USAHA.org


The Nation's Animal Health Forum Since 1897

A service to members of the United States Animal Health Association.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
  
InterstateLivestock.com
Quick, accurate access to state import requirements for livestock.
Double Tree by Hilton, Denver, Colorado


  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
USAHA News Alert Summaries - December 15, 2015 - In this issue:
1. NOTICE: Environmental Impact Statement on Large Livestock Carcasses
2. State vet doesn't anticipate trich outbreak on par with 2005 [SD]
3. Deadly Pig Virus Remains a Mystery - and a Threat
4. Experimental CWD Vaccine Failing Initial Tests
5. Minnesota lab expands in response to bird flu
6. Idaho appeals ruling against "ag-gag law"
7. Worldwide agricultural conference coming to North Dakota
* * * * * * * * * *
 
1. NOTICE: Environmental Impact Statement on Large Livestock Carcasses
USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Bulletin
December 12, 2015
 
 
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is issuing a final environmental impact statement (EIS) for carcass management alternatives that could be implemented during an animal health emergency.
 
Livestock carcasses in large numbers can present a potential environmental risk. The agency must effectively manage carcasses in a mass animal health emergency to reduce potential risks to humans, livestock, and the surrounding environment.
 
In the EIS, the agency evaluated three alternatives, including:
 
*   Taking no action, under which APHIS would manage carcasses in a mass animal health emergency in accordance with the existing regulations in 9 CFR 53.4, using either unlined burial or open-air burning.
 
*   Using standard procedures, which would consider four additional carcass-management options - landfill, rendering, fixed incineration, and composting - in addition to those listed in the no action alternative.
 
*   Adaptive management, chosen as the preferred alternative, which allows for all high-capacity, widely-available carcass management options - including unlined burial, open-air burning, landfill, rendering, incineration, composting, and other nonstandard options - to be considered and potentially used during a mass animal health emergency. This chosen alternative is expected to provide greater flexibility for using the best available resources in such an event.
 
The EIS finds that carcasses resulting from an animal health emergency can be disposed of safely using a variety of available methods. The EIS is not specific to any one animal disease. The findings of the EIS will be used to support animal health emergency planning and decision-making.
 
The final EIS is available at: http://www.aphis.usda.gov/stakeholders/downloads/2015/eis_carcass_management.pdf.
 
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will publish a notice of availability in the Federal Register on Friday, December 18, 2015. APHIS will consider all comments received on or before January 17, 2016 in the Record of Decision. Comments regarding the EIS may be submitted at http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2013-0044 or sent to:
 
USDA APHIS Policy and Program Development
Environmental and Risk Analysis Services
4700 River Road, Unit 149
Riverdale MD 20737
 
 
 
********

2. State vet doesn't anticipate trich outbreak on par with 2005 [SD]
Associated Press
Watertown Public Opinion
December 13, 2015
 
 
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) - South Dakota's state veterinarian says further testing of cattle herds could reveal some more instances of a reproductive disease that causes cows to abort their young, but he doesn't expect an outbreak like one that hit western South Dakota in 2005.
 
The state saw no cases of bovine trichomoniasis - or trich - last year and just one the previous year, but veterinarians recently diagnosed trich in two Oglala Lakota county cattle herds and one herd operating in Corson and Ziebach counties. The disease poses no risk for humans, as it affects only a cow's reproductive system, but its occurrence can quickly cut into a rancher's bottom line, said State Veterinarian Dustin Oedekoven.
 
"This is certainly one of those diseases that can be economically devastating," Oedekoven said.
 
 
 
********

3. Deadly Pig Virus Remains a Mystery - and a Threat
By Amy Mayer
KRCU.org
December 14, 2015
 
 
A fast-spreading virus never before seen in the United States hit the pork industry more than two years ago, racking up roughly $1 billion in losses and spiking prices for consumers.
 
While researchers are still trying to track the culprit, it appears to be an intrepid world traveler that may have been delivered directly to farmers' barn doors, creating an intriguing international back story traced to China.
 
Harvest Public Media spent months examining the outbreak of Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea (PED) and its haphazard, rapid spread across the country. PED doesn't threaten food safety or human health, but it does jeopardize the food supply.
 
