Veterinary Preventive Medicine, Epidemiology, and Public Health Commons^™

Impact Of Corn Silage Inclusion On Finishing Cattle Performance, Hannah C. Hamilton, F. Henry Hilscher, Zachary E. Carlson Carlson, Brad M. Boyd, Andrea K. Watson, Jim C. Macdonald, Galen E. Erickson

Nebraska Beef Cattle Reports

Cattle fed high grain diets with little to no roughage are typically at greater risk for acidosis and reduced dry matter intake and average daily gain. An individual feeding study was conducted to compare different inclusions of corn silage used as a roughage source on finishing performance and liver abscess rate. Treatments consisted of 3 inclusions of corn silage at 0, 7.5 and 15% of the diet DM and a control treatment with 7.5% alfalfa. There were no differences for live animal performance or carcass characteristics. There were also no differences in liver abscess incidence. Feeding corn silage at 15% …

Geospatial Analysis Of Rickettsial Species In Arkansas, Amy D. Frank, Ashley P.G. Dowling

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

Rickettsia species are obligate intracellular, arthropod-borne bacteria with a potential to cause multiple diseases including Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF). Fleas, mites, and ticks serve as vectors for Rickettsia, but ticks are the primary vector of interest. RMSF and other rickettsial diseases have continued to gain importance in both human and veterinary medicine as RMSF is the most common tick-borne disease within the United States according to the Lyme and Tick-Borne Disease Research Center. A statewide citizen science project was utilized to determine the prevalence of Spotted Fever Group (SFG) Rickettsia in Arkansas. This project yielded results in 64 …

Effects Of Urea And Distillers Inclusion In Finishing Diets On Steer Performance And Carcass Characteristics, Bradley M. Boyd, James C. Macdonald, Matthew K. Luebbe, Galen E. Erickson

Nebraska Beef Cattle Reports

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of supplemental urea in dry rolled corn based finishing diets containing low inclusions of distillers grains. Treatments were set up in a 3 × 3 factorial arrangement. The first factor was wet distillers inclusion at either 10, 15, or 20% of diet DM. The second factor was urea inclusion at either 0, 0.5, or 1.0% of diet dry matter. Increasing inclusion of distillers linearly improved feed conversion and linearly reduced dry matter intake. An interaction for feed efficiency was observed where there was no effect of added urea when 10% or 20% …

Evaluation Of The Energy Value And Nutrient Digestibility Of Distillers Grains That Have Undergone A Fiber Separation Process In Finishing Diets, Shelby A. Garland, Melissa L. Jolly-Breithaupt, Hannah C. Hamilton Hamilton, Galen E. Erickson, James C. Macdonald, Ryan A. Mass

Nebraska Beef Cattle Reports

A digestion study was conducted to determine the effects of feeding a new, high protein distillers grains and corn bran plus solubles on nutrient digestibility. Treatments included a corn-based control, high protein distillers at both 20% and 40%, corn bran plus solubles, traditional wet distillers grains and traditional dry distillers grains all at 40% of diet DM. Feeding high protein distillers grains or corn bran plus solubles resulted in decreased digestibility compared to corn or traditional wet and dry distillers grains, but increased energy intake. Traditional wet and dry distillers grains also resulted in decreased digestibilities while energy intake was …

Evaluation Of An Algal Biomass As An Ingredient In Cattle Feed, Mitchell M. Norman, Zachary E. Carlson, F. Henry Hilscher Hilscher, Andrea K. Watson, Galen E. Erickson, Bruce W. Brodersen, J. Dustin Loy, Jonathan W. Wilson

Nebraska Beef Cattle Reports

A study was conducted evaluating the effects of feeding condensed algal residue solubles (CARS; available in 2019 in Blair, NE area) to finishing cattle for 100 days. Four levels of CARS were evaluated with 5 steers and 5 heifers individually fed per level of inclusion. The diets consisted of 70% dry rolled corn with CARS displacing corn at 0, 2.5, 5, and 7.5% of dry matter. Increasing CARS inclusion resulted in a linear decrease in intake, a quadratic increase in daily gain, and a linear decrease in feed:gain. Calculations showed a linear increase in dietary net energy as …

