Your data on MRCVSonline
The nature of the services provided by Vision Media means that we might obtain certain information about you.
Please read our Data Protection and Privacy Policy for details.

In addition, (with your consent) some parts of our website may store a 'cookie' in your browser for the purposes of
functionality or performance monitoring.
Click here to manage your settings.
If you would like to forward this story on to a friend, simply fill in the form below and click send.

Your friend's email:
Your email:
Your name:
 
 
Send Cancel

Age spread key to impact of disease outbreak, study finds
How disease outbreaks affect animals depends on the age at which individuals are exposed to infection.
Offspring of younger mothers more at risk from infection

How disease outbreaks affect animals depends on the age at which individuals are exposed to infection, new research has found.

Published in the journal Ecology Letters, the finding could help scientists better understand how disease outbreaks may affect certain groups in a population.

The research was carried out by the University of Edinburgh, funded by the Natural Environment Research Council and the Wellcome Trust.

“Many societies around the world are experiencing ageing populations, and investigating the impact of this might lend valuable insight into how such populations might respond to an outbreak of disease,” said Jess Clark of the University of Edinburgh's School of Biological Sciences.

In the study, scientists sought to examine how a spread of ages can influence a population’s health by simulating an outbreak of disease in small marine animals.

Through computer modelling and lab experiments, they found that disease spread can vary depending on the age at which individuals are exposed to infections.  

The scientists found that offspring of younger mothers were more at risk from infection. This builds upon previous knowledge that younger individuals are more at risk.

Computer models revealed that when death rates are high, disease can spread faster - even as populations fall.

Scientists say that this contradicts the expectation that disease should spread most easily in dense populations, in which individuals interact more.

Become a member or log in to add this story to your CPD history

Pet Blood Bank announces twists to annual fundraiser

News Story 1
 Pet Blood Bank has revealed that its annual fundraiser, 'Around the Coast in 30 Days', will now include mini challenges.

It is the fourth year of the challenge, which asks people to walk, run, swim or cycle a part of a 11,232 mile goal.

However this year's fundraiser, starting 1 May, includes extra challenges throughout the month. Pet Blood Bank says these tasks will showcase its work.

The challenge can be completed individually, or as a team, with miles recorded on the participant's fundraising page.

Register here

Click here for more...
News Shorts
SCOPS updates anthelmintics guide

The Sustainable Control of Parasites in Sheep (SCOPS) group has published an updated version of its free guide to anthelmintics.

Know Your Anthelmintics, created to help farmers and livestock keepers, lists the available products for treating internal and external parasites in sheep and gives advice on how they should be administered. This includes guidance on drenching and injecting correctly and minimising the impact that anthelmintics have on the environment.

The new version contains information about products released in recent months and changes to older products.

Kevin Harrison, sheep farmer and SCOPS chair, said: "I can't count the times I've used the SCOPS Know Your Anthelmintics guide when making decisions about my flock, to remind myself which group a wormer belongs to or check other details."

The guide is available on the SCOPS website.