Pfizer Animal Genetics offers new diagnostic test 

Pfizer Animal Health is offering a new diagnostic test for the lethal genetic defect Neuropathic Hydrocephalus (NH), which affects Angus and Angus-influenced cattle.

In collaboration with Dr. Jon Beever at the University of Illinois, Dr. David Steffen at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the American Angus Association (AAA), the gene mutation responsible for NH has been identified and a commercial test has been developed and validated. Additionally, Pfizer Animal Genetics has been approved by the American Angus Association as an NH testing laboratory.   

By collaborating with industry partners, Pfizer Animal Genetics are able to offer NH-defect testing and can work with producers to help reduce the impact of this genetic defect, said Nigel Evans, Vice President of Animal Genetics, a business unit of Pfizer Animal Health.

Pfizer Animal Genetics has worked to expand its testing capacity in order to provide results to producers in a timely manner. Samples are being tested in the order in which they are received at the new laboratory located in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

For each animal tested for NH before September 30, 2009, producers will earn a US$10 credit towards future GeneSTAR MVP testing. GeneSTAR MVPs are molecular value predictions for the economically relevant traits of feed efficiency, marbling and tenderness.