Short communication: Long-term survival of flag eartags on an Israeli dairy farm.

Two-plated self-piercing eartags were first developed in the 19th century, but information on their retention rates is scarce. A method is presented that facilitates estimation of eartag retention rate by using a random sample of cows that initially had 2 tags (1 on each ear) placed for identification and at least 1 of which survived. Striving to adopt the European Union standard for cattle ear tagging, the Israeli veterinary service conducted a field test to evaluate the performance of plastic eartags under the conditions of a typical Israeli dairy farm.

Appearance of skin lesions in cattle populations vaccinated against lumpy skin disease: statutory challenge.

The ultimate goal of a vaccine is to protect vaccinated animals against re-exposure to the same pathogen and provide sterile immunity. However, a cutaneous clinical manifestation appeared, following re-exposure of cattle that had been vaccinated with the RM65 strain, to LSDV infection during an epidemic in 2006-2007. Four thousand six hundred and seven vaccinated cows entered the study after being re-exposed to LSDV infection.

The NSP immune response of vaccinated animals after in-field exposure to FMDV.

The aim was to examine the immune response (IR) to non-structural proteins (NSPs), in order to assess the validity of the detection of antibodies to NSPs as a means of diagnosing foot and mouth disease (FMD infection) infection when vaccinated populations are in close contact with clinically sick animals. The study was performed during FMD outbreaks in Israel in January 2004; the IR was examined in vaccinated dairy and feedlot cattle herds under natural field exposure to FMDV, and in vaccinated and unvaccinated sheep flocks. During the 2004 outbreaks, clinical signs were age-related and were noted only among imported calves, although they had been vaccinated; such signs were not found among the local dairy cattle populations.

An unusual outbreak of malignant catarrhal fever in a beef herd in Israel.

Malignant catarrhal fever (MCF. corrizza contagiosa) is an invariably fatal communicable disease in cattle, whose causative agent is the ovine herpes virus-2, or the alcelaphine herpes virus-1. In one feed-lot family farm, 34 calves out of 100 became ill at the rate of one to four calves per week, and all of them subsequently died over a period of 4 months.