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1. Colorado VS: Number of Quarantined Premises Dropping
By Edited Press Release
TheHorse.com
August 28, 2015 Topics:
As of Aug. 26, the Colorado Department of Agriculture's (CDA) state veterinarian's office has 65 locations in 15 counties under quarantine after horses, mules, and cattle herds tested positive for vesicular stomatitis (VS).
County Number of Currently Quarantined Premises Number of Quarantines Released
Archuleta 4 7
Boulder 1 0
Chaffee 0 1
Conejos 2 1
Delta 8 28
Gunnison 0 1
Jefferson 2 1
La Plata 5 8
Larimer 14 22
Las Animas 1 1
Mesa 11 4
Montezuma 2 9
Montrose 7 28
Ouray 1 0
Pueblo 1 0
Rio Grande 3 0
Weld 3 1
Totals 65 112
"This outbreak is not contained to one specific area of the state," said State Veterinarian Keith Roehr, DVM.
"The overall number of cases in 2015 is lower than 2014 and we are seeing a more diffuse occurrence across the state. Last week, we had VS diagnosed in Boulder, Ouray, Pueblo, Rio Grande counties. I encourage all livestock owners to be aware of their county status and take the proper precautions to prevent insect populations on their property."
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2. DNR wants hunters to help with CWD assessment [MI]
By Ken Palmer,
Lansing State Journal
August 28, 2015
OKEMOS - Some new rules will be in place for deer hunters this fall in Ingham, Clinton and Shiawassee counties as biologists work to assess the spread of chronic wasting disease.
Hunters who take a deer in the core CWD area covering nine townships will be required to bring the carcass to one of three area check stations so the animal can be tested for the disease, state Department of Natural Resources officials said Thursday.
The agency will be more liberal in granting antlerless permits in all three counties, and permit fees will be cut by 40 percent, they said.
"We need a lot of hunter and landowner participation to combat this disease," DNR deer specialist Chad Stewart said during a town hall meeting in Meridian Township.
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3. Avian flu still concerns farmers
Erica Quinlan, Field Editor
AgriNews
August 28, 2015
INDIANAPOLIS - Although the last case of avian influenza was detected in Iowa about two months ago, those in the poultry industry still are worried.
By the middle of June, more than 200 cases of the disease were identified in 15 different states.
"Talk about a nervous bunch of people in agriculture," said Marianne Ash, director of biosecurity at Indiana Board of Animal Health. "It's been a very tense and concerning situation for our poultry industry and all of agriculture in the Midwest."
As wild birds migrate south for the winter, there's concern that there may be another outbreak of the disease.
Until then, those at BOAH are "holding their breath."
"In the course of this event, over 50 million commercial birds in our country have died or been depopulated," Ash said. "Export restrictions associated with this outbreak have been very damaging.
"The last numbers indicate that we are down about $390 million for the first of half of 2015, a 14 percent drop from last year. There's also millions of dollars spent addressing these issues."
Since the most recent strain of the disease was identified last year, the situation has flip-flopped. Originally, most birds were found dead in backyard flocks. Now, 90 percent of cases are being reported in commercial poultry farms - some of which have millions of birds.
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4. Outdoors: DEP warns of possibility of rare deer disease [NJ - EHD]
By Andrew Tredinnick
New Jersey Herald
August 28, 2015
The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection's Division of Fish and Wildlife is asking the public to be aware of any white-tailed deer that may be affected by Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease, or EHD, and to report any suspected instances since outbreaks typically begin in August.
Although EHD is not a public health issue, it is the most important viral disease that affects white-tail deer in the United States according to the
Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study at the University of Georgia.
The New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife reports that the state has experienced seven outbreaks of the disease since 1955. The virus is transmitted by a type of biting fly, commonly known as a biting midge, but have also been called sand gnats, sand flies, no-see-ums, or punkies.
The last outbreak of the disease in Sussex County came back in 1975, while parts of Morris and Warren Counties have had confirmed isolated cases of the virus show up in 2011 and 2012, respectively.
