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1. Veterinary Dean: Task force wants antibiotic resistance at top of public health agenda
By Darrin Pack, Ag Answers
Bovine Veterinarian
November 11, 2015
A national task force report on the growing problem of antibiotic resistance in animal agriculture highlights the need to make finding solutions a top public health priority, said Willie Reed, dean of the Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine.
Reed serves on the 14-member Task Force on Antibiotic Resistance in Production Agriculture composed of agricultural educators, industry leaders and animal health specialists.
In its report released Oct. 29, the task force recommended that a centralized research organization be created to coordinate public and private efforts to curb antibiotic resistance, which the group says "threatens human, animal and environmental health."
"Our goal is to elevate antibiotic resistance to the top of the national agenda as a public health threat, while leveraging the collective strengths of the nation's educational, professional and policymaking sectors to enhance our knowledge of this biologically complex and poorly understood phenomenon," Reed said.
Reed called antibiotic resistance a worldwide problem.
"Our message is that land-grant universities have the capacity to contribute immensely to solving this problem," he said.
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2. Senators want bird-flu fund changes
By Claire Williams
ArkansasOnline.com
November 10, 2015
As weather cools and waterfowl start to migrate south, Arkansas poultry farmers are looking for financial security in case of another bird flu outbreak.
Both of Arkansas' U.S. senators, along with senators from other poultry-producing states, signed a letter last week asking Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to give some financial support to poultry growers whose flocks have been destroyed by the virus. Currently, only owners receive payments.
Bruce Holland, director of the Arkansas Livestock and Poultry Commission, said a farmer who has to destroy owners' flocks because of a bird flu outbreak loses a good portion of profits for the year and has no guarantee of financial help.
"Those folks are living paycheck to paycheck," Holland said. "If it were to be as widespread in Arkansas as it was in Iowa or Minnesota this year, then it would have a big impact."
The letter asks the U.S. Department of Agriculture to change how indemnity, or financial support, is split up between growers and poultry owners if flocks are destroyed by what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention calls highly pathogenic avian influenza.
Companies that own the birds can decide to split the indemnity with the grower, but they don't have to.
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3. Will There Be a Turkey Shortage This Thanksgiving?
By Megy Karydes, Contributor
Forbes
November 11, 2015
It's the question Keith Williams of the National Turkey Federation gets asked every year: will there be a turkey shortage this year? Will families have to celebrate Thanksgiving without their main dish? Do families have reason to worry since the avian flu hit Midwest turkey farmers?
"There will be plenty of turkey for Thanksgiving," assures Williams. "The growing and marketing of turkey is handled specifically to meet the annual demand at Thanksgiving. Turkey hens - the preferred size for Thanksgiving dinner - were raised and marketed flash-frozen for quality back in March - long before HPAI [Highly pathogenic avian influenza A] struck in the upper Midwest."
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4. Recent E. coli cases highlight foodborne illness problem
CBSNews.com
November 11, 2015
As Chipotle prepares to reopen its restaurants in the Pacific Northwest this week after an E. coli outbreak that sickened about 45 people, health experts say foodborne illnesses are more common than the public realizes.
Forty-three Chipotle restaurants in Washington state and the Portland, Oregon, area have been closed since the end of October. Eleven of those stores were directly connected to the outbreak which sent more than a dozen people to the hospital.
About 48 million cases of foodborne disease occur in the U.S. annually, sending about 105,000 people to the hospital and resulting in 2,000 deaths, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That's about 1 in 7 people in the country getting sick from food every year.
Many of these illnesses involve people eating at home, but even restaurant-related outbreaks are fairly common, said Dr. Paul Cieslak, medical director for communicable diseases at Oregon's state health agency.
"Screw-ups can occur in any kitchen, but obviously it's more dramatic when it occurs in a kitchen that serves 5,000 people," said Cieslak, who has helped investigate the E. coli outbreak that sickened about 40 people in Washington state and Oregon.
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5. Animal welfare group: Undercover video shows inhumane conditions at Minnesota slaughterhouse
By Steve Karnowski, Associated Press
Minneapolis Star Tribune
November 11, 2015
MINNEAPOLIS - The U.S. Department of Agriculture said Wednesday it saw "completely unacceptable" actions depicted on an animal welfare group's undercover video from a Minnesota slaughterhouse that supplies Hormel Foods.
Compassion Over Killing said the video shot last month at a Quality Pork Processors plant in Austin shows workers taking "inhumane shortcuts that lead to extreme suffering" to keep the slaughter lines moving. "If USDA is around they could shut us down," one worker can be heard saying on the video.
Quality Pork Processors said it has already disciplined two employees shown on the video and will take further actions if necessary. Nate Jensen, vice president of human resources and quality services at QPP, said the company was disappointed to see employees who did not appear to follow its policies requiring the humane treatment of animals.
The USDA said will investigate further if it confirms the video's authenticity.
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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.
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