I ntegrating animal genomics with animal health: Genetics of vaccine response in cattle

Beef cattle breeders have successfully developed EPDs for a large number of traits, including average daily gain, carcass merit, stayability, calving ease, and feed efficiency. Despite these successes, a genetic prediction for animal health in beef cattle remains elusive. The reasons why a genetic prediction for animal health has not been developed are 1) limited recording and availability of phenotypic records on disease incidence to breed associations and 2) low heritability of disease traits. In spite of these challenges, several quantitative trait loci (QTL) associated with disease susceptibility have been mapped for pinkeye (Casas and Stone, 2006), l., 2009; Gonda et al., 2007), Bovine Respiratory Disease (Neibergs et al., 2011), and trypanosomiasis (Hanotte et al., 2003). Disease These QTL mapping studies have been valuable for unraveling the genetic architecture of disease susceptibility in cattle.