|
* * * * * * * * * *
1. USDA hiring veterinarians to fight avian flu
JAVMA News
Posted August 19, 2015
The Department of Agriculture is hiring 90 veterinarians on one- and two-year appointments as part of the response to the avian influenza outbreak.
Kevin Shea, administrator of the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, said the agency also is hiring 210 animal health technicians. The veterinarians and technicians are among 450 temporary employees expected to help poultry and egg industries prepare for the fall migratory season and help APHIS respond to any infections with the same highly pathogenic H5N2 influenza virus that killed about 50 million chickens and turkeys this spring.
The administrator noted that recent graduates of veterinary schools, practicing veterinarians looking for a change in work, and those retired from practice are among those qualified. The job listings are posted at http://www.usajobs.gov, where the veterinary medical officer and animal health technician jobs can be found through key word searches for 24VS-APHIS-OC-2015-0873 and 24VS-APHIS-OC-2015-0885, respectively.
Shea said APHIS also is taking a hard look at the National Animal Health Emergency Response Corps following a disappointing response to the H5N2 outbreak. The corps includes about 1,000 veterinarians and about 3,000 animal health technicians who have signed up to be hired by APHIS for emergency work, but many of those called were unable to commit to the 21-day field assignments requested by APHIS during the spring outbreak.
********
|
|
2. Wild pig management video series set for initial release Aug.18
Writer: Steve Byrns
Liberty Vindicator
August 18, 2015
COLLEGE STATION - The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service is aggressively taking steps to keep landowners abreast of the state's ever-increasing feral hog population. A recent step is The Wild Pig Management Video Series.
Texas Rangers IN STORY AD Golden's
Mark Tyson and Josh Helcel, AgriLife Extension associates with the Wildlife and Fisheries unit at College Station, collaborated with Texas Wildlife Services personnel in compiling the series. Tyson said it consists of an all-inclusive trailer and the following five videos: How to Corral Trap Wild Pigs; Corral Trapping Wild Pigs: A Success Story; How to Box Trap Wild Pigs; Shooting Techniques for Wild Pigs; and How to Snare Wild Pigs.
The five videos will be released individually over the course of five days beginning Aug. 18 and go public on YouTube at:http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL10QCALWCnPRucKHEcdnfn_oT9HklyNYG or at http://bit.ly/1NqUdKW)
Tyson said his unit came up with the idea when they realized the need for a comprehensive video resource on feral hog or "wild pig" management.
"With feral hogs in 99 percent of Texas counties now causing upwards of $52 million in annual agricultural damages, managing their expanding populations is a real challenge," Tyson said. "Our job is to provide landowners with the tools they need to get the job done, and we trust this will be another very useful tool in their feral hog management toolbox."
Full text:
********
|
|
3. Study of Wisconsin ticks shows more than half in northwest carry disease
HNGNews.com
August 18, 2015
A specialized medical diagnostic reference laboratory has spent the last several years collecting more than 2,000 ticks and studying tick-borne illnesses with some surprising results.
Coppe Laboratories of Waukesha had contributions from the Wisconsin Depart-ment of Natural Resources and private citizens to collect the ticks.
The goal of the research was focused on determining what percentage of ticks carry the bacteria that causes Lyme disease and what other organisms might be present. The testing revealed that not only the borrelia bacteria (Lyme disease) was present in many of the ticks, but the powassan/deer tick virus infected some as well.
Of special note, in certain "hyper-endemic" regions of northwest Wisconsin, more than half the ticks were infected with the Lyme disease bacteria and powassan was present in a large number.
Wisconsin has the highest incidence of tick-borne diseases in the Midwest, but the northeast region of the United States ranks highest overall.
********
|
|
4. AFIA says FDA rule on animal drugs is overstep
By World Grain Staff
World-Grain.com
August 19, 2015
ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA, U.S. - The American Feed Industry Association's (AFIA) legal counsel on Aug. 18 submitted comments on behalf of the organization to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on the proposed rulemaking on antimicrobial animal drug sales and distribution reporting. AFIA strongly believes the proposed rule is a giant overstep of the legal boundaries established by Congress in the Animal Drug User Fee Act, as it pushes forward in its overall goal to collect animal drug use data and lower the incidence of antibiotic resistance in humans.
