Genetic and management solutions for lameness-associated endemic diseases in dairy cattle

牛跛行是一种使人虚弱和痛苦的疾病，被描述为奶牛福利受损的最明显指标之一，也是非自愿移除和替换动物的最重要原因之一。没有其他常见的疾病与这种明显的疼痛迹象有关，因此，除了给动物带来严重的痛苦外，跛行还损害了公众对畜牧业的看法，并构成了巨大的声誉威胁。我们在这里提出的项目将整理来自不同来源的大量牛跛行数据，包括英国足部修剪器，牛奶记录机构，之前BBSRC资助的工作，以及人工智能支持的视频分析。这项工作将建立在由利物浦大学进行的工作基础上，由AHDB和BBSRC资助，并将得到许多关键行业合作伙伴的支持。我们的具体目标是：1。整理来自各种补充来源的跛行相关数据，并开发一个独特的，全面的牛跛行数据库。对现有和新的跛行相关表型进行遗传学和基因组学分析。制定新的策略，将所研究的跛行表型纳入生物学驱动的育种计划。4.使用生成的数据库为英国奶农提供额外的管理见解。5.目标1中生成的独特数据库将用于与动物对与牛跛行相关的地方病的抗性相关的多种动物性状的遗传和基因组分析，旨在生成新的和丰富现有的支持选择性育种和遗传改良的工具。然后将根据这些结果评估不同的育种策略，并确定其控制跛行的有效性。该数据库还将用于产生管理见解，并为农场使用制定相关做法。具体而言，我们将：1）开发跛行流行病学模式分析工具，2）开发预测个体动物未来跛行状态的模型，3）量化跛行对未来农场性能的影响。这些新颖的分析工具将使农民能够更好地管理牛群中的跛行。为该提案合作的行业合作伙伴共同提供了一套令人印象深刻的完善的知识交流（KE）网络，机会和农民培训平台。与研究团队相结合，该提案还结合了丰富的经验，为农民和兽医提供各种KE活动。随着该项目的产出可供使用，这个极具影响力的研究和行业合作伙伴联盟将能够为农民、修脚师和兽医提供协调一致的沟通和广泛、高质量的培训和支持。

Cattle lameness is a debilitating and painful condition, and is described as one of the clearest indicators of compromised welfare in dairy cattle and one of the most important causes of involuntary removal and replacement of animals. No other common condition is associated with such visible signs of pain and, as such, in addition to inflicting serious grief to the animal, lameness also damages the public's perception of the livestock industry and poses a huge reputational threat. The project we propose here will collate large amounts of cattle lameness data from different sources, including UK foot trimmers, milk recording agencies, previous BBSRC funded work, and video analytics empowered by artificial intelligence. This effort will build upon work conducted by the University of Liverpool and funded by AHDB and BBSRC and will be supported by a number of key industry partners. Our specific objectives are:1. To collate lameness associated data from various complementary sources and develop a unique, comprehensive database for cattle lameness.2. To perform genetic and genomic analyses of current and novel lameness-related phenotypes.3. Develop novel strategies to incorporate the studied lameness phenotypes in biology-driven breeding programmes.4. Use the generated database to offer additional management insights to UK dairy farmers.5. Achieve widespread and rapid impact via an extensive knowledge exchange (KE) programme underpinned by implementation science research.The unique database generated in Objective 1 will be used for the genetic and genomic analyses of multiple animal traits related to animal resistance to endemic diseases associated with cattle lameness, aiming to generate new and enrich existing tools underpinning selective breeding and genetic improvement. Different breeding strategies will then be evaluated, based on these results, and their efficacy in controlling lameness will be determined. The database will be also used to generate management insights and develop relevant practices for on-farm use. More specifically, we will: 1) develop a lameness epidemiological pattern analysis tool, 2) develop models that will predict future lameness status of an individual animal, and 3) quantify the impact of lameness on future farm performance. These novel analytical tools will allow farmers to better manage lameness in their herds. Together, the industry partners collaborating for this proposal, provide an impressive suite of well-established knowledge exchange (KE) networks, opportunities and farmer training platforms. In combination with the research team, this proposal also unites a wealth of experience in delivering a diverse range of KE activities to farmers and vets. As the outputs from the project become available for use, this highly influential coalition of research and industry partners will be able to provide harmonized communications and widespread, high quality training and support for farmers, foot trimmers and vets.