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1. Large-animal vets in short supply [MS]
By Errol Castens
Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal
June 17, 2015
STARKVILLE - If you are one of the estimated 10,000 cattle producers in Mississippi, you may have faced a challenge in finding a veterinarian to treat a sick or injured animal right away.
According to the USDA, nationally in 2010 - the most recent year for which statistics are available - about 6 percent of veterinarians specialized in equine veterinary medicine, about 8 percent practiced exclusively or predominantly on food animals, and another 7 percent had mixed-animal practices. By contrast, two-thirds of the nation's veterinarians in 2010 were practicing exclusively on companion animals (dogs, cats and other small animals). The trend toward small-animal practices is believed to have continued, as increasing numbers of vet school graduates opt for more lucrative pet practices to pay off six-figure student loans sooner.
It's an issue here in Mississippi, too.
"There are plenty of vets out there; there's just a shortage of those offering large animal services," said Andy Berry, executive vice president of the Mississippi Cattlemen's Association. "It's a problem anytime you have less availability. Where it affects you is it may take longer for someone to get to you."
Full text:
http://djournal.com/news/large-animal-vets-in-short-supply/
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2. USDA funding studies on livestock disease, pests
JAVMA News
July 1, 2015
Two universities will receive about $1.5 million each for the first year of five-year projects intended to help protect livestock from pests and diseases.
Department of Agriculture officials announced in April that the agency was awarding the grants to the University of Vermont and The Ohio State University through the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative of the USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Full funding of the Vermont project is expected to cost $7.4 million, and the Ohio project would cost $7.2 million, with each amount dependent on future appropriations and project progress, according to an agency spokeswoman.
The University of Vermont will work to reduce the impact of pest and disease outbreaks in cattle, swine, and small ruminants by developing communication strategies, educational programs, online resources, and other initiatives that would change agricultural practices and policies, according to information from the USDA and the university.
The Ohio State University will work to reduce the impact of poultry respiratory diseases by developing diagnostic tools, vaccines, and novel prevention measures, as well as improve understanding of poultry respiratory disease ecology and etiology and educate stakeholders on respiratory disease prevention and control.
Mississippi State University also will receive about $50,000 through the initiative for a one-year project to create a computer and communication center. The center is intended to help veterinarians, veterinary students, and others in food production or graduate programs use modeling, data management, and analysis to protect livestock from pests and disease.
Source:
https://www.avma.org/News/JAVMANews/Pages/150701q.aspx
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3. Avian flu quarantine lifted for one facility [NE]
NDA says all tests negative
KOTAtv.com
June 18, 2015
LINCOLN - Some good news in Nebraska's fight against the outbreak of avian flu.
Nebraska Ag Department officials today say they've released the quarantine on a poultry operation in Knox County. Daily testing over a three week period came back with all negative results for the 3 million bird flock.
NDA had issued a quarantine of the facility on May 27th. NDA Director Greg Ibach says the producer will be able to resume business as usual at the facility, but testing and monitoring of the flock will continue as a precautionary measure.
The release also means a presumptive quarantine has been lifted for 27 additional locations within 6.2 miles of the Knox County facility.
Source:
http://www.kotatv.com/news/nebraska-news/Avian-flu-quarrantine-lifted-for-one-facility/33651560
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4. Pennsylvania's top ag official making plans as if deadly avian flu will reach Lancaster County
By Ad Crable, Staff Writer
LancasterOnline.com
June 17, 2015
As the deadly avian flu continues to move closer to Pennsylvania - it has been found in wild geese in Michigan 150 miles away - the state's top agriculture official is making plans as if the virus will reach Lancaster County.
As Lancaster County is the top egg-laying hen county in the United States, obviously farmers here are keeping a nervous eye on developments.
LNP caught up with Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding Tuesday at Oregon Dairy's Family Farm Days and asked him about avian flu preparations.
LNP: Is it inevitable that the avian flu will reach Pennsylvania and Lancaster County?
Redding: "I would like to believe it won't but we have to plan as if it will. We don't have a choice. There's is so much to lose here.
"Thirty-seven percent of the poultry in Pennsylvania is in Lancaster County alone. So you can't draw any sort of circle around a poultry operation that would be quarantined and not bump into a half dozen other families that would be caught in the same problem.
"So we have been planning as though it is going to arrive here. We've been trying to put in place the right protocols at the farm level to work with industry, to get our government thinking about a response.
"And how does one respond when one looks at the Iowa situation? There are a lot of folks in that conversation in Iowa who never thought they would be talking about poultry, the National Guard. You have your local police and fire services, you have an ag industry, you've got community leaders who the last thing on their radar was thinking about disposal of birds. But now, all of that is part of this conversation about planning for HPAI (highly pathogenic avian influenza)."
