June 4, 2004

US Researchers Study Link Between Stress And Disease In Livestock

Scientists from the Farm Animal Behaviour and Well-Being Laboratory, part of the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) of the US Department of Agriculture, will study stress indicators in livestock with a view to determine the relationship between stress and the ability of pathogenic bacteria to establish themselves in animals.

The new laboratory will compliment work carried out by ARS since 1997 at its Livestock Behaviour Research Unit, according to ARS' acting administrator Edward B. Knipling.

"Stress in livestock can lower productivity and possibly increase the risk of contamination from Salmonella and other bacterial pathogens," he said.

Donald C. Lay, research leader and animal behaviouralist at the lab, is working on an imaging system to show the movement of Salmonella bacteria through live pigs. He and colleagues are also researching alternative housing for poultry and livestock.

In tandem with the housing research, the ARS-Purdue team is pioneering the idea of breeding non-aggressive animals to reduce losses and stress. This includes selecting sows whose maternal behaviour makes them less likely to injure their piglets, a problem that costs US farmers more than $600 million annually.