Nalon Elena, Contiero Barbara, Gottardo Flaviana, Cozzi Giulio
Eurogroup for Animals, Brussels, Belgium.
Department of Animal Medicine, Production and Health (MAPS), University of Padua, Padua, Italy.
Front Vet Sci. 2021 Jan 11;7:588749. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2020.588749. eCollection 2020.
Beef cattle are the third most numerous terrestrial farmed animals worldwide. Factors such as geographical region, animal category, breed, and rearing system pose specific animal welfare challenges that can have an impact on animal and public health. This article uses text mining (TM) and topic analysis (TA) to explore the scientific literature on beef cattle welfare published in English from 1990 to 2019. Our aim was to reveal the main research topics and their evolution over time. Our analysis showed that the three most relevant themes in research since 1990 have to do with calf behaviour and management, efficiency, and environmental sustainability, and the effects of transport and slaughter on meat quality. Topics showing the most marked increase in the number of papers published deal with stakeholders' perceptions and market opportunities for added-value beef products and risk factors for morbidity and mortality, especially in relation to calf health, antimicrobial use, and antimicrobial resistance. The results indicate a particular focus on the welfare of calves, especially in the veal industry. Pain relief during the castration of calves and bulls also featured prominently. Research is also increasingly assessing aspects of beef cattle welfare that are interlinked to meat quality, the social and environmental sustainability of the sector in relation to market opportunities, and public health. The identified topics represent a basic source of information that can be used for further and more detailed analyses (e.g., systematic reviews) focussed on specific research themes or geographical areas.
肉牛是全球数量排名第三的陆地养殖动物。地理区域、动物类别、品种和饲养系统等因素带来了特定的动物福利挑战，这些挑战可能会对动物健康和公众健康产生影响。本文运用文本挖掘（TM）和主题分析（TA）来探究1990年至2019年期间以英文发表的关于肉牛福利的科学文献。我们的目的是揭示主要的研究主题及其随时间的演变。我们的分析表明，自1990年以来研究中最相关的三个主题与犊牛行为和管理、效率以及环境可持续性，以及运输和屠宰对肉质的影响有关。发表论文数量增长最为显著的主题涉及利益相关者的认知以及增值牛肉产品的市场机会，还有发病和死亡的风险因素，特别是与犊牛健康、抗菌药物使用和抗菌药物耐药性相关的因素。结果表明特别关注犊牛的福利，尤其是在犊牛肉行业。犊牛和公牛去势过程中的疼痛缓解也很突出。研究也越来越多地评估与肉质相关的肉牛福利方面、该行业与市场机会相关的社会和环境可持续性，以及公众健康。所确定的主题是一个基本信息来源，可用于针对特定研究主题或地理区域进行进一步更详细的分析（例如系统评价）。
