|
* * * * * * * * * *
1. Bird flu could come back, ag chief warns
By Christopher Doering
Des Moines Register
December 29, 2015
WASHINGTON - The deadly bird flu virus that devastated Iowa's poultry industry last spring and sent egg prices soaring could reappear, even though no new cases have been detected for months, according to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.
"It can happen at any time," Vilsack said in a recent interview. "There obviously are times when (the risk) is higher and lower, but I think the testing and the vigilance has to be ongoing."
It's been more than six months since the last case of avian influenza was found in a commercial flock - in Iowa's Wright County in June.
But Vilsack said there are concerns that the arrival of spring - when birds begin flying north - likely will present the greatest risk for recurrence.
"Every day that goes by (without a bird flu finding) is a good day," the former Iowa governor said.
********
|
|
2. EHV-1 claims 4th horse at Pa. farm, 2 more reported ill
By Lillian Shupe
NJ.com
December 31, 2015
A fourth horse has been euthanized after developing neurological symptoms as the result of EHV-1 infection.
The private stable in Bucks County, Pa. was placed under quarantine on Dec. 23 after three horses were put down after becoming ill. Tests showed EHV-1 was to blame.
According to a memo sent out by the New Jersey Department of Agriculture: One of the deceased horses attended a show in New Jersey on Dec. 12 and became ill 10 days later. As of Dec. 28 there were no known cases in New Jersey.
The New Jersey Department of Agriculture is in contact with the exposed farm and is monitoring for any signs of the disease. Pennsylvania has notified area veterinarians and health departments.
The farm will be quarantined for 21 days after the last sign of illness in any horse.
On Dec. 31 Blauner, Vecchione, Buchholz and Associates, the veterinarians treating the ill horses posted on its Facebook page that another horse was eauthanized and two more were showing neurological impairment.
********
|
|
3. FDA Withdraws Approval of Arsenic in Animal Feed
By Linda Larsen
Food Poisoning Bulletin
December 31, 2015
The FDA has announced it has withdrawn approval of all applications for nitarsone (an arsenic-based drug) in animal feed as of December 31, 2015. There are now no FDA-approved, arsenic-based drugs for use in food producing animals.
RoosterLast April, the FDA announced it received a letter of commitment from Zoetis Animal Health that the company will suspend sales of Histostat, the commercial name for nitarsone. This was the only arsenic-based animal drug used in food animals. It is used for the prevention of disease in turkeys and chickens. Studies have found that organic arsenic, the less toxic form of the chemical used in these drugs, can transform into inorganic arsenic, which is a known carcinogen.
Full text:
********
|
|
4. Respiratory Disease Detected in Black Mountains Bighorn Sheep [AZ]
Posted by Justin Stakes
AmmoLand.com
December 31, 2015
Phoenix, AZ - The Arizona Game and Fish Department has confirmed a disease event affecting a portion of the bighorn sheep population in the Black Mountains of northwest Arizona.
After receiving reports in early December from hunters who observed bighorn sheep in Game Management Unit 15D exhibiting coughing or nasal discharge, the department conducted a spot survey of the northern portion of the unit on Dec. 9. Tissue samples from three ewes, each animal culled from a different herd, showed characteristics consistent with pneumonia.
The survey then was extended into the central and southern portions of the unit. A few bighorn sheep near Mount Nutt and Battleship were observed coughing, but none of the animals was culled. The survey did not reveal any carcasses. All bighorn sheep observed in the survey appeared in good body condition. Some animals in Unit 15C also have shown signs of pneumonia.
While bighorn sheep can thrive in some of the harshest environments, they are highly susceptible to serious - and sometimes lethal - infectious diseases, such as pneumonia, sinusitis, and bluetongue. Bighorn sheep can contract pneumonia-causing bacteria from domestic sheep or other bighorn sheep, and there is no vaccine or cure.
********
|
|
5. Texas Goliath impact will bring total to 40,000 lost Southwest dairy cattle
By Lucas Sjostrom
Bovine Veterinarian
December 31, 2015
"Keep 'em in your prayers," asked Darren Turley, executive director of the Texas Association of Dairymen on Thursday. He was referring to the Southwest dairies suffering from Winter Storm Goliath.
Four days after what is possibly the worst storm on record for cattle in the area, operations are returning to normal. The storm rolled into the Clovis, N.M., and Lubbock, Texas, region Saturday evening and was gone by Monday morning.
But the 22" inches of snow paired with wind gusts, some reaching over 60 miles per hour, was too much for many cattle. It also proved impossible for some dairies to continue operating at the time. The uncharacteristic weather was to the extreme for the High Plains region.
********
|
|
6. 2015 Vesicular Stomatitis Virus (VSV) Situation Report
USDA APHIS
December 18, 2015
Information current as of 2 PM MDT, 12/18/2015.
Critical New Information:
On December 18, 2015, the National Veterinary Services Laboratories on Plum Island, New York, confirmed a finding of vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) infection (New Jersey serotype) on a bovine premises in Johnson County, Texas. One cow on the premises has met the case definition of infection with compatible clinical signs and positive complement fixation antibody titer. This is a return to positive state status for Texas and a new affected county in the state.
In addition to the new positive premises in Texas, five (5) new VSV-confirmed (New Jersey serotype) and/or suspect premises have been identified and quarantined in Colorado since the last situation report (12/9/15).
Since the start of the outbreak, eight hundred nineteen (819) VSV-affected premises (New Jersey serotype) have been identified and quarantined in 8 states (Arizona, Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming).
Currently, there are thirteen (13) affected premises remaining under VSV quarantine in 3 states (Colorado, Nebraska, and Texas).
As of December 2, 2015, all VSV-affected premises were released from quarantine in Wyoming.
Full text:
********
|
|
7. Wyoming Law Criminalizing Collecting Information about Food Safety and Animal Abuse is Likely Unconstitutional
AllGov.com
January 3, 2016
A federal judge has signaled to Wyoming that its laws criminalizing efforts to expose animal abuse and food safety violations may be unconstitutional.
In response to a lawsuit filed against the "ag-gag" statutes of 2015, U.S. District Judge Scott Skavdahl said this week that the restrictions on data collecting and disseminating may be "a fa�ade for content or viewpoint discrimination," according to Courthouse News Service. "The court has serious concerns and questions as to the constitutionality of various provisions of these trespass statutes," Skavdahl wrote.
The laws in question created criminal and civil penalties for anyone who gathers information about or takes photographs of land or resources and turns it over to government agencies. Violators can get a year in prison and a $1,000 fine for a first offense.
Conservationists, animal advocates, academics and the media responded to the new laws by suing in federal court, alleging they violated the First Amendment and the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
The plaintiffs (Western Watersheds Project, the National Press Photographers Association, Natural Resources Defense Council, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and the Center for Food Safety) said the laws prevent them from collecting information about animal abuse on farms and ranches and about food safety.
********
|
|
