26 posts · 12,692 views
On this blog, I’ll examine current published and unpublished research focusing on animal science and veterinary medicine, share observations in my personal studies, and occasionally discuss other interests. Please feel free to leave comments and help promote discussion.
Austin Bouck
26 posts
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- April 16, 2013
- 12:57 AM
- 52 views
The poultry microbiome, once again proving that culture-based ecology misleads us all
by Austin Bouck in Animal Science Review
If the world was enriched and homogenized, we would actually have a very good idea of what the microbiological community within looks like. Fortunately, the world is much more complex than the miniature environments we culture in the lab, and high throughput sequencing (HTS) is allowing us to fully appreciate micro-biodiversity. As new information becomes available, many of our models for microbial communities continue to be challenged by the actual composition of species in natural environments...... Read more »
Oakley BB, Morales CA, Line J, Berrang ME, Meinersmann RJ, Tillman GE, Wise MG, Siragusa GR, Hiett KL, & Seal BS. (2013) The Poultry-Associated Microbiome: Network Analysis and Farm-to-Fork Characterizations. PloS one, 8(2). PMID: 23468931
- March 19, 2013
- 04:10 PM
- 119 views
Why rooster crowing isn't that impressive, and chickens get jet lag like the rest of us.
by Austin Bouck in Animal Science Review
Circadian rhythms and jet lag. There, cyclic crowing behavior explained.
Quite a lot of people are discussing this study from Japan examining the effect of light on the crowing behavior of roosters. The authors observed several birds in experimental conditions where light intensity and duration were controlled, taking observations with audio recorders and cameras. The scenarios presented were a daylight cycle of 12 hours of light and dim light respectively, and constant dim light. Observations were recorded for a period of 14 days...... Read more »
Shimmura, T., & Yoshimura, T. (2013) Circadian clock determines the timing of rooster crowing. Current Biology, 23(6). DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2013.02.015
- February 25, 2013
- 10:49 PM
- 190 views
"Organizational silos," and how they prevent effective zoonotic disease tracking
by Austin Bouck in Animal Science Review
It appears that the agencies that we rely on to track disease outbreaks need to start tracking disease, not just their own jurisdiction.
An article in Sociology of Health and Illness piqued my interest this last week that reveals the amount of segregation different government agencies have when dealing with zoonotic disease. The understanding of the goals and connections between livestock, wildlife, and human health among these agencies are often apathetic at best, and antagonistic at worst...... Read more »
Jerolmack, C. (2012) Who’s worried about turkeys? How ‘organisational silos’ impede zoonotic disease surveillance. Sociology of Health . DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9566.2012.01501.x
- January 23, 2013
- 06:04 PM
- 116 views
Staphylococcus aureus diversity and subclinical mastitis
by Austin Bouck in Animal Science Review
This is the first study I've found that was interested in cataloging bacterial diversity among subclinical (or asymptomatic) infections. While they may be less threatening to the animal's overall health, these infections have great significance in the world of animal agriculture, where they restrict growth (or in this case, milk production), and encourage the use of medicated feeds which in turn motivate people to purchase organic products. Identifying the risk factors and causes of these infections could therefore impact both the management of food animals, and any legislation defining how and when medications can be used. With that in mind, let's jump back into mastitis, and everyone's favorite gram-positive, S. aureus...... Read more »
Bulanda M, Zaleska M, Mandel L, Talafantova M, Travnicek J, Kunstmann G, Mauff G, Pulverer G, & Heczko PB. (1989) Toxicity of staphylococcal toxic shock syndrome toxin 1 for germ-free and conventional piglets. Reviews of infectious diseases. PMID: 2928643
Oliveira L, Rodrigues AC, Hulland C, & Ruegg PL. (2011) Enterotoxin production, enterotoxin gene distribution, and genetic diversity of Staphylococcus aureus recovered from milk of cows with subclinical mastitis. American journal of veterinary research, 72(10), 1361-8. PMID: 21962279
Takeuchi, S., Ishiguro, K., Ikegami, M., Kaidoh, T., & Hayakawa, Y. (1998) Production of toxic shock syndrome toxin by Staphylococcus aureus isolated from mastitic cow's milk and farm bulk milk. Veterinary Microbiology, 59(4), 251-258. DOI: 10.1016/S0378-1135(96)01253-9
- August 17, 2012
- 01:51 AM
- 271 views
Adopter preferences in selecting shelter cats, what about coat color?
