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1. Montgomery County, Maryland, Horse Tests Positive for EHV-1
By Edited Press Release
TheHorse.com
April 15, 2015
A horse stabled in Montgomery County, Maryland, has tested positive for the neurologic form of equine herpesvirus-1 (EHV-1) and is being treated by a private veterinarian.
The horse had been outside Montgomery County for breeding for more than two weeks before returning home on Monday. The horse began showing mild respiratory and neurologic signs on Tuesday and was seen by a private veterinarian, who reported the suspected neurologic illness to the Maryland Department of Agriculture (MDA) as required by law. Laboratory tests conducted by MDA confirmed the diagnosis. The horse's condition is improving.
Other horses at the farm are now being tested as are horses that were in contact with the ill horse at the breeding facility. Those results will not be available until April 16. Both farms are presently under a 28-day investigational hold while MDA inspectors perform epidemiologic and infectious disease testing.
Stables near the one where the sick horse resides have been notified of the situation and owners cautioned to monitor horses at their premises carefully.
Full text:
http://www.thehorse.com/articles/35649/montgomery-county-maryland-horse-tests-positive-for-ehv-1
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2. Location of infected livestock farms remains secret [MN]
Posted by: James Eli Shiffer
Minneapolis Star Tribune [blog]
April 15, 2015
People are using words like "major epidemic," "highly pathogenic" and "devastating" to describe the outbreak of avian influenza that's sweeping through poultry farms throughout Minnesota and four other states. The Minnesota Board of Animal Health has posted county-by-county roundups of the number of animals affected as farmers, agricultural and public health workers struggle to contain the damage from the H5N2 virus.
But you won't find the names and locations of the farms themselves. That information is sealed from the public under a 2005 state law that exempts "animal premises data" from the open records law. Citing concerns about privacy and the threat of animal rights advocates, livestock farmers consistently try to keep identifying information about their operations out of public view.
The law does allow the Board of Animal Health to release the farm data to the public "if the board determines that the access will aid in the law enforcement process or the protection of public or animal health or safety." The board has shared the information with other agencies and adjoining property owners, but "an argument has not been made that we need to disclose it to the public," said Beth Thompson, the board's assistant director.
"It's a fairly strict statute and we adhere to it," she said.
Thompson pointed out that "we haven't seen any humans coming down with this virus... We've also not seen it spreading barn to barn." She said people with poultry flocks within a 20-kilometer radius of infected farms have been contacted, "all of that without disclosing where the site is."
Full text:
http://www.startribune.com/local/blogs/299853641.html
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3. Turkey hunters should be aware of bird flu symptoms, risks
By Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
Brainerd Dispatch
April 14, 2015
While avian influenza has not yet been found in wild turkeys, hunters are nonetheless reminded of ways to avoid potentially spreading the virus.
To date, highly-pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) has been found in Cottonwood, Kandiyohi, Lac Qui Parle, Lyon, Meeker, Nobles, Pope, Stearns and Watonwan counties. So far, it has only been confirmed in domestic turkey farms. Waterfowl are the natural reservoirs for the virus.
Wild turkeys are presumed to be susceptible to HPAI. Raptors are known to be susceptible.The virus presents a low risk to humans but it is important to avoid contact with sick birds.
"Turkey hunters can take steps to minimize the risk of spreading HPAI, and they can be excellent scouts in helping identify wild birds like raptors or turkeys that could have been affected," said Michelle Carstensen, wildlife health program supervisor with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.
Full text:
http://www.brainerddispatch.com/outdoors/3722092-turkey-hunters-should-be-aware-bird-flu-symptoms-risks
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4. State lawmakers to increase funding to fight bird flu [MN]
By Don Davis
West Central Tribune
April 14, 2015
ST. PAUL - Minnesota legislators are reacting to avian flu by providing money for state agencies to attack the spreading outbreak.
The Minnesota House agriculture finance committee Tuesday night voted to add nearly $1.8 million to the fight and its chairman said more is on the way.
Chairman Rod Hamilton, R-Mountain Lake, said no one knows how much money is needed, adding that House Speaker Kurt Daudt and Majority Leader Joyce Peppin understand the importance of providing funds to combat the disease that has resulted in about 1.5 million turkey deaths in the state in the past month and a half.
