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1. MDC reports CWD found in Franklin County [MO]
Posted by Joe Jerek
Missouri Department of Conservation
December 3, 2015
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) reports that an adult, male white-tailed deer harvested by a hunter in Franklin County has tested positive for Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD). According to MDC, this is the first case of the deadly deer disease to be found in Franklin County. Since 2012, the disease has also been detected in free-ranging deer from Adair, Cole, and Macon counties.
Chronic Wasting Disease infects only deer and other members of the deer family by causing degeneration of brain tissue, which slowly leads to death. The disease has no vaccine or cure and is 100-percent fatal.
While the Department does not expect short-term population impacts from the disease, research from other states impacted by the disease shows that CWD can have serious long-term consequences to the health of a state's deer herd.
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2. Kansas Lifts Ban on Poultry Exhibitions
Kansas Dept. of Agriculture News Release
December 4, 2015
MANHATTAN, Kan. - The Kansas Department of Agriculture announced on Dec. 4, 2015, that it will be lifting the ban placed on poultry exhibitions and other events where birds are gathered or co-mingled.
The order, signed by Secretary of Agriculture Jackie McClaskey on June 9, 2015, was implemented in an effort to prevent the spread of highly pathogenic H5N2 avian influenza (HPAI) and protect poultry health in Kansas. Kansas experienced a positive case of HPAI in Leavenworth County in 2015. Secretary McClaskey, in consultation with Kansas Animal Health Commissioner Dr. Bill Brown, lifted the ban as a result of no new cases of HPAI in Kansas since March 2015.
While the ban is lifted, Dr. Brown continues to encourage all poultry owners to monitor their flocks and maintain good biosecurity practices. For additional information about HPAI and the response efforts in Kansas, visit http://agriculture.ks.gov/divisions-programs/division-of-animal-health/animal-disease-control-and-traceability/avian-influenza.
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3. USDA Continues to Prepare for Any Possible Findings of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza
USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Bulletin
December 4, 2015
Washington - The United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) continues to prepare for any potential findings of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI). An outbreak of HPAI during spring and summer 2015 was the largest animal health emergency in the country's history. APHIS and its partners worked throughout the fall to put plans in place to address the disease should it reappear.
The United States has the strongest AI surveillance program in the world, and USDA is working with its partners to actively look for the disease in commercial poultry operations, live bird markets and in migratory wild bird populations. As part of the wild bird surveillance effort, APHIS and its wildlife agency partners will be sampling more than 40,000 wild birds between July 1, 2015 and July 1, 2016 - with more than 24,000 samples already tested. Samples are being collected from both hunter-harvested birds and from wild bird mortalities.
As part of these surveillance efforts, Eurasian H5 avian influenza was recently found in genetic material collected from a wild duck, but testing was unable to determine the exact strain of the viruses or whether they were high pathogenic or low pathogenic. This recent finding of Eurasian H5 was in a wild, hunter-harvested mallard duck in Morrow County, Oregon in November. No HPAI has been identified in any commercial or backyard poultry since June 17, 2015.
On November 18, USDA reported to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) that all cases of HPAI in commercial poultry have been resolved and that the US is again free of HPAI.
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4. Profession's economic health coming into focus
Summit elucidates strengths and weaknesses of veterinary markets
By R. Scott Nolen
Posted Dec. 1, 2015
JAVMA News December 15, 2015
Starting veterinary salaries are up, veterinary unemployment is lower than the 5 percent national average, and the debt-to-income ratio for veterinary graduates is holding steady. Overall, the U.S. veterinary profession continues to see economic growth along with the rest of the economy.
The news was delivered this past fall at the AVMA Economic Summit, where findings from recent research paint a picture of a profession whose economic health is improving and for which job satisfaction is generally unrelated to income. Yet the picture is not entirely positive.
