This paper describes the nematode control strategy adopted by a Scottish hill sheep farmer. It provides an example of the limited use of anthelmintic drugs, targeted towards control of the periparturient rise in faecal nematode egg output in ewes and exploitation of grazing management, resulting in limited exposure of naive sheep to infective larvae on pasture. Resistance to benzimidazole, imidazothiazole and macrocyclic lactone anthelmintics, and to a combination of a macrocyclic lactone and imidazothiazole anthelmintic drugs was diagnosed. The targeted use of a persistent anthelmintic drug to control a periparturient rise in faecal nematode egg output in ewes may be unnecessary and selects strongly for resistance when the reservoir of anthelmintic‐susceptible nematodes in refugia is small at the time of treatment. However, the use of a persistent anthelmintic drug in a selective proportion of ewes can be important and probably does not select strongly for resistance when the reservoir of anthelmintic‐susceptible nematodes in refugia is large at the time of treatment. The former circumstances might arise on many Scottish hill sheep farms, whereas the latter may occur on upland and lowground farms, depending on previous grazing management, anthelmintic use and winter weather conditions. These factors must be taken into account when preparing sustainable health plans for nematode parasite control in individual sheep flocks.

The aim of this study was to objectively assess, using an automated behavioral monitoring system, any behavioral differences between primiparous and multiparous cows before calving, and to quantify any behavioral differences between assisted (dystocic) and unassisted (eutocic) calvings. Data were collected from 32 multiparous and 12 primiparous Holstein dairy cattle to describe normal calving behavior and parity differences. To quantify behavior related to calving difficulty, the data from 14 animals that had dystocia at calving were matched to cows that had an eutocic calving based on parity, locomotion score, calf breed, calf sex, month, and year of calving. An IceQube (IceRobotics Ltd., South Queensferry, United Kingdom) was fitted to the right hind leg of cows 4 wk before their expected calving date. Data for lying time, standing time, number of steps, motion index (total motion), and the total number of standing and lying bouts (postural transitions) were automatically collected and summed into 15-min blocks. Behavioral variables were summarized into 2-h periods and 24-h periods before analyses. Mixed-effect models were used to analyze cow behavior in the last 4 d before calving (d -4 to -1), and on the day of calving. In the 4 d before calving, compared with multiparous cows, primiparous cows lay down an average 2.8 h/d less, had 9.1 more postural transitions/d (37.7 ± 1.2 vs. 27.6 ± 0.7), walked 172 more steps/d, and had a higher motion index (2,673.2 vs. 1,981.5 units/d). There was an effect of 2-h period on all behavioral variables on the day of calving. No indicator of calving difficulty was found on the day of calving, nor the days leading up to calving. These findings suggest that parity should be considered when predicting the day of calving, and changes in cow behavior on the day of calving could be used to identify calving cows, and to predict the time of calving.

The aim of this study was to use an automated behavior-monitoring system to objectively assess the association between lying and activity behavior in the precalving, calving, and postcalving periods between multiparous and primiparous cows with (1) normocalcemia, (2) subclinical hypocalcemia, or (3) clinical hypocalcemia at calving. Behavioral data and blood serum samples were collected from 51 multiparous and 21 primiparous Holstein dairy cattle. Blood samples from the coccygeal vein were taken within 24 h of calving, and serum was analyzed to measure total calcium concentration. Cows were classified into one of 3 categories: normocalcemia (serum calcium concentration ≥ 2.0 mmol/L), subclinical hypocalcemia (serum calcium concentration < 2.0 mmol/L, absence of clinical signs), and clinical hypocalcemia (clinical signs and successful treatment). An activity sensor was fitted to the right hind leg of cows 3 wk before their expected calving date. Data for lying time, standing time, number of steps, and the total number of standing and lying bouts (postural transitions) were automatically collected and summed into 15-min blocks. Behavioral variables were summarized into 2-h and 24-h periods before analyses. Mixed effect models were used to analyze cow behavior in the entire 14 d before calving (d -14 to -1), on the day of calving, and the entire 21 d postcalving (d 1 to 21). In the precalving period, multiparous cows with normocalcemia had fewer postural transitions (18.5 ± 6.9 no./d) compared with cows with subclinical hypocalcemia (23.5 ± 8.0 no./d) and clinical hypocalcemia (23.5 ± 8.6 no./d). However, there was no association between blood calcium status on lying time (min/d) or step count (no./d) for multiparous cows. For primiparous cows, the step count of cows with subclinical hypocalcemia remained constant across the period, and the step count of cows with normocalcemia decreased from 842.8 steps/d on d -14 to 427.5 steps/d on d -1. Postpartum cows with clinical hypocalcemia were less active (fewer steps) and spent 88 min/d (1.5 h) and 125 min/d (2.1 h) more time lying down compared with cows with subclinical hypocalcemia and normocalcemia, respectively. This shows that clinical hypocalcemia is associated with significant long-lasting behavioral effects on cows during the critical postpartum period.

Background: Knowledge of Ixodes ricinus tick distribution is critical for surveillance and risk management of transmissible tick-borne diseases such as Lyme borreliosis. However, as the ecology of I. ricinus is complex, and robust long-term geographically extensive distribution tick data are limited, mapping often relies on datasets collected for other purposes. We compared the modelled distributions derived from three datasets with information on I. ricinus distribution (quantitative I. ricinus count data from scientific surveys; I. ricinus presence-only data from public submissions; and a combined I. ricinus dataset from multiple sources) to assess which could be reliably used to inform Public Health strategy. The outputs also illustrate the strengths and limitations of these three types of data, which are commonly used in mapping tick distributions. Methods: Using the Integrated Nested Laplace algorithm we predicted I. ricinus abundance and presence–absence in Scotland and tested the robustness of the predictions, accounting for errors and uncertainty. Results: All models fitted the data well and the covariate predictors for I. ricinus distribution, i.e. deer presence, temperature, habitat, index of vegetation, were as expected. Differences in the spatial trend of I. ricinus distribution were evident between the three predictive maps. Uncertainties in the spatial models resulted from inherent characteristics of the datasets, particularly the number of data points, and coverage over the covariate range used in making the predictions. Conclusions: Quantitative I. ricinus data from scientific surveys are usually considered to be gold standard data and we recommend their use where high data coverage can be achieved. However in this study their value was limited by poor data coverage. Combined datasets with I. ricinus distribution data from multiple sources are valuable in addressing issues of low coverage and this dataset produced the most appropriate map for national scale decision-making in Scotland. When mapping vector distributions for public-health decision making, model uncertainties and limitations of extrapolation need to be considered; these are often not included in published vector distribution maps. Further development of tools to better assess uncertainties in the models and predictions are necessary to allow more informed interpretation of distribution maps.