Infrared thermography (IRT) is a non-ionizing, non-invasive technique that permits evaluating the comfort levels of animals, a topic of concern due to the growing interest in determining the state of health and welfare of production animals. The operating principle of IRT is detecting the heat irradiated in anatomical regions characterized by a high density of near-surface blood vessels that can regulate temperature gain or loss from/to the environment by modifying blood flow. This is essential for understanding the various vascular thermoregulation mechanisms of different species, such as rodents and ruminants’ tails. The usefulness of ocular, nasal, and vulvar thermal windows in the orbital (regio orbitalis), nasal (regio nasalis), and urogenital (regio urogenitalis) regions, respectively, has been demonstrated in cattle. However, recent evidence for the river buffalo has detected discrepancies in the data gathered from distinct thermal regions in these large ruminants, suggesting a limited sensitivity and specificity when used with this species due to various factors: the presence of hair, ambient temperature, and anatomical features, such as skin thickness and variations in blood supplies to different regions. In this review, a literature search was conducted in Scopus, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, and PubMed, using keyword combinations that included “infrared thermography”, “water buffalo”, “river buffalo” “thermoregulation”, “microvascular changes”, “lacrimal caruncle”, “udder”, “mastitis”, and “nostril”. We discuss recent findings on four thermal windows—the orbital and nasal regions, mammary gland in the udder region (regio uberis), and vulvar in the urogenital region (regio urogenitalis)—to elucidate the factors that modulate and intervene in validating thermal windows and interpreting the information they provide, as it relates to the clinical usefulness of IRT for cattle (Bos) and the river buffalo (Bubalus bubalis).

Body-temperature elevations are multifactorial in origin and classified as hyperthermia as a rise in temperature due to alterations in the thermoregulation mechanism; the body loses the ability to control or regulate body temperature. In contrast, fever is a controlled state, since the body adjusts its stable temperature range to increase body temperature without losing the thermoregulation capacity. Fever refers to an acute phase response that confers a survival benefit on the body, raising core body temperature during infection or systemic inflammation processes to reduce the survival and proliferation of infectious pathogens by altering temperature, restriction of essential nutrients, and the activation of an immune reaction. However, once the infection resolves, the febrile response must be tightly regulated to avoid excessive tissue damage. During fever, neurological, endocrine, immunological, and metabolic changes occur that cause an increase in the stable temperature range, which allows the core body temperature to be considerably increased to stop the invasion of the offending agent and restrict the damage to the organism. There are different metabolic mechanisms of thermoregulation in the febrile response at the central and peripheral levels and cellular events. In response to cold or heat, the brain triggers thermoregulatory responses to coping with changes in body temperature, including autonomic effectors, such as thermogenesis, vasodilation, sweating, and behavioral mechanisms, that trigger flexible, goal-oriented actions, such as seeking heat or cold, nest building, and postural extension. Infrared thermography (IRT) has proven to be a reliable method for the early detection of pathologies affecting animal health and welfare that represent economic losses for farmers. However, the standardization of protocols for IRT use is still needed. Together with the complete understanding of the physiological and behavioral responses involved in the febrile process, it is possible to have timely solutions to serious problem situations. For this reason, the present review aims to analyze the new findings in pathophysiological mechanisms of the febrile process, the heat-loss mechanisms in an animal with fever, thermoregulation, the adverse effects of fever, and recent scientific findings related to different pathologies in farm animals through the use of IRT.

There is a high demand for a veterinary education in animal welfare (AW) with different approaches from the academic, society and trade points of view. Latin American (LA) countries members of the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) are under the urge and should be obligated to teach AW. The aims of this article are to analyze the current drives of change on the importance of teaching animal welfare in LA, the competences recommended from international education organizations for the region, and to provide the contents on the curriculum in AW that a future veterinarian should achieve in the LA scenario, in other words to examine why teaching AW, what should be taught and how. Despite significant advances in introducing AW into veterinary training programs, much remains to be done regarding the future of this field in teaching veterinary science in Spain and LA countries, and in including this science as an independent course in programs at distinct levels to integrate the scientific, ethical and legal aspects of AW. This paper presents a proposal that was constructed with a view towards integrating diverse curricular approaches based on criteria, contents and concepts provided by the researchers and professors who collaborated in the book entitled: Bienestar Animal: Una Visión Global en Iberoamerica [Animal Welfare: A Global Vision in Ibero-America]. To ensure veterinary students will be better equipped to graduate with OIE day 1 competencies in AW, teaching approaches are needed that support project-based learning and gamification, critical thinking, reflection and collaborative learning.

The present review aims to integrate the anatomical characteristics of the mammary gland and the neurophysiology of milk ejection to understand the milking capacity of the water buffalo. Since one of the main uses of this species is milk production, this article will analyze the controversies on the use of oxytocin as a stimulant during milking as well as the existing alternatives that farmers apply to promote correct stimulation during milk letdown. According to the available literature, the efficiency of the milking process, the quality of the milk, and the health of the animals are elements that require the consideration of species-specific characteristics to enhance the performance of buffaloes. The incorporation of technological innovations and competitive strategies could contribute to a better understanding of water buffalo in the milk industry.

We pose, based on a neurobiological examination, that events that occur around the time of slaughter have the potential to intensify the pain response, through the processes of sensitisation and enhanced transmission. Sensitisation, or an enhanced response to painful stimuli, is a well-discussed phenomenon in the human medical literature, which can arise from previous injury to an area, inflammatory reactions, or previous overstimulation of the stress axes. A number of events that occur prior to arrival at, or in the slaughterhouse, may lead to presence of these factors. This includes previous on-farm pathology, injuries arising from transport and handling and lack of habituation to humans. Whilst there is limited evidence of a direct effect of these on the processes of sensitisation in animals at slaughter, by analogy with the human neurobiology literature the connection seems plausible. In this review a neurobiological approach is taken to discuss this hypothesis in the light of basic science, and extrapolations from existing literature on the slaughter of ruminants. To confirm the postulated link between events at slaughter, and processes of hypersensitisation, further dedicated study is required.