LNP: If it does come here, are we better prepared for it than we were in the early 1980s?
Redding: "Absolutely, there's no question. The lessons learned from both the 80s, the early 90s here in Pennsylvania and just watching the last sort of 60 days of it moving from California to Washington to Oregon to Iowa.
"We have taken every one of those lessons in terms of planning, in terms of resources. Understanding the division of labor between the federal government and the state level of government is really important. Understanding where you have capacity in terms of response personnel, first responders to help you. And where you have resources.
"All of those are considerations. So we are in a much better position today than I would say we have ever been in our planning for HPAI."
Full text: http://tinyurl.com/qdb26co
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5. Disease-Detecting Poultry Biochip Launched in Singapore
ThePoultrySite.com
June 18, 2015
SINGAPORE - A poultry 'biochip' has been launched that can detect nine major poultry diseases using a single sample applied to the portable, disposable chip.
Scientists from the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) and Veredus Laboratories, a supplier of molecular diagnostic tools, have been working on the chip since 2010.
The biochip is known as 'VereVet', and was described by the developers in a joint statement as a portable Lab-on-Chip application that can detect, differentiate and identify nine major poultry infectious disease agents.
Unlike the conventional method of testing which requires different samples for different tests, the portable Lab-on-Chip application is able to detect multiple infectious disease agents affecting poultry using only one sample.
These disease agents include Newcastle Disease virus, Salmonella pullorum, Salmonella enteritidis, campylobacter and avian influenza virus. The chip is able to detect all avian influenza virus types, but places special emphasis on differentiating H5, H7 and H9.
Full text: http://tinyurl.com/q58e7ao
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6. Minnesota to expand wild bird flu testing; only 1 infected bird found
MPR News Staff
Minnesota Public Radio
June 18, 2015
Minnesota officials plan to expand testing wild birds for avian influenza, though more than 3,300 samples tested so far have revealed only one positive hit for the highly pathogenic flu.
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources on Thursday said it will test ducks and geese this summer as part of normal banding operations and expects to test hunter-killed ducks in the fall as it works to find answers about the spread of the virus that's either killed or forced the destruction of millions of turkeys, largely on farms in western and southwest Minnesota.
"We know that waterfowl serve as reservoirs for avian influenza because they contract the virus, but normally are not killed by it. However, what we don't know is what role wildlife may have played in recent infections in domestic poultry," Lou Cornicelli, DNR wildlife research manager, said in a statement.
A Cooper's hawk found in Yellow Medicine County remains the only wild bird found with avian influenza.
Full text:
http://www.mprnews.org/story/2015/06/18/wild-bird-flu-testing
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7. Feral hogs a growing problem in Alabama
By Linda Brannon
YellowhammerNews.com
June 17, 2015
"Pigs gone wild" might sound like a bad, cable TV show, but they are no joke when it comes to their environmental impact. In Alabama, feral hogs - with their destructive rooting behavior and voracious appetites - pose a real threat to native plants and habitats.
At the 1,850-acre site of Farley Nuclear Plant, located near Dothan, the battle to protect the environment against wild pigs is ongoing.
The Plant Farley property was certified more than 20 years ago as a wildlife habitat by the nonprofit Wildlife Habitat Council. About two years ago, feral hogs first made their appearance at the plant. Today, Plant Farley personnel work with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in efforts to control the pigs on the site.
"A population of feral hogs can double every four months," explained Dana Johnson, a USDA wildlife specialist. "They have an alarming reproductive rate. They can reproduce as young as four months, have a gestation period of four months, and give birth to as many as 12 piglets per litter. So if you begin with two males and two females, in the optimum environment - in three years you can have a population of 16,000 if left unchecked," Johnson said.
As a certified wildlife habitat, Plant Farley has both land and game management programs, and the wild hogs are threatening both. "They root up grasses and understory vegetation and compete with our native wildlife for foods," said Ken Darby, an environmental specialist with Southern Nuclear, which operates Plant Farley for Alabama Power. "They are also serious nest predators, destroying quail and turkey eggs." The hogs also forage on tree seedlings, such as the native longleaf pine recently planted at the site.
Johnson visits the plant site periodically to assist with the capture of the feral hogs. "What we do here at Plant Farley is wildlife damage control." Johnson said. "We also do testing for swine brucellosis and cholera."
Full text:
http://yellowhammernews.com/faithandculture/feral-hogs-a-growing-problem-in-alabama/
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