by Austin Bouck in Animal Science Review
I’m now interested in what factors make cats less desirable at shelters so that potentially we could market less desirable cats by placing them in housing that will make them more desirable. Lepper et. al (2002) examined just that, in a study with over 4000 cats they examined multiple variables in order to determine certain predictors of adoption...... Read more »
Merry Lepper, Philip H. Kass, & Lynette A. Hart. (2002) Prediction of Adoption Versus Euthanasia Among Dogs and Cats in a California Animal Shelter. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science, 29-42. DOI: 10.1207/S15327604JAWS0501_3
- August 15, 2012
- 03:00 AM
- 331 views
Factors affecting adoption rates in shelter cats, is welfare the immediate concern? What about marketing?
by Austin Bouck in Animal Science Review
...Her masters thesis explores the background for my intended study, in that it seeks to examine not only those factors inherent to the cats and their housing situation, but in what potential adopters are looking for. I’m hoping to collect as much of this information as possible to develop a hypothesis as to whether shelter layout could increase adoption rates by marketing less attractive cats in situations where they may be perceived as more adoptable...... Read more »
Nadine Gourkow. (2001) FACTORS AFFECTING THE WELFARE AND ADOPTION RATE OF CATS IN AN ANIMAL SHELTER. University of British Columbia. info:/
- August 3, 2012
- 02:38 AM
- 273 views
Do cats in shelters acclimate faster if given a bunkmate?
by Austin Bouck in Animal Science Review
This study by Kessler and Turner (1996) took a look at the stress levels of cats introduced to a shelter/boarding facility-type environment over the first two weeks of their stay, and cross-examined those housed alone, in pairs, and in groups. 45 homeless animals that had already been at the facilities for some time were selected as a control, and 140 animals staying for temporary boarding were observed for the first two weeks of their stay...... Read more »
M R Kessler, & D C Turner. (1997) Stress and Adaptation of Cats (Felis Silvestris Catus) Housed Singly, in Pairs and in Groups in Boarding Catteries. Animal Welfare, 243-254. info:/
- June 20, 2012
- 05:00 PM
- 348 views
New Research: Do organic animal operations encourage management decisions that negatively impact animal welfare?
by Austin Bouck in Animal Science Review
Few agricultural debates come close to generating the same passionate and heated responses that organic farming seems to elicit. The discussion surpasses the interests of producers with conflicting ideologies to be hotly debated by assertive consumers as well; people who highlight the paradox created by their interest in the safe and responsible production of their food, while avoiding all involvement in its creation. The originally proposed Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 received nearly 300,000 comments on the proposed requirements, more than any other piece of legislation in history (Vos, 2000). Clearly this indicated that the role organic farming played in food production was extremely important to U.S. citizens then, and continues to be a relevant topic as organic operations have grown by 40-50% every five years since 1992 (USDA, 2010)...... Read more »
Vonne Lund, & Bo Algers. (2003) Research on animal health and welfare in organic farming—a literature review. Livestock Production Science, 80(1-2), 55-68. info:/10.1016/S0301-6226(02)00321-4
- April 28, 2012
- 01:41 AM
- 594 views
Banned antibiotics in feather meal - A discussion with an author of the study
by Austin Bouck in Animal Science Review
Following my recent post where I examined an article from Johns Hopkins that found multiple contaminants in commercial feather meal (including fluoroquinolones, a class of antibiotics that have been banned from use in poultry since 2005), I was honored to be contacted by one of the Authors, Dr. David Love. Dr. Love offered to continue the discussion with me, and was happy to answer my questions regarding the study, the media frenzy it has inspired, and some of the goals of the research conducted at the Center for a Livable Future. I immediately jumped at the chance, and was able to speak with him on the phone earlier this week...... Read more »
Love, D., Davis, M., Bassett, A., Gunther, A., & Nachman, K. (2010) Dose Imprecision and Resistance: Free-Choice Medicated Feeds in Industrial Food Animal Production in the United States. Environmental Health Perspectives, 119(3), 279-283. DOI: 10.1289/ehp.1002625
Love, D., Halden, R., Davis, M., & Nachman, K. (2012) Feather Meal: A Previously Unrecognized Route for Reentry into the Food Supply of Multiple Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products (PPCPs). Environmental Science , 46(7), 3795-3802. DOI: 10.1021/es203970e
San Martín B, Cornejo J, Iragüen D, Hidalgo H, & Anadón A. (2007) Depletion study of enrofloxacin and its metabolite ciprofloxacin in edible tissues and feathers of white leghorn hens by liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry. Journal of food protection, 70(8), 1952-7. PMID: 17803156
- April 20, 2012
- 03:12 PM
- 639 views
Newsworthy: Banned antibiotics found in feather meal at Johns Hopkins - How did they get there, and why does your press release contain different conclusions?
