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1. Shortage of Large-Animal Veterinarians Threatens Health of Arizona Livestock Industry
By Amanda Ames, Cronkite News
Prescott eNews
March 6, 2016
COCHISE - Traditional veterinary medicine for large food animals in rural Arizona has all but vanished, leaving the state's livestock industry increasingly vulnerable to disease and even death.
According to the latest U.S. Department of Agriculture Census, more than 1 million food animals are raised within the state's borders. But there are only 30 USDA-accredited predominantly food animal veterinary practitioners to care for them, 21 of whom reside in a single county. Another nine work across six different counties, leaving eight counties with none.
"It means we are much, much more exposed to a number of exotic pathogens, foot-and-mouth disease for one, which wouldn't just shut down our animal economy, it would shut down all of our [agricultural] production, but it would also shut down all of our tourism," said Dr. Shane Burgess, dean of the College of Agriculture at the University of Arizona.
"I know this because I worked in the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in Great Britain in 2001, and that's exactly what it did," he said.
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2. BOAH and Producers get High Praise for Flu Response [IN]
By Andy Eubank
Hoosier Ag Today
March 7, 2016
Indiana's Board of Animal Health and poultry producers in southwest Indiana are being lauded for their swift action this year during the newest highly pathogenic avian influenza outbreak that was contained within Dubois County. Praise has come in from USDA and also Indiana Governor Mike Pence. He spoke with HAT last week.
"I'm just very proud of the response in being able to resolve the outbreak of high path avian influenza in what may well be record time. It's a testament to a lot of good planning but also a lot of great collaboration. So I'm extremely pleased that we were able to resolve the issue quickly and that we were basically able to lift the quarantine level. My hat's off to Dr. Bret Marsh, the Board of Animal Health, all the local officials and all our great poultry producers who worked in concert with state and federal officials."
Pence said the multi state outbreak in 2015 helped Indiana learn, plan and drill for the next occurrence. The preparation paid off.
"This outbreak in the Hoosier state and the immediacy of our response was greatly facilitated because our team here had done the work and made the plans for this outbreak. Without the strong response by state and local officials, without the strong response of our producers around the entire Dubois County region, this could have been a much more significant event with much greater loss to this vital poultry industry in Indiana. So I think we did learn lessons from last year's outbreak in other states."
Pence was presented a crystal egg by the Indiana poultry industry commemorating the state's quick, effective response. The governor visited BOAH and presented Dr. Marsh and his team that same egg.
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3. TAHC Releases Equine Herpes Virus Quarantine [TX]
Texas Animal Health Commission News Release
March 8, 2016
AUSTIN, TX - Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC) officials have released the premises quarantined for Equine Herpes Virus (EHV-1) in El Paso County. There are no other reported EHV-1 cases in Texas.
The first case of EHV-1 in El Paso County was confirmed on February 18, 2016 in two horses at one premises.
The TAHC reminds equine owners to keep their horses healthy by practicing simple biosecurity measures. Biosecurity is a set of management practices designed to reduce the risk of introduction and transmission of an infectious disease agent, such as EHV-1.
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4. Equine Rabies Reported in Florida
By The Horse Staff
TheHorse.com
March 8, 2016
The Equine Disease Communication Center (EDCC) has reported, and the Florida Department of Health has confirmed, a case of equine rabies in Madison County, Florida. It's the state's first reported equine rabies case of 2016.
According to the EDCC, the premises and one remaining exposed horse with no previous rabies vaccine history have been placed under quarantine.
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5. Nebraskan cases suggest airborne person-to-person transmission of M. bovis
Buss BF, et al. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2016;doi:10.15585/mmwr.mm6508a1.
Gallivan M, et al. Emerg Infect Dis. 2015;doi:10.3201/eid2103.141539.
Helio.com [Infectious Disease News]
March 4, 2016
Contact investigations of two pulmonary tuberculosis cases resulting from Mycobacterium bovis infection suggest multiple instances of potential airborne transmission may have contributed to the bacterium's spread among Nebraskan residents.
M. bovis is a zoonotic pathogen responsible for pulmonary infection in cattle, but also is capable of spreading to deer, humans and other mammals, according to the MMWR study. Human M. bovis and M. tuberculosis are clinically indistinguishable, but require unique regimens due to inherent treatment resistances.
