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1. 28 Wisconsin counties receive veterinary services
WisconsinFarmer.com
November 23, 2015
MADISON -- Twenty-eight counties in Wisconsin previously underserved by veterinarians will now get some added help thanks to a federal program administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture.
The Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program (VMLRP) helps provide veterinary services in rural, underserved areas by awarding loan repayment benefits to new veterinarians in exchange for a three year commitment to serve in a shortage area.
"Veterinarians are very important to America's food safety system and to the health of both animals and humans, so we are pleased that four of the five areas that we identified in Wisconsin will benefit from the program," said Dr. Paul McGraw, State Veterinarian for the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP).
One of the leading causes for shortages in veterinary services is the heavy cost of education which leaves graduates with average debt of more than $135,000. To pay this off, graduates opt for jobs in higher population areas where they can receive better salaries. Shortages are more critical in rural areas and in high-priority specialties that require advanced training, such as food safety, epidemiology, diagnostic medicine and public health.
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2. ERS issues report on antibiotic use in livestock
Feedstuffs
November 25, 2015
There is mounting concern that use of antibiotics in livestock will contribute to antimicrobial-resistant pathogens, with repercussions for human and animal health.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service (ERS) has issued a report that explores how limiting antibiotic use for livestock productivity-enhancement purposes may affect farmer practices and profits, as well as market prices and volumes.
The full report, authored by Stacy Sneeringer, James MacDonald, Nigel Key, William D. McBride and Kenneth Mathews, is available at www.ers.usda.gov/media/1950577/err200.pdf.
ERS said the report addresses the following economic issues associated with the use of antibiotics in U.S. livestock agriculture:
* How widely are antibiotics used in livestock production? What is the extent and purpose of use among different species and at different stages of production?
* Are there discernible trends in the use of antibiotics for production and disease prevention by livestock producers?
* How could the current structure of the livestock industry influence the effects of restrictions on antibiotics for production purposes?
* How does the use of antibiotics for production purposes affect production and costs at the animal and farm levels?
* How do the farm-level impacts of limiting production uses of antibiotics affect production and prices in markets?
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3. Natural Supplements for Healthier Turkeys
Posted by Sandra Avant, Public Affairs Specialist, Agricultural Research Service
USDA Blog
November 24, 2015
Let's talk turkey. You're going to hear a lot about food safety as the Thanksgiving holiday approaches, but what you often don't hear about is how U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists are working to make turkey, chicken and other poultry products safer to eat long before they reach your table.
USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists are developing alternatives to antibiotics that can help prevent turkey diseases and reduce bacteria such as Salmonella and Campylobacter-two of the main pathogens in poultry that cause foodborne illness in people.
While we depend on antibiotics to treat bacterial infections in people, it also is necessary to treat these infections in food animals. Through U.S. Food and Drug Administration guidance, USDA works with veterinarians and producers to be more judicious in their antibiotic use in food animals, while keeping them healthy and ensuring that our food supply remains safe. This is especially important because certain bacterial strains have become resistant to some of the current antibiotics used to treat infections in humans and animals, escalating the need worldwide to find and develop alternatives to antibiotics. Other USDA work in this area was covered last week during World Antibiotics Awareness Week.
For example, at the USDA-ARS Poultry Production and Products Safety Research Unit in Fayetteville, Arkansas, scientists are studying the effects of adding natural supplements such as yeast and vitamin D to turkey feed to help keep them healthy and control poultry diseases.
In one study, retired ARS microbiologist Geraldine Huff, physiologist Narayan Rath and their colleagues found that adding yeast extract to feed eaten by turkeys could help protect them against Clostridial dermatitis, a disease that causes lesions and sudden death in male turkeys. They concluded that feeding yeast extract-an inexpensive and widely available feed additive-to turkeys can help in managing the disease and keep turkeys healthy.
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4. Cattle's Best Bet Against Disease: Genomics-Based Research Project Will Deliver Two New Vaccines [Canada]
Marketwired.com
DigitalJournal.com
November 24, 2015
VANCOUVER, BC-- Infectious diseases continue to be a leading cause of sickness and death in livestock and are of concern to human health due to their potential to be transferred to people. Vaccination is the most cost-effective means of preventing infectious disease in animals and humans, but its application to livestock is still limited, and the lack of effective vaccines contributes to the excessive use of antibiotics in animal health.
