Diseases of beef and dairy cattle

Dairy cattle are susceptible to the same diseases as beef cattle. Many diseases and pests plague the cattle industries of the world, the more serious ones being prevalent in the humid and less developed countries. One of the more common diseases to be found in the developed countries is brucellosis, which has been controlled quite successfully through vaccination and testing. This disease produces undulant fever in humans through milk from infected cows. Leptospirosis, prevalent in warm-blooded animals and humans, is caused by a spirochete and results in fever, loss of weight, and abortion. Bovine tuberculosis has been largely eliminated; where it has not, it can infect other warm-blooded animals, including humans. Test and slaughter programs have proved effective. Rabies, caused by a specific virus that also can infect most warm-blooded animals, is usually transmitted through the bite of infected animals, either wild or domestic. Foot-and-mouth disease has been eliminated from most of North America, some Central American countries, Australia, and New Zealand. The rest of the world is still plagued by the disease, which attacks all cloven-footed animals. Humans are mildly susceptible to this organism. Successful vaccinations have been developed for blackleg, malignant edema, infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (or red nose), and several other diseases. Anaplasmosis, common to most tropical and semitropical regions, is spread by the bite of mosquitoes and flies. Anthrax, caused by a generally fatal bacterial infection, has been largely eliminated in the United States and western Europe. Rinderpest, once a common affliction, was caused by a specific virus that produced high fever and diarrhea; the disease was declared eradicated in 2011. An infectious fever sometimes called nagana, caused by the tsetse fly, attacks both cattle and horses and is prevalent in central and southern Africa as well as in the Philippines. Grass tetany and milk fever both result from metabolic disturbances. Bloat, caused by rapid gas formation in the rumen, or first compartment of the stomach, is sometimes fatal unless relieved. Pinkeye is an infectious inflammation of the eyes spread by flies or dust and is most serious in cattle having white pigmentation around one or both eyes. Mastitis, an inflammation of the udder, is caused by rough handling or by infection. Vibriosis, a venereal disease that causes abortion; pneumonia, an inflammation of the lungs; and shipping fever all cause serious losses and are difficult to control except through good management. Broad-spectrum antibiotics (antibiotics that are effective against various microorganisms), as well as powerful and specific pharmaceuticals, are effective and profitable means of keeping cattle herds healthy, though their overuse in livestock farming is an important factor in the rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Vermifuges, which destroy or expel parasitic worms, and insecticides, which kill harmful insects, are also highly effective and much used.

Breeds

There are more than 300 known breeds or local varieties of pigs throughout the world. Following is a brief description of the better-known commercial breeds.

Selected breeds of pigs

	name	use	distribution	characteristics	comments
	Duroc, or Duroc-Jersey	lard	North and South America	medium length; light gold-red to dark red	1/2 Jersey Red, 1/2 Duroc
	Hampshire	meat	U.S. breed	medium weight; long body; black with white forelegs and shoulders	active, alert; good grazer
	Landrace	meat	northern and central Europe, U.S.	medium-sized; white, often with small black spots	several breeds; raised for bacon
	Spotted	meat	developed in U.S.	black and white spotted (ideally 50/50)	sometimes called Spots
	Yorkshire (in England, Large White)	meat	worldwide	white, sometimes with dark areas	a bacon breed; sows are prolific

The Hampshire pig, which originated from the Norfolk thin-rind breed of England, is black with a white belt completely encircling its body, including both front legs and feet. There should be no white on the head or the ham.

The Yorkshire pig, which originated early in the 19th century in England, where it was considered a bacon type, is long, lean, and trim with white hair and skin. Found in most countries, this breed is probably the most widely distributed in the world.

The Duroc-Jersey breed originated in the eastern United States from red pigs brought by Christopher Columbus and Hernando de Soto. The modern Duroc, originated from crosses of the Jersey Red of New Jersey and the Duroc of New York in the late 19th century, ranges from golden-red to mahogany-red in colour, with no black allowed. This breed proved particularly suitable for feeding in the U.S. Corn Belt (parts of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Missouri, and Oklahoma; all of Iowa) and has been extensively used in Argentina, Canada, Chile, and Uruguay. It is recognized for the quality of its meat.

The Poland China originated about 1860 in southern Ohio from a number of different breeds common to that area. The Spotted Poland China originated in Indiana about 1915 from crosses of the Poland China and the native spotted pigs.

The Chester White, which originated in Chester county, Pa., after 1818, is restricted to the United States and Canada.

The Berkshire, which originated in Berkshire, Eng., about 1770, is used for fresh pork production in England and Japan; a larger bacon type has been evolved in Australia and New Zealand. Like the Duroc breed, the Berkshire is noted for the quality of its meat.

The Landrace is a white, lop-eared pig found in most countries in central and eastern Europe, with local varieties in Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden. World attention was first drawn to the Landrace by Denmark, where since 1895 a superior pig has been produced, designed for Denmark’s export trade in Wiltshire bacon to England and developed by progeny testing (the selection of boars for breeding on the basis of the scientific assessment of their progeny). Sweden also has progeny tested from Landrace stock but for a shorter period. Pigs from Sweden were first exported to England in 1953, when prices of up to £1,000 were paid. This resulted in a worldwide Landrace explosion, and most major pig-producing countries have since taken stock.

The importance of the Asian pig breeds was recognized in the use of Chinese and “Siamese” pigs from southeastern Asia in the improvement of early European and North American breeds and is reflected in the name of the world-famous Poland China. China leads the world in pig numbers, and pork is traditional in the Chinese diet.

Breeding and growth

Purebred production, or line breeding, is used to concentrate desired genes—for example, litter size or growth rate—within a population of animals. White pig breeds are generally noted for large litters (a maternal characteristic) and coloured breeds for rapid growth and meat quality (paternal characteristics).

Before 1980 most genetic material was available through purebreds, such as Yorkshires, Hampshires, and Landraces, raised by many small producers. Commercial breeding companies in the 1980s began developing different lines of pigs based on the genetics of the pure breeds in a system called crossbreeding. Modern swine crossbreeding techniques involve mating a boar (male) from a breed with rapid weight growth and sows (females) selected for their history of producing large litters.

Sows have a gestation period of 110–120 days with a 21-day interval between periods of estrus, the time during which they will accept mating by a boar. Sows have an average litter size of 12 piglets (somewhat fewer for a first pregnancy and somewhat more for certain Asian breeds), each piglet with a birth weight of about 1.4 kg (3 pounds), and typically produce two litters per year. A mature boar can mate as often as five to seven times per week. Gilts (young females) are usually mated by eight months of age and typically have a reproductive life of three to six litters, although individual sows may have 10 or more litters.

Most countries with developed pork production rely on artificial insemination. In fact, the semen from one boar ejaculate can be diluted to make 20 inseminations, each containing two to six billion sperm. In addition to reducing the number of boars needed for breeding, artificial insemination allows the selection of boars with the highest genetic merit, which results in more rapid improvement of the herd population. The semen may be collected and processed from boars raised by producers or purchased from stud farms that specialize in semen collection and marketing.

Piglets move to the sow’s udder to begin nursing moments after birth and are weaned between two and five weeks, with about a 15 to 20 percent pre-weaning mortality rate from stillbirths and being crushed by the lactating sow. Pigs that weigh between about 18 and 57 kg (40 and 125 pounds) are known as growing pigs, from about 57 to 100 kg (125 to 220 pounds) as finishing pigs, and more than about 100 kg as hogs or market pigs because they are ready for butchering. Hogs are typically brought to market when they are five to six months old. Most males are castrated shortly after birth to avoid an off-flavour in their meat. Castrated males are called barrows.