USAHA.org


The Nation's Animal Health Forum Since 1897

A service to members of the United States Animal Health Association.   

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 Join USAHA Today! 

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   

 

119th USAHA and 58th AAVLD Annual Meeting
October 22-28, 2015
Providence, Rhode Island

 

USAHA News Alert Summaries - September 15, 2015 - In this issue:
1. NOTICE: APHIS Publishes Proposed Rule to Update the National Scrapie Eradication Program
2. EEE Found in Barry County Horse [MI]
3. Colorado VS: 64 Locations in 16 Counties Quarantined
4. WVPAC 2015: Countries Worldwide Share Experiences of Avian Influenza [edited]
5. 2015 AAEP Convention in Las Vegas Flush With Opportunities
6. Animal Ag Alliance gets sneak peek at activists' agenda
* * * * * * * * * *
 
1. NOTICE: APHIS Publishes Proposed Rule to Update the National Scrapie Eradication Program
USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Bulletin
September 14, 2015
 
 
On September 10, 2015, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) published a proposed rule proposing changes to its existing scrapie regulations. These proposed changes consist of six major components, along with additional changes to animal movements and recordkeeping. Those primary components are:
 
   Aligning the identification requirements for goats with the current sheep identification requirements;
   Formalizing the use of genetic testing to assign risk levels to sheep;
   Providing the APHIS Administrator with the authority to relieve requirements for sheep and goats exposed to scrapie types, such as Nor98-like, that do not pose a significant risk of transmission;
   Increasing flexibility for how investigations can be conducted and allowing the epidemiology in a specific flock to be given more consideration in determining flock and animal status;
   Requiring States to meet surveillance minimums to remain Consistent States (surveillance minimums are based on the number of breeding sheep or goats in the state);
   Moving the following from the regulation to the APHIS website in the form of program standards to allow quicker response to new information, including:
       List of Consistent States
       Allowed identification devices and methods and restrictions on their use
       Disease status classification procedures for flocks and animals
       Program approved tests for scrapie and scrapie susceptibility and procedures for their use
       Specifics on how fair market value is calculated for indemnity purposes.
 
WEBINAR OVERVIEW
 
APHIS will host a webinar providing an overview of the proposed rule Wednesday, September 16, 2015, 1:00 - 2:00 pm Eastern Time. The webinar access information follows below.
 
   Webinar Login: http://emsp.intellor.com/login/421426.
   Dial-in: After you've connected your computer, audio connection instructions will be presented.
 
If you need technical support or additional information regarding our events, please visit our portal at http://emsp.intellor.com/portal/usdaaphisPM1, or contact AT&T Connect Support at 1-888-796-6118. If you are unable to join the web conference from a computer, you can find audio only instructions at http://events.uc.att.com/events/integrate/PhoneAccessPage/OCCSAccessNumbers.asp?ExEventID=421426
 
COMMENT PERIOD
 
APHIS will accept comments on the proposed changes and the program standards through November 9, 2015. Interested parties can review the proposed rule and/or to submit a comment at:
 
   Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2007-0127.
   Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: Send your comment to Docket No. APHIS-2007-0127, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, APHIS, Station 3A-03.8, 4700 River Road Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737-1238.
 
Supporting documents and any comments we receive on this docket may be viewed at http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2007-0127 or in our reading room, which is located in room 1141 of the USDA South Building, 14th Street and Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC. Normal reading room hours are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, except holidays. To be sure someone is there to help you, please call (202) 799�7039 before coming.
 
 
 
********

2. EEE Found in Barry County Horse [MI]
Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development News sRelease
September 14, 2015
 
 
LANSING - The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development today announced the state's first reported case in 2015 of Eastern Equine Encephalitis in a Barry County horse. The testing was done by the private practitioner who sent the blood sample directly to the United States Department of Agriculture's National Veterinary Services Lab in Ames, Iowa.
 
MDARD was notified on September 4 that a Barry County horse had a positive blood test suggesting EEE exposure and the horse had already been euthanized. This horse had not been vaccinated for EEE.
 
"EEE and other mosquito-borne illnesses are a huge concern for our equine community," said Dr. James Averill, MDARD's State Veterinarian. "Horse owners in Michigan should be aware of the risk and take extra measures to protect their animals."
 
Cases of EEE in horses are a sign that people should take steps to guard themselves against mosquitoes by applying repellent, and wearing protective clothing.
 
For 2015, MDARD is working with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and Michigan State University's Diagnostic Center for Population and Animal Health on a surveillance program for mosquito-borne viruses in animals. Veterinarians working with horses showing neurological signs are encouraged to contact MDARD at 517-284-5767 for information on assistance with diagnostic testing.
 
 
Full text:
 
********

3. Colorado VS: 64 Locations in 16 Counties Quarantined
By Edited Press Release
TheHorse.com
September 14, 2015
 
 
As of Sept. 10, the Colorado Department of Agriculture's (CDA) state veterinarian's office has 64 locations in 16 counties under quarantine after horses, mules, and cattle herds tested positive for vesicular stomatitis (VS).
 