What we have pieced together from interviews and public records shows that PED confounded researchers and industry insiders scrambling to contain it. Even so, the U.S. Department of Agriculture stalled for a year on making reporting the disease mandatory, which could have helped in preventing the devastating spread.
 
 
Full text:
 
********

4. Experimental CWD Vaccine Failing Initial Tests
By: Patrick Durkin
OutdoorHub.com
December 14, 2015
 
 
An experimental vaccine for chronic wasting disease actually increased the likelihood of elk to contract CWD by at least three times.
 
Hopes for a vaccine to prevent chronic wasting disease (CWD) suffered a severe blow when Wyoming researchers announced in early November that elk inoculated with an experimental serum were at least three times more likely to contract CWD than unvaccinated elk.
 
The researchers are testing a vaccine developed by the Pan-Provincial Vaccine Enterprise Inc., or PREVENT, at the University of Saskatchewan. The study began about three years ago with 38 elk at the Tom Thorne and Beth Williams Wildlife Research Center north of Laramie, Wyoming.
 
 
Full text:
 
********

5. Minnesota lab expands in response to bird flu
By Carolyn Lange
West Central Tribute
December 14, 2015
 
 
WILLMAR - Ground will be broken next week on an $8.5 million expansion and renovation of the Minnesota poultry testing lab in Willmar.
 
When completed next fall, the new facility will provide a stronger defense against future outbreaks of the avian influenza that resulted in the loss of 9 million birds this year in Minnesota
 
A ground-breaking ceremony for the lab expansion will be held Monday afternoon at the Willmar Community and Activity Center.
 
The existing 3,665-square-foot lab, which is located on North Business Highway 71, was put to the test this year when a massive outbreak of bird flu hit the state's poultry industry.
 
The bird flu was confirmed at 108 sites in Minnesota, including 40 farms in Kandiyohi County.
 
Operated by the Minnesota Board of Animal Health, the 20-year-old lab runs tests on garden variety poultry diseases but it has never been equipped to test for the highly pathogenic H5N2 avian influenza. As a result, during the peak of the bird flu outbreak this summer, couriers drove to the University of Minnesota's diagnostic lab in St. Paul twice a day to get samples tested and some samples were even sent out of state to manage the overload of work.
 
That extra step slowed down the diagnostic process and delayed the response to the bird flu, said Dr. Dale Lauer, who supervises the Willmar lab.
 
 
Full text:
 
********

6. Idaho appeals ruling against "ag-gag law"
The Associated Press
The Salt Lake Tribune
December 12, 2015
 
 
Boise, Idaho -- The state of Idaho has filed an appeal of a federal court's decision to overturn the state's "ag-gag law," which makes it a crime to surreptitiously videotape agriculture operations.
 
Idaho lawmakers passed the law in 2014 after the state's $2.5 billion dairy industry complained that videos of cows being abused at a southern Idaho dairy unfairly hurt their business, according to the Spokesman Review.
 
The Los Angeles-based animal rights group Mercy For Animals released the videos. They showed workers at Bettencourt Dairy beating, stomping and otherwise abusing cows in 2012.
 
A federal court invalidated the law in August, holding that it violated First Amendment.
 
U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill found that the law's "primary purpose is to protect agricultural facility owners by, in effect, suppressing speech critical of animal-agriculture practices." He ruled that evidence indicated the law was "intended to silence animal welfare activists, or other whistleblowers who seek to publish speech critical of the agricultural production industry."
 
It was the first federal court ruling on a so-called "ag-gag" law. Eight states have passed similar laws.
 
 
Full text:
 
********

7. Worldwide agricultural conference coming to North Dakota
Associated Press
KFGO.com
December 14, 2015
 
 
FARGO, N.D. (AP) A worldwide agricultural conference is coming to North Dakota.
 
The 20th annual Agricultural Bioscience International Conference is scheduled Sept. 18-21 in Fargo. About 500 scientists, technologists and industry leaders from more than 65 countries are expected at the event.
 
It will be the first time the conference has been held in the United States.
 
Conference sessions will focus on plant science, animal health, innovation and healthy food.
 
 
Full text:
 
********
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
Quick Links...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
 

 

Order your copy of Foreign Animal Diseases, 7th Edition 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Report news leads to brichey@usaha.org.  
Please add usaha@usaha.ccsend.com  to your Spam filter permissions.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

FOLLOW USAHA on Facebook and Twitter 

 

 

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.