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1. Nearly all poultry at Indiana farms with bird flu killed
Associated Press
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
January 20, 2016
INDIANAPOLIS * Animal health officials responding to a bird flu outbreak in southwest Indiana say crews have nearly finished killing more than 400,000 birds ordered euthanized at the 10 affected commercial poultry farms.
Indiana State Board of Animal Health spokeswoman Denise Derrer says about 13,000 turkeys remaining at two farms were expected to be killed Wednesday.
Derrer says the H7N8 virus has not been found in any other flocks since Saturday.
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2. State Ban on Live Poultry Shows and Sales Lifted [NC]
By Joey DeVito
Chapelboro.com
January 20, 2016
For the first time since August, poultry shows, where people could buy and sell live birds, are permitted in North Carolina.
Jennifer Kendrick, spokesperson with the Department of Agriculture said the shows were banned to prevent the spread of the highly pathogenic avian flu.
"Last year in the Midwest 50 million birds either died or were depopulated related to the high pathogenic avian influenza outbreak," she said. "There was a lot of concern over the summer and into the fall when all the birds were up in Canada together that when they came south it would be introduced into North Carolina by the migratory birds."
The ban was lifted because there had not been a case in the United States since June. However last week a case of the highly pathogenic avian flu was discovered in Indiana, which could bode ill for lovers of poultry shows.
"We haven't changed that lifting of the ban," she said. "It's still lifted as of now, but we're waiting to see if it spreads anywhere in Indiana."
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3. Farm Foundation reports on antibiotic workshops
By John Maday, Editor
Bovine Veterinarian
January 20, 2016
Ongoing education will be critical for livestock producers and veterinarians to adapt to upcoming changes in rules governing antibiotic use in animals. That message dominated a new report Farm Foundation presented during a summit this week in Washington, DC.
Over the summer and fall of 2015, Farm Foundation conducted a series of 12 workshops across the country to discuss the FDA's veterinary feed directive (VFD) rules and Guidance for Industry 213. The new VFD rules will require veterinarian oversight for the use of most feed-grade antibiotics, while Guidance 213 removes label claims for animal-performance uses from medically important antibiotics by the end of this year.
The report, titled "Stewardship of Antimicrobial Drug Use in Food-Producing Animals," details the discussions during those meetings and results of surveys Farm Foundation conducted with workshop participants.
Among the 340 participants who responded to the surveys, 25 percent were veterinarians, 19 percent were producers and 18 percent were university educators. Remaining participants included government officials, animal-health suppliers, feed suppliers, animal nutritionists and others.
When asked to rate their awareness of the changes related to Guidance 213 on a 1-to-10 scale, feed suppliers indicated the highest level of awareness with an average score of 6.67. Awareness among veterinarians averaged 6.27, while awareness among producers was lowest at 4.55.
When asked the same question about the VFD rule, feed suppliers rated their awareness at 7.53, veterinarians at 6.55 and producers at 4.5.
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4. FDA Biannual Progress Report on Judicious Use of Antimicrobials in Food-producing Animals
Ctr. for Veterinary Medicine Update
January 20, 2016
This CVM Update is the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's fourth progress report highlighting its recent actions to promote the judicious use of antimicrobials in food-producing animals.
In December 2013, the agency took a significant step forward in addressing antimicrobial resistance by publishing Guidance #213, which calls on animal drug sponsors of approved medically important antimicrobials administered through medicated feed or water to remove from their product labels indications for use related to growth promotion, and to bring the remaining therapeutic uses of these products under the oversight of a veterinarian by the end of December 2016.
All of the affected drug sponsors have committed in writing to making the changes described in the guidance by the end of 2016. The FDA fully expects this process to be completed by this deadline.
There were 293 applications initially affected by Guidance for Industry #213. Some of these sponsors have already started implementing the recommended changes to their affected antimicrobial products: three applications have been converted from over-the-counter to prescription dispensing status; production indications have been withdrawn from one application; and 35 affected applications have been completely withdrawn.
Once these label changes have been made, these products will only be obtainable upon the valid order of a licensed veterinarian.
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5. Morris Animal Foundation awards 16 grants to fund diverse set of equine studies
Source: Morris Animal Foundation (MAF)
January 19, 2016
DENVER (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Morris Animal Foundation, dedicated to improving animal health, has approved funding for 16 new equine research and training grants totaling $1 million. The grants will fund investigators at 13 institutions across the United States, and one each in Switzerland and New Zealand; support 16 university-based studies; and contain three fellowship training grants for new researchers.
The scope of the studies funded covers a diverse set of equine health challenges including infectious diseases, musculoskeletal disorders, respiratory illnesses, and more. Morris Animal Foundation's Equine Scientific Advisory Board reviewed all grant applications and selected, based on scientific merit and impact, the studies that had the greatest potential to advance equine veterinary care and wellness.
Among the grants awarded are:
How equine muscle cells regulate calcium movement, and the role calcium plays in equine muscle disease. (Dr. Stephanie J. Valberg, University of Minnesota/Michigan State University)
How to improve diagnosis and treatment of equine insect bite sensitivity, one of the most common allergic skin diseases in horses. (Dr. Eliane Marti, University of Berne)
Biomechanical forces in different horse gaits as well as genetic risk factors associated with the development of osteochondrosis in Standardbred horses, a breed with a high prevalence of OC lesions. (Dr. Annette M. McCoy, University of Illinois)
How the bacterium Burkholderia mallei that causes glanders, an infectious disease in horses, regulates immune response to persist in infected animals. (Dr. Sophie A. Aschenbroich, University of Georgia)
A new treatment strategy against antibiotic-resistant foal pneumonia. (Dr. Steeve Gigu�re, University of Georgia)
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6. Mead Announces Agreement on Bighorn-Domestic Sheep Management Plan [WY]
Big Horn Radio Network
January 20, 2016
The National Forest Service (NFS) has entered into an agreement with Wyoming for management of bighorn sheep on NFS lands. The agency signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the State last week. Wyoming's plan for management was formalized and has been utilized since 2004.
"This is good news for our sheep producers and good news for wildlife managers. It provides certainty- that grazing on public lands will continue as it has for decades - that the Forest Service and Wyoming will work together to manage in a way that works best for forest health, for industry and for wildlife," said Governor Matt Mead.
The goal of the MOU is to maintain healthy bighorn sheep populations while sustaining an economically viable domestic sheep industry in the state.
"Wyoming's bighorn sheep are doing well. The Game and Fish Department is committed to an effective plan for bighorn and domestic sheep. This MOU accomplishes that," said Scott Talbott, Director of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department.
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7. Sixty Democrats ask Vilsack to delay new hog slaughter rule
By Dan Flynn
Food Safety News
January 20, 2016
Sixty liberal and mostly urban congressional Democrats have weighed in with their opinions about making bacon, telling the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture to further delay expansion of the 20-year old hog Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point-based Inspection Models Project (HIMP) pilot program.
Secretary Tom Vilsack, now President Obama's longest serving cabinet member, already won the right to expand HIMP to all interested poultry plants over vigorous opposition that built up over two decades. The USDA's new poultry rule was upheld by both district and appellate courts.
Vilsack's big win in the courts leaves USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service poised to issue a hog rule to expand HIMP beyond the five currently participating plants. A new hog slaughter rule would bring to an end the long controversial era of the HIMP pilots.
But the 60 Democrats who signed the letter to Vilsack say "its too early to expand this regulatory regime."
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