Research Focus: From managing free-roaming domestic dog populations to the genomics of crossbred cattle

Free-roaming domestic dogs are among the most abundant carnivores on earth and have coexisted with humans for over 15,000 years, yet increases in negative interactions and the transmission of zoonotic diseases

Researchers from the Roslin Institute and the School of Maths identified 10 sites in Goa state in India to monitor free roaming dog populations, in 5 sites they conducted intense period of surgical sterilisations of the dogs and the other 5 sites had no intervention, making it the first multisite randomised controlled trial of sterilisation in free roaming dogs. 

Researchers found the birth rate was reduced, which is likely to benefit animal welfare and barking reports were reduced, likely improving residents wellbeing. However, the main result was that sterilisation had no significant impact on the size of the dog population during the 2 year follow up period. The study demonstrates that surgical sterilisation is an appropriate tool for limiting birth rates among free-roaming dogs, however, it is unlikely to yield substantial reductions in overall population size when used in isolation in open populations.

Citation: Fielding, H.R., Fernandes, K.A., V.R., A. et al. Sci Rep 15, 14221 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-98990-1

Indigenous communities can face elevated risk of disease related to environmental and animal health factors with many communities under-resourced and facing barriers in accessing preventative health care. 

Yet, there is limited understanding of the impact of zoonotic diseases (diseases that pass between animals and people) within Indigenous populations. 

Researchers from the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Sciences in collboration with colleagues from Australian National University analysed notifiable zoonotic diseases within Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander populations in Australia to assess trends over time including the seasonal impact. 

The findings from this paper can help inform preventative health approaches for zoonoses in Indigenous populations, with One Health approaches recommended. 

Citation: Tamara Riley, Raymond Lovett, Neil E. Anderson, Anna Meredith, Bonny Cumming, Joanne Thandrayen, Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, Volume 49, Issue 3, 2025, 100239, ISSN 1326-0200, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anzjph.2025.100239.

Researchers from the Centre for Inflammation Research, The Roslin Institute and Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies have been looking into the age-related impairment of intestinal inflammation resolution. 

Researchers found that even in middle-aged animals (human equivalent to 40-45 years old), ageing can already be seen to slow down the recovery of bowel inflammation. This problem is linked to more aggressive behaviour in certain immune cells and changes in the gut’s bacterial community (or 'microbiome'). 

They found that ageing increases the action of ‘cell signalling’ prostaglandins, which are well-known for promoting inflammation. 

The team investigated the effect of these molecules by preventing their production (such as using common pain relievers) and blocking their engagement with a specific target on immune cells, called a ‘receptor’, in mice. 

They observed important changes in the gut bacteria of old mice, particularly a decrease in a group of beneficial bacteria called Segmented Filamentous Bacteria (SFB). As well as a decrease in these bacteria, their ability to stick to the intestinal lining was also affected, impairing the recovery of inflammation.

Citation: Goepp M, Milburn JV, Zhang B, Dong Y, Tyrrell V, Zheng X, Marshall JM, Bolsega S, Basic M, Glendinning L, Ho GT, Satsangi J, Breyer RM, Narumiya S, McSorley HJ, Schwarze JKJ, Anderson CJ, Dockrell DH, Rossi AG, Bleich A, Lucas CD, O'Donnell VB, Mole D, Arends MJ, Zhou Y, Yao C. Cell Host Microbe. 2025 May 14;33(5):671-687.e6. doi: 10.1016/j.chom.2025.04.014. PMID: 40373750.

Researchers from the Global Academy of Agriculture and Food Systems, The Roslin Institute and the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies have been looking into outbreaks of high pathogenicity avian influenza since 2020.

These outbreaks have led to a global rise in deaths of wild birds and poultry. Risk governance frameworks for emerging infectious diseases such as HPAI encourage outbreak policies to be grounded in a variety of stakeholder perspectives and for there to be effective, transparent communication between all those involved. However, the COVID-19 pandemic exemplified how collaboration is not always easy to implement.

In this study, 20 key stakeholders involved in outbreak decision-making and response in the United Kingdom and United States were asked to provide their insights into the structure of stakeholder landscape, communication pathways, and challenges in decision-making and response implementation for their respective countries.

Researchers concluded that smallholders and backyard poultry owners need to be better represented in policy-industry communication pathways and that improved information sharing at the policy-science and policy-industry interfaces is essential to ensure an efficient outbreak response.

Citation: Lyons K, Kapczynski DR, Lycett SJ, Digard P, Boden L. Front Vet Sci. 2025 Apr 17;12:1547628. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2025.1547628. PMID: 40313635; PMCID: PMC12043875.

The emergence of SARS-CoV in 2002 and SARS-CoV-2 in 2019 led to increased sampling of sarbecoviruses circulating in horseshoe bats. 

Employing phylogenetic inference while accounting for recombination of bat sarbecoviruses, researchers from the Institute of Ecology and Evolution found that the closest-inferred bat virus ancestors of SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 existed less than a decade prior to their emergence in humans.

Researchers found that the direct ancestors of SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 are unlikely to have reached their respective sites of emergence via dispersal in the bat reservoir alone. These results can guide future sampling efforts and demonstrate that viral genomic regions extremely closely related to SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 were circulating in horseshoe bats.

Citation: Pekar JE, Lytras S, Ghafari M, Magee AF, Parker E, Wang Y, Ji X, Havens JL, Katzourakis A, Vasylyeva TI, Suchard MA, Hughes AC, Hughes J, Rambaut A, Robertson DL, Dellicour S, Worobey M, Wertheim JO, Lemey P. Cell. 2025 May 7:S0092-8674(25)00353-8. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2025.03.035. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 40339581.

Researchers from the Roslin Institute examined the genomic and health characteristics of crossbred dairy cattle in central Uganda. 

To increase dairy productivity crossbreeding low-yielding indigenous breeds with exotic breeds such as European Holstein and Jersey is becoming increasingly common. Uncontrolled crossbreeding practices, however, pose a risk to the genetic integrity of local breeds.

Researchers used admixture analysis, while also assessing genomic diversity and inbreeding levels. Additionally, we evaluated the utility of farmer-generated phenotypic databases by integrating them with genomic data.

Findings from this study show a strong influence of exotic breeds (e.g., Holstein) in Ugandan crossbred cattle. These results show the importance of investigating the genetic composition of farm animals, in order to develop informed and sustainable breeding strategies in African dairy cattle systems.

Citation: Sanchez-Molano E, Mukiibi R, Riggio V, Ogwang J, Kawule L, Benda K, Beine P, de Clare Bronsvoort BM, Prendergast J, Doeschl-Wilson AB, Muwonge A. Front Genet. 2025 Apr 24;16:1567910. doi: 10.3389/fgene.2025.1567910. PMID: 40342961; PMCID: PMC12058653.