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1. Vesicular Stomatitis Still Present in Wyoming Horses
By Erica Larson, News Editor
TheHorse.com
October 30, 2015
Wyoming State Veterinarian Jim Logan, DVM, confirmed Oct. 30 that there are currently 23 active cases of vesicular stomatitis (VS) in that state.
Since the disease was first confirmed in Wyoming earlier this year, there have been 137 investigations and 137 quarantines have been implemented. Of those, 114 quarantines have been release, Logan told The Horse.
"All of the remaining cases are horse cases and all but one of them are in Fremont County," he relayed. "The other one is in Crook County, up near the South Dakota border."
Logan relayed that while one horse and one cow have died in association with the VS outbreak, both animals had additional health problems that likely contributed to their deaths.
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2. Purdue vet: Cattle farmers should watch for anaplasmosis [IN]
Purdue Extension
October 30, 2015
Beef and dairy producers in Indiana should watch their herds carefully this fall for signs of the blood disease anaplasmosis, a Purdue animal health specialist says.
The disease causes severe and potentially fatal anemia in cattle but poses no threat to humans.
"If you have, or suspect anaplasmosis, work closely with your herd veterinarian to develop effective treatment and control programs," said Bethany Funnell, clinical assistant professor of veterinary medicine. "Death of an adult is often the first sign noticed in a herd infection."
The disease is caused by the parasites Anaplasma marginale and Anaplasma centrale. Tetracycline is the most common treatment. Symptoms in cattle include weight loss, loss of appetite, high fever, dehydration, constipation, pale mucous membranes inside eyelid and vulva, jaundice, abortion in pregnant cows and aggressive behavior. The disease is more common among middle-aged animals, with most fatal cases occurring between 6 and 8 years old.
Anaplasmosis in cattle is spread by parasites such as biting flies and wood ticks. Wet weather in the spring may have created ideal breeding conditions for the insects that carry the disease.
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3. Are deer coming back in former CWD zone? [MN - edited]
John Weiss
The Post-Bulletin
October 29, 2015
A doe shot by a bow hunter in 2010 near Pine Island tested positive for chronic wasting disease. What followed was four years of confusion, meetings, special hunts, unusual regulations - and fewer deer.
The disease is invariably fatal to deer, and the Department of Natural Resources acted quickly to get people to shoot thousands of deer and test all of them for the disease. The fear was that more infected deer were out there and the disease would get out of hand, as it has in other states.
The final test was done nearly two years ago, and it, like thousands of others, was negative. A DNR official said that statistically, it was almost certain that there was no more CWD in the area. DNR officials breathed a huge sigh of relief but are still on the lookout for any deer acting oddly, he said.
For example, they heard of a big buck sitting in the Root River near Pilot Mound last summer, and it didn't move when people paddled or floated past. It was skinny, and its head was hanging. The DNR immediately harvested it and had it tested. It was negative for CWD; it had some other kind of infection that was killing it, Tenney said.
With the end of heavy CWD testing and the more liberal seasons and bag limits for deer, the area was left with about 4,000 fewer deer, knocking down the herd in the area anywhere from 10 percent to 25 percent, according to DNR estimates.
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4. White House releases detailed lab biosafety plan
Lisa Schnirring, News Editor
CIDRAP News
October 30, 2015
The White House yesterday released a strategy to improve safety and security at the nation's labs that conduct infectious disease research, the result of a comprehensive review ordered in August 2014 in the wake of several incidents involving federal facilities.
Several safety lapses involving pathogens such as those causing H5N1 avian influenza, smallpox, Ebola, and anthrax have occurred at federal labs in the past few years, many of them highlighted in a series of investigative reports by USA Today.
Issued by Lisa Monaco, PhD, the president's assistant for homeland security, and John Holdren, PhD, the president's assistant for science and technology, the 187-page is addressed to top officials in 16 different government agencies.
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5. AgriLife Extension offers new livestock guardian dog publication [TX]
By Steve Byrns
AgriLife Today
October 29, 2015
SAN ANGELO - "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds." This oft used nod to the U.S. Postal Service could as easily describe the work ethic of good livestock guardian dogs, according to Texas A&M AgriLife officials at San Angelo.
Personnel from Texas A&M AgriLife Research and the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service at San Angelo have completed the publication "Livestock Guardian Dogs." The eight-page reference guide is available at http://sanangelo.tamu.edu under publications and as a publication on the AgriLife Bookstore at http://agrilifebookstore.org, publication EWF-028 9/15.
The publication complements ongoing field work with the dogs at ranches in Menard and Ozona managed by AgriLife Research at San Angelo.
"This publication is a guide for sheep and goat farmers and ranchers who are looking at using livestock guardian dogs to protect their sheep and goats from predation," said Dr. Reid Redden, AgriLife Extension state sheep and goat specialist at the center.
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6. USDA Assists in Bringing Commercial Dehairing Operations Back to United States
USDA Blog
October 30, 015
October is National Cooperative Month, and we're happy to spotlight several projects throughout the month that have been supported through USDA Rural Development's Cooperative Services.
It took nearly two years to travel from Italy to America via transportation across water, through the air, and along roadways and railways - and now a large, brightly colored piece of equipment is making history in the tiny rural community of Springfield, Ky.
But this is no ordinary piece of hardware. It is a technically advanced dehairing machine that is unique for a variety of reasons. The machine is one of only four in existence in the world; it is touted as one of the most powerful, sophisticated dehairing machines available; and it will greatly reduce the time and cost required to prepare American natural fibers for processing into luxury yarns that will be used to make textiles.
Natural Fiber Producers cooperative - which is comprised of 318 producers of all types of animal fibers, primarily alpaca, llama, and sheep - invested their own money to make the down payment for the equipment. NFP worked with USDA to obtain a Business and Industry Loan Guarantee with financing from Springfield State Bank, in addition to the Kentucky Agricultural Finance Corporation,
The dehairing machine is operating it in a 12,000-square-foot facility owned by U.S. Natural Fibers. It occupies 500 square feet of floor space and can process between 20-65 pounds of fiber per hour.
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7. Salk Scientists Fight Harmful Bacteria With More Bacteria
By David Wagner
KPBS.org
October 30, 2015
In a study published in Science on Thursday, scientists at the Salk Institute show that mice infected with harmful bacteria can get a boost from helpful bacteria.
In a study published in Science on Thursday, scientists at the Salk Institute show that mice infected with harmful bacteria can get a boost from helpful bacteria.
The mice were battling salmonella and pneumonia, which can both take a physical toll on the body by causing muscle-wasting. Antibiotics are a standard part of treatment for these bacterial infections, but overusing them can lead bacteria to evolve drug-resistance.
"We're running out of our antibiotics of last-resort," said Salk assistant Janelle Ayres, who's searching for new ways of treating infectious disease that move beyond antibiotics.
Through a series of experiments, Ayres and her colleagues identified a strain of E. coli that helped stave off muscle-wasting in infected mice. A dose of this beneficial bacteria didn't kill off harmful bacteria, but it did lessen its physical toll.
"We figured out that we could directly administer this E. coli to the wasting-susceptible animals, and we could basically rescue their muscle-wasting," Ayres said.
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