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1. Infectious disease spread is fueled by international trade [edited]
Arizona State University
EurekAlert
December 22, 2015
Tempe, Ariz - International trade and travel has literally opened up new vistas for humans, ranging from travel to exotic places to enjoying the products and services of those distant lands. But along with international trade and travel comes the risk of spreading infectious diseases, a growing problem in today's global economy, says an Arizona State University researcher.
"The recent Ebola outbreak made us realize that we are all just a plane ride away from exposure to emerging infectious diseases," says Charles Perrings, an ASU professor of environmental economics. Perrings recently published the paper, "Options for Managing the Infectious Animal and Plant Disease Risks of International Trade," in the early online version of the journal Food Security.
In the paper, Perrings describes the growth of international trade since the 1950s and the increasingly tight coupling of developed and developing economies. The paper considers how the global community currently deals with trade-related infectious disease risks of animals and plants, and asks how the system could be made more effective.
An example of the impact of an infectious disease came in 2001 in the UK when an outbreak of hoof and mouth disease cost some $10 billion and more than 2 million sheep and cattle had to be destroyed, Perrings said. More recently, African swine fever--a much more serious disease of pigs--has been spread in the Caucasus region through trade in pork, pork product or through waste in trade vehicles.
"The more trade grows as a proportion of global production, the more likely it is that diseases will be spread through trade, and the higher the economic cost of resulting trade bans," Perrings said. "What is at risk is the food we eat, the fibers we wear and build with, and the fuels we burn."
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2. Seventh Racehorse Safety, Welfare Summit Scheduled
By Edited Press Release
TheHorse.com
December 22, 2015
The Jockey Club and Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation have announced that the seventh Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit will be held June 28, 2016, in the Keeneland Sales Pavilion, in Lexington, Kentucky.
The summit, which brings together a cross-section of the breeding, racing and veterinary communities, again will be underwritten and coordinated by The Jockey Club and Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation and hosted by the Keeneland Association.
The first summit was held in October 2006. Subsequent editions were held in March 2008, June 2010, October 2012, July 2014, and July 2015. Summits will continue to be held annually.
"This year we plan to bring back the summit committee meetings the day after the summit as we have in the past with the first few editions," said Edward L. Bowen, president of the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation. "This will help keep ideas fresh and keep committee members focused on initiatives to improve the welfare and safety of our equine and human athletes."
The summit will be open to the public and a live webcast will also be available. A formal agenda and a list of speakers will be announced at a later date.
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3. Congress Urged to Act on Anti-Horse Soring Legislation in Early 2016
HSUS News
December 22, 2015
PAST Act Has Nearly 300 Cosponsors in the House and Senate and Hundreds of Endorsements from Leading Equine, Veterinary and Law Enforcement Organizations
A federal bill to protect Tennessee walking horses from the cruel practice known as "soring" reached two congressional milestones by far surpassing 218 cosponsors in the House (at 240 and counting) and by earning its 50th cosponsor in the U.S. Senate: Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kansas, chairman of the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Committee. Between them, the House and Senate versions of the Prevent All Soring Tactics (PAST) Act, H.R. 3268 and S. 1121, have 290 cosponsors from 42 states across the country. In addition to strong bipartisan cosponsorship of a majority in each chamber, the PAST Act also enjoys broad support from a coalition of the nation's leading horse industry, veterinary, law enforcement and animal protection groups.
Competing bills, backed by the Big Lick segment of the Tennessee Walking horse industry have been introduced by Rep. Scott DesJarlais, R-4th/Tenn., and Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and between them have only 11 cosponsors. Their bills offer the guise of reform but would actually allow abusive trainers in the "Big Lick" sector of the walking horse industry to continue soring horses with chemicals and pain-inducing devices and would further weaken current enforcement efforts by handing off power to the perpetrators.
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4. More E. coli cases linked to Chipotle; may be a different outbreak
By CNN Wire
KWGN.com
December 22, 2015
DENVER - The CDC is investigating five new cases of a rare strain of E. coli linked to Chipotle Mexican Grill, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday.
Three of the ill individuals ate at a location in Oklahoma and two ate at a Kansas location. Their symptoms began between November 18 and November 26 and all the individuals had consumed food from Chipotle within a week of becoming ill.
These five cases have a different DNA fingerprint than the rare strain of E. coli identified in the outbreak linked to the same restaurant chain that has caused 53 cases or illness in nine states since October. The CDC reported the latest of these cases on Monday, an individual from Pennsylvania who became ill in early November. The strain is shiga toxin-producing E. coli O26, or STEC O26.
The CDC would not say how likely or unlikely it is that all the cases with both DNA fingerprints are linked but said it is performing tests to make that determination and hopes to know in a few weeks. There have been multistate outbreaks of foodborne illness involving multiple DNA fingerprints in the past, according to Dr. Ian Williams, chief of the CDC's Outbreak Response & Prevention Branch. He added, "These recent cases occurred several weeks after the last cases in the larger outbreak and in a different geographic location. This may suggest they do not share a common source, but the investigation is ongoing."
Chipotle is working with the CDC, FDA, and state health officials to investigate. No single food item has been identified as a source of illness.
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5. Stroking helps calves develop a better relationship with humans and increases weight gain
Source: University of Veterinary Medicine -- Vienna
Science Codex
December 22, 2015
In conventional dairy farming, calves are separated from their mothers on the day of their birth. They are then usually kept in single pens for a period of time before being housed in groups. The animals can only develop a good relationship with humans if their caretakers have regular and gentle interactions with them.
First author Stephanie L�rzel and her colleagues from the Institute of Animal Husbandry and Animal Welfare at the Vetmeduni Vienna studied 104 Holstein calves at a commercial dairy farm in eastern Germany. Around half of the animals were stroked three minutes a day for a period of 14 days after their birth, whereas the other half was not.
L�rzel and master's student Charlotte M�nsch stroked the calves on the lower part of the neck. "In earlier studies our team found out that cows especially enjoy being stroked at this spot. The animals' heart rates even fall during stroking," says L�rzel.
About 90 days after their birth, stroked calves weighed more than the control group. The gentle contact with humans therefore appears to have a direct influence on the animals' weight gain. "A study from the year 2013 shows that cows that gained weight more quickly before weaning produce more milk. The daily weight gain of the stroked calves in our study was about 3 percent higher than that of the control group. This would translate into around 50 kg more milk per cow per year," L�rzel explains.
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6. New Animal Drugs for Use in Animal Feeds; Bacitracin Methylenedisalicylate
Federal Register Volume 80, Number 245 (Tuesday, December 22, 2015)
Rules and Regulations
Pages 79474-79476
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-32000]
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Food and Drug Administration
21 CFR Part 558
Docket No. FDA-2015-N-0002
New Animal Drugs for Use in Animal Feeds; Bacitracin Methylenedisalicylate
AGENCY: Food and Drug Administration, HHS.
ACTION: Final rule.
SUMMARY: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is amending the animal drug regulations to reflect approval of a supplemental new animal drug application (NADA) filed by Pharmgate LLC for the use of a Type A medicated article containing bacitracin methylenedisalicylate to manufacture Type B and Type C medicated feeds for chickens, turkeys, pheasants, quail, and feedlot cattle. This supplemental approval
reflects FDA's effectiveness conclusions that relied on the National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council Drug Efficacy Study Group's evaluation of the effectiveness of this drug as well
indications for use not subject to this review.
DATES: This rule is effective December 22, 2015.
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