Agriculture - Ruminant Nutrition

Using a photographic approach to ruminant animal anatomy, this atlas is published for students interested in animal science careers including veterinary medicine, food production animals and animal health. The unique anatomy, physiology, microbiology, and nutrition in ruminants compared to monogastrics warrant independent study of these species. Chapters include major organ systems with histological images, diagrams, illustrations, photographs, and radiographs.

This text represents a compilation of relevant information on major topics related to nutrient requirements & nutrient metabolism of ruminants, which are cud-chewing, even-toed, hooved mammals.

Through mid-May 2007, the United States had confirmed three cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE, or "mad cow disease"): the first in December 2003 in a Canadian-born cow found in Washington state, the second in June 2005 in cow in Texas, and the third in March 2006 in a cow in Alabama.Shortly after the first case, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and other officials announced measures to improve existing safeguards against the introduction and spread of BSE. Previously, the major safeguards were: (1) USDA restrictions on imports of ruminants and their products from countries with BSE; (2) a ban on feeding most mammalian proteins to cattle and other ruminants, issued by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA); and (3) a targeted domestic surveillance program by USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), the agency responsible for animal health monitoring and disease control.

A comprehensive and authoritative survey of the prion diseases, this volume combines scientific accuracy with a lively style of writing to explore every aspect of prion diseases, including molecular genetics, epidemiology, clinical data, laboratory research, and field studies. Ridley and Baker--both researchers with over two decades of experience in the field--look at several theories of the prion diseases, present detailed descriptions of the human prion diseases, examine the evidence that a new variant of the Creutzfeld-Jakob disease results from eating food infected by BSE, and trace the history of scrapie in sheep, the spread of kuru through cannibalism, and the "mad cow disease" epidemic in Britain. At the heart of the book lies a discussion of the still controversial "prion theory," which maintains that the infectious agent is a normal brain protein which takes on abnormal, mutant shape and function. The potential of similar processes underlying more common diseases is also investigated.