The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture announced on May 18 a quarantine of an equine barn in Tionesta, Forest County, after a horse at the barn tested positive for Equine Herpesvirus Type 1 (EHV-1) on May 13.

A horse from the Forest County barn was used in the Tionesta Wounded Warrior Horseback Scavenger Hunt, where 94 horses took part, including horses from Ohio and West Virginia.

An equine barn in Shippenville, Clarion County, housing an exposed horse that showed clinical signs of EHV-1, was put under precautionary quarantine on May 14, until the pending laboratory results are confirmed. Two additional horses from the Forest County equine barn have shown signs of illness after being exposed to the positive horse.

The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture is in the process of tracing the horses that participated in the scavenger hunt, and has notified animal health officials in Ohio and West Virginia.

Full text:

http://www.nj.com/horsenews/2015/05/forest_county_pennsylvania_hor.html

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2. State vet: Bird flu response efforts key to slowing its spread [WI]

By Jim Massey, Editor

The Country Today

May 18, 2015

RACINE - Wisconsin hasn't had a diagnosed case of avian influenza for more than two weeks, and State Veterinarian Paul McGraw hopes it stays that way.

McGraw told members of the Wisconsin Board of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection May 13 that state and federal officials have worked well together during the month since the first case of bird flu was found in Wisconsin, and that training for situations such as this one paid off when the disease actually arrived.

As of May 15, the virus had hit 10 farms in four counties in Wisconsin, affecting more than 1.7 million birds, including 1.1 million chickens and 652,000 turkeys (41,000 hatching eggs).

Depopulation had been completed at all sites as of May 15, and all farms remained under quarantine as bird composting and surveillance continued. Individual premises within the 10-kilometer control zone of the infected small mixed flock in Juneau County are being notified of their release from quarantine.

Full text:

http://www.thecountrytoday.com/front_page/article_81f84426-fd64-11e4-a96e-bf50b6d6965b.html

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3. Sec. of Agriculture Vilsack says feds responding to avian flu outbreak

By Brent Martin

NebraskaRadioNetwork.com

May 18, 2015

Federal agriculture officials say they are responding to stop avian flu, which has now spread to Nebraska.

Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack says sloppiness might well contribute to the spread of avian flu, hitting hard the Iowa poultry industry and now in Nebraska.

Some producers have used pond water for their flocks, pond water that has been exposed to wild birds which might be carrying the disease. Workers might have skipped a shower or two before entering facilities.

"We will absolutely focus on making sure that producers are very clear about what the bio-security measures are and need to be taken in order to minimize the impact and effect of this in the future," Vilsack tells Radio Iowa.

Clean-up has become a problem, especially trying to get landfills that not only will take the dead birds from the chicken and turkey operations affected, but will take them at a reasonable cost.

So far, avian flu has hit 16 states, killing 33 million birds.

Full text: http://tinyurl.com/msuna2r

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4. USDA Confirms More Highly Pathogenic H5N2 Avian Influenza in Two Flocks in Iowa and Minnesota

USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Bulletin

May 19, 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 two additional flocks in Iowa and Minnesota. 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 counties and states:

Moody County, Iowa (May 18, 2015)

1.2 million chickens

Meeker County, Minnesota (May 18, 2015)

138,000 turkeys

9th detection in this county

Full text:

http://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/USDAAPHIS/bulletins/1052d06

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5. First Case of Vesicular Stomatitis Detected in Three Horses in Pecos County [TX]

Texas Animal Health Commission News Release

May 19, 2015

AUSTIN - Vesicular stomatitis (VS) has been detected in three horses at a Pecos County premises located approximately 30 miles north of Fort Stockton, Texas. The animals were tested after the owner observed blistering and swelling on the animals' tongues and lips, and contacted their veterinary practitioner. Testing at the USDA National Veterinary Services lab in Ames, Iowa confirmed the New Jersey serotype of virus in the affected horses.

Vesicular stomatitis primarily affects horses and cattle causing blisters or sores on the tongue, lips, muzzle, nose, hooves and/or teats. Because of the contagious nature of VS and its resemblance to other diseases such as foot and mouth disease (FMD), the Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC) urges livestock owners and caretakers to report these symptoms to their veterinarian or the TAHC immediately. Although the lesions may be painful, most animals recover well with supportive care.

VS can be transmitted by direct contact with infected animals, contaminated objects (fomites), or by insect vectors such as sand flies and black flies. The disease usually occurs in warm months of the year when insect vectors are active. VS may also affect people causing a mild flu-like illness with symptoms of fever, weakness, and muscle aches.

The newly identified infected horses are currently under quarantine by the TAHC. Affected and exposed horses will be monitored by TAHC or USDA personnel until all lesions have healed and a decision is made to release the quarantine (a minimum of 14 days).

"If you suspect your animal(s) have VS, you should notify your veterinarian immediately," said Dr. Dee Ellis, Texas' State Veterinarian and TAHC Executive Director. "Texas had its largest VS outbreak in history last year, and we must remain vigilant in protecting our livestock industry in 2015."

