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1. USDA Confirms More Highly Pathogenic H5N2 Avian Influenza in Three Flocks in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Iowa
USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Bulletin
April 20, 2015
WASHINGTON - The United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has confirmed the presence of highly pathogenic H5N2 avian influenza (HPAI) in additional three flocks in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Iowa. No human infections with the virus have been detected at this time. CDC considers the risk to people from these HPAI H5 infections in wild birds, backyard flocks and commercial poultry, to be low.
USDA's National Veterinary Services Laboratories confirmed HPAI H5N2 in the following states and counties:
Juneau County, Wisconsin (April 17, 2015)
33 mixed poultry
Kandiyohi County, Minnesota (April 17, 2015)
23,000 turkeys
6th detection in this county
A 7th premises of 9000 turkeys in this county has been depopulated because of exposure to this flock
Osceola County, Iowa (April 20, 2015)
5.3 million chickens
The affected premises have been quarantined the premises and birds on the property will be depopulated to prevent the spread of the disease. Birds from the flock will not enter the food system.
Full text:
http://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/USDAAPHIS/bulletins/1000eaf
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2. Number 1 egg-producing state aims to keep bird flu out [IA - edited]
By David Pitt, Associated Press
The Daily Republic
April 18, 2015
DES MOINES, Iowa - The discovery of bird flu on an Iowa turkey farm has raised serious concerns that the poultry-killing virus could find its way into chicken barns in the nation's top egg-producing state and rapidly decimate flocks that provide the U.S. with its breakfast staple.
Iowa is home to roughly 50 million hens that lay nearly one in every five eggs consumed in the country. The highly contagious H5N2 virus has not yet been detected in Iowa chicken barns, but it was confirmed Tuesday on a turkey farm in northwest Iowa - marking the first occurrence in the state of the virus, which has forced farmers to kill more than 2.4 million turkeys and chickens in several Midwestern states since March.
"My worst fear at the moment is the virus gets into the commercial egg-laying chicken flocks because that would destroy that particular industry here," said Kyoungjin Yoon, professor of veterinary diagnostic and production animal medicine at Iowa State University.
Iowa sales of eggs and egg products exceed $2 billion a year. So far, just one commercial egg-laying chicken farm - a 200,000-bird facility in Wisconsin - has confirmed the virus.
To fight the virus' spread, the current approach is to quarantine infected farms, destroy all the property's birds, thoroughly disinfect the barns and leave the farm idle for months to ensure the virus is gone.
In Iowa, several steps have been taken to protect the facilities. Barn ventilation systems and openings are designed to keep wild birds out, and workers must dip boots in disinfectant before entering barns. Vehicles' tires and floor mats must be disinfected upon entering and leaving farms, and workers must keep their vehicles' windows rolled up, because flies can carry the virus and get into vehicles.
Those steps and numerous others are detailed in a 30-page manual developed for poultry producers by Iowa State Veterinarian David Schmitt. Most were developed to protect against salmonella in eggs in 2011.
Bird flu vaccines have been used in other countries, but the U.S. government has no plans yet to widely vaccinate flocks, choosing instead to focus on biosecurity measures to keep the virus out of barns. However, vaccines are under development and in testing.
Full text:
http://www.mitchellrepublic.com/news/nation/3725932-no-1-egg-producing-state-aims-keep-bird-flu-out
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3. Scientists still at a loss to explain spread of avian flu [MN]
Lorna Benson
MPRNews.org
April 20, 2015
The deadly flu virus that has wiped out nearly 5 percent of Minnesota's turkey industry is a part of a global disease outbreak, but scientists still don't understand it.
After emerging in Asia, the avian flu spread to poultry farms in the Netherlands, Great Britain, and Germany.
Its quick arrival in North America has alarmed scientists who are trying to unravel the mystery of how these deadly bugs have infected so many turkey farms in such a short period of time.
"It's been really troubling to understand how in the world this can possibly be happening," said Carol Cardona, a professor of avian medicine at the University of Minnesota.
A popular theory among many scientists suggests that wild waterfowl are depositing the virus across the landscape in their feces as they migrate north.
That's likely, Cardona said, as the virus has been detected in numerous wild ducks and geese, birds that can be infected with flu and not appear sick.
But Cardona said it's hard to fathom that waterfowl alone could explain such an unprecedented flu outbreak. She suspects another bird species is helping to spread the virus.
"This is so unusual that we can't help but think something different must be going on," she said.
