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1. Small amount of feed likely cause of Alberta mad cow disease case: CFIA
John Cotter, The Canadian Press
CTVNews.ca
November 30, 2015
EDMONTON -- Canada's food safety watchdog says a small amount of leftover contaminated feed was the most plausible cause of a case of mad cow disease discovered last February on a farm near Edmonton.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency say no part of the Black Angus beef cow entered the human food or animal feed systems.
The agency says no significant events could be linked to this case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).
The February case -- the 19th in Canada -- prompted a few countries to place temporary restrictions on Canadian beef imports.
A report on the investigation says the Angus cow was born at a nearby farm almost two years after Canada brought in more strict controls on animal feed to prevent BSE.
It says a previous case of BSE was diagnosed on the same birth farm from an animal born in 2004.
"No significant events could be linked with this case but the potential for the carry-over of a small amount of residual contaminated feed could not be discounted," reads the CFIA report released Monday.
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2. Managers consider fighting wasting disease with feeding cutback [WY]
By Mike Koshmrl, Jackson Hole Daily
Jackson Hole News & Guide
November 30, 2015
Wyoming wildlife managers will consider ending some elk feeding as they plan for the arrival of chronic wasting disease at feedgrounds where elk congregate in winter.
Phasing out certain feedgrounds is one of many steps included in a new draft document the Wyoming Game and Fish Department has prepared in anticipation of CWD cresting the Continental Divide and infecting animals that seasonally gather in close quarters at northwestern Wyoming's 23 feedgrounds. A plan for the fatal neurological disease - updated for the first time in nine years - also calls for researching migration corridors to feedgrounds, studying and managing how hay spreads CWD and considering the disease when setting herd sizes and population targets at feedgrounds.
Still in draft form and open to public comment, the plan directs Game and Fish managers to "determine if closures of specific feedgrounds can occur where dispersal of elk will not cause damage/conflict/co-mingling issues with private property, stored crops and domestic livestock or create a need to drastically reduce overall elk herd sizes.
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3. Open Season Is Seen in Gene Editing of Animals
By Amy Harmon
The New York Times
November 26, 2015
SIOUX CENTER, Iowa - Other than the few small luxuries afforded them, like private access to a large patch of grass, there was nothing to mark the two hornless dairy calves born last spring at a breeding facility here as early specimens in a new era of humanity's dominion over nature.
But unlike a vast majority of their dairy brethren, these calves, both bulls, will never sprout horns. That means they will not need to undergo dehorning, routinely performed by farmers to prevent injuries and a procedure that the American Veterinary Medical Association says is "considered to be quite painful."
Instead, when the calves were both just a single cell in a petri dish, scientists at a start-up company called Recombinetics used the headline-grabbing new tools of gene editing to swap out the smidgen of genetic code that makes dairy cattle have horns for the one that makes Angus beef cattle have none. And the tweak, copied into all of their cells through the normal machinery of DNA replication, will also be passed on to subsequent generations.
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4. USDA Catfish Inspection to Begin in March 2016
TheFishSite.com
November 26, 2015
US - The USDA has released a final rule establishing an inspection program for catfish, both domestically-raised and imported, which will become effective in March 2016.
The rule has been developed in order to implement provisions required by the 2014 Farm Bill
"The USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service is committed to a smooth and gradual introduction to the new inspection program, which was mandated by the 2014 Farm Bill," said Al Almanza, USDA Deputy Under Secretary for Food Safety.
"The agency will conduct extensive outreach to domestic industry and international partners so that they fully understand FSIS' requirements prior to full implementation."
The March 2016 effective date of the rule begins an 18-month transitional implementation period for both domestic and international producers.
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5. Minnesota researchers work to prevent bird flu outbreak
By Lorna Benson, MPR News Today
AgWeek.com
November 30, 2015
WILLMAR, Minn. - The bird flu strain that killed more than 9 million Minnesota turkeys and chickens this past spring behaved like no other and fooled the industry into making some mistakes. It was a devastating season.
Now, with the industry mostly recovered, researchers are working to make sure the virus won't outmaneuver them again.
That work starts at the University of Minnesota Avian Research Center's labs in Willmar, where samples from a turkey barn are being processed behind a protective glass hood. An assistant scientist wearing a blue lab coat reaches underneath the hood and squirts liquid on a soiled cloth swab.
Jeannette Munoz is handling a potentially infectious material, so lab visitors are warned to keep their distance.
Munoz takes the swab, adds an activating chemical and then sheds a little of the "juice" from the swab into a test tube. The "juice" is essentially the scummy fluid that sticks to the bottom of a turkey drinking trough.
A few years ago, the center's director, Dr. Carol Cardona, discovered that this bird backwash can harbor respiratory viruses in a flock.
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6. NMSU studies use of horses in psychotherapy
By Jane Moorman, for the Sun-News
Las Cruces Sun-News
November 29, 2015
ALBUQUERQUE - Equine-assisted psychotherapy is known to help people address mental and behavioral health issues, but there remains little evidence-based research to prove it.
New Mexico State University School of Social Work Associate Professor Wanda Whittlesey-Jerome is dedicating her academic career to establishing and promoting scientific standards for gathering such information.
"Horses are prey animals, so they are constantly scanning their environments," Whittlesey-Jerome said. "When we enter the arena, they sense if we are calm and balanced - or troubled and on-edge - and react accordingly.
"When they meet us on their own terms, horses become mirrors," she added. "They react to our inner feelings that we may not show outwardly. They teach us so much about ourselves and can give us insight into what it means to be human."
Whittlesey-Jerome has conducted several studies with at-risk charter high school students and adult female survivors of interpersonal violence. The findings indicate the Equine Assisted Growth and Learning Association's equine-assisted psychotherapy model has had positive impacts on resilience, general self-efficacy, depression, anxiety and global functioning among human participants.
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7. FDA Issues Draft Guidance on Veterinary Feed Directive Common Format
FDA News Release
November 30, 2015
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued draft guidance for industry (GFI #233) entitled, "Veterinary Feed Directive Common Format Questions and Answers" to provide animal drug sponsors who are seeking approval for use of their drug in or on animal feed as a veterinary feed directive (VFD) drug with a recommended common format for a fillable form -- called a VFD -- that can later be used by veterinarians to authorize the use of the sponsor's drug in feed.
The draft guidance describes the requirements for sponsor submission of a VFD to FDA as part of the application process for approval of a new animal drug for use in or on animal feed as a VFD drug, as well as the required and optional information to be included on the VFD. The draft guidance also provides examples that illustrate how a common VFD format might appear and how some of the information on the VFD may be pre-populated by a sponsor. By recommending a common format, the draft guidance is expected to help veterinarians, distributors (including feed mills), and animal producers quickly identify relevant information on a VFD order. A common format is also expected to reduce the risk of a veterinarian making an error or leaving out required information when filling in the form.
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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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