Researchers Explore Prospects of Adding Antimicrobial Sensitivity Testing to Brachyspira Diagnosis

Researchers with the Western College of Veterinary Medicine are evaluating the potential of adding antimicrobial sensitivity testing to the diagnosis of Brachyspira associated diarrhea. Brachyspira is a family of bacteria, some species of which cause disease while others are simply part of a healthy gut and are harmless.

 

The Western College of Veterinary Medicine is revaluating and reformatting the diagnosis of Brachyspira diarrhea, including the prospects of adding antimicrobial sensitivity testing to the mix.

 

Dr. John Harding, a professor with the Western College of Veterinary Medicine, says, diagnoses of Brachyspira has been challenging because there are six different species so it takes fairly intensive diagnostics to identify the disease being addressed and then match the diagnostic test with that disease.

 

 

Antimicrobial sensitivity testing is done in a number of ways and it's used to provide an estimate of what antibiotics are most effective on a farm. It's very valuable for veterinarians and for producers who are setting up a diagnostic and treatment program to understand what organisms are we dealing with and which antibiotics are most effective to use and the opposite of that is which antibiotics should I not use because they'll just drive antibiotic resistance without having any benefit.

 

Antibiotic sensitivity is done in the lab. Generally it requires having a culture of an organism, of the bacteria on a plate and then through various laboratory techniques different antibiotics are tested and, if the antibiotics successfully kill or inhibit the culture on the plate, that antibiotic is effective to use.

 

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.