The North American version of the virus has changed slightly since arriving in the United States from Europe, but its lethal effects on poultry are the same.
Besides wild ducks and geese, the new viruses have also been detected in live coots and cranes. But Cardona said there are thousands of other bird species that have yet to be tested for the virus.
Full text:
http://www.mprnews.org/story/2015/04/20/avian-flu
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4. National Guard to assist in response to avian flu outbreak [WI]
Agriview.com
April 20, 2015
MADISON, Wis. - Governor Scott Walker signed Executive Order #156, authorizing the Wisconsin National Guard to assist authorities in the response to the avian influenza virus affecting Jefferson, Juneau and Barron Counties.
"We must act quickly and efficiently to contain the outbreak and protect domestic poultry," Gov. Walker said. "It is important to note, however, there is no threat to humans with the avian flu outbreak."
According to the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, avian influenza virus has been detected in three Wisconsin poultry flocks, affecting tens of thousands of chickens and turkeys.
Governor Walker's Executive Order allows the Wisconsin National Guard to assist in the response and help contain the outbreak, as well as offer assistance in site clean-up. The state veterinarian, through the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, requested up to 14 Guard personnel be made available, on a rotating schedule, for immediate assistance.
This assistance from the Wisconsin National Guard is necessary because federal resources are thin, due to avian influenza virus outbreaks in other states, particularly in the Midwest.
Full text: http://tinyurl.com/qeb7egm
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5. Researchers Develop Artificial Equine Skin
By Christa Lest�-Lasserre, MA
TheHorse.com
April 18, 2015
What started as a playful gallop in the field just ended with your pasture fence in shambles and your horse with wounds all over his body. As you await the veterinarian's arrival, you think of how convenient it would be to grow him some new skin to replace the patches he just lost.
Good news. Now you can.
Yes, that science fiction concept is actually becoming a reality in the equine world. While tissue-engineered skin already exists for humans, dogs, and even mice, it's not as easy to grow skin in a laboratory that's customized to the equine patient. The basic building block cells of horse skin, the equine primary keratinocytes, just don't seem to last very long in a laboratory culture. But recently, a group of Spanish researchers have discovered an effective "recipe" for a culture that works for these keratinocytes. And so, tissue-engineered equine skin has now been born.
Full text:
http://www.thehorse.com/articles/35660/researchers-develop-artificial-equine-skin
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6. Animal parasite study could help humans 'manage nasty diseases'
Evolutionary history is a predictor of diversity of parasites in a species
UGA Today
April 20, 2015
Athens, Ga. - The evolutionary history, body size and geographic range of an animal species are predictors for the diversity of parasites-or disease-that species carries, according to University of Georgia researchers.
In a study published in the International Journal of Organic Evolution, they looked at one group-mammalian carnivores-to find how parasite diversity changes based on the biology of the host species, the animal carrier of the parasites.
"If you're a carnivore and you have a very broad geography, you're exposed to a number of habitats, climates, other species. You're going to pick up more parasites," said study co-author John Gittleman, dean of the Odum School of Ecology and UGA Foundation Professor in Ecology.
The study helps narrow down specific factors that influence more disease or less disease throughout the world, he said. Researchers use this and other similar studies to find how the diseases in these species relate to emerging diseases in humans.
Full text:
http://news.uga.edu/releases/article/animal-parasite-study-could-help-humans-manage-nasty-diseases-0415/
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7. Health Canada proposes new antimicrobial measures
Feedstuffs.com
April 20, 2015
Health Canada announced April 17 that it intends to propose new measures and strengthen regulations to encourage prudent use of antimicrobial drugs used in food-producing animals, particularly drugs that are considered medically important.
This effort is important to minimize the global emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and conserve the effectiveness of available antimicrobials, the federal agency said. These actions will protect public health and food safety, and align with other countries.
Health Canada said it has already made "substantial progress" in working with the pharmaceutical industry to phase out all growth promotion claims of medically-important antimicrobial drugs by December 2016. In addition, Health Canada plans to:
* Propose amendments to the "Food & Drug Regulations" to address personal use importation of veterinary drugs and strengthen the control over the importation of veterinary active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), and
* Continue to work with stakeholders to increase the appropriate veterinary oversight with respect to access to all medically-important antimicrobial drugs that are used in livestock drinking water and feeds. This measure will require further amendments to the "Food & Drug Regulations" and the "Feeds Regulations."
Full text:
http://feedstuffs.com/story-health-canada-proposes-new-antimicrobial-measures-45-126648
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