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1. Sunland Park continues to battle equine herpesvirus
By Matt Hegarty
Daily Racing Form
February 9, 2016
The number of horses testing positive for the equine herpesvirus at Sunland Park in New Mexico continues to climb, but Turf Paradise in Arizona has announced that it plans to lift its quarantine at the end of next week after reporting to health officials that no horses there have exhibited symptoms of the disease since a horse was euthanized nearly two weeks ago.
The Equine Disease Communications Center said on Monday that 56 horses at Sunland Park have now tested positive for equine herpesvirus, a highly contagious disease that can sometimes prove fatal. The center had reported on Saturday that 51 horses had tested positive at Sunland, which has ceased racing as it tries to get the disease under control.
Sunland Park has not raced since Jan. 22, after the first batch of horses began testing positive at the track. The EDCC said on Monday that the virus is affecting 20 barns at the track. The track's biggest race is the $800,000 Sunland Park Derby, scheduled for March 20.
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2. Study: Medium chain fatty acids protect pigs from PEDv
By Pat Melgares, Kansas State University
PorkNetwork.com
February 9, 2016
Fatty acids, well known to have a positive effect on human nutrition, may also one day help to protect pigs from a deadly virus.
Kansas State University researchers have proven that when swine feed contains medium chain fatty acids - a category of fatty acids known for being easily absorbed by a human body - those pigs will be able to fend off the porcine epidemic diarrhea virus, or PEDV, which claimed an estimated 8 million pigs in 2014.
Their research, however, is far from done as they try to figure out how to use the medium chain fatty acids at low enough levels to keep producers' feed costs down.
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3. Stockgrowers call for EIS on Yellowstone bison plan [MT]
By Gazette Staff
Billings Gazette
February 9, 2016
The Montana Stockgrowers Association is requesting that Yellowstone National Park complete a full environmental impact statement before developing a bison quarantine facility on the Fort Peck Reservation.
The livestock group said in a press release that Yellowstone's environmental assessment does not include "factual cost estimates, scientific rigor or adequate disease testing. It fails to include the costs that would be associated with the facility, the capacity of the facility or where funding would come from. These financial implications should be studied further to determine feasibility."
The stockgrowers are concerned that brucellosis carried by Yellowstone bison is still a threat to cattle producers in Montana. "The EA only requires the recipient of the bison to test them within 30 days of arriving at the facility. Following the initial test, it is only recommended the animals be tested every 30-45 days. A previous quarantine study has shown that 17 percent of the animals that initially tested negative for brucellosis converted to positive. This lack of required disease testing could prove problematic as it puts Montana at risk for a spread of brucellosis, which is currently confined to the Greater Yellowstone Area," the press release stated.
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4. Tick genome reveals secrets of a successful bloodsucker
Source: NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
Science Codex
February 9, 2016
With tenacity befitting their subject, an international team of nearly 100 researchers toiled for a decade and overcame tough technical challenges to decipher the genome of the blacklegged tick (Ixodes scapularis).
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, contributed primary support to the research, which appears in the online, open-access journal Nature Communications.
"Ticks spread more different kinds of infectious microbes to people and animals than any other arthropod group," said NIAID Director Anthony S. Fauci, M.D. "The spiral-shaped bacterium that causes Lyme disease is perhaps the best known microbe transmitted by ticks; however, ticks also transmit infectious agents that cause human babesiosis, anaplasmosis, tick-borne encephalitis and other diseases. The newly assembled genome provides insight into what makes ticks such effective disease vectors and may generate new ways to lessen their impact on human and animal health."
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5. DHS S&T Announces Winners of National Bio and Agro-Defense Think-and-Do Challenge
By: Homeland Security Today Staff
Homeland Security Today
February 8, 2016
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) has announced the winners of the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF) Think-and-Do Challenge. The two winners, the Manhattan Area Technical College (MATC) and DynaSim Technical Services, Inc., both located in Manhattan, Kan. have developed ideas that will substantively support operations for the NBAF.
When completed and fully operational in 2022, the $1.25 billion NBAF will be a 570,000 sq.ft, biocontainment facility for the study of foreign animal and emerging zoonotic (transmitted from animals to humans) diseases that threaten animal agriculture and public health in the United States.
"The NBAF will be America's go-to resource for truly innovative animal health research, and will provide huge advances in diagnostic capabilities, vaccines, and other countermeasures that protect America's livestock, food supply and economy, thus enhancing our overall security posture," said DHS Under Secretary for Science and Technology, Dr. Reginald Brothers. "The Think-and-Do Challenge was a unique opportunity to develop meaningful partnerships that will enhance the capabilities that the NBAF will provide once fully operational."
As winners of the Think-and-Do Challenge, MATC will be awarded $53,106 to develop a training and assessment program aimed at reducing the biohazard risks in the NBAF; and DynaSim Technical Services, Inc. will be awarded $39,200 to construct a data management system that will enable research collaboration between the NBAF, its partners, and research teams.
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6. First dairy MOOC, offered by Penn State, drawing international attention
Penn State News
February 9, 2016
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences has a long history of helping to fulfill the University's land-grant mission by providing educational outreach to dairy farmers and other producers in Pennsylvania and beyond. Now, utilizing the latest educational technology and methods, the college is poised to offer "Dairy Production and Management," the world's first dairy-related "massive, open online course" (or MOOC to the tech savvy).
Already, 5,000 people in 157 countries have signed up to take the eight-week course, which will launch March 7. Dairy participants in Africa, Asia, Australia-Indonesia, Europe, South America and North America will participate. They will be offered a broad and comprehensive rundown of all aspects of dairy management, such as genetics, nutrition, reproduction, animal health, farm economics and sustainability of dairy production systems.
Faculty in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences, representing the departments of Animal Science, Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, Plant Science, and Agricultural Economics, Sociology and Education, will present lessons in dairy genetics (one week); forage, production and pasture management (one week); dairy nutrition (two weeks); dairy reproduction (one week); metabolic disorders and herd health (one week); milk quality and milk hygiene (half week); dairy farm management and economics (one week); and dairy production and the environment (half week).
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