Evaluation Of Reimplant Window With Revalor-200 ® On Steer Performance And Carcass Characteristics, Caitlin A. Ohnoutka, Brad M. Boyd, F. Henry Hilscher Hilscher, Brandon L. Nuttelman, Grant I. Crawford, Jim C. Macdonald, Galen E. Erickson

Nebraska Beef Cattle Reports

A feedlot study utilizing 800 crossbred steers (initial BW = 727 ± 55 lb) compared 5 different terminal implant (Revalor-200) times (160, 120, 100, 80, or 40 d prior to harvest) for steers fed 180 days on performance and carcass characteristics. All steers were implanted with Revalor-IS as an initial implant at trial initiation. Carcass-adjusted final BW, ADG, and F:G responded quadratically, with cattle implanted 80 to 120 d prior to harvest being the greatest. However, there was less than a 2% difference in performance between 120 and 80 days on terminal implant. Hot carcass weight responded quadratically, with no …

Effects Of Backgrounding And Feedlot System Strategies On May-Born Steer Performance, Alicia C. Lansford, Jacki A. Musgrave, T. L. Meyer, Rick N. Funston

Nebraska Beef Cattle Reports

May-born steers were backgrounded to achieve either a high or low rate of gain. The high rate of gain was achieved by offering steers meadow hay ad libitum and 4 lb/d of a 33% CP (DM) supplement, while the low rate of gain consisted of steers grazing meadow and offered 1 lb/d of the same supplement. After backgrounding, one-half of the steers from each group entered the feedlot in May as short-yearlings, while the remainder grazed upland range until entering the feedlot as long-yearlings in mid-September. Hot carcass weight was greater for steers backgrounded to achieve a high rate of …

Cause‐Specific Mortality Of The World’S Terrestrial Vertebrates, Jacob E. Hill, Travis L. Devault, Jerrold L. Belant

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Aim: Vertebrates are declining worldwide, yet a comprehensive examination of the sources of mortality is lacking. We conducted a global synthesis of terrestrial vertebrate cause‐specific mortality to compare the sources of mortality across taxa and determine predictors of susceptibility to these sources of mortality.

Location: Worldwide.

Time period: 1970–2018.

Major taxa studied: Mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians.

Methods: We searched for studies that used telemetry to determine the cause of death of terrestrial vertebrates. We determined whether each mortality was caused by anthropogenic or natural sources and further classified mortalities within these two categories (e.g. harvest, vehicle collision and predation). …

Feral Swine Harming Insular Sea Turtle Reproduction: The Origin, Impacts, Behavior And Elimination Of An Invasive Species, Richard M. Engeman, Robert W. Byrd, Jamie Dozier, Mark A. Mcalister, James O. Edens, Elizabeth M. Kierepka, Timothy J. Smyser, Noel Myers

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Feral swine are among the world's most destructive invasive species wherever they are found, with translocations figuring prominently in their range expansions. In contrast, sea turtles are beloved species that are listed as threatened or endangered throughout the world and are the focus of intense conservation efforts. Nest predation by feral swine severely harms sea turtle reproduction in many locations around the world. Here we quantify and economically assess feral swine nest predation at North Island, South Carolina, an important loggerhead sea turtle nesting beach. Feral swine depredation of North Island sea turtle nests was first detected in 2005, with …

A Bioeconomic Model For The Optimization Of Local Canine Rabies Control, Aaron Anderson, Johann Kotze, Stephanie A. Shwiff, Brody Hatch, Chris Slootmaker, Anne Conan, Darryn Knobel, Louis H. Nel

