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1. CWD Update: Disease Detected in Six more Free-Ranging Deer [PA]
Disease Management Area 2 again expanded due to new cases.
Pennsylvania Game Commission News Release
May 5, 2015
From the start of 2014 through the present, six additional cases of chronic wasting disease have been documented in Pennsylvania, the Pennsylvania Game Commission announced today.
All six deer to test positive were killed on highways within Disease Management Area 2 (DMA 2), the only area of the state where chronic wasting disease (CWD) has been detected in free-ranging deer.
None of the samples collected from deer or elk harvested by hunters anywhere in the state during the 2014-15 hunting seasons tested positive for CWD, and no road-killed deer or elk from outside DMA 2 tested positive.
Additionally, no new cases have been detected in captive deer or elk outside the borders of an established Disease Management Area (DMA).
However, the boundary of DMA 2 again has been expanded because CWD-positive deer detected within DMA 2 or in Maryland were near previous boundaries. Pennsylvania's CWD Response Plan requires a 10-mile buffer around sites associated with positive tests.
DMA 2 now encompasses parts of Bedford, Blair, Cambria, Huntington, Fulton and Somerset counties.
Full text: http://tinyurl.com/njt2kmr
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2. Minnesota reports 2 new presumptive bird flu cases
Associated Press
San Francisco Chronicle
May 7, 2015
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - The Minnesota Board of Animal Health says two more Minnesota turkey flocks have tested presumptive for bird flu.
The farms are in Kandiyohi and Swift counties. The number of birds affected at those two farms has not yet been determined. But the new cases raise the number of affected Minnesota farms to 84.
Confirmed and presumptive outbreaks of the highly pathogenic H5N2 virus have now cost Minnesota turkey and chicken producers more than 5.5 million birds.
The Minnesota Department of Agriculture is teaming up with University of Minnesota Extension and the Farm Business Management Program in the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system to begin planning for the recovery phase. They're developing a plan to help producers with cash flow issues, loan applications and connecting them with resources.
Full text: http://tinyurl.com/k6hkugy
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3. Kent Nutrition Group, Inc. Initiates Recall of Poultry Feed
FDA Ctr. for Veterinary Medicine
May 7, 2015
Contact:
Consumer:
1-800-552-9620
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - May 1, 2015 - Muscatine, Iowa - Kent Nutrition Group, Inc. is recalling one lot of its Blue Seal Home Fresh Starter Amp Medicated Poultry Feed. The recall is being implemented due to the discovery of excess salt in the feed concerning lot number 1015072.
Salt (sodium chloride) is an essential nutrient for all animals. However, excess salt intake can be dangerous especially if access to clean water is limited. Salt toxicity in birds results in thirst, trouble breathing, fluid discharge from the beak, wet droppings, weakness or paralysis of the legs, and even death. Customers should contact their veterinarian if their birds experienced adverse health effects while consuming the affected product.
The poultry feed being recalled was manufactured in Columbus, Nebraska. Beginning March 18 through March 25 the product was distributed to six dealerships in Nebraska. Product is sold in 50lb bags. At this time, 64- 50lb bags of Blue Seal Home Fresh Starter Amp Medicated Poultry Feed Lot 1015072 remains unaccounted for. The lot number of the product is located on the tape of the sewed-end of the bag.\
Full text: http://tinyurl.com/mmjyx2c
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4. Vaccine field trials for deadly 'foothill abortion' cattle disease expand
UC Davis News Release
May 7, 2015
Thanks in part to researchers at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, cattle ranchers in California, Nevada and Oregon are one step closer to having a vaccine available to treat a tick-borne bacterial disease -- commonly known as foothill abortion -- which kills cow fetuses.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture approved the expansion of ongoing field trials in November for an experimental vaccine, developed by UC Davis veterinary researchers, after it was shown to be effective in preventing foothill abortion in more than 2,000 cattle. The expanded trials began in April and will further establish the vaccine's effectiveness in varied conditions as well as provide relief to ranchers. (A news article about the vaccine trials will appear May 8 in the journal Science.)
Foothill abortion -- endemic in California's coastal range and the foothill regions of California, Southern Oregon and Northern Nevada -- is a bacterial disease in cattle also known as epizootic bovine abortion. It is a major cause of economic loss for California beef producers, annually causing the death of an estimated 45,000 to 90,000 calves.
