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The impact of glutaraldehyde based footbaths on Dichelobacter nodosus prevalence and the antimicrobial resistant community of the ovine interdigital skin (2022)
Journal Article
Marshall, H. J., Blanchard, A. M., Kelly, K. R., Goh, J. N., Williams, A. D., King, L., …Tötemeyer, S. (2022). The impact of glutaraldehyde based footbaths on Dichelobacter nodosus prevalence and the antimicrobial resistant community of the ovine interdigital skin. Veterinary Microbiology, 272, Article 109459. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vetmic.2022.109459

Ovine footrot, is a highly contagious polymicrobial bacterial infection, primarily caused by Dichelobacter nodosus. Preventative bactericidal footbaths are commonly used in the sheep industry to reduce the spread of bacteria. However, their effect on... Read More about The impact of glutaraldehyde based footbaths on Dichelobacter nodosus prevalence and the antimicrobial resistant community of the ovine interdigital skin.

Failure to detect Schmallenberg Virus in ram semen in the UK (2016-2018) (2022)
Journal Article
Curwen, A., Jones, S., Stayley, C., Eden, L., McKay, H., Davies, P., …Tarlinton, R. (2022). Failure to detect Schmallenberg Virus in ram semen in the UK (2016-2018). Veterinary Record Open, 9(1), Article e39. https://doi.org/10.1002/vro2.39

Background Schmallenberg virus is a midge borne arbovirus that first emerged in the European ruminant population in 2011 and has since settled to an endemic pattern of disease The impacts of trade restrictions on genetic products (semen, embryos) f... Read More about Failure to detect Schmallenberg Virus in ram semen in the UK (2016-2018).

From the other perspective: Behavioural factors associated with UK sheep farmers’ attitudes towards antibiotic use and antibiotic resistance (2021)
Journal Article
Doidge, C., Lima, E., Lovatt, F., Hudson, C., & Kaler, J. (2021). From the other perspective: Behavioural factors associated with UK sheep farmers’ attitudes towards antibiotic use and antibiotic resistance. PLoS ONE, 16(5), Article e0251439. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0251439

Research suggests that many sheep farmers continue to carry out traditional antibiotic use practices despite new’good practice’ recommendations. The aim of this study was to group farmers depending on their attitudes around antibiotic use and antibio... Read More about From the other perspective: Behavioural factors associated with UK sheep farmers’ attitudes towards antibiotic use and antibiotic resistance.

Understanding farmers' naturalistic decision making around prophylactic antibiotic use in lambs using a grounded theory and natural language processing approach (2020)
Journal Article
Doidge, C., Ferguson, E., Lovatt, F., & Kaler, J. (2021). Understanding farmers' naturalistic decision making around prophylactic antibiotic use in lambs using a grounded theory and natural language processing approach. Preventive Veterinary Medicine, 186, Article 105226. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.prevetmed.2020.105226

The routine use of antibiotics for prevention of disease in neonatal lambs has been highlighted as inappropriate, yet research suggests that many farmers in the UK still carry out this practice. The aim of the study was to understand farmers' natural... Read More about Understanding farmers' naturalistic decision making around prophylactic antibiotic use in lambs using a grounded theory and natural language processing approach.

Impact of Flock Health Clubs (2020)
Journal Article
Noble, N., Occhiuto, F., Lovatt, F., Johnson, M., Jones, W., & Kaler, J. (2020). Impact of Flock Health Clubs. Livestock, 25(6), 301-307. https://doi.org/10.12968/live.2020.25.6.301

Sheep farming is an important part of UK agriculture with significantly more breeding females than either the pig or cattle sectors. Whether grazing alongside arable rotations or utilising the marginal uplands, sheep farms arguably play a key role th... Read More about Impact of Flock Health Clubs.

Antimicrobial use practices and opinions of beef farmers in England and Wales (2020)
Journal Article
Doidge, C., Hudson, C. D., Burgess, R., Lovatt, F., & Kaler, J. (2020). Antimicrobial use practices and opinions of beef farmers in England and Wales. Veterinary Record, 187(12), e119-e119. https://doi.org/10.1136/vr.105878

© British Veterinary Association. Background Limited research exists on antimicrobial use practices of beef farmers. This study aimed to investigate antimicrobial practices and perceptions of beef farmers in England and Wales, and identify drivers of... Read More about Antimicrobial use practices and opinions of beef farmers in England and Wales.

