Weekly Livestock-Equine News: April 27, 2026

CVS Farm Vets (UK) reports progress in cow mastitis quality program

After two years of testing a rapid mastitis diagnostics product, all 15 CVS Farm practices in the UK reported that over one in three clinical mastitis cases did not require antibiotic treatment, while sensitivity testing supported a shift from broad‑spectrum category C antibiotics to narrow‑spectrum category D penicillins when appropriate. Traditionally, the slow turnaround of laboratory milk culture led many farms to treat most mild to moderate cases with antibiotics as standard practice, contributing to unnecessary antibiotic use and increased selection pressure for antimicrobial resistance.

Antibiotic stewardship framework developed for animal health

Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO, has developed a framework identifying 47 essential and desirable stewardship practices across 18 focus areas, including leadership, training, diagnostics, responsible prescribing, record keeping and surveillance. The framework was co-designed by veterinarians and animal managers and has been piloted in multiple sectors, including the pork industry.

Iowa Pork Center publishes heat stress resources

New resources are available from Iowa State University Extension and Outreach to help producers mitigate summer heat stress. By incorporating practices that reduce heat stress, swine producers can maintain animal feed intake and efficiency during periods with warmer temperatures. “Heat stress causes pigs to focus on survival instead of growth or reproduction,” says Mark Storlie, ISU swine extension specialist and author of the publications. Researchers have estimated that heat stress costs the U.S. pork industry over $520 million annually in economic losses.

Senecavirus A trends stress need for swine surveillance

The Swine Health Information Center hosted a recent webinar addressing Senecavirus A as a cause of vesicular disease in swine and the need for diligence to differentiate it from foot-and-mouth disease virus. SVA was first identified in U.S. swine in 2015 and is considered a significant health threat due to its similar clinical appearance to FMD. SVA can persist in tissues such as tonsil and transmit for an extended period after clinical signs resolve, and it can survive in feedstuffs. Risk factors for transmission are not fully understood.

Intervacc looking forward to US launch of strangles vaccine

The first pivotal study of the vaccine – Strangvac – for the U.S. market started during 2025, Intervacc reported in its 2025 Annual Report. A safety study involving approximately 600 horses is expected to be completed in 2026. An efficacy study will follow and is expected to be completed in 2027, after which the product can be registered. “Compared to Europe, the US represents a completely different market, where both the established knowledge about strangles and the general propensity to vaccinate are expected to accelerate uptake,” said CEO Carl-Johan Dalsgaard.

Researchers test aerosol samplers to detect swine viruses

Researchers at the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine are working to develop a way to use aerosol samplers—like the ones developed to detect SARS CoV 2 in a crowded room—to catch swine viruses such as PRRSV, even when a herd has very low levels of the virus. Determining whether a virus is airborne has proven to be a tricky task because it’s difficult to sample enough volume of air to find lurking viruses. The new device would remedy that by increasing sensitivity to viruses.