"Human M. bovis disease is typically attributed to consumption of unpasteurized milk (or dairy products made from unpasteurized milk) in or imported from countries with affected cattle herds," the CDC researchers wrote. "Person-to-person airborne transmission of M. bovis has been reported infrequently, with uncertainty remaining about dietary exposures."
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6. National Agricultural Biosecurity Center helps states improve disaster preparedness
By Kansas State University
EurekAlert
March 8, 2016
MANHATTAN -- A tool being developed by the Kansas State University National Agricultural Biosecurity Center will assist agricultural emergency management coordinators in planning efforts to combat animal disease outbreaks and other emergencies.
The tool is a database called ICAAR, which stands for Identifying Corrective Actions from Agricultural Response. The name sounds complex, but the concept is fairly simple: collect information from states about what they learn from emergency preparedness exercises and how to improve future plans, then allow others with a need to know to access it.
Ken Burton, program director at the National Agricultural Biosecurity Center, says emergency planning team members identify responses and corrective actions after every training or event, with trainings and simulations conducted in all 50 states. The problem is that the information isn't readily available.
"After-action reports, historically, are kept fairly close to the vest and not widely shared," Burton said. "The downside is that there can be a lot of reinventing of the wheel -- a state identifies a problem and others aren't aware, so we aren't maximizing benefit from efforts expended."
ICAAR provides a searchable database to serve as a central repository for emergency response managers and planners to learn from others' exercises, challenges, and successes. The project is supported by the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Health Affairs Food, Agriculture and Veterinary Defense Branch, or DHS FAV Defense, through the Food Protection and Defense Institute at the University of Minnesota.
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7. Changes in Leadership for FDA's Foods and Veterinary Medicine Program
FDA Constituent Update
March 8, 2016
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Deputy Commissioner for Foods and Veterinary Medicine Michael Taylor announced today that he is leaving the agency on June 1, 2016. As part of a succession plan that ensures both continuity in the program and strong new leadership for the future, Dr. Stephen Ostroff will become the second Deputy Commissioner for Foods and Veterinary Medicine upon Mr. Taylor's departure. Dr. Ostroff led the FDA as acting commissioner until the recent confirmation of Dr. Robert Califf as FDA commissioner.
Mr. Taylor joined FDA in July 2009 and was named to this position in 2010. Since that time, he has led the implementation of the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act, the most sweeping food safety reform in more than 70 years, and guided nutrition-related initiatives to reduce the risk factors for chronic disease and other adverse diet-related outcomes. He has overseen the move to eliminate the use of certain antibiotics that can contribute to the development of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria. Understanding the importance of dialogue, partnership, and active stakeholder engagement in effecting change, Mr. Taylor has sought to ensure everyone had a place at the table in designing rules and taking actions to protect Americans and contribute to a safer, more wholesome food supply.
A nationally recognized food safety expert, Mr. Taylor has served in numerous high-level positions at FDA, as a research professor in the academic community, and on several National Academy of Sciences expert committees studying food-related issues. He also served as administrator of USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) and acting under secretary for food safety at USDA, where he spearheaded public health-oriented reform of FSIS, guided the development of new safety requirements for meat and poultry products, and addressed the hazard associated with E. coli O157:H7 in beef products.
Mr. Taylor plans to continue working on in the food safety arena, focusing on those settings where people lack regular access to sufficient, nutritious and safe food.
Prior to serving as acting FDA commissioner, Dr. Ostroff was named the agency's chief scientist in 2014, and was responsible for leading and coordinating FDA's cross-cutting scientific and public health efforts. Dr. Ostroff joined FDA in 2013 as chief medical officer in the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition and senior public health advisor to Mr. Taylor. Prior to that, he served as deputy director of the National Center for Infectious Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and as Director of the Bureau of Epidemiology and Acting Physician General at the Pennsylvania Department of Health. He is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania of Medicine and completed residencies in internal medicine at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center and in preventive medicine at CDC.
Dr. Ostroff's expertise in public health and knowledge of food safety, nutrition and veterinary medicine programs will ensure a smooth and seamless transition. Between now and June 1, Mr. Taylor and Dr. Ostroff will work closely together, with FDA Commissioner Califf's strong support, to manage a transition that sustains the program's momentum on the many challenges and opportunities that lie ahead for FDA.
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