A new research project funded by Genome British Columbia (Genome BC), Genome Canada and other partners endeavours to use 'reverse vaccinology' to develop vaccines for Johne's disease and bovine tuberculosis in cattle. These diseases result in annual losses of more than $86 million and $10 million, respectively, in Canada and billions annually worldwide.
Reverse Vaccinology Approach for the Prevention of Mycobacterial Disease in Cattle, led by the University of British Columbia's Dr. Bob Hancock and the University of Saskatchewan's Dr. Andrew Potter, is funded for $7.3 million and anticipates the start of field testing for the vaccine within the project's four-year time frame.
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5. Texas A&M receives grant to help implement results of livestock disease research
By Texas A&M University
Bovine Veterinarian
November 25, 2015
Texas A&M AgriLife Research announced that the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences (CVM) and the Institute for Infectious Animal Diseases (IIAD), a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Center of Excellence, have been awarded a $1.2 million contract (under contract number D15PC00280) by the DHS Science and Technology Directorate to develop and implement a nationwide scientific business development and management educational program. The successfully funded proposal is titled "From the Bench to the Shop: Creation and Implementation of a Scientific Business Development and Management Program to Transition High Consequence Livestock Disease Research and Development Technologies for Commercialization."
DHS invited the submission of proposals with innovative approaches to develop training programs for preparing next-generation transboundary animal disease (TAD) scientists to respond against these diseases. Awarded proposals support preparation for the United States National Bio and Agro-defense Facility (NBAF)'s new state-of-the-art biocontainment facility, which will study emerging transboundary animal diseases (TAD) that threaten United States animal agriculture and public health. This new facility will replace DHS's Plum Island Animal Disease Center - the primary facility conducting TAD research in the U.S. - in 2022.
Texas A&M's project will develop a novel training curriculum to equip next generation scientific professionals with the skill sets required to transition research discoveries (for example, vaccines or diagnostics) to the marketplace.
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6. Nation's bioterror defense system not trustworthy, GAO says
Ben Margot, Associated Press
CBS News
November 23, 2015
An investigation by the Government Accountability Office found that the nation's bio-defense system can't be counted on to guard against an attack, CBS News correspondent Jeff Pegues reports.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) "lacks reliable information" about the technical capabilities of the government's current system designed to detect a biological attack, according to a GAO report* released Monday.
[ *See: http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-16-99 ]
"DHS commissioned several tests of the technical performance characteristics of the current BioWatch Gen-2 system, but has not developed performance requirements that would enable it to interpret the test results and draw conclusions about the system's ability to detect attacks," the report said.
Deployed in more than 30 cities, BioWatch is designed to give public health officials a warning of a biological attack before potentially exposed people develop symptoms of illness, a DHS official told CBS News.
However, the GAO investigation cast doubt on DHS' claims that the system can reliably detect catastrophic attacks, saying "decision makers lack a full understanding of the Gen-2 system's capability to detect attacks of defined types and sizes and cannot make informed decisions about the value of proposed upgrades."
The GAO made several recommendations, including urging DHS to refrain from system upgrades until the issues are resolved. A DHS spokesman said the department agreed with GAO's recommendations although it "does not agree with all of GAO's characterizations of our BioWatch efforts."
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7. Second Call for Nominations for the Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board
Federal Register Volume 80, Number 227 (Wednesday, November 25, 2015)
Notices
Pages 73812-73813
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-30019]
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[LLWO260000.L10600000.PC0000.LXSIADVSBD00]
Second Call for Nominations for the Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board
AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
SUMMARY: The purpose of this notice is to solicit public nominations for three positions on the Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board (Board). The Board provides advice concerning the management, protection, and control of wild free-roaming horses and burros on public lands administered by the Department of the Interior through the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and the Department of Agriculture through the U.S. Forest Service. The BLM will accept public nominations for 30 days after the publication of this Notice.
DATES: Nominations must be post marked or submitted to the address listed below no later than December 28, 2015.
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