The new test would reduce the cost of testing animals destined for export. For easy detection by standard analytical tools, the test reproduces hundreds of copies of the viral RNA fragments. Raising armies of larkspur myrid bugs may help discourage cattle from munching on poisonous tall larkspurs . In western mountain ranges, more cattle die from eating tall larkspurs than from any other plant or disease. No antidote exists for the plant's toxic alkaloids.
Tall larkspurs are the myrid's only known target.
Researchers want to explore the potential of releasing myrids that would either augment existing colonies or establish new ones. With more myrids around to damage more of the tall larkspurs on a range, cattle may seek different, healthier plants to eat. Treated deer help eliminate ticks from wooded areas rather than leaving the pests behind to find another host. Lyme disease is most prevalent in the Northeast, the upper Midwest and in California. Based on a three-year study of the diets of 60 Jersey cows, the researchers concluded that calcium levels did not play a role in the developmentof milk fever, thus disproving a generally accepted belief in the milk industry.