Image Books Animal Agriculture: Sustainability, challenges and innovations This book addresses sustainability problems in modern animal agriculture and proposes solutions on topics such as biotechnology, feed production techniques and disease management. Read
Image Books Emerging technologies in agriculture, livestock, and climate This book discusses how networks of wireless sensors could be used in African agriculture, e.g. to minimise conflicts between wildlife, people and livestock, or to monitor livestock health. Read
Image Featured articles Global trends in antimicrobial resistance in animals This review paper finds that the number of bacterial strains that are resistant to antimicrobials is increasing in both pigs and chickens. The paper synthesises hundreds of studies from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) to develop maps of antimicrobial resistance. Hotspots of antimicrobial resistance are found in India and China, with resistance also developing in Brazil and Kenya. Read
Image News and resources Blog post: African swine fever epidemic This blog post by Mia MacDonald of US think tank Brighter Green and Gene Baur of Farm Sanctuary explains the African swine fever epidemic that is currently affecting China and Southeast Asia. Over 3 million pigs have already been killed by the disease or culled as a preventative measure. The disease has not yet been passed on to humans. Read
Image Reports Securing the future from drug-resistant infections This report by the World Health Organisation calls for urgent action on the global and growing antimicrobial resistance crisis. It reports that “[a]larming levels of resistance have been reported in countries of all income levels, with the result that common diseases are becoming untreatable, and lifesaving medical procedures riskier to perform.” Read
Image Reports Global animal protein outlook 2019 RaboResearch reviews the state of the global animal protein industry, predicting that production will grow in 2019 (albeit at a lower rate than 2018), except in China where production is expected to decline due to African swine fever. Read
Image Journal articles Biocide resistance is at dangerous levels This paper describes the susceptibility of organisms such as bacteria to biocides such as antibiotics, insecticides and herbicide as a beneficial ecosystem service, since susceptible organisms can prevent the spread of biocide resistance by outcompeting resistant organisms (that is, in biocide-free environments). This framing is distinct from many other viewpoints, which focus on the negative costs of biocide resistance. Read
Image News and resources “Mad cow disease” case confirmed on Scottish farm A case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), also known as “mad cow disease”, has been confirmed on a farm in Aberdeenshire. The case was discovered before entering the human food chain, and Rural Affairs Minister Mairi Gougeon has said that all necessary measures have been taken to protect consumers. Read
Image Explainer What is the connection between infectious diseases in humans and livestock? Diseases that pass between animals and humans are responsible for many of the diseases affecting people worldwide, especially in developing countries. Animals (wild and domestic) also play an important role in the emergence and spread of entirely novel human diseases, with the potential for large impacts on human health, such as bird flu. Another aspect of this to which livestock contribute, is the rise and spread of resistance to antibiotic drugs. One outcome of sustainable food systems is that they should be health promoting. It is, therefore, useful to understand the interconnection between infectious diseases in human and animals, and how these risks may be amplified or reduced by changes in farming systems. Read