Farmers' Perceptions of Preventing Antibiotic Resistance on Sheep and Beef Farms: Risk, Responsibility, and Action (2020)
Journal Article
Doidge, C., Ruston, A., Lovatt, F., Hudson, C., King, L., & Kaler, J. (2020). Farmers' Perceptions of Preventing Antibiotic Resistance on Sheep and Beef Farms: Risk, Responsibility, and Action. Frontiers in Veterinary Science, 7, Article 524. https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2020.00524

© 2020 Doidge, Ruston, Lovatt, Hudson, King and Kaler. Antibiotic resistance is one of the most serious public health risks facing humanity. The overuse of antibiotics in the treatment of infectious disease have been identified as sources of the... Read More about Farmers' Perceptions of Preventing Antibiotic Resistance on Sheep and Beef Farms: Risk, Responsibility, and Action.

Variable selection for inferential models with relatively high-dimensional data: Between method heterogeneity and covariate stability as adjuncts to robust selection (2020)
Journal Article
Lima, E., Davies, P., Kaler, J., Lovatt, F., & Green, M. (2020). Variable selection for inferential models with relatively high-dimensional data: Between method heterogeneity and covariate stability as adjuncts to robust selection. Scientific Reports, 10, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-64829-0

Variable selection in inferential modelling is problematic when the number of variables is large relative to the number of data points, especially when multicollinearity is present. A variety of techniques have been described to identify ‘important’... Read More about Variable selection for inferential models with relatively high-dimensional data: Between method heterogeneity and covariate stability as adjuncts to robust selection.

Update on caseous lymphadenitis in sheep (2020)
Journal Article
Gascoigne, E., Ogden, N., Lovatt, F., & Davies, P. (2020). Update on caseous lymphadenitis in sheep. In Practice, 42(2), 105-114. https://doi.org/10.1136/inp.m455

Background: Caseous lymphadenitis (CLA), caused by the gram-positive bacteria Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis, has been present in Great Britain since the 1980s and is now considered endemic. CLA is considered to be an iceberg disease; that is, it... Read More about Update on caseous lymphadenitis in sheep.

Use of bootstrapped, regularised regression to identify factors associated with lamb-derived revenue on commercial sheep farms (2019)
Journal Article
Lima, E., Green, M., Lovatt, F., Davies, P., King, L., & Kaler, J. (2020). Use of bootstrapped, regularised regression to identify factors associated with lamb-derived revenue on commercial sheep farms. Preventive Veterinary Medicine, 174, Article 104851. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.prevetmed.2019.104851

The profitability of UK sheep farms is variable with many farms making a net loss. For economic sustainability, farms have to be profitable, therefore it is important to maximise income whilst controlling costs. The most important source of income in... Read More about Use of bootstrapped, regularised regression to identify factors associated with lamb-derived revenue on commercial sheep farms.

Sustainable lamb production: Evaluation of factors affecting lamb growth using hierarchical, cross classified and multiple memberships models (2019)
Journal Article
Lima, E., Lovatt, F., Green, M., Roden, J., Davies, P., & Kaler, J. (2020). Sustainable lamb production: Evaluation of factors affecting lamb growth using hierarchical, cross classified and multiple memberships models. Preventive Veterinary Medicine, 174, Article 104822. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.prevetmed.2019.104822

© 2019 Elsevier B.V. In light of current concerns about the sustainability of red meat production in a world with increasing global demand for food from animal origin there is a need for a better understanding of factors that influence the growth rat... Read More about Sustainable lamb production: Evaluation of factors affecting lamb growth using hierarchical, cross classified and multiple memberships models.

Do UK sheep farmers use orf vaccine correctly and could their vaccination strategy affect vaccine efficacy? (2019)
Journal Article
Small, S., Cresswell, L., Lovatt, F., Gummery, E., Onyango, J., McQuilkin, C., & Wapenaar, W. (2019). Do UK sheep farmers use orf vaccine correctly and could their vaccination strategy affect vaccine efficacy?. Veterinary Record, 185(10), 305. https://doi.org/10.1136/vr.105472

© British Veterinary Association 2019. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ. Orf, a parapoxvirus, is a zoonosis causing a contagious pustular dermatitis, and has a high morbidity in sheep worldwide. Despite a vaccine bei... Read More about Do UK sheep farmers use orf vaccine correctly and could their vaccination strategy affect vaccine efficacy?.

Dealing with maedi visna in UK sheep flocks (2019)
Journal Article
Ogden, N., Davies, P., & Lovatt, F. (2019). Dealing with maedi visna in UK sheep flocks. In Practice, 41(7), 321-328. https://doi.org/10.1136/inp.l4838

Background: Maedi visna (MV) is considered to be one of the ‘iceberg diseases’ of sheep; a group of infectious, production-limiting diseases which are endemic to the UK. Characterised by slow, progressive onset, these diseases lie undetected and can... Read More about Dealing with maedi visna in UK sheep flocks.