According to the University of Georgia, an easy lesion to spot where EHD could be expected is an erosion of the dental pad. Any deer with growth interruptions in their hooves or chronic lesions of the first part of the stomach, or rumen, by a hunter can suspect there was exposure to EHD.
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5. Japan partly lifts U.S., Canada poultry ban after bird flu
By Reuters Media
AgWeek.com
August 28, 2015
TOKYO - Japan's Farm Ministry on Friday partiality lifted a ban on imports of live poultry and poultrymeat from the United States and Canada following an outbreak of bird flu.
Imports from the eight U.S. states of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, California, Kansas, Arkansas, Montana and Indiana, and Canadian Province of British Columbia will resume after restrictions were imposed for up to nearly nine months, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said in a statement.
After the latest measure, restrictions on live poultry and poultry meat still remain in place on the seven U.S. states of Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota and Nebraska, and Canadian Province of Ontario, pending local checks by Japanese officials, a ministry official said.
Separately, a ban is imposed on imports from the U.S. state of New Jersey of live poultry and poultry meat shipped from within the 10 km (6 miles) radius of farms where low pathogenic, avian flu was discovered, the official added.
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6. Zoonotic disease detectives
By Sharon Dowdy, University of Georgia
Bovine Veterinarian
August 28, 2015
Georgia 4-H is piloting an educational series aimed at teaching children how to help prevent the spread of animal diseases like swine flu, salmonella, E. coli and rabies.
The program, called "Be a Zoonotic Disease Detective," was developed in collaboration with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention experts and a team of Georgia 4-H specialists. A zoonotic disease is a disease that can be passed between animals and humans. According to the CDC, about six out of every 10 infectious diseases in humans are spread from animals.
"This series (of lessons) was born after the CDC tracked a swine flu outbreak in 2009 that occurred in the northeast corner of the U.S.," said Mandy Marable, Georgia 4-H curriculum specialist and leader of the zoonotic disease education project. "From the investigation, it was determined that the outbreak could be traced back to animals shown at a state fair."
Georgia 4-H'ers often come in close contact with animals through livestock showing programs. Children and adults also come in contact with animals if they own pets or visit a petting zoo, farm, pet store, or friend or family member who owns pets.
Georgia 4-H partnered with a CDC team led by Michael Jhung, a medical officer with the CDC's Influenza Division, and Joe Gregg, a CDC public health analyst, to develop the educational lessons that are geared to fifth- and sixth-graders. The students learn about zoonotic diseases and viruses, like influenza, and bacteria, like salmonella and E. coli. They also learn ways to prevent the spread of these diseases, like not eating or drinking around animals and not holding animals like chickens, turtles and frogs, which can carry these germs.
The zoonotic disease lessons were written to follow national and state standards, said Marable, a former elementary school teacher.
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7. Recognizing European Union (EU) and EU Member State Regionalization Decisions for African Swine Fever (ASF) by Updating the APHIS List of Regions Affected with ASF
Federal Register Volume 80, Number 168 (Monday, August 31, 2015)
Notices
Pages 52440-52441
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-21497]
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
Docket No. APHIS-2015-0011
Recognizing European Union (EU) and EU Member State Regionalization Decisions for African Swine Fever (ASF) by Updating the APHIS List of Regions Affected with ASF
AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice and request for comments.
SUMMARY: We are advising the public that we are adding European Union (EU) and EU Member State-defined regions of the EU to the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) list of regions affected with African swine fever (ASF). We will recognize as affected with ASF any region of the EU that the EU or any EU Member State has placed under restriction because of detection of ASF. These regions currently include portions of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland, and all of Sardinia. APHIS will list the EU- and EU Member State-defined regions as a single entity. We are therefore removing Sardinia as an individually listed region from the APHIS list of ASF affected regions. We are taking this action because of the detection of ASF in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland.
DATES: Effective Date: The addition of the EU- and EU Member State-defined regions to the APHIS list of regions affected with ASF is effective August 31, 2015. We will consider all comments that we receive on or before October 30, 2015.
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