"This outbreak is not contained to one specific area of the state," said State Veterinarian Keith Roehr, DVM. "In the last two weeks, we had new VS cases diagnosed in Douglas, Garfield, and Rio Blanco counties. Some counties that had a significant number of cases have seen their number of current cases subside-Montrose and Delta counties-and yet we have seen a significant increase of new cases in Mesa County. I encourage all livestock owners to be aware of their county status and take the proper precautions to prevent insect populations on their property."
 
 
Full text:
 
********

4. WVPAC 2015: Countries Worldwide Share Experiences of Avian Influenza [edited]
ThePoultrySite.com
September 14, 2015
 
 
SOUTH AFRICA - Quick action and good biosecurity measures are the key to control of highly pathogenic avian influenza, representatives from Europe, the US and China told delegates at the Ceva symposium at the Congress of the World Veterinary Poultry Association (WVPAC 2015) in Cape Town.
 
 
Experience in the Netherlands
 
Dr Andre Steentjies, a member of the Poultry Veterinary Study Group of the EU, said that the Netherlands was quite unprepared for the avian influenza outbreak of 2003.
 
"The disease had a slow onset and it took a few days before we even suspected it was a strain of highly pathogenic avian influenza," he admitted.
 
In the end the disease broke out on 255 farms. Thirty million birds were culled. Eighty-six people were affected (of which one died) and the total management cost mounted to more than 500 million Euros.
 
Dr Steentjies said that the country was so shocked by the outbreak that it introduced a high surveillance programme through which birds had to be tested within 24 hours to identify future outbreaks.
 
Largest ever animal disease outbreak in US
 
Dr Mark Davidson, associated deputy administrator of the National Import Export Services of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) said the outbreak experienced in America which came to an end in June, was the largest animal disease outbreak the country has ever experienced.
 
The disease broke out in 21 states on a total of 226 premises. About 47.5 million chickens and 7.1 million turkeys were affected and it cost a half a billion dollars to control. The disease also had a huge impact on poultry meat and egg prices.
 
Dr Davidson said that the US devised a five step plan to spark quick reaction times in the event of future outbreaks, which he suspects might occur in autumn as outbreaks have also been linked to the movement of migrating birds, as was the case in the Netherlands.
 
   Movement had to be quarantined
   Affected birds had to be eradicated within 24 hours
   The outbreak had to be monitored to detect new outbreaks and show progress of interventions
   A disinfecting regime was needed to remove the virus from farms
   The disease had to be identified as soon as possible through testing
 
Dr Davidson said that depopulating birds within 24 hours was much easier said than done: "Many of the affected farms had large complex facilities with multiple barns and thousands of birds.
 
 
 
********

5. 2015 AAEP Convention in Las Vegas Flush With Opportunities
By Edited Press Release
TheHorse.com
September 14, 2015
 
Equine veterinarians will push "all in" on education, networking and entertainment when the American Association of Equine Practitioners' 61st Annual Convention and Trade Show convenes at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, Dec. 5-9.
 
The annual convention is the world's largest continuing education event dedicated to equine veterinary practice. In 2009, when the convention was last held in Las Vegas, a record 7,611 equine veterinarians, veterinary students, technicians, and exhibitors attended.
 
With a choice from approximately 100 hours of continuing education credit in various learning formats, equine practitioners will acquire the most current clinical knowledge in diverse and important areas of equine medicine such as field imaging and surgery, foal medicine, internal medicine, lameness, neurology, reproduction, and trauma and wound management. In addition, a new podiatry workshop on Dec. 5 will enhance practitioners' understanding of and ability to treat a variety of hoof conformations through morning lectures and afternoon wet labs.
 
 
Full text:
 
********

6. Animal Ag Alliance gets sneak peek at activists' agenda
Carol Ryan Dumas
Capital Press
September 14, 2015
 
 
The Animal Agriculture Alliance has just released a report on the tactics used by animal rights activists to discredit agriculture as professed at the 2015 Animal Rights National Conference.
 
The Animal Rights National Conference boasted 1,650 attendees at this year's conference, which was July 30 through Aug. 2 in Washington, D.C.
 
Two of those attendees were interns with the Animal Agriculture Alliance, an industry coalition working to educate the public and food industry stakeholders about modern animal agriculture.
 
The Alliance has sent representatives to the conference for the past 10 years to better understand activists' intentions and strategies, Alliance President and CEO Kay Johnson Smith said.
 
"By attending these events, we can more effectively counter their misleading campaigns against animal agriculture," she said.
 
 
Full text:
 
********
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
Quick Links...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
 

 

Order your copy of Foreign Animal Diseases, 7th Edition 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Report news leads to brichey@usaha.org.  
Please add usaha@usaha.ccsend.com  to your Spam filter permissions.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

FOLLOW USAHA on Facebook and Twitter 

 

 

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.