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

We present a new modeling tool that can be used to maximize the impact of canine rabies management resources that are available at the local level. The model is accessible through a web-based interface that allows for flexibility in the management strategies that can be investigated. Rabies vaccination, sterilization, chemo-contraception, and euthanasia can be specified and limited to specific demographic groups. Additionally, we allowed for considerable complexity in the specification of management costs. In many areas, the costs of contacting additional dogs increases as management effort increases, and this can have important strategic implications. We illustrated the application of the …

No Detection Of Brodifacoum Residues In The Marine And Terrestrial Food Web Three Years After Rat Eradication At Palmyra Atoll, Central Pacific, A. Wegmann, G. Howald, S. Kropidlowski, N. Holmes, A.B. Shiels

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Invasive alien species represent one of the greatest threats to native plants and animals on islands. Rats (Rattus spp.) have invaded most of the world’s oceanic islands, causing lasting or irreversible damage to ecosystems and biodiversity. To counter this threat, techniques to eradicate invasive rats from islands have been developed and applied across the globe. Eradication of alien rats from large or complex island ecosystems has only been successful with the use of bait containing a rodenticide. While effective at eradicating rats from islands, rodenticide can persist in the ecosystem longer than the time required to eradicate the target rat …

Ecological Functions Of Vertebrate Scavenging, James C. Beasley, Zachary H. Olson, Nuria Selva, Travis L. Devault

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Introduction

The role of vertebrate scavenging in food web dynamics has historically been minimalized and portrayed as the activity of a select group of obligate scavengers (e.g., vultures), with a simplistic linkage between carrion and detritivores in food webs. Research in the last few decades, however, has revealed that the role of carrion in food web dynamics is severely underestimated, highly complex, and pervasive among ecosystems across the globe (DeVault et al. 2003; Selva and Fortuna 2007; Wilson and Wolkovich 2011). Such observations have led to a surge in research interest in scavenging ecology that continues to reveal new information …

Mind The Gap: Experimental Tests To Improve Efficacy Of Fladry For Nonlethal Management Of Coyotes, Julie K. Young, John Draper, Stewart Breck

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Coyotes (Canis latrans) are the top predator of livestock in the contiguous United States. Developing more effective nonlethal tools to prevent coyote depredation will facilitate coexistence between livestock producers and coyotes. Fladry is a nonlethal deterrent designed to defend livestock by creating a visual barrier to wolves (C. lupus). Fladry may also be effective with coyotes, but large gap spacing between flags may reduce its efficacy. To address this issue, we performed 2 experiments on captive coyotes using fladry modified to reduce gap spacing at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Predator Research Facility in Millville, Utah, USA, during 2015–2016 and …

What Are The Transmission Mechanisms Of Influenza A Viruses In Wild Mammals?, J. Jeffrey Root

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Some influenza A viruses (IAVs) represent serious potential threats to public and agricultural health, with 3 notable examples from the past decade. During 2009, a novel H1N1 IAV (A[H1N1]pdm09), which was first detected in the United States, spread rapidly throughout many regions of the world. In the United States alone, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that >60 million human cases were associated with this emergent and pandemic virus. During 2013, a novel H7N9 avian-origin IAV (Asian lineage avian influenza A[H7N9] virus) was first detected in China. This virus not only cost the poultry industry more than $1 …

Analysis Of Iophenoxic Acid Analogues In Small Indian Mongoose (Herpestes Auropunctatus) Sera For Use As An Oral Rabies Vaccination Biological Marker, Are R. Berentsen, Robert T. Sugihara, Cynthia G. Payne, Israel Leinbach, Steven F. Volker, Ad Vos, Steffen Ortmann, Amy T. Gilbert

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The small Indian mongoose (Herpestes auropunctatus) is a reservoir of rabies virus (RABV) in Puerto Rico and comprises over 70% of animal rabies cases reported annually. The control of RABV circulation in wildlife reservoirs is typically accomplished by a strategy of oral rabies vaccination (ORV). Currently no wildlife ORV program exists in Puerto Rico. Research into oral rabies vaccines and various bait types for mongooses has been conducted with promising results. Monitoring the success of ORV relies on estimating bait uptake by target species, which typically involves evaluating a change in RABV neutralizing antibodies (RVNA) post vaccination. This …