Full text:

http://www.tahc.state.tx.us/news/pr/2015/2015-05-19_VesicularStomatitisNewsRelease.pdf

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6. Engineers and scientists to examine antibiotic resistance in food chain from farm to fork

Phys.org

May 18, 2015

Growing evidence suggests that agricultural practices, especially widespread antibiotic use, could be contributing to the increasing antibiotic resistance problem in humans. In order to learn how to effectively control this spread of antibiotic resistance from livestock manure, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has awarded a $2.25 million grant to a Virginia Tech team of engineers and scientists to examine the food chain from farm to fork.

One of the team's immediate concerns is to determine if the proposed Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Food Safety Modernization Act rules for composting manure, intended for the control of pathogens, will effectively limit the spread of antibiotic resistant bacteria. The team's plan includes tracking the fate of antibiotics, antibiotic resistant bacteria, and antibiotic resistance genes, as they are potentially carried over from manure to fresh produce.

Leading the interdisciplinary group is Amy Pruden, professor of civil and environmental engineering at Virginia Tech, a pioneer in examining environmental sources and pathways of antibiotic resistance genes as emerging contaminants. A 2007 Presidential Early Career Award in Science and Engineering and a 2006 National Science Foundation CAREER Award recipient, Pruden was most recently honored with the 2014 Paul L. Busch Award from the Water Environment Research Foundation for innovation in applied water quality research.

Last September President Barack Obama signed an executive order establishing a Task Force for Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria. The task force creation came on the heels of a President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology report on ways to fight antibiotic resistance in the U.S. Part of this report spoke of the "very serious concern" of antibiotic use in animal agriculture.

"Antibiotic resistance is a serious human health threat," Pruden said. "Our goal is to identify all possible means by which we can control the spread of antibiotic resistance so that these drugs continue to work when we need them. In this case, we hope to work with existing practices intended to control the spread of pathogens from livestock manure and to determine how we can ensure that antibiotic resistance also is not spread."

Full text:

http://phys.org/wire-news/193421498/engineers-and-scientists-to-examine-antibiotic-resistance-in-foo.html

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7. WTO rules against COOL, again

By P. Scott Shearer, Bockorny Group, Washington, D.C.

National Hog Farmer

May 18, 2015

The World Trade Organization has once again ruled against the U.S. country of origin labeling requirements for beef and pork. This is the fourth time the WTO has ruled against the United States.

The WTO has consistently found the U.S. program to be non-compliant with WTO rules. With this ruling, Canada and Mexico will be allowed to impose retaliatory tariffs later this year.

Congressmen Mike Conaway (R-TX), chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, and Jim Costa (D-CA), ranking member of the House Livestock and Foreign Agriculture subcommittee, plan to introduce legislation, possibly this Wednesday, to repeal COOL requirements for beef, pork and chicken. Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, has said that the USDA has done everything it can regarding COOL and it will be up to Congress to resolve the issue.

Source:

http://nationalhogfarmer.com/marketing/wto-rules-against-cool-again

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8. FDA Releases Proposed Rule to Collect Antimicrobial Sales and Distribution Information by Animal Species

FDA Ctr. for Veterinary Medicine News Release

May 19, 2015

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is proposing revisions to its annual reporting requirements for drug sponsors of all antimicrobials sold or distributed for use in food-producing animals in order to obtain estimates of sales by major food-producing species (cattle, swine, chickens, and turkeys). The additional data would improve understanding about how antimicrobials are sold or distributed for use in major food-producing species and help the FDA further target its efforts to ensure judicious use of medically important antimicrobials.

The proposed rule also includes a provision to improve the timeliness of the report by requiring the FDA publish its annual summary report of antimicrobial sales and distribution information by December 31 of the following year.

Section 105 of the Animal Drug User Fee Amendments of 2008 (ADUFA 105) requires antimicrobial drug sponsors to report to the FDA on an annual basis the amount of all antimicrobial drugs they sell or distribute for use in food-producing animals, including those antibiotics not used in human medicine. ADUFA 105 also requires the FDA to prepare summary reports of sales and distribution information received from drug sponsors each year, by antimicrobial class for classes with three or more distinct sponsors, and to provide those summaries to the public.

Current regulatory authority limits the data collection that FDA can mandate to antimicrobial sales and distribution information. While adding species-specific information will help provide a fuller picture, more detailed information is needed about on-farm use practices to adequately understand links between usage patterns and trends in resistance. FDA is actively engaged with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and a wide array of stakeholders to fill this need.

The FDA is accepting public comments on this proposed rule beginning on May 20, 2015. To submit your comments electronically to the docket, go to www.regulations.gov and type FDA-2012-N-0447 in the search box. Please note that the docket will not be open to accept comments until this date. The comment period will close 90 days after it publishes in the Federal Register. While comments are welcome at any time, you should submit them by the closing date for the FDA to consider your comments in drafting the final rule.

To submit your comments to the docket by mail, use the following address. Be sure to include docket number FDA-2012-N-0447 on each page of your written comments.

The Division of Dockets Management

HFA-305

Food and Drug Administration

5630 Fishers Lane, Room 1061

Rockville, MD 20852

Source: http://tinyurl.com/mujzkxy