Using lamb sales data to investigate associations between implementation of disease preventive practices and sheep flock performance (2019)
Journal Article
Lima, E., Lovatt, F., Davies, P., & Kaler, J. (2019). Using lamb sales data to investigate associations between implementation of disease preventive practices and sheep flock performance. Animal, 13(11), 2630-2638. https://doi.org/10.1017/s1751731119001058

Although the UK is the largest lamb meat producer in Europe, there are limited data available on sheep flock performance and on how sheep farmers manage their flocks. The aims of this study were to gather evidence on the types of disease control prac... Read More about Using lamb sales data to investigate associations between implementation of disease preventive practices and sheep flock performance.

Increasing vet and sheep flock interactions in dairy practice (2019)
Journal Article
Gasgoine, E., Lovatt, F., Davies, A., & Reader, J. (2019). Increasing vet and sheep flock interactions in dairy practice. In Practice, 41(4), 177-181. https://doi.org/10.1136/inp.l1530

© 2019 BMJ Publishing Group Limited. Sheep medicine has traditionally been a low priority for cattle-dominated practice, as it is commonly thought that there is minimal financial opportunities in this sector. The perception has been that the vet's ro... Read More about Increasing vet and sheep flock interactions in dairy practice.

To prescribe or not to prescribe? A factorial survey to explore veterinarians’ decision making when prescribing antimicrobials to sheep and beef farmers in the UK (2019)
Journal Article
Doidge, C., Hudson, C., Lovatt, F., & Kaler, J. (2019). To prescribe or not to prescribe? A factorial survey to explore veterinarians’ decision making when prescribing antimicrobials to sheep and beef farmers in the UK. PLoS ONE, 14(4), Article e0213855. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0213855

Resistance to antimicrobials is one of the biggest challenges worldwide for public health. A key strategy for tackling this is ensuring judicious use of antimicrobials in human and veterinary medicine. Whilst there are many studies in human medicine... Read More about To prescribe or not to prescribe? A factorial survey to explore veterinarians’ decision making when prescribing antimicrobials to sheep and beef farmers in the UK.

Anatomy and pathology of the Texel sheep larynx (2019)
Journal Article
Waine, K., Strugnell, B., Remnant, J., Lovatt, F., Green, M., Rideout, H., …Baiker, K. (2019). Anatomy and pathology of the Texel sheep larynx. Veterinary Sciences, 6(1), Article 21. https://doi.org/10.3390/vetsci6010021

Laryngeal chondritis, or “Texel throat”, is a disease affecting the upper respiratory tract of sheep with breeds like the Texel appearing to be predisposed. Previous work suggests the conformation of these breeds of sheep may be predisposing these an... Read More about Anatomy and pathology of the Texel sheep larynx.

Responsible use of antibiotics on sheep farms: application at farm level (2019)
Journal Article
Lovatt, F., Duncan, J., & Hinde, D. (2019). Responsible use of antibiotics on sheep farms: application at farm level. In Practice, 41(1), 23-33. https://doi.org/10.1136/inp.k5370

There is currently global concern over rising levels of antibiotic resistance among commensal and pathogenic bacteria in human and animal populations. Unless urgent action is taken by the medical and veterinary professions, it is thought that we will... Read More about Responsible use of antibiotics on sheep farms: application at farm level.

Controlling nematode infections in sheep: application of HACCP (2018)
Journal Article
Gascoigne, E., Morgan, E. R., Lovatt, F., & Vineer, H. R. (2018). Controlling nematode infections in sheep: application of HACCP. In Practice, 40(8), 334-347. https://doi.org/10.1136/inp.k3858

Gastrointestinal nematode infection in sheep is a significant challenge for production with implications for animal health and welfare, and lamb growth. Flocks rely on the chemical control of worm burdens, but with the increasing challenge of anthelm... Read More about Controlling nematode infections in sheep: application of HACCP.

A survey to determine the farm level impact of Schmallenberg virus during the 2016-17 UK lambing season (2018)
Journal Article
Stokes, J. E., Tarlinton, R. E., Lovatt, F., Baylis, M., Carson, A., & Duncan, J. S. (2018). A survey to determine the farm level impact of Schmallenberg virus during the 2016-17 UK lambing season. Veterinary Record, https://doi.org/10.1136/vr.104866

Schmallenberg virus (SBV) causes abortions, still births and fetal malformations in naive ruminants. The impact of the initial outbreak (2011/2012) on British sheep farms has been previously investigated, with higher farmer perceived impacts and incr... Read More about A survey to determine the farm level impact of Schmallenberg virus during the 2016-17 UK lambing season.