Scours and respiratory diseases are common causes of death in young calves. Currently, calves with scours or respiratory disease are often treated on the basis of symptoms, without identifying the microbe responsible.
This PhD project is part of Dairy UP’s Project P2f (Infectious Diseases) which aims to build a genetic catalogue that can be used by diagnostic laboratories to improve their capacity for diagnosing pathogens causing disease and determine the most appropriate treatment.
This PhD project is examining the diversity of the infectome (microbes) within NSW dairy farms to produce baseline data of the circulating microbial species using metagenomics. Metagenomics is an approach to studying the genetics of a community of microbes, such as those taken in a bulk sample.
More information:
Barbara Brito Rodriquez | barbara.britorodriquez@dpi.nsw.gov.au