Carrion Availability In Space And Time, Marcos Moleón, Nuria Selva, David M. Bailey, David M. Bailey, Ainara Cortés-Avizanda, Travis L. Devault

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Introduction

Availability of carrion to scavengers is a central issue in carrion ecology and management, and is crucial for understanding the evolution of scavenging behaviour. Compared to live animals, their carcasses are relatively unpredictable in space and time in natural conditions, with a few exceptions (see below, especially Sect. “Carrion Exchange at the Terrestrial-Aquatic Interface”). Carrion is also an ephemeral food resource due to the action of a plethora of consumers, from microorganisms to large vertebrates, as well as to desiccation (i.e., loss of water content; DeVault et al. 2003; Beasley et al. 2012; Barton et al. 2013; Moleón et …

Comparing Live-Capture Methods For Nutria: Single- Versus Multiple-Capture Cage Traps, Trevor R. Sheffels, Mark D. Sytsma, Jacoby Carter, Jimmy D. Taylor

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Herbivory and burrowing by nutria (Myocastor coypus) cause substantial ecological and economic damage. Trapping is a common, effective practice for reducing nutria damage; however, trapping approaches must continually be adapted to keep pace with evolving animal welfare and ethical issues and to more effectively target pest species of interest. Our objective was to evaluate the efficacy of 2 nonlethal trap types for nutria: single-capture (SCT) and multi-capture (MCT) cage traps. We established 3 MCTs and 3 SCTs at each of 7 sites on a 10,500-ha mixed-use island located 15 km northwest of Portland, Oregon, USA. We pre-baited using carrots, apples, …

Biology And Impacts Of Pacific Island Invasive Species. 15. Psittacula Krameri, The Rose-Ringed Parakeet (Psittaciformes: Psittacidae)1, Aaron B. Shiels, Nicholas P. Kalodimos

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The rose-ringed parakeet (RRP), Psittacula krameri, has become established in at least four Pacific Island countries (Hong Kong China, Japan, New Zealand, U.S.A.), including the Hawaiian islands of Kaua‘i, O‘ahu, and Hawai‘i. Most Pacific islands are at risk of RRP colonization. This species was first introduced to Hong Kong in 1903 and Hawai‘i in the 1930s–1960s, established since 1969 in Japan, and in New Zealand since 2005 where it has repeatedly established after organized removals. The founding birds were imported cage-birds from the pet trade. In native India, RRP are generally found associated with human habitation and are considered a …

Isolation Of Rabies Virus From The Salivary Glands Of Wild And Domestic Carnivores During A Skunk Rabies Epizootic, Cornell University Jimenez, Terry R. Spraker, Jessica Anderson, Richard Bowen, Amy Gilbert

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Rabies is a fatal zoonotic disease of global importance. Rabies virus is shed in the saliva of infected hosts and is primarily transmitted through bite contact. Canine rabies has been eliminated from the US, but wildlife constitutes more than 90% of the reported cases of animal rabies in the US each year. In the US, several wild carnivore species are reservoirs of distinct variants of rabies virus (RV). After decades of apparent absence, the south-central skunk (SCSK) RV variant was detected in Colorado in 2007 and resulted in a large-scale epizootic in striped skunk (Mephitis mephitis) populations in northern Colorado …

Predation And Disease-Related Economic Impacts Of Wild Pigs On Livestock Producers In 13 States, Aaron M. Anderson, Chris Slootmaker, Erin Harper, Ryan S. Miller, Stephanie A. Shwiff

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

We report the results of a survey on wild pigs (Sus scrofa) damage to livestock producers in 13 US states (Alabama, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas). The survey was distributed by the USDA National Agricultural Statistical Service in the summer of 2017 to a sample of livestock producers in the 13-state region. Findings indicate that predation and disease-related damage can be substantial in certain states and for certain types of livestock. In particular, damage to cattle operations in Texas and Arkansas was substantially higher than damage in other states …