The disease is transmitted by bites from the pajaroello tick, found only in the intermountain West. The tick lives in the soil around juniper, pine and oak trees, and in dry brush areas and around rock outcroppings of foothill rangelands. The disease became known as "foothill abortion" after ranchers in the 1930s and 1940s noticed that the pregnant heifers they sent to pasture in the foothills aborted after returning to valley pastures. Infected pregnant cows show no obvious symptoms but the bacteria can infect their fetuses in the first half of gestation before they develop an immune system capable of fighting off the infection. Cows will carry the infected fetus to term but the calves are born either dead or very weak and fail to thrive.
"Our Western cattle producers are desperate for some relief to stop their losses resulting from this disease," said Professor Jeff Stott, a UC Davis veterinary immunologist. Stott has led the effort in collaboration with the California Cattlemen's Association, the USDA Center for Veterinary Biologics, the Animal Health Branch of the California Department of Food and Agriculture, the Nevada Department of Agriculture, and the University of Nevada, Reno.
Full text:
http://news.ucdavis.edu/search/news_detail.lasso?id=11222
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5. You Won't Be Seeing Live Chickens at the West Virginia State Fair This Year- Here's Why:
By Roxy Todd
WV Public Broadcasting
May 5, 2015
Live poultry will have to stay home from this year's State Fair of West Virginia and the Tri-County Fair held in Petersburg because of concerns that the Avian Influenza that has affected much of the United States might be spread to poultry-producing areas of this state.
West Virginia Commissioner of Agriculture Walt Helmick used his authority to ban live birds from the State Fair, held each year in Fairlea.
"I realize this may be a disappointment to some people, but the poultry industry is extremely valuable and it is critical that we protect it as much as we can," said Commissioner Helmick. "Prevention is the first, best option we have."
The Tri-County Fair in Petersburg didn't need an order. The Fair Board canceled live poultry events on its own.
Full text:
http://wvpublic.org/post/you-wont-be-seeing-live-chickens-west-virginia-state-fair-year-heres-why
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6. Scientists Discover Tissue-Degrading Enzyme in White-Nose Syndrome in Bats [edited]
By Catherine Griffin
Science World Report
May 5, 2015
Scientists may have learned a bit more about white-nose syndrome, which could be huge in terms of helping the bats infected by it. Researchers have learned the likely way that white-nose syndrome breaks down tissue in bats, which could open the door to potential treatments.
White-nose syndrome is caused by a fungus that was imported from Europe. It thrives in cold caves where bats hibernate, and can rip through bat populations in America. It breaks down the tissue in the bats' wings while they sleep.
In this case, the researchers found an enzyme that could digest collagen, which forms the support structure of tissue. Naming the enzyme Destructin-1, the scientists then tested the enzyme against the inhibitor, chymostatin. While the inhibitor could protect against most of the collagen from being broken down, it couldn't cover all of it.
"It suggests the fungus is exporting other substances that can degrade collagen," said Richard Bennett, one of the researchers, in a news release.
Full text: http://tinyurl.com/mtrb7ht
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7. Twenty-Two Equine Ophthalmology Studies Available Free Online
By Edited Press Release
TheHorse.com
May 6, 2015
A publication containing 22 recent equine ophthalmology papers from the Equine Veterinary Journal, Equine Veterinary Education, and Veterinary Ophthalmology are now available for free viewing at Wiley Online Library.
Clinical Equine Ophthalmology: The Current State of the Art contains information relevant to all sectors of the veterinary profession from general practitioners and specialists to researchers, surgeons and students, covering common diseases, surgical procedures, and outcomes.
The publication was devised and compiled by a panel of guest editors including:
Mary Lassaline, DVM, PhD, MA, Dipl. ACVO, a member of the Veterinary Ophthalmology editorial board and a veterinary ophthalmologist in the University of California, Davis, School of Veterinary Medicine Department of Surgical and Radiological Sciences;
David A. Wilkie, DVM, MS, Dipl. ACVO, editor of Veterinary Ophthalmology and a professor of comparative ophthalmology at The Ohio State University Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences;
Tim Mair, BVSc, PhD, DEIM, DESTS, Dipl. ECEIM, MRCVS, editor of Equine Veterinary Education and a veterinarian based at Bell Equine Veterinary Clinic in Kent, England; and
Celia M Marr, BVMS, MVM, PhD, DEIM, Dipl. ECEIM, MRCVS, editor of Equine Veterinary Journal and an internal medicine specialist based at Rossdales Equine Hospital and Diagnostic Centre in Newmarket, England.
Full text:
http://www.thehorse.com/articles/35749/22-equine-ophthalmology-studies-available-free-online
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