Bluetongue virus (BTV) and epizootic hemorrhagic disease virus (EHDV) are vector-borne orbiviruses that pose an emerging threat to livestock, including cattle and sheep. This review summarizes the global distribution, genetic diversity, and key factors driving their spread along with the existing knowledge gaps and recommendations to mitigate their impact. Both viruses cause hemorrhagic disease in susceptible ruminants and are commonly reported in tropical and subtropical regions including North America, Asia, Africa, Oceania, and some parts of Europe. The geographical distribution of these viruses, encompassing 27 BTV and 7 EHDV serotypes, has shifted, particularly with the recent invasion of BTV-3, 4, and 8 and EHDV-8 serotypes in Europe. Several factors contribute to the recent spread of these viruses such as the distribution of virulent strains by the movement of temperature-dependent Culicoides vectors into new areas due to rapid climate change, the reassortment of viral strains during mixed infections, and unrestricted global trade. These diseases cause significant economic impacts including morbidity, mortality, reduced production, high management costs, and the disruption of international trade. Effective prevention and control strategies are paramount and rely on vaccination, vector control using insecticides, and the destruction of breeding sites, husbandry practices including the isolation and quarantine of infected hosts, restriction of animal movement, prompt diagnosis and identification of circulating strains, and effective surveillance and monitoring plans such as the pre-export and post-import screening of semen used for artificial insemination. However, challenges remain with intercontinental virus spread, live vaccines, and the failure of inactivated vaccines to produce protective immunity against dissimilar strains. Significant knowledge gaps highlight the need for a better scientific understanding and a strategic plan to ensure healthy livestock and global food security.

Riemerella anatipestifer causes septicemia in waterfowl, especially in ducks worldwide, while it is becoming a threat to chicken farming in China. In this study, a total of 27,136 samples from septicemic chickens and dead embryos were collected in 29 provinces from 2021 to 2024 to characterize the transmission dynamics of R. anatipestifer and guide evidence-based control strategies. A total of 752 R. anatipestifer strains were isolated and identified by PCR, showing rapid geographical expansion (from 10 to 19 provinces) and rapidly increasing isolation rates (from 1.03 % to 4.56 %), with peaking in winter/spring. Infection shifted toward younger chickens, infection rates in 3-6-week-old white-feathered broilers increased dramatically from 0.99 % to 13.24 % (mainly leg lesions), while 50-100-day-old layers showed 2.16 % salpingitis. Tissue-specific colonization showed high loads in oviducts (21.68 %) and hocks (10.89 %). Although R. anatipestifer was detected in 20.18 % of early "jelly-like embryos," it was not found in semen/ovarian follicles. Serotyping showed dominance of type 1 (70.82 %) and type 10 (15.86 %), with 2.83 % untypable strains. Alarmingly, R. anatipestifer had a severe resistance to enrofloxacin (91.54 %), polymyxin (88.22 %), and amikacin (86.10 %). As the first large-scale survey of R. anatipestifer in chickens, these findings highlight its cross-species adaptation, vertical transmission risk, and increasing prevalence in young broilers, which contributes to the understanding of the epidemiology of R. anatipestifer in chickens and provides scientific guidance for the treatment and control of the disease.

This review examined alternative treatments for bovine mastitis, driven by the rising issue of antibiotic resistance that limits the effectiveness of antibiotic therapies. As few new antibiotics are being developed, exploring non-antibiotic options is essential. Data were gathered by searching five databases, including PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar, NCBI, and CABI, for articles on alternative treatments for bovine mastitis. Full texts of relevant studies published from 2013 onwards, both in vitro and in vivo, were screened and retrieved. A deductive approach was used to identify key themes from the review. Data were presented using tables and graphs created with R software for visualisation. Eligible studies included 69 articles tapered from an initial search of 1696 after removing duplicates and irrelevant records. Phytotherapy was found to be the most extensively researched approach, demonstrating significant effectiveness against mastitis pathogens, including multidrug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, coagulase-negative S. aureus (CoNS), Escherichia coli, different species of Streptococci, though concerns about the degradation of active compounds in milk and variability in natural product composition exist. Bacteriophage therapy also showed promise, with studies indicating its effectiveness and low risk of inducing bacterial resistance. Treatments such as Trisodium citrate, pheromonicin-NM, and lactoferrin therapy exhibited statistically significant results, particularly against biofilm formation, a major challenge in mastitis management. Many of these treatments lacked extensive in vivo validation. The review highlights the geographic concentration of research, predominantly in countries like China and India, and emphasises the need for more standardised protocols to improve comparison across studies. The review highlighted phytotherapy, followed by bacteriophage therapy, as the next most researched alternative treatment for mastitis, effective against various pathogens despite concerns about compound degradation. Future research should prioritise the long-term effects of these therapies and their real-world effectiveness in enhancing dairy cow welfare and improving productivity in dairy operations.

The bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) infects a wide range of domestic and wild mammals. This review hypothesized that there might be cross-species transmission of BVDV. Therefore, the aim was to explore the BVDV-5′ UTR and N-pro sequence-based evidence to understand host plasticity among different animals. A total of 146 unique BVDV sequences retrieved from GenBank, originating from 12 distinct mammalian species that are submitted from 55 countries, were analyzed. The phylogenetic analysis revealed that all three BVDV species exhibited genetic relatedness infecting diverse animal species. BVDV-1 sequences obtained from cattle, buffalo, and pigs and BVDV-2 and HoBi-like pestivirus sequences from cattle, goats, and sheep showed a genetic resemblance. Surprisingly, cattle and buffalo in China, cattle and yak in Mongolia, cattle and wild boar in Serbia, cattle and deer in Mexico, cattle and alpacas in Canada, goats and pigs in the USA, and sheep and buffalo in Argentina were infected with BVDV-1 within the same county and strongly positioned in the same cluster, indicating potential spillover with host tropism. Moreover, BVDV sequences isolated from various neighboring countries clustered closely, suggesting potential cross-border transmission events. Based on genomic evidence, the BVDV transmission cycle could be depicted, where cattle act as a primary source of infection, while other domestic and wild animals maintain the infection ecology within their habitat due to virus tropism.

Mycoplasma bovis (M. bovis) can cause a multitude of diseases in cattle, with detrimental effects on the farm economy and the welfare of both adult and young cattle. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of M. bovis in adult cows and calves in the south-west region of Western Australia. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 29 dairy farms with 699 apparently healthy adult lactating cows and 495 young calves during 2019–2020. Nasal swabs and blood samples collected from the animals and bulk tank milk (BTM) samples were assessed for M. bovis-specific proteins and antibodies by using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and Mycoplasma immunogenic lipase A- Enzyme-Linked Immune Sorbent Assay (MilA ELISA). A seroprevalence of 42.5% (95% CI: 38.9–46.2) and 61% (95% CI: 56.6–65.2) was found in adult lactating cows and calves, respectively. The herd-level seroprevalence of M. bovis ranged from 4% (95% CI: 07–19.5) to 92% (95% CI: 75.0–97.8) in adult lactating cows and 25% (95% CI: 10.2–49.5) to 87% (95% CI: 67.9–95.5) for calves in these farms. None of the BTM and nasal swab samples were positive for M. bovis, indicating an absence of any current active infections on the farms. The female calves and pure Holstein–Friesian animals are twice as likely to be seropositive for M. bovis compared to male calves (OR 2.4; 95% CI: 1.7–3.5) and Holstein–Friesian crossbred calves (OR 2.4; 95% CI: 1.7–3.5). The high seroprevalence in both adult and young cattle in the southwest dairy farms of Western Australia warrants more effective farm biosecurity measures and further evaluation of the current prevention and management measures practiced on the farms.

Chronic pancreatitis increases the risk of developing pancreatic cancer through the upregulation of pathways favouring proliferation, fibrosis, and sustained inflammation. We established in previous studies that the ligand tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-like weak inducer of apoptosis (TWEAK) signals through its cognate receptor fibroblast growth factor-inducible 14 (Fn14) to regulate these underlying cellular processes in the chronic liver injury niche. However, the role of the TWEAK/Fn14 signalling pathway in pancreatic disease is entirely unknown. An analysis of publicly available datasets demonstrated that the TWEAK receptor Fn14 is upregulated in pancreatitis and pancreatic adenocarcinoma, with single cell RNA sequencing revealing pancreatic ductal cells as the main Fn14 producers. We then used choline-deficient, ethionine-supplemented (CDE) diet feeding of wildtype C57BL/6J and Fn14 knockout littermates to (a) confirm CDE treatment as a suitable model of chronic pancreatitis and (b) to investigate the role of the TWEAK/Fn14 signalling pathway in pancreatic ductal proliferation, as well as fibrotic and inflammatory cell dynamics. Our time course data obtained at three days, three months, and six months of CDE treatment reveal that a lack of TWEAK/Fn14 signalling significantly inhibits the establishment and progression of the tissue microenvironment in CDE-induced chronic pancreatitis, thus proposing the TWEAK/Fn14 pathway as a novel therapeutic target.