Food safety company Neogen Corp. is launching Igenity BCHF to help industry mitigate bovine congestive heart failure risk.

Bovine congestive heart failure stands as a significant threat to cattle health and productivity, and this genomic test provides a new opportunity for improved selection for heart health. Testing with Igenity BCHF assesses an animal's genetic predisposition for BCHF, scored on a one-to-10 scale. Ranging from one (lowest risk) to 10 (highest risk of disease development), each decreased score on the scale has an approximately 3.5% lower expected incidence rate for BCHF.

"Igenity BCHF is a revolutionary genomic test designed to assess an animal's genetic predisposition to heart failure," said Victor Pedrosa, director of technical genomics and innovation at Neogen. "The test results directly correlate with the percentage of BCHF risk an animal carries and could pass on to their progeny, serving as a genetic indicator of the likelihood of disease development."

BCHF presents a growing threat to the health and productivity of all segments of the cattle industry, from young calves on the pasture to late-fed cattle. Igenity BCHF aims to help producers more effectively manage the risk of BCHF within their herd, confidently produce feeder calves that will have a lower risk of mortality from BCHF in a feedlot setting and decrease economic losses attributed to BCHF.

"When we look at the impact of Igenity BCHF on the industry, it is helping to genetically quantify the risk for bovine congestive heart failure and progress herds away from this growing cattle health and welfare concern," said Kirk Ramsey, professional services veterinarian with Neogen. "Igenity BCHF is the first genomic test of its kind and is the first step in capturing the reason why congestive heart failure is occurring in these young calves and late-fed cattle."

Source: Neogen Corp.