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UC Davis experts: Livestock health

UC Davis faculty members from a variety of disciplines are available to discuss issues related to livestock health. If you need information on a topic not listed, please contact Patricia Bailey, News Service, (530) 752-9843, pjbailey@ucdavis.edu, or Lynn Narlesky, School of Veterinary Medicine, (530) 752-5257, lnarlesky@ucdavis.edu

Livestock infectious diseases

Bennie Osburn, dean of the School of Veterinary Medicine, can discuss the biology of foot and mouth disease and related infectious diseases that affect food animals. He can also discuss global food safety issues and the surveillance and reporting systems that are in place to protect California agriculture. Osburn's research has focused on viral diseases of sheep and cattle. Contact: Bennie Osburn, School of Veterinary Medicine, (530) 752-1361, biosburn@ucdavis.edu.

History and biology of foot and mouth disease

Tilahun Yilma is a veterinary professor specializing in viral diseases and director the School of Veterinary Medicine's International Laboratory of Molecular Biology for Tropical Diseases. In the 1970s he worked as a researcher at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Plum Island Animal Disease Center in New York and has done extensive research on foot and mouth disease. He can talk about the biology of the disease, why it has been so difficult to develop a useful vaccine and the global history of foot and mouth disease outbreaks. Yilma developed a genetically engineered vaccine for the devastating cattle disease rinderpest, which is now in use in Africa, and is currently doing research on potential AIDS vaccines. Contact: Tilahun Yilma, (530) 752-8306, tdyilma@ucdavis.edu.

Economic impacts of foot and mouth disease

Lovell Jarvis is a professor of Agricultural and Resource Economics and an associate dean in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. He has been studying the market impacts of foot and mouth disease and its eradication in certain South American countries. He also has examined what the economic impact would be if foot and mouth disease should appear in California. He can discuss the history of foot and mouth disease outbreaks around the world and what a domestic outbreak would mean to California agriculture. Contact: Lovell Jarvis, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, (530) 752-0110, lsjarvis@ucdavis.edu.

Policies and economics of livestock

Daniel Sumner is a professor of Agricultural and Resource Economics and director of the UC Agricultural Issues Center, headquartered at UC Davis. He can discuss policies that are in place to protect U.S. livestock from diseases such as foot and mouth disease, the economic impact and likely responses if a domestic outbreak were to occur, and the impact of outbreaks elsewhere. Contact: Daniel Sumner, UC Agricultural Issues Center, (530) 752-1668, dasumner@ucdavis.edu.

Risks and prevention on dairies

James Cullor is a veterinary professor and director of the Veterinary Medical Teaching and Research Center in Tulare, Calif. (Tulare County is the number one dairy-producing county in the nation.) Cullor is an authority on comparative pathology, animal health and public health. Media contact: James Cullor, Veterinary Medical Teaching and Research Center, (559) 688-1731, Ext. 202, or cell phone (559) 280-8600, jscullor@ucdavis.edu.

How safe is our meat supply?

Linda Harris is a Cooperative Extension food microbiologist in the food science and technology department. She studies food safety and quality issues. Contact: Linda Harris, Food Science and Technology, (530) 754-9485, ljharris@ucdavis.edu.

Dealing with foreign infectious animal diseases

Robert Moeller is an associate professor of veterinary medicine and a veterinary pathologist with the California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory System in Tulare, Calif. The laboratory system performs necropsies -- animal autopsies -- on livestock, poultry and horses to determine the cause of death and screen for outbreaks of disease. Moeller was an U.S. army veterinarian for 21 years, during which he trained more than 75 military veterinarians to serve as foreign animal disease diagnosticians. He can talk about the surveillance systems that are in place for protecting the nation against various livestock diseases. Contact: Robert Moeller, California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory System, Tulare, (559)-688-7543, rbmoeller@ucdavis.edu.

Managing herd health

John Maas is a Cooperative Extension veterinarian in the School of Veterinary Medicine, specializing in beef cattle. He can discuss management practices that help maintain healthy cattle herds and diagnostic procedures to detect infectious diseases in cattle. Contact: John Maas, (530) 752-3990, jmaas@ucdavis.edu.

How ranchers keep beef healthy

James Oltjen is a Cooperative Extension livestock specialist in the UC Davis animal science department. He can discuss management practices that ranchers should use to protect their herds against a variety of health problems, including foot and mouth disease. He provides educational programs for beef cattle producers through a "Beef Quality Assurance Program." Contact: James Oltjen, Animal Science, (530) 752-5650, jwoltjen@ucdavis.edu.

Livestock viruses

James MacLachlan is a professor and chair of the School of Veterinary Medicine's pathology, microbiology and immunology department. He can discuss viral diseases that affect livestock and horses. He can also talk about the international issues related to livestock diseases. Contact: James MacLachlan, School of Veterinary Medicine, (530) 752-1163, njmaclachlan@ucdavis.edu.

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Last updated July 28, 2008