Legislators have until May 18 to pass a budget for the next two years, but if avian influenza costs after that Gov. Mark Dayton could call them back into special session.
Full text:
http://www.wctrib.com/news/state/3722805-state-lawmakers-increase-funding-fight-bird-flu
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5. Keeping a Genomic Eye on Bird Flu [Canada]
GenomeWeb.com
April 14, 2015
With avian flu spreading through poultry farms in parts of North America, scientists in British Columbia are fast-tracking a genomic surveillance system for the virus, the Vancouver Sun reports.
The virus currently infecting birds is a mash-up of a North American and a pathogenic Eurasian H5N8 avian flu virus. This H5N2 virus, the Sun adds, has been rather deadly and led to the destruction of 245,000 domesticated birds in BC.
The BC Centre for Disease Control's Patrick Tang and his colleagues are using a metagenomic approach to study water and sediment samples from 20 locations across Fraser Valley in southwestern BC to study what viruses are typically found in wild bird feces. This, the Sun says, will first help uncover whether wild waterfowl are behind the outbreak affecting domestic poultry and whether there are certain hotspots for transmission. The effort is funded by Genome BC and Genome Canada, among others.
Then by re-sampling the areas when migratory birds arrive, Tang and his colleagues will be able to uncover whether any new pathogenic viruses have been brought into the mix. This surveillance system is expected to be up and running by October for bird migration season, the Sun notes.
Full text:
https://www.genomeweb.com/scan/keeping-genomic-eye-bird-flu
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6. Better Evaluation for Poultry Vaccines
AgResearch Magazine [ARS]
April 15, 2015
Newcastle disease is caused by virulent strains of a diverse group of viruses that result in severe illness in chickens and other birds. The virulent strains are exotic to poultry species in the United States but are regularly found in poultry in many foreign countries. There, outbreaks can kill 80 to 90 percent of infected birds that have not been vaccinated or previously exposed to a less virulent Newcastle disease virus (NDV).
Under experimental conditions, close to 100 percent of healthy chickens vaccinated with available commercial NDV vaccines can survive an infection with virulent NDV. These vaccines also perform well under field conditions where virulent virus is not common. However, they often fail in countries where virulent viruses are endemic.
Some veterinarians stress the need for genotype-matched vaccines-those containing genes from the virulent virus, says microbiologist Claudio Afonso at the Agricultural Research Service's Southeast Poultry Research Laboratory (SEPRL) in Athens, Georgia. Others believe the current vaccine-application process is flawed.
Afonso, veterinary medical officer Patti Miller, and their colleagues in SEPRL's Exotic and Emerging Avian Viral Diseases Research Unit have developed an NDV vaccine-evaluation procedure that could help settle this discrepancy.
"NDV strains are closely related, and theoretically, vaccines do not need to be changed frequently like avian influenza virus vaccines do," Miller says. "Under perfect conditions, many vaccines work, but conditions are not perfect in the field. Chickens sometimes get less than the required vaccine dose and don't always have time to develop an immune response."
Full text:
http://agresearchmag.ars.usda.gov/2015/apr/vaccines/#printdiv
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7. FDA report shows decreasing antimicrobial resistance to Salmonella in meat
By Agri-Pulse staff
AgriPulse.com
April 13, 2015
WASHINGTON -- The presence of salmonella resistant to antimicrobials in meat sold in U.S. grocery stores is continuing to decrease since its peak in 2009, according to two U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reports released today.
The reports measure antimicrobial resistance in certain bacteria isolated from raw meat and poultry collected through the National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System (NARMS). The reports - the 2012 Retail Meat Report and the 2013 Retail Meat Interim Report - showed mostly decreasing antimicrobial resistance trends.
Salmonella is a bacterium that causes one of the most common intestinal infections in the United States. Since the beginning of the 1990s, salmonella strains that are resistant to a range of antimicrobials have emerged and are now a serious public health concern, notes the World Health Organization.
According to FDA's data, resistance in salmonella from retail chicken declined from a peak of 38 percent in 2009 to 28 percent in 2012 and continued to decline to 20 percent in 2013. Resistance in ground turkey peaked in 2011 at 22 percent and declined to 18 percent in 2012, falling to 9 percent by 2013.
Full text:
http://www.agri-pulse.com/FDA-report-shows-decreasing-Salmonella-resistance-04132015.asp
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