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1. When disaster strikes beef
By Terri Queck-Matzie
Drovers CattleNetwork.com
November 10, 2015
In April 2015, the highly pathogenic avian influenza virus H5N2 moved from a handful of flocks in southern Minnesota into Iowa. Before it was over five months later, more than 30 million birds either died from the virus or were euthanized. That's more than 40 percent of Iowa's layer hens (Iowa leads the nation in egg production), along with a quarter of the state's turkey flock.
The outbreak cost the Iowa economy close to $1.2 billion, with an economic ripple effect that could last a decade. Iowa was one of 10 states hit by the avian flu in the worst U.S. foreign animal-disease outbreak on record.
"It was definitely a wake-up call," says Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey. "It got everybody's attention. We found out it's not impossible to survive this type of crisis, but we hope no one else ever has to go through it."
Can it happen to beef?
"If it does, we're in trouble," says Grant Dewell, assistant professor at Iowa State University's Iowa Beef Center.
It's taken years of effort to increase U.S. beef herd numbers after falling to record lows. Rebuilding after losing one-fourth to one-half of the herd to disease is unimaginable.
"And if this type of thing should wipe out one of our major seedstock producers, then we've lost an entire gene pool and years of genetic progress," he adds.
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2. Scientists ponder tools in brucellosis fight
Kristen Inbody
Great Falls Tribune
November 10, 2015
CORWIN SPRINGS - Yellowstone National Park's northern boundary is a flashpoint for conflicts over bison management and brucellosis transmission. It's also the setting for a unique experiment into bison birth control.
Scientists are testing whether delaying reproduction can stop the spread of brucellosis.
Bison birth control is just one of the tools in the fight against brucellosis that a group of scientists appointed by the National Research Council are learning about as they preparing a report on brucellosis.
Some of the tools are as futuristic and complex as tests that check for compounds in bison breath and others are as simple - if spendy - as fencing.
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3. Commissioner of Agriculture Lifts Ban on Live Poultry Gatherings [WV]
West Virginia Dept. of Agriculture News Release
November 10, 2015
Charleston, W.Va. - Commissioner of Agriculture Walt Helmick has lifted his order that banned gatherings of live poultry since mid-May.
The ban was initiated in mid-May in the wake of an of avian influenza (AI) outbreak that affected 21 states and 50 million birds. The outbreak eventually became the largest animal health incident in United States history.
Although human health was never at risk, the economic impact of the disease was immense.
"We are still urging all poultry producers to be on high alert for signs of avian influenza in their flocks, whether they have commercial poultry houses or just a small backyard flock," said Commissioner Helmick.
"The WVDA continues to monitor the animal disease situation at the national and international level on a daily basis and this ban could be imposed again at any time," he added.
No new cases of AI have been reported since mid-June when the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) concluded response actions at affected farms. However, experts think wild birds may continuously carry such viruses and the risk for a reappearance in domesticated fowl is a distinct possibility.
Although West Virginia was not among the states affected earlier this year, its most valuable agriculture sector is commercial poultry. The broiler (meat chicken) industry is centered in the Eastern Panhandle, near the Pilgrim's Pride processing plant in Moorefield. The poultry sector also includes meat turkeys and egg production associated with both types of birds.
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4. Collared feral hogs turn traitor to their herds [MI]
By Michael Kransz, Capital News Service
Gladwin County Record & Beaverton Clarion
November 10, 2015
LANSING - Michigan's feral swine problem just got a biblical solution.
Over the past year, a number of feral swine have been collared with radio trackers and released back into the wild for research, said Dwayne Etter, the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) wildlife specialist spearheading the eradication efforts.
But in winter 2016 these swine will unknowingly lead armed parties to their herd's position, earning them the title of "Judas hogs," Etter said.
While the hogs won't earn 30 pieces of silver, they will be left alive for research until the following spring, he said.
Until then, research efforts include recruiting more hogs via collaring and examining the behavior of several preliminary Judas hogs after their herds are killed off and they're left alone, he said.
Outside the research zone of Gladwin, Mecosta, Arenac, Bay, Gratiot, Midland and Roscommon counties, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is trapping and killing feral swine, Etter said.
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5. Senators Urge HHS to Finalize Reporting Requirements on Antibiotics in Livestock
By Associated Press
KTICRadio.com
November 10, 2015
Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.) today urged the Department of Health and Human Services to quickly finalize its rule to collect more data on the sale and distribution of medically-important antibiotics in agriculture, including species- specific data.
The lawmakers expressed their support for the agency`s proposed requirements on species-specific data. The letter said: "We understand that some feed and pharmaceutical industry groups have expressed a view that the agency lacks the authority to collect species-specific estimates on antibiotic sales from drug sponsors. This is wrong; the agency has clear authority to propose this rule. Species-specific estimates of antibiotic sales are well within this authority and clearly support the agency`s public health mission to combat antibiotic-resistant communicable diseases."
[Full text of the letter follows.]
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6. NOTICE: Adding Aquatic Animal Pathogens to National Animal Health Laboratory Network (NAHLN) in Fiscal Year (FY) 2016
USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Bulletin
November 10, 2015
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) Veterinary Services' (VS) Aquatic Animal/Aquaculture Program will request that the NAHLN Coordinating Council consider adding Spring viremia of carp virus (SVCV) to diagnostic tests handled by network laboratories. Currently, SVCV is an APHIS program disease with Federal regulations pertaining to the importation of species susceptible to the virus. SVCV, which is also listed as a notifiable disease by the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), is a pathogen that requires export health testing of susceptible species of fin fish. APHIS has worked with domestic producers of koi (Cyprinus carpio) and goldfish (Carassius auratus) to determine the prevalence of SVCV in the United States following the first outbreak in 2002 on a commercial farm. While SVCV has been found in wild species, surveillance demonstrates that SVCV is exotic to the United States in farmed species. There have been no findings of SVCV in commercially aquacultured species in the United States for over a decade.
The NAHLN is a cooperative effort between APHIS, the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, and the American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians. The network is comprised of laboratories that focus on different diseases and use common testing methods and data standards. Currently, there are two other aquatic animal pathogens that are incorporated into the NAHLN: (1) Infectious salmon anemia virus (ISAV) and (2) Viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSV). Thirteen laboratories have been approved to test for ISAV and VHSV.
VS' Aquatic Animal/Aquaculture Program requests comments from stakeholders for additional aquatic animal pathogens to be added to the network by FY 2017 and beyond. VS also seeks input on prioritizating these additional pathogens. For aquatic animal pathogens to be considered the causative agent, it must be the cause of significant disease in susceptible species and have trade implications, such as export testing requirements or restrictions.
Please send suggestions to VS.SPRS.Feedback@aphis.usda.gov.
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7. Researchers Develop Antibiotic Alternative for Wound Infections [edited]
Source: Washington State University
Infection Control Today
November 10, 2015
Washington State University researchers for the first time have discovered how electrical stimulation works for the treatment of bacterial infections, paving the way for a viable alternative to medicinal antibiotics.
The researchers passed an electric current over a film of bacteria and in 24 hours killed almost all of a multi-drug resistant bacterium that is often present in difficult-to-treat infections. The remaining bacterial population was 1/10,000th of its original size.
The researchers also tested the method on pig tissue, where it killed most of the bacteria and did not damage surrounding tissue.
The research appears in Nature Scientific Reports, an open-access online journal from the publishers of Nature.
The work was led by Sujala T. Sultana, a graduate student in the Voiland School, and included other researchers from the Voiland School, the WSU Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology, the Washington Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory, and WSU's Paul G. Allen School for Global Animal Health.
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