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1. Harrisvaccines receives production platform vaccine licensure first of its kind granted by USDA
National Hog Farmer
March 15, 2016
Merck Animal Health today announced that its recent acquisition, Harrisvaccines, has been granted licensure of its Prescription Product, RNA Particle vaccine platform from the USDA. This first-of-its-kind USDA license approves the company's innovative production platform and allows for the manufacturing of herd-specific, custom vaccines prescribed by a licensed veterinarian.
"This platform license validates a decade of work - and the technology - that has enabled us to respond so quickly to emerging diseases," says Jodi French, Regulatory Affairs, Merck Animal Health. "It also enables our team to provide customized solutions to meet the ever-evolving needs of our customers."
The RP technology platform is used to make vaccines for swine, bovine, equine, avian, companion animal and farmed aquaculture diseases. Pathogens are collected from a farm and specific genes are sequenced and synthetically inserted into the platform creating RNA particles, making safe, potent vaccines able to provide herd-specific protection. This system was instrumental in producing the first conditionally licensed vaccine to help control porcine epidemic diarrhea virus, a deadly virus that has killed more than eight million piglets since suddenly emerging in the United States in 2013. It also was utilized to produce a conditionally licensed vaccine against H5 avian influenza, which was subsequently awarded a USDA Stockpile in October.
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2. Hunt begins for deer, elk with chronic wasting disease near Buffalo River [AR]
By Wes Johnson, News-Leader.com
The Baxter Bulletin
March 14, 2016
Arkansas game officials plan to shoot 300 whitetail deer and possibly a small number of elk near the Buffalo National River this week to test for the presence of chronic wasting disease in the local herds.
Meanwhile, park officials are encouraging hikers and paddlers to wear hunter-orange clothing this week if they'll be in a five-mile-wide capsule-shaped area five miles west of Ponca to five miles east of Pruitt, where the hunt is taking place. Eight teams of hunters armed with .270- and .308-caliber rifles will be targeting deer and elk in that zone through Thursday.
One elk killed by a hunter near Pruitt in October and a whitetail deer found dead near Ponca in February tested positive for CWD, the first time the lethal illness has appeared in Arkansas. Both areas are in northern Newton County.
"Here's the plan," said Jeff Williams, a spokesman for Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. "We want to find the prevalence and distribution of CWD in the deer - how far it has spread and how much of the herd has it. For elk, it's not feasible to kill as many elk (the entire Arkansas elk herd is about 700 animals) so we're asking people if they see an elk with CWD symptoms to let us know and we'll sample that animal."
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3. United States Secures Full Access for U.S. Beef and Beef Products to Peru
USDA Press Release
March 14, 2016
LIMA, Peru - Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman announced today that the U.S. government has reached agreement with the government of Peru to remove barriers for U.S. beef exports to Peru that have remained in effect since 2003, opening one of the fastest growing markets in Latin America to all American beef and beef products. In 2015, the United States exported $25.4 million in beef and beef products to Peru. Since the U.S.-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement (PTPA) entered into force in 2009, U.S. beef and beef products have grown substantially but have been hampered due to burdensome certification requirements installed by Peru in 2003. This agreement, reached today during Secretary Vilsack's trade and investment mission to Peru, removes those barriers - called the export verification program - and assures American ranchers of expanded market access.
"Since 2009, the United States and Peru have enjoyed one of the strongest bilateral trade relationships in the Western Hemisphere, and today it became much stronger," said Vilsack after meeting with officials from the government of Peru. "Since 2003, USDA and USTR have worked diligently to reopen and expand markets once closed to U.S. beef. This is another win in a long line of successes that led to a near-record U.S. beef and beef product exports in 2015. The Obama Administration will continue to work hard around the world to remove unfair barriers and create a more level playing for America's farmers, ranchers, producers and rural communities."
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4. Jerry Torrison named to director of Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory at U of MN
By Laurie Brickley Director of Marketing & Communications College of Veterinary Medicine University of Minnesota
Minnesota Farming Guide
March 15, 2016
Jerry Torrison, DVM Ph.D, has been appointed as the new director of the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM) Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory. Torrison is no stranger to the laboratory, having served as an associate clinical professor and diagnostician from 2004-2011.
Since 2011, Torrison has been a swine veterinarian with the research and nutritional services team at Zinpro Corporation, a manufacturer of organic trace minerals for beef and dairy cattle, swine, poultry, aqua, equine, and companion animals based in Eden Prairie, Minnesota.
He was a swine consultant with Swine Vet Center, PA, in St. Peter, Minnesota, for six years leading up to 2004. He was also employed as health assurance manager with PIC, a swine breeding stock company, from 1994-1998.
Announcing the appointment CVM Dean Trevor Ames said, "Jerry has worked in more than 20 countries and consulted with many food animal production corporations. His ability to identify key opportunities locally and globally, along with his strong relationships with state and national producer organizations, industry partners, and government agencies will be a great benefit to the college."
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5. Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation to fund more than $1 million in projects
By Matt Hegarty
Daily Racing Form
March 15, 2016
The Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation has approved the allocation of $1.16 million in funding for new and ongoing research projects, the group announced on Tuesday.
The funding will go toward 11 new research projects and eight projects that are in their second year of study, the foundation said. In addition, the board of the foundation approved two $15,000 grants to scientists studying equine issues.
The 11 new projects include a study of the latency of equine herpesvirus in horse populations. A strain of equine herpesvirus, EHV-1, has wreaked havoc on racing circuits when the highly contagious disease has been detected at racetracks or training facilities, leading to quarantines and shipping restrictions.
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6. Certifiable ag: High stakes of social responsibility
By John O'Connell, Capital Press
The Daily Astorian
March 15, 2016
Randy MacMillan and the employees at Clear Springs Food are preparing for the latest in a growing list of audits.
The Buhl, Idaho, trout farm is subjected to six annual third-party audits of its environmental impