Angel Abuelo, an assistant professor in the Michigan State University College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM), has received a $642,000 grant to develop diagnostic tools that predict major illnesses during dairy cows’ transition from late gestation to early lactation.

The grant is funded by the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

Roughly 75% of diseases in adult dairy cows occur in the first month after calving, with two of the most devastating being mastitis — a bacterial infection of the udder — and metritis, a bacterial infection of the uterus. These ailments can cause a deterioration in reproductive performance, lower milk production, lameness and in severe cases, result in death. Mastitis alone costs U.S. dairy producers an estimated $2 billion annually.

Abuelo, who is a member of CVM’s Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences and is also supported by MSU AgBioResearch, is looking to provide disease risk information to producers so they can use nutritional interventions before it’s too late.

“The ability to prevent the establishment of transition dairy cow diseases is a significant unfulfilled need of the dairy industry,” Abuelo said. “Despite advances in research on prevention and treatment, overall disease incidence has remained stable with few exceptions. There’s a knowledge gap we need to fill in terms of being able to identify disease risk so we can be proactive.”

To read the full story, visit canr.msu.edu