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1. State kills 35 deer at Medina County ranch [TX]

By Zeke MacCormack

San Antonio Express-News

July 28, 2015

HONDO - The state of Texas euthanized 35 deer Tuesday at a breeding facility in Medina County so they can be tested for chronic wasting disease. An infected buck was found at the ranch last month.

"It's heart-wrenching. It's devastating. It's tough all the way around," Bob Patterson, the owner of Texas Mountain Ranch, said of losing the captive-bred white-tails that he valued collectively at $280,000.

The positive test in June there marked the first case in Texas of CWD in a captive-raised deer, prompting state officials to restrict the sale and movement of stock held by most deer breeders pending an investigation into the origin and reach of the neurological disease.

"We've disallowed movement among breeders to prevent the spread and let us get more information by testing," said Andy Schwartz, the Texas Animal Health Commission's assistant executive director of Animal Health Programs and Emergency Management.

Full text:

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/State-kills-35-deer-at-Medina-County-ranch-6410354.php  

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2. USDA expects to pay farmers $191 million for bird flu losses

Associated Press

HeartlandConnection.com

July 28, 2015

DES MOINES, IOWA (AP) -- The federal government expects to spend $191 million to pay chicken and turkey farmers for birds lost to avian flu.

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack says that's in addition to the nearly $400 million spent on cleaning up dead birds and disinfecting barns. The government also is paying to research and stockpile a bird flu vaccine.

Vilsack spoke Tuesday at a bird flu conference in Des Moines where the poultry industry is talking about how to better respond if the disease returns.

Hardest hit by the outbreak this spring were Iowa, Minnesota and Nebraska.

Vilsack says the USDA is preparing for recurrence of the virus spread by wild migrating birds and plans to ask Congress to consider a poultry disaster program similar to one that exists for livestock producers.

Full text:

http://www.heartlandconnection.com/news/story.aspx?id=1236093  

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3. Join the conversation on bio/agro security

By Tammy Beckham, DVM, PhD, Director, Institute for Infectious Animal Diseases

Bovine Veterinarian

July 24, 2015

As you are aware, the Department of Homeland Security is currently working to build the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF), a new state-of-the-art biosafety level (BSL) 3 & 4 facility in Manhattan, Kansas. This facility will bring to the nation new and enhanced capabilities to address animal and zoonotic pathogens of high consequence to our livestock and public health sectors.

Construction of the NBAF is a major step towards ensuring resiliency in our livestock sectors and preparing our nation for future animal and public health disease events. However, in addition to facilities, a robust program, complete with industry, academia, federal, state, and global partnerships, that works to define capabilities and address gaps in these capabilities will be needed to ensure success of this facility. At this moment, the agricultural community/enterprise and our public health partners have the opportunity to come together with our federal, state and global partners to define the path forward for this facility and to create a new and unique ecosystem comprised of novel partnerships and collaborations that will define the way that research is prioritized, conducted and subsequently transitioned into use to protect our livestock and public health communities.

To this end, the Department of Homeland Security is currently hosting a National Conversation on Homeland Security Technology. This conversation is a series of online and in-person discussions designed to get people talking about how to innovate solutions for the Nation's homeland security challenges. It is intended to foster exchange between responders/operational users and innovators to generate sustainable homeland security solutions that will keep our communities safe and resilient.

In June 2015, a new dialogue was launched to stimulate discussion around America's bio/agro security posture. This new dialogue is intended to help prepare NBAF to protect our country from foreign animal and emerging diseases. On this site you have the ability to share your thoughts on:

�         How NBAF can be leveraged to help advance foreign animal disease research;

�         Workforce needs across government and the private sector to address current and emergent foreign animal disease threats;

�         How NBAF and other regional assets/capabilities can be leveraged to provide One Health solutions; and

�         Anything else you feel might be relevant to the Department, especially the Science and Technology Directorate, in this area.

It is only through active participation and conversation that we as a community (the livestock industries, biopharma, allied industries, global veterinary community, state and federal partners and others) will better prepare ourselves and our industries for animal and zoonotic health events. We encourage you to visit the national conversation website and provide your thoughts on how we as a community can work together to ensure a continued healthy and safe food supply, robust livestock markets, and in general better prepare ourselves for animal and public health disease events.

