND Livestock-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (LA-MRSA) has a wide host range and is transmissible to humans, especially to those with close contact to colonized animals. This study presents the first data on the occurrence of MRSA in farm workers and livestock farms (pig, cattle and poultry) in the federal state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania in northeast German...

BACKGROUND Following increased rates of human campylobacteriosis in the late 1990's, and their apparent association with increased consumption of fresh chicken meat, a longitudinal study was conducted in Iceland to identify the means to decrease the frequency of broiler flock colonization with Campylobacter. Our objective in this study was to identify risk factors for flock colonization acting ...

Managing the environmental risk associated with livestock production is a significant challenge. Nitrogen and phosphorus are commonly implicated as the sources of ground and surface water quality problems associated with livestock production. The degree of imbalance between these nutrient inputs and the managed nutrient outputs for a livestock operation defines the magnitude of potential enviro...

This paper explores the future sustainability of farm animal veterinary practice in light of changes in both the farming and veterinary sectors. The paper makes a valuable contribution to the rural enterprise and veterinary business literatures, finding that future sustainability of farm animal veterinary practice is dependent on vets being prepared to change with their clients, develop support...

Farm animal genomics is of interest to a wide audience of researchers because of the utility derived from understanding how genomics and proteomics function in various organisms. Applications such as xenotransplantation, increased livestock productivity, bioengineering new materials, products and even fabrics are several reasons for thriving farm animal genome activity. Currently mined in rapid...

Farm assurance schemes are an inevitable and essential part of the UK livestock industries as they provide valuable assurances to the market over food safety, nonhuman animal welfare, and environmental concerns. However, there is potential for welfare assessment within such schemes to extend beyond existing resource-based parameters to include outcome-based observations of the behavior and phys...

Urbanization and economic development have made global agriculture increasingly differentiated. Many hinterland farms remain largely self-sufficient, while farms closer to markets become increasingly specialized and linked to agribusinesses. Both semi-subsistence and commercialized farms remain family operations, with the few successful investor-owned farms found mainly for livestock and crops ...

Improvements in the farm household’s income and identifying the factors contribute to its improvement is very critical for enhancing food and poverty reduction strategy of Ethiopia. The aim of this paper is to investigate the factors contributing to rural farm households’ income differential in Haramaya district East Hararghe, Oromia, Ethiopia. The study used both primary and secondary data. Pr...