Evaluation of three immunological assays to mitigate the risk of transboundary spread of Coxiella burnetii by alpacas.

Coxiella burnetii causes coxiellosis in animals and Q fever in humans, a potentially debilitating zoonotic disease commonly transmitted through domestic ruminants. To prevent transboundary spread of C. burnetii, animals may be tested prior to export.

Measuring Claw Conformation in Cattle: Assessing the Agreement between Manual and Digital Measurement.

Five measurements of claw conformation (toe angle, claw height, claw width, toe length and abaxial groove length) taken directly from the hoof were compared with the measurements taken from digital images of the same claws. Concordance correlation coefficients and limits-of-agreement analysis showed that, for four of the five measures (claw height, claw width, toe length and abaxial groove length), agreement was too poor for digital and manual measures to be used interchangeably. For all four of these measures, Liao's modified concordance correlation coefficient (mCCC) was ≤0.