"Most people who visit the veterinarian are upper-middle and upper income people, and that's a serious concern because that's only 40 percent of the population," explained Michael Dicks, PhD, director of the AVMA Veterinary Economics Division.
More than a dozen presentations were made at the AVMA summit, held Oct. 21 in Chicago, where results from research conducted in 2015 by the Association and more than 20 outside economists and analysts were highlighted. The findings augment previous research, providing a more thorough understanding of veterinary markets. What's more, the research identified key areas for further investigation.
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5. Study: Excessive veterinary student debt concentrated at certain schools
By Amy R. Connolly
UPI.com
December 3, 2015
WASHINGTON (UPI) -- Veterinary school graduates at 10 U.S. colleges are increasingly facing financial crises as their student loan debts often exceed the total cost of their education, a new study found.
The study, by the American Veterinary Medical Association, found select universities with the lowest in-state tuitions are producing graduates that have the highest debt ratio. Across the United States, the average cost of tuition and fees at the 28 U.S. colleges that have veterinary programs increased by nearly 250 percent in the past 15 years, the study found.
"Having a debt the size of a mortgage can lead to considerable stress and can severely restrict available financial choices, since a large amount of income must be budgeted to service that debt," the study said. "Federal student loan repayment plans are complicated, with income-based repayment plans and loan forgiveness possibly distorting financial incentives."
Among the biggest factors in the amount of student loan debt is geography, the study found. On average, 2015 graduates with in-state tuition and fees paid $103,327 for a four-year education, accumulating $132,560 in student debt. Those who paid out-of-state tuition and fees paid $191,710, accumulating $187,379 in debt.
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6. USDA Announces Preliminary Concurrence with OIE Risk Designations for BSE in 16 Countries
USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Bulletin
December 4, 2015
The United States Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is preliminarily concurring with the World Organization for Animal Health's (OIE) bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) risk designations for 16 countries*. The OIE recognizes these regions as being of negligible risk for BSE. APHIS reviewed the information supporting the OIE's risk designations for these regions and agrees with the OIE designations.
The 16 countries are: Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, France, India, Korea (Republic of), Hungary, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, and Switzerland.
The OIE recommendations regarding each of the above countries can be viewed online.
APHIS considers all countries of the world to fall into in one of three BSE risk categories: negligible risk, controlled risk, or undetermined risk. Any region that is not classified by APHIS as presenting either negligible risk or controlled risk for BSE is considered to present an undetermined risk.
Under the regulations, APHIS may classify a region for BSE in one of two ways. One way is for countries that have not received a risk classification from the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) to request classification by APHIS. The other way is for APHIS to concur with the classification given to a country by the OIE.
This notice is available for 60 days for review and comment. APHIS will consider all comments received on or before February 2, 2016. After reviewing any comments we receive, we will announce our final determination regarding the BSE classification of these countries in the Federal Register.
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7. Solicitation of Veterinary Shortage Situation Nominations for the Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program (VMLRP)
Federal Register Volume 80, Number 234 (Monday, December 7, 2015)
Notices
Pages 75959-75965
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-30717]
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Solicitation of Veterinary Shortage Situation Nominations for the Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program (VMLRP)
AGENCY: National Institute of Food and Agriculture, USDA.
ACTION: Notice and solicitation for nominations.
SUMMARY: The National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) is soliciting nominations of veterinary service shortage situations for the Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program (VMLRP) for fiscal year (FY) 2016, as authorized under the National Veterinary Medical Services Act (NVMSA), 7 U.S.C. 3151a. This notice initiates the nomination period and prescribes the procedures and criteria to be used by State, Insular Area, DC and Federal Lands to nominate veterinary shortage situations. Each year all eligible nominating entities may submit nominations, up to the maximum indicated for each entity in this notice. NIFA is conducting this solicitation of veterinary shortage situation nominations under a previously approved information collection (OMB Control Number 0524-0046).
DATES: Shortage situation nominations, both new and carry over, must be submitted on or before February 10, 2016.
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