The Bactrian camel is an important domesticated animal providing milk, meat, and other products in desert countries. In this study, 111 individuals representing 11 domestic Bactrian camel breeds from China, Mongolia, Russia, and one wild Bactrian camel group from Mongolia were selected for the preparation of mitochondrial DNA. The 1140-bp fragments of the cytochrome b gene (Cytb) were amplified...

Animals have co-evolved with mutualistic microbial communities, known as the microbiota, which are essential for organ development and function. We hypothesize that modern animal husbandry practices exert an impact on the intestinal microbiota. In this study, we compared the structure of the fecal microbiota between feral and domestic goats using the G2 PhyloChip and assessed the presence of fi...

BACKGROUND Animal cruelty is a significant problem for society, and there are good reasons why doctors should be particularly concerned by it. Increasing evidence for links between animal cruelty and child or spousal abuse is an area of growing concern internationally and of real importance to health professionals. OBJECTIVE This article aims to raise awareness of the relevance of animal crue...

It is well-known that environment influences DNA methylation, however, the extent of heritable DNA methylation variation following animal domestication remains largely unknown. Using meDIP-chip we mapped the promoter methylomes for 23,316 genes in muscle tissues of ancestral and domestic chickens. We systematically examined the variation of promoter DNA methylation in terms of different breeds,...

The breeding of domestic rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) for human consumption has a long tradition in China. Infections that can affect the production of meat or even be transmitted from animals to humans are important to monitor, especially for public health reasons as well as for their impact on animal health. Thus, a total of 1,132 domestic rabbit sera from 4 regions in China were collected...

In domestic animals, acid-base balance may be influenced by nutrition. The major research effort in this area has been made on the prevention of hypocalcemic postparturient paresis in dairy cows. This disorder is caused by the sudden increase of calcium secretion into the colostrum. The manipulation of the dietary cation-anion difference makes it possible to maintain the cows in metabolic acido...

Peste des petits ruminants virus (PPRV) causes the acute, highly contagious disease peste des petits ruminants (PPR) that affects small domestic and wild ruminants. PPR is of importance in the small livestock-keeping industry in Tanzania, especially in rural areas as it is an important source of livelihood. Morbidity and case fatality rate can be as high as 80-100% in naïve herds; however, in e...

Determining whether a species' vocal communication system is graded or discrete requires definition of its vocal repertoire. In this context, research on domestic pig (Sus scrofa domesticus) vocalizations, for example, has led to significant advances in our understanding of communicative functions. Despite their close relation to domestic pigs, little is known about wild boar (Sus scrofa) vocal...

The Pacific Island countries and territories (PICTs) are reported to be free of the most serious infectious livestock diseases which are prevalent in other parts of the globe, such as Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, Foot and Mouth Disease or Rabies. Yet there is a lack of scientifically based evidence to confirm this animal health status. This paper reviews what has been published on disease...

Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP) has emerged as a major health problem for domestic livestock and human beings. Reduced per animal productivity of domestic livestock seriously impacts the economics of dairy farming globally. High to very high bioload of MAP in domestic livestock and also in the human population has been reported from north India. Presence of live MAP bacill...