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Rasmussen P, Barkema HW, Osei PP, Taylor J, Shaw AP, Conrady B, Chaters G, Muñoz V, Hall DC, Apenteng OO, Rushton J, Torgerson PR. Global losses due to dairy cattle diseases: A comorbidity-adjusted economic analysis. J Dairy Sci 2024; 107:6945-6970. [PMID: 38788837 PMCID: PMC11382338 DOI: 10.3168/jds.2023-24626] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/28/2023] [Accepted: 04/01/2024] [Indexed: 05/26/2024]
Abstract
An economic simulation was carried out over 183 milk-producing countries to estimate the global economic impacts of 12 dairy cattle diseases and health conditions: mastitis (subclinical and clinical), lameness, paratuberculosis (Johne's disease), displaced abomasum, dystocia, metritis, milk fever, ovarian cysts, retained placenta, and ketosis (subclinical and clinical). Estimates of disease impacts on milk yield, fertility, and culling were collected from the literature, standardized, meta-analyzed using a variety of methods ranging from simple averaging to random-effects models, and adjusted for comorbidities to prevent overestimation. These comorbidity-adjusted disease impacts were then combined with a set of country-level estimates for lactational incidence or prevalence or both, herd characteristics, and price estimates within a series of Monte Carlo simulations that estimated and valued the economic losses due to these diseases. It was estimated that total annual global losses are US$65 billion (B). Subclinical ketosis, clinical mastitis, and subclinical mastitis were the costliest diseases modeled, resulting in mean annual global losses of approximately US$18B, US$13B, and US$9B, respectively. Estimated global annual losses due to clinical ketosis, displaced abomasum, dystocia, lameness, metritis, milk fever, ovarian cysts, paratuberculosis, and retained placenta were estimated to be US$0.2B, US$0.6B, US$0.6B, US$6B, US$5B, US$0.6B, US$4B, US$4B, and US$3B, respectively. Without adjustment for comorbidities, when statistical associations between diseases were disregarded, mean aggregate global losses would have been overestimated by 45%. Although annual losses were greatest in India (US$12B), the United States (US$8B), and China (US$5B), depending on the measure of losses used (losses as a percentage of gross domestic product, losses per capita, losses as a percentage of gross milk revenue), the relative economic burden of these dairy cattle diseases across countries varied markedly.
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Affiliation(s)
- Philip Rasmussen
- Section of Animal Welfare and Disease Control, Department Veterinary and Animal Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen DK-1870, Denmark; Section of Epidemiology, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Zurich, Zurich CH 0857, Switzerland; Global Burden of Animal Diseases (GBADs), Liverpool L69 3BX, United Kingdom.
| | - Herman W Barkema
- Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 4Z6, Canada
| | - Prince P Osei
- School of Mathematics and Statistics, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON K1S 5B6, Canada
| | - James Taylor
- Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI), Belfast BT9 5PX, United Kingdom
| | - Alexandra P Shaw
- Department of Livestock and One Health, Institute of Infection, Veterinary & Ecological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 3BX, United Kingdom; Infection Medicine, Biomedical Sciences, Edinburgh Medical School, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH16 4SB, United Kingdom
| | - Beate Conrady
- Section of Animal Welfare and Disease Control, Department Veterinary and Animal Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen DK-1870, Denmark
| | - Gemma Chaters
- Global Burden of Animal Diseases (GBADs), Liverpool L69 3BX, United Kingdom; Department of Livestock and One Health, Institute of Infection, Veterinary & Ecological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 3BX, United Kingdom
| | - Violeta Muñoz
- Section of Epidemiology, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Zurich, Zurich CH 0857, Switzerland; Global Burden of Animal Diseases (GBADs), Liverpool L69 3BX, United Kingdom
| | - David C Hall
- Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 4Z6, Canada
| | - Ofosuhene O Apenteng
- Section of Animal Welfare and Disease Control, Department Veterinary and Animal Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen DK-1870, Denmark
| | - Jonathan Rushton
- Global Burden of Animal Diseases (GBADs), Liverpool L69 3BX, United Kingdom; Department of Livestock and One Health, Institute of Infection, Veterinary & Ecological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 3BX, United Kingdom
| | - Paul R Torgerson
- Section of Epidemiology, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Zurich, Zurich CH 0857, Switzerland; Global Burden of Animal Diseases (GBADs), Liverpool L69 3BX, United Kingdom