"While AFIA welcomes the proposed changes that would reduce duplicative reporting requirements, AFIA strongly contests the wisdom and FDA's legal authority to require new animal drug sponsors to report species-specific estimates of product sales," the comments state.
"This is a crystal clear example of FDA ignoring congressional intent," said Richard Sellers, AFIA senior vice-president of legislative and regulatory affairs. "We are not debating the overall goal-to monitor the use of antibiotics within agriculture-we are debating FDA's legal authority to require new animal drug sponsors to report species-specific distribution estimates. The sponsors do not have that data, and the proposed requirement to 'estimate' it from data extrapolation of expected use is a poor use of the available information."
********
|
|
5. Seven Things You Need to Know About Equine Influenza
By Nancy S. Loving, DVM
TheHorse.com
August 19, 2015
Due to its potentially devastating economic impact, researchers have been hard at work studying this contagious respiratory disease
Influenza epidemics in horses date as far back as 433 A.D. In more recent times, an 1872 outbreak in Canada and the northeastern United States brought all equine-based commerce, transportation, and services to a standstill-an estimated 80-99% of horses in the region were affected, with 1-2% dying. It only took 90 days for this epidemic to spread from Toronto, Canada, throughout the United States and as far south as Cuba. In an era when everything depended on transport via horse power, this had a staggering effect on daily life.
Full text:
********
|
|
6. Health officials confirm first rabies case in Mississippi land animal in more than 50 years
By Steven Williams, Producer
WDAM.com
August 19, 2015
Today the Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH) confirms the first rabies case in a land animal in Mississippi since 1961. The case was identified in a feral cat in Starkville described as a small, black and white kitten.
Exposures to the rabid cat were reported in downtown Starkville and in a remote area in the general vicinity of developed portions of the Thad Cochran Research Park near the campus of Mississippi State University (MSU).
Testing of the cat's brain tissue at the Mississippi Public Health Laboratory confirmed that the cat was infected with rabies. Rabies is commonly found in bats in Mississippi and has been found in feral and wild animals in bordering states in previous years.
********
|
|
7. Classes of Poultry [Federal Register]
Federal Register Volume 80, Number 160 (Wednesday, August 19, 2015)
Proposed Rules
Pages 50228-50230
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-20433]
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Food Safety and Inspection Service
9 CFR Part 381
Docket No. FSIS-2015-0026
Classes of Poultry
AGENCY: Food Safety and Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking.
SUMMARY: The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is proposing to amend the definition and standard of identity for the ``roaster'' or ``roasting chicken'' poultry class to better reflect the characteristics of ``roaster'' chickens in the market today. ``Roasters'' or ``roasting chickens'' are described in terms of the age and ready-to-cook (RTC) carcass weight of the bird. Genetic changes and management techniques have continued to reduce the grow-out period and increased the RTC weight for this poultry class. Therefore, FSIS is proposing to amend the ``roaster'' definition to remove the 8-week minimum age criterion and increase the RTC carcass weight from 5 pounds to 5.5 pounds. This action is being taken in response to a petition submitted by the National Chicken Council.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before October 19, 2015.
Full text:
********
|
|
|
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Quick Links...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Order your copy of Foreign Animal Diseases, 7th Edition
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Please add usaha@usaha.ccsend.com to your Spam filter permissions.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|
USAHA News Alert Summaries is a service provided to its members as a timely, up-to-date source of news affecting animal health and related subjects, intended for personal use by USAHA members. Information in these articles does not necessarily represent the views or positions of USAHA.
Sources of articles are state, national and international media outlets, press releases, and direct from organizations or agencies. Each article includes direct citation and link. Comments, questions or concerns about the information included in each article should be directed to the source in addition to USAHA. While USAHA strives for accuracy in the information it shares, the News Alert Summaries should be treated as a tool that provides a snapshot of information being reported regarding animal health and related subjects.
|
|
