Tag: "virus"

  • The agricultural industry in the United States contributes about 13% to the gross annual domestic product.1 The United States Department of Agriculture reported that the cash receipts for livestock, poultry, and crops for 1996 exceeded 200 billion dollars.2 Over the last 3 decades, improved agricultural technology, farm efficiency and practices has benefited Americans; an average American paid about 11 cents per dollar of disposable income on food in 1996, as compared to about 14 cents per dollar in 1970. The cost of food is lowest in the United States as compared to the rest of the world.2,3 The recent terrorist attack on United States has raised serious concerns on the vulnerability of plant and animal agriculture in the United States. The deliberate introduction of a pathogen (fungus, bacterium, virus, or insect pest) into U.S. livestock, poultry, or crops could cause a disease outbreak. The outcome of an outbreak could be devastating, resulting in loss of livestock, disruption of animal agriculture industry and decreased food production. This would drive food prices up, halt valuable exports, and ultimately cost taxpayers billions of dollars in lost revenue and industry renewal costs. more »
  • Bovine viral diarrhea (BVD virus or BVDV), a serious problem in cattle, has now been proven to also cause illness, abortions, and most important of all, the persistently infected (PI) state in alpacas. The virus’s ability to produce persistently infected crias, the main way this disease would be spread, and its ability to cause abortions are extremely important for the alpaca industry. more »
  • Bovine Viral Diarrhea Virus (BVDV) is a Pestivirus classified into two genotypes, “Type 1” and “Type 2”, that infects domestic and wild ruminant herds world-wide. In addition to cattle, BVDV is also known to infect camelids and deer. Related viruses include hog cholera virus in swine and border disease in sheep. For cattle producers, the virus causes an estimated $2 billion per year in economic losses through decreased weight gains, decreased milk production, reproductive losses, and death. more »
  • A personal story of discovery and the potential cause of deaths in alpacas from BVD (bovine viral diarrhea) and the way it can travel from cattle to alpacas with devastating results – a breeders story from Canada. more »

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