To learn more about the conversation please visit: http://www.dhs.gov/science-and-technology/join-conversation  

In order to participate you will need to register through the website at: http://scitech.ideascale.com/a/home/  

You can access the NBAF Bio/Agro Security Innovation dialogue at: http://scitech.ideascale.com/a/pages/bioagro.

Please take time out of your busy schedules to participate in this important conversation. In doing so, you will ensure that the importance of livestock and agriculture to our nation and its economy are well documented. In addition, you will have the opportunity to participate in, and have a voice in, a project/program that will impact the future of livestock health in the United States for decades to come.

Thanks in advance for your time dedicated to this important topic. We know how busy you are but assure you that time taken out of your schedules to participate in this conversation will have lasting impacts for the U.S. livestock sectors.

Source:

http://www.bovinevetonline.com/news/industry/join-conversation-bioagro-security  

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4. Deer hunt group eyes standards [IN]

Niki Kelly

The Journal Gazette

July 28, 2015

INDIANAPOLIS - A trade group has launched a voluntary program to validate captive hunting preserves in the state.

The Indiana Deer and Elk Farmers Association is behind the move to a self-policing program called the Indiana Deer Advisory Council.

The association has pushed to legalize hunting of white-tailed deer behind high fences for years in the Indiana General Assembly.

A bill to set rules and regulations for captive hunts failed earlier this year but an Indiana Court of Appeals decision found the Indiana Department of Natural Resources didn't have the authority to regulate privately owned deer. The Indiana Supreme Court declined to hear the case.

The legislature can still step in next year but in the meantime the industry of high-fenced hunting is unregulated and anyone can open and operate a facility.

Full text:

http://www.journalgazette.net/news/local/indiana/Deer-hunt-group-eyes-standards-7945990  

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5. Antibiotic resistance spreading to wildlife

By Amy Macintyre

Phys.org

July 28, 2015

Researchers have found antibiotic resistance genes are spreading to bacteria of Australian wildlife, including captive sea lions and rock wallabies, and the little penguins of Sydney Harbour.

Dr Michelle Power, from Macquarie University, will this week present the findings at the International Conference of the Wildlife Disease Association, being held in Queensland on the Sunshine Coast from July 26 - 30.

"Antibiotic resistance is one of the world's most pressing health issues. The spread of antibiotic resistance is commonly attributed to overuse of antibiotics in both human health and animal production," said Dr Power.

"It is worrying that we are seeing antibiotic resistance in bacteria of wild animals that have never been treated with antibiotics. Resistance genes from bacteria in humans and domestic animals are being spread through the environment to the naturally occurring bacteria of those wild animals," she said.

Dr Power said one way the transfer of genetic resistance genes was happening was through naturally occurring mobile genetic elements called integrons, which were first discovered by Australian researchers in the late 1990s.

Integrons are able to pass genes between different species of bacteria, and can be spread through water, allowing antibiotic resistance to spread from land to marine environments. They are not deactivated by normal sewage treatment processes.

Full text:

http://phys.org/news/2015-07-antibiotic-resistance-wildlife.html  

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6. Experimental MERS vaccine shows promise in animal studies

Reuters

Fox News

July 28, 2015

Researchers in the United States trying to develop a vaccine against the deadly Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) virus say they have had early signs of success in animal experiments.

Using a two-step approach in mice and rhesus macaques, scientists at the vaccine research center of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) said they had managed to provoke an immune response in the animals.

In results published in the journal Nature Communications, vaccinated mice produced antibodies against multiple strains of MERS, they said, and vaccinated macaques were protected from severe lung damage when exposed to the virus.

The findings suggest this approach -- centered on a viral protein called the "spike glycoprotein", which the MERS virus uses to enter cells -- holds promise for developing a similar human MERS vaccination, the researchers said.

Full text:

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2015/07/28/experimental-mers-vaccine-shows-promise-in-animal-studies/  

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