by Austin Bouck in Animal Science Review
An article recently published in Environmental Science and Technology details a study conducted at Johns Hopkins where when examining samples of commercially available feather meal (used as a protein supplement feed or fertilizer) they found trace amounts of fluoroquinolones, a class of antibiotics that have been banned for use in animal feed for 6 years. This is an interesting find, and definitely warrants further research before any broad sweeping conclusions can be made. You know...unless you publish a press release condemning the entire industry for breaking the law and trying to kill us all (question, if all the chicken consumers are dead, how does that lead to higher profits?)...... Read more »
D.C. Love, R.U. Halden, M.F. Davis, & K.E. Nachman. (2012) Feather Meal: A Previously Unrecognized Route for Reentry into the Food Supply of Multiple Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products (PPCPs). Environmental Science and Technology, 3795-3802. info:/
Kolpin, D., Furlong, E., Meyer, M., Thurman, E., Zaugg, S., Barber, L., & Buxton, H. (2002) Pharmaceuticals, Hormones, and Other Organic Wastewater Contaminants in U.S. Streams, 1999−2000: A National Reconnaissance. Environmental Science , 36(6), 1202-1211. DOI: 10.1021/es011055j
- April 9, 2012
- 08:36 PM
- 463 views
Forgot to reformat that TPS report? Come pet my dog.
by Austin Bouck in Animal Science Review
We've known for a long time that owning pets is good for us. They encourage exercise (Epping, 2011), lower blood pressure (Allen Et Al., 2002), and even reduce anxiety (Jerjes, 2007). So the question then is why wouldn't we want to bring that to work?
This article looked at just that. In examining a large company with about 550 employees, and comparing their results to the standards of the industry, the authors found that the presence of a dog at work reduced stress for employees throughout the day...... Read more »
Allen K, Blascovich J, & Mendes WB. (2002) Cardiovascular reactivity and the presence of pets, friends, and spouses: the truth about cats and dogs. Psychosomatic medicine, 64(5), 727-39. PMID: 12271103
Randolph T. Barker, Janis S. Knisely, Sandra B. Barker, Rachel K. Cobb, & Christine M. Schubert. (2012) Preliminary investigation of employee’s dog presence on stress and organizational perceptions. International Journey of Workplace Health Management, 5(1), 15-30. info:/
Jerjes W, Hopper C, Kumar M, Upile T, Madland G, Newman S, & Feinmann C. (2007) Psychological intervention in acute dental pain: review. British dental journal, 202(6), 337-43. PMID: 17384613
- April 4, 2012
- 02:25 PM
- 468 views
Urine protein profiles in cats with cystitis are indicative of increased epithelial damage
by Austin Bouck in Animal Science Review
Cats and urinary problems go paw in paw, from the obstruction emergency in males, to common urolithiasis. As a cat owner, it is always important to search for a medical problem before blaming behavioral issues for “accidents” in the house. There’s a whole world of disease out there that can manifest itself as litter box trouble. This article in JAVMA discusses the protein analysis of both healthy cats and those with idiopathic cystitis, urolithiasis, or a UTI...... Read more »
Lemberger SI, Deeg CA, Hauck SM, Amann B, Hirmer S, Hartmann K, & Dorsch R. (2011) Comparison of urine protein profiles in cats without urinary tract disease and cats with idiopathic cystitis, bacterial urinary tract infection, or urolithiasis. American journal of veterinary research, 72(10), 1407-15. PMID: 21962285
- February 15, 2012
- 10:31 PM
- 542 views
Badger culling in the U.K. – step one: cull badgers, step two: …?, step three: profit!