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Reisi-Vanani R, Ansari-Mahyari S, Pakdel A, Cue RI. Impact of reproductive traits on productive life in Iranian Holstein dairy cows. J Anim Breed Genet 2024. [PMID: 38967064 DOI: 10.1111/jbg.12888] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/23/2024] [Revised: 06/25/2024] [Accepted: 06/26/2024] [Indexed: 07/06/2024]
Abstract
Enhancing reproductive performance is a key strategy to mitigate involuntary culling rates, thereby extending productive life (PL) and ultimately improving profitability in dairy cattle herds. A piecewise Weibull proportional hazards model was used to investigate the effect of several important reproductive traits on PL in Holstein dairy cows. Data comprised 200,747 lactation records from 82,505 cows sired by 1952 bulls across 36 dairy herds. PL was defined as the number of days from the first calving to the last milk record or censoring. The statistical model accounted for the time-dependent fixed effects of changes in herd size, year-season, milk production, fat and protein contents, and the time-independent fixed effect of age at first calving. Herd-year and sire effects were also included as random effects. Reproductive traits include calving traits such as calving ease (CE), calf size (CZ), and calf survival (CS), as well as female fertility traits such as number of inseminations per conception (NI), days from calving to first service (CFS), days from first service to conception (FSC), and days open (DO). All reproductive traits had a significant effect on PL (p < 0.001). Each reproductive trait was analysed separately. The relative risk (RR) of being culled increased as the severity of calving difficulties increased in both primiparous and multiparous cows. Cows that calved small or large calves showed a higher risk of being culled compared with those that calved medium size calves. The increased RR of culling was observed only for primiparous cows that gave birth to dead calves. In addition, cows that required more NI, a longer CFS, FSC, and DO had shorter longevity. These insights can deepen our comprehension of the factors affecting PL and provide information for refining management and breeding strategies, which could lead to increased profitability and sustainability in Iranian dairy farming.
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Affiliation(s)
- Reza Reisi-Vanani
- Department of Animal Science, College of Agriculture, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan, Iran
| | - Saeid Ansari-Mahyari
- Department of Animal Science, College of Agriculture, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan, Iran
| | - Abbas Pakdel
- Department of Animal Science, College of Agriculture, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan, Iran
| | - Roger I Cue
- Department of Animal Science, McGill University, Montreal, Québec, Canada
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Kechroud AA, Merdaci L, Aoun L, Gherissi DE, Saidj D. Welfare evaluation of dairy cows reared in the East of Algeria. Trop Anim Health Prod 2024; 56:32. [PMID: 38175246 DOI: 10.1007/s11250-023-03872-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2023] [Accepted: 12/15/2023] [Indexed: 01/05/2024]
Abstract
The aim of the study was to evaluate the welfare status of dairy cows raised in local conditions through health criteria. Important health problems have been identified as well as their effect on the milk yield. One hundred seven farms in eastern Algeria were visited. Data on health, productivity, and management practices were collected. Clinical examination of 1210 dairy cows was conducted to assess health scores. The relationship between herd health and milk yield was investigated using multiple linear regression models. The average milk yield per cow was 16.1 kg/day, and the average prevalence of thin cows (body condition score ≤ 2) was 35.1%. The cow dirtiness was a sign of poor facility hygiene, with 24.3% of cows had dirty udders, 44.5% had dirty flanks/upper legs, and 59.6% had dirty hind legs. The mean prevalence of clinical lameness (locomotion score ≥ 3) and severe lameness (locomotion score ≥ 4) were 24.7% and 8.7%, respectively. The prevalence of hocks, knees, and neck injuries (score > 1) with wound and/or swelling ranged from 0 to 46.2%, 0 to 71.4%, and 0 to 14.3%, respectively. The clinical examination showed a percentage of cows with mastitis of 15.4%, diarrhea of 6.9%, cough of 3.2%, nasal discharge of 7.5%, and ocular discharge of 1.8%. Thus, the milk yield had associated with severe lameness, mastitis, thinness, and dystocia. In conclusion, the welfare indicators in this study reflect the serious health problems in dairy farming which influence the expression of the cow genetic potential.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ahmed Abdelouahed Kechroud
- Laboratory of Epidemio-Surveillance, Production and Reproduction, Health, Cellular Experimentation and Therapy of Domestic and Wild Animals, Department of Veterinary Sciences, Chadli Bendjedid University, PO Box 73, 36000, El-Tarf, Algeria.
