MEDICAVET

Veterinary Library

Educational reference on diseases, drug mechanisms and physiology in poultry, cattle and aquaculture, written for veterinarians and students.

Educational only; not a diagnosis, treatment or dosage recommendation.

Physiology

How an egg is formed: 24 hours in the oviduct

An egg takes roughly 24 hours to form, from release of the yolk at the ovary to the finished shell. This article walks through the five sections of the oviduct and how long the egg spends in each.

Mechanisms of Action

Mechanisms of Action

How antibiotics work: five targets, five classes

Antibiotics attack structures that bacteria have and the host animal does not. This article covers the five main targets (cell wall, protein synthesis, nucleic acids, the folate pathway and the cell membrane) and the antibiotic classes that hit each one.

Mechanisms of Action

What is antimicrobial resistance (AMR)?

Antimicrobial resistance is the ability of bacteria to survive drugs that once worked against them. This article explains how resistance arises, how it spreads between bacteria, and why prudent use in animal health is everyone's responsibility.

Mechanisms of Action

The ABC of pharmacokinetics: absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion

What happens to a medicine after it enters the body falls into four stages: absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion. This article explains ADME and why the withdrawal period follows directly from it.

Mechanisms of Action

How vaccines work: the basics of poultry immunity

Vaccines introduce a target to the immune system without causing disease. This article covers active and passive immunity, the maternal antibody window, and why timing is so critical in poultry vaccination.

Diseases

Coccidiosis in poultry: life cycle and where it sits in the gut

Coccidiosis is an intestinal disease caused by Eimeria species. This article covers the parasite's life cycle, which species occupies which part of the gut, and the principles that control it in the field.

Calf scours: differentiating by age and preventing it

The main causes of neonatal calf diarrhoea each tend to appear at a characteristic age. This article sets out the agents by age of onset, why fluid loss is the real danger, and the central role of colostrum management.

Bovine respiratory disease (BRD)

BRD is not one pathogen's disease but a picture created by stress, viruses and bacteria acting together. This article explains that three-way interaction, why risk concentrates around weaning and transport, and how to spot cases early.

Respiratory disease in poultry: a differential table

Respiratory signs in poultry can come from many different agents. CRD (Mycoplasma), IB, ILT and ND are compared here by speed of spread, flock distribution and the character of the lesions.

Bacterial diseases of coldwater fish

The bacterial agents seen most often in trout and carp farming are Aeromonas, Yersinia and Flavobacterium. This article covers them, their relationship with water temperature, and why stress is the deciding factor.

Husbandry & Biosecurity

Husbandry & Biosecurity

The basics of biosecurity in poultry and livestock housing

Biosecurity is the set of measures that keep pathogens out of a site and stop them spreading once inside. This article covers zoning, traffic flow, downtime and personnel discipline.

Husbandry & Biosecurity

Drinking water line hygiene and biofilm

Biofilm inside the drinker line harbours bacteria and undermines vaccines and products given in water. This article explains how biofilm forms and why line cleaning has to be a scheduled job.

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