by Austin Bouck in Animal Science Review
Badger culling has been a part of TB control in the United Kingdom since 1973. Despite this and other programs in place, incidence of TB has only increased during that time. In the thousands of biological and environmental risk factors that have been associated with TB infection risk, Badgers have been identified as an important reservoir and potential vectors for the disease...... Read more »
Donnelly CA, Woodroffe R, Cox DR, Bourne J, Gettinby G, Le Fevre AM, McInerney JP, & Morrison WI. (2003) Impact of localized badger culling on tuberculosis incidence in British cattle. Nature, 426(6968), 834-7. PMID: 14634671
Donnelly CA, Wei G, Johnston WT, Cox DR, Woodroffe R, Bourne FJ, Cheeseman CL, Clifton-Hadley RS, Gettinby G, Gilks P.... (2007) Impacts of widespread badger culling on cattle tuberculosis: concluding analyses from a large-scale field trial. International journal of infectious diseases : IJID : official publication of the International Society for Infectious Diseases, 11(4), 300-8. PMID: 17566777
Donnelly CA, Woodroffe R, Cox DR, Bourne FJ, Cheeseman CL, Clifton-Hadley RS, Wei G, Gettinby G, Gilks P, Jenkins H.... (2006) Positive and negative effects of widespread badger culling on tuberculosis in cattle. Nature, 439(7078), 843-6. PMID: 16357869
- February 10, 2012
- 11:17 AM
- 577 views
What your intoor/outdoor cat could be sharing with the local pumas
by Austin Bouck in Animal Science Review
Generally not small talk, though I imagine they might be interested in the projections for this year's salmon run (pause for polite awkward laughter). A new article from PLoS ONE has been discussed, implying that, while direct contact may not be routine, exchange of disease between domesticated and wild cats may be fairly common.... Read more »
Sarah N. Bevins1*, Scott Carver2, Erin E. Boydston, Lisa M. Lyren, Mat Alldredge, Kenneth A. Logan, Seth P. D. Riley, Robert N. Fisher, T. Winston Vickers, Walter Boyce, Mo Salman, Michael R. Lappin.... (2012) Three Pathogens in Sympatric Populations of Pumas, Bobcats, and Domestic Cats: Implications for Infectious Disease Transmission. PLoS ONE. info:/
- December 28, 2011
- 10:42 PM
- 503 views
Ovariohysterectomy versus ovariectomy, is removal of the uterus necessary?
by Austin Bouck in Animal Science Review
Ah, United States' medicine vs. European medicine, the war rages on. The battleground I'll discuss today: elective sterilization of the female reproductive tract.
This discussion came up in JAVMA recently, and I felt it warranted a look from a future vet. Granted I don't have all the information and education here, but given that I've only ever seen ovariohysterectomy performed in practice, I'm interested in why we actually choose to remove the uterus as well...... Read more »
DeTora M, & McCarthy RJ. (2011) Ovariohysterectomy versus ovariectomy for elective sterilization of female dogs and cats: is removal of the uterus necessary?. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, 239(11), 1409-12. PMID: 22087712
- December 17, 2011
- 11:26 PM
- 532 views
Newsworthy: Veterinarians Find Infections Faster by Monitoring Nt-pCNP
by Austin Bouck in Animal Science Review
N-terminal portion of pro C-type natriuretic peptide. Try to say that one three times fast. ScienceDaily has a cool article detailing a couple new studies showing that this peptide (Nt-pCNP) could be a solid indicator of sepsis as opposed to a generalized inflammatory response. It could potentially be added to current serum chemistry analysis, or packaged as an ELISA snap for quick, in-house diagnostics for pertinent cases...... Read more »
DeClue AE, Osterbur K, Bigio A, & Sharp CR. (2011) Evaluation of serum NT-pCNP as a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker for sepsis in dogs. Journal of veterinary internal medicine / American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine, 25(3), 453-9. PMID: 21457321
- November 26, 2011
- 01:38 PM
- 453 views
Vaccine Reactions
by Austin Bouck in Animal Science Review
I’m apparently still on this immunology kick, because I seem to be finding it everywhere. Heck, I recently learned that we’ve cured the allergic response to peanuts and eggs in lab mice. Check out the link, the author is hilarious and the material is interesting.
