|
* * * * * * * * * *
1. Michigan confirms 2nd chronic wasting case in wild deer
Associated Press
Detroit Free Press
July 17, 2015
MERIDIAN TOWNSHIP, Mich. - State wildlife officials say testing has turned up a second case of chronic wasting disease in a wild deer.
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources said Friday a 2-year-old male found near Lansing in Meridian Township tested positive for the contagious, fatal disease that attacks the brains of infected deer and elk. It was less than a mile from the first case - a female deer that tested positive in May.
Genetic testing is determining if they are related. Officials say confirming the second case is disappointing but not surprising.
The state says about 300 deer have been tested for the disease in the surrounding area.
Full text: http://tinyurl.com/qxmxp5j
********
|
|
2. Swine Health Information Center begins tackling disease risks
Source: Swine Health Information Center
National Hog Farmer
July 16, 2015
Early reaction from pork producers and their veterinarians to the new Swine Health Information Center has been overwhelmingly positive, said Paul Sundberg, executive director of the center. He said producers are eager for the center to begin its work to help detect potential disease threats to their herds and to help avoid devastating losses from diseases.
Sundberg, a former practicing veterinarian and the former senior vice president for science and technology at the National Pork Board, has been working since July 1 to set up an office for the new organization and to arrange meetings with producers and others who have a stake in the health of the U.S swine herd.
The center will be located in Perry, Iowa, in office space leased from the American Association of Swine Veterinarians, one of many partners SHIC hopes to enlist to aid the effort, Sundberg said. Another partner, the NPB, has provided $15 million in Pork Checkoff funding over five years. Sundberg said that SHIC is an independent organization but that it will work closely with veterinarians, pork producers, swine genetics companies, animal-health product providers and organizations including the NPB, AASV, the National Pork Producers Council, land-grant universities and the USDA, among others.
"The center is in its infant stages, and we want make sure we aren't creating unrealistic expectations for our work," Sundberg said. "We are not going to prevent another disease such as PRRS, or circovirus, or porcine epidemic diarrhea. What we can do is develop better diagnostic capabilities for earlier detection of high-risk pathogens and to provide data analysis to help producers and their veterinarians improve the management of the health risks for the pigs on their farms."
Full text:
http://nationalhogfarmer.com/health/swine-health-information-center-begins-tackling-disease-risks
********
|
|
3. Eight Stearns County farms hit by bird flu are restocking [MN]
Kirsti Marohn
St. Cloud Times
July 17, 2015
It's been six weeks since any new cases of avian influenza have been confirmed in Minnesota, and area turkey farms are slowly getting back to normal.
According to the Minnesota Board of Animal Health, eight Stearns County farms affected by the avian flu have agreements to restock their barns with new birds. The process takes about three months if all goes well.
The first case of the highly pathogenic H5N2 virus in Minnesota was detected in March. Since then, the virus has been confirmed at 108 Minnesota farms in 23 counties, including 14 turkey and layer chicken farms in Stearns County.
Full text: http://tinyurl.com/ocf8nsj
********
|
|
4. Tri-state tactics address avian influenza [edited]
By Rachel Wittrock, editor
SW News Media
July 17, 2015
In recent months, avian influenza has spread across the Midwest and affected millions of birds. In Minnesota alone, 108 farms and 9 million birds have been hit by the disease. The disease has prompted a tri-state effort between the Extension offices in Minnesota, Iowa and South Dakota.
According to Karen Shirer, associate dean with the Extension Center for Family Development at the University of Minnesota Extension, Minnesota began responding early to the avian influenza crisis.
"It was not clear at the beginning as to how wide-spread this would be. Every week we kept hearing there are another six, now there are another nine flocks, but it was clear to most of us here in Extension that it was going to impact more than producers," Shirer said. "It was also going to impact people who worked in the food processing industry related to eggs and poultry, as well as rural communities, many of which depend on these industries for their employment, as well as the consumer questions that we knew we were going to have."
Shirer said she and her fellow University of Minnesota Extension employees knew they would be needed to respond to the issue, but it was not going to be a solo job.
"There were pieces of it we did not have a really strong portfolio, so when both Iowa and South Dakota approached us, we really thought by pooling our resources we could build on each others' strengths to address this," Shirer said.
A full list of avian influenza resources, including a list of frequently asked questions, the Answer Line, Stretching Your Food Dollar and a resource about poultry safety can be found online at www.extension.umn.edu/family/disaster-recovery/avian-flu/answers/#mn
Full text: http://tinyurl.com/of39nqt
********
|
|
5. USDA: Many factors considered amid animal disease outbreaks
By David Pitt, The Associated Press
Newton Daily News
July 17, 2015
DES MOINES - The U.S. Department of Agriculture said Thursday that it considers many factors when determining ways to euthanize large numbers of animals during a disease outbreak, and said it was reviewing an animal rights group's criticism of a recent proposal for fighting any future outbreaks of bird flu.
The agency released the brief statement in response to a letter from the Humane Society of The United States, which criticized a plan outlined last week by USDA Chief Veterinary Officer John Clifford during a Senate committee hearing.
Clifford said shutting off ventilation systems to poultry barns when the highly contagious disease is found may be more humane and efficient than gassing or using foam to suffocate the birds. The two methods were used earlier this year when bird flu forced poultry producers to kill tens of millions of chickens and turkeys nationwide, mostly in Iowa, Minnesota and Missouri.
"It's the fastest way and probably the most humane way to take care of this," Clifford said during the July 7 hearing.
Full text: http://tinyurl.com/nhjo3hq
********
|
|
6. Parks and Wildlife meeting addresses chronic wasting disease in Medina County [TX]
By Pilar Arias
KSAT.com
July 16, 2015
SAN ANTONIO - The Medina County deer breeder whose white-tailed deer was found to be the first case of chronic wasting disease in the state wants to work with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and Texas Animal Health Commission to tackle the problem.
Texas Mountain Ranch owner Robert Patterson said he found the dead deer in a pen with numerous others with its head stuck under a trough. He immediately sent it to a veterinarian for testing and it came back positive for CWD.
Patterson, and hundreds of other breeders, attended a special Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission meeting to hear possibilities to minimize further risk to wild and other captive deer.
At the end of the meeting, the commission recommended staff further test the affected herd, figure out a way to move deer from unaffected herds across the state and protect native whitetail.
"We drew the black bean and that's a tough deal, but in a way I'm glad, because I think we can take care of it," Patterson said. "I don't think it will hurt the hunting in Texas one cent. People are still going to come here, because the deer are available."
Full text: http://tinyurl.com/oemb8c6
********
|
|
********
7. Oral Rabies Vaccine Trial; Availability of a Supplemental Environmental Assessment
Federal Register Volume 80, Number 137 (Friday, July 17, 2015)
Notices
Pages 42467-42469
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-17608]
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
Docket No. APHIS-2015-0047
Oral Rabies Vaccine Trial; Availability of a Supplemental Environmental Assessment
AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of availability and request for comments.
SUMMARY: We are advising the public that the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has prepared a supplemental environmental assessment (EA) relative to an oral rabies vaccination field trial in New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Vermont, and West Virginia. The supplemental EA analyzes expanding the field trial for an experimental oral rabies vaccine for wildlife to additional areas in Ohio and increasing bait distribution density in portions of West Virginia. The proposed field trial is necessary to evaluate whether the wildlife rabies vaccine will produce sufficient levels of population immunity against raccoon rabies. We are making the supplemental EA available to the public for review and comment.
DATES: We will consider all comments that we receive on or before August 17, 2015.
Full text:
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2015-07-17/html/2015-17608.htm
********
|
|