| | - Latifa Merdaci
- Laboratory of Epidemio-Surveillance, Production and Reproduction, Health, Cellular Experimentation and Therapy of Domestic and Wild Animals, Department of Veterinary Sciences, Chadli Bendjedid University, PO Box 73, 36000, El-Tarf, Algeria
| | - Leila Aoun
- Laboratory of Epidemio-Surveillance, Production and Reproduction, Health, Cellular Experimentation and Therapy of Domestic and Wild Animals, Department of Veterinary Sciences, Chadli Bendjedid University, PO Box 73, 36000, El-Tarf, Algeria
| | - Djalel Eddine Gherissi
- Laboratory of Animal Production, Biotechnology and Health, Institute of Agronomic and Veterinary Sciences, Mohamed Cherif Messaadia University, BP 41000, Souk-Ahras, Algeria
| | - Dahia Saidj
- Veterinary Sciences Institute, Saad Dahleb University, 1,B.P. 270, Route de Soumâa, 09000, Blida, Algeria
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Ahmed RH, Schmidtmann C, Mugambe J, Thaller G. Effects of the Breeding Strategy Beef-on-Dairy at Animal, Farm and Sector Levels. Animals (Basel) 2023; 13:2182. [PMID: 37443980 DOI: 10.3390/ani13132182] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2023] [Revised: 06/20/2023] [Accepted: 06/30/2023] [Indexed: 07/15/2023] Open
Abstract
The decline in farm revenue due to volatile milk prices has led to an increase in the use of beef semen in dairy herds. While this strategy ("Beef-on-dairy" (BoD)) can have economic benefits, it can also lead to unintended consequences affecting animal welfare. Semen sale trends from breeding organizations depict increasing sales of beef semen across the globe. Calves born from such breeding strategies can perform better when compared to purebred dairy calves, especially in terms of meat quality and growth traits. The Beef-on-dairy strategy can lead to unintentional negative impacts including an increase in gestation length, and increased dystocia and stillbirth rates. Studies in this regard have found the highest gestation length for Limousin crossbred calves followed by calves from the Angus breed. This increase in gestation length can lead to economic losses ranging from 3 to 5 US$ per animal for each additional day. In terms of the growth performance of crossbred animals, literature studies are inconclusive due to the vast differences in farming structure across the regions. But almost all the studies agree regarding improvement in the meat quality in terms of color, fiber type, and intra-muscular fat content for crossbred animals. Utilization of genomic selection, and development of specialized Beef-on-dairy indexes for the sires, can be a viable strategy to make selection easier for the farmers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rana Hamas Ahmed
- Institute of Animal Breeding and Husbandry, Christian-Albrechts-University Kiel, Hermann-Rodewald-Straße 6, 24118 Kiel, Germany
| | - Christin Schmidtmann
- Institute of Animal Breeding and Husbandry, Christian-Albrechts-University Kiel, Hermann-Rodewald-Straße 6, 24118 Kiel, Germany
| | - Julius Mugambe
- Institute of Animal Breeding and Husbandry, Christian-Albrechts-University Kiel, Hermann-Rodewald-Straße 6, 24118 Kiel, Germany
| | - Georg Thaller
- Institute of Animal Breeding and Husbandry, Christian-Albrechts-University Kiel, Hermann-Rodewald-Straße 6, 24118 Kiel, Germany
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