These two articles offer a great look at the overall prevalence and risk factors associated with vaccine-associated adverse events. The components within the vaccine that cause these events are the antigen itself, adjuvants, preservatives, stabilizers, and residues from the tissue culture used to grow the vaccine (Moore, 2005). Vaccine reactions are similar to any acute allergic reaction, and can present with a variety of mild to severe symptoms. The mild being lethargy, anorexia, fever, edema (generalized or local to the injection site), pruitis, uticaria (hives or wheals), and pain at the injection site; the severe being vomiting, dyspnea (labored or shortness of breath), and anaphylaxis...... Read more »
Moore, G., DeSantis-Kerr, A., Guptill, L., Glickman, N., Lewis, H., & Glickman, L. (2007) Adverse events after vaccine administration in cats: 2,560 cases (2002–2005). Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, 231(1), 94-100. DOI: 10.2460/javma.231.1.94
Moore GE, Guptill LF, Ward MP, Glickman NW, Faunt KK, Lewis HB, & Glickman LT. (2005) Adverse events diagnosed within three days of vaccine administration in dogs. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, 227(7), 1102-8. PMID: 16220670
- November 6, 2011
- 11:55 PM
- 525 views
Effects of early pregnancy diagnosis by palpation per rectum on pregnancy loss in dairy cattle
by Austin Bouck in Animal Science Review
Just a short one here today. Not too much interesting going on in a study that supports the null, but the methods are great.
This study looked at the affect that one or two rectal palpations to determine pregnancy had on embryo viability. I can see why there would be a question, it seems like a highly invasive procedure when you're shoulder deep in cow rectum and feeling for an amnion several layers of membranes away. But we tend to anthropomorphize, and many dairy cattle require minimal restraint for the procedure. Nonetheless, it does seem likely that there could be a negative effect on the embryo, especially when rupturing or crushing the amnion via rectal palpation has been a historical method of terminating an unwanted pregnancy in cows (before we started using PGF2α) (Romano, 2011)...... Read more »
Romano JE, Thompson JA, Kraemer DC, Westhusin ME, Tomaszweski MA, & Forrest DW. (2011) Effects of early pregnancy diagnosis by palpation per rectum on pregnancy loss in dairy cattle. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, 239(5), 668-73. PMID: 21879969
- November 2, 2011
- 08:42 PM
- 511 views
Mechanisms of Viral Emergence
by Austin Bouck in Animal Science Review
” A viral emergence is generally defined as the appearance of a new pathogen for a host, such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1 for humans in the twentieth century. Viral re-emergence often refers to the reappearance of a viral pathogen after a period of absence, such as the periodic human influenza epidemics or pandemics.” (Domingo, 2010)
There’s a huge amount of information on viral evolution and mutation, a concept that (like everything else you haven’t specifically studied) I had greatly oversimplified...... Read more »
Domingo, E. (2010) Mechanisms of viral emergence. Veterinary Research, 41(6), 38. DOI: 10.1051/vetres/2010010
- October 23, 2011
- 07:42 PM
- 526 views
Article Review: Epidemiology of Surgical Castration in the United States
by Austin Bouck in Animal Science Review
I recently had a professor tell me that if I didn’t let them know if I made it into vet school, they would forever curse me with fat, in heat, Labrador spays for the rest of my career. I can think of few fates worse for a future veterinarian (though I did mention that the owners also had to have no way to pay, and will forget to mention this until after the procedure). Today’s article is really cool and discusses the prevalence of ovariohysterectomy and orchiectomy (spaying and neutering, fixing, castration, gonad removal,de-nutting, whatever you prefer to call it) in the USA...... Read more »
Trevejo R, Yang M, & Lund EM. (2011) Epidemiology of surgical castration of dogs and cats in the United States. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, 238(7), 898-904. PMID: 21453178
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