Estrus synchronization allows for parturition at suitable times to take advantage of niche markets, feed supplies, labor, and rising price trends. In the past, synchronization of estrus in goats has focused primarily on dairy goats to allow for optimal timing of milk production. However, recent interest in meat goat production has resulted in attempts to use dairy goat, sheep, and cattle synchr...

Previous association studies revealed several single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that explained the observed phenotypic variation for meat tenderness and long-chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) content of Australian lamb. To confirm the validity of these associated SNPs at predicting meat tenderness and omega-3 PUFA content, an independent validation study was designed. The Ovi...

Cases of brucellosis were diagnosed in 3-month-old twins and their mother. An epidemiologic survey suggested that raw sheep or goat meat might be the source of Brucella melitensis infection. This finding implies that the increasing threat of brucellosis might affect low-risk persons in urban settings in China.

A survey of 2,123 slaughtered adult sheep in markets of the south-east Kazakhstan established that the average contamination of animals by Echinococcus granulosus is 9.1% with primary localization of cysts in livers and lungs. The histologic structure of the muscle tissue of infected sheep displayed destructive changes with a prevalence of granular dystrophy. The amount of protein, fat, calcium...

Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) of the O157:H7 serotype is a worldwide zoonotic pathogen responsible for the majority of severe cases of human EHEC disease. The aim of the present study was to investigate the prevalence of E. coli O157: H7/NM in raw meat samples from two provinces of Iran. During a period from March 2010 to March 2011. Two hundred and ninety five raw meat samples were...

This study was conducted to explore the antioxidant potential and functional value of guava (Psidium guajava L.) powder in muscle foods. Guava powder was used as a source of antioxidant dietary fibre in sheep meat nuggets at two different levels i.e., 0.5% (Treatment I) and 1.0% (Treatment II) and its effect was evaluated against control. Guava powder is rich in dietary fibre (43.21%), phenolic...

This study aimed to investigate the frequency of anti-Toxoplasma gondii antibodies in serum from 629 chickens on 39 family farms in seven municipalities in the semiarid region, Pernambuco, Brazil, and to identify risk factors associated with T. gondii infection. The risk factors were studied in 421 samples from 29 farms. Anti-T. gondii antibodies were investigated by indirect fluorescent antibo...

Meat inspection records in abattoirs located in Torbat-e-heidarieh (northeast Iran), from 18 May 2009 to 30 May 2015, were used to determine the prevalence of liver fluke diseases in sheep and cattle in the region. A total of 1004858 livestock including 867015 sheep and 137843 cattle were slaughtered in the 6-year period. Dicrocoeliosis, fasciolosis and hydatidosis were responsible for 2%, 1.92...

Background and aims: Toxoplasma gondii is an obligate intracellular parasite which has the potential toinfect all warm-blooded animals. Sheep and cattle play a main role in the economy and their infectionto T. gondii, besides economic losses, can cause the infection of humans through the consumptionof raw meat and other products. In this study, we aimed to survey the prevalenc...

calpastatin (cast) is a specific inhibiter of calpains, playing a role in meat tenderization and myogenesis. in the present study, the polymorphism of the cast gene of makoei sheep was investigated by polymerase chain reaction and single strand conformation polymorphism technique (pcr–sscp). genomic dna was extracted from whole blood samples collected from 100 sheep. a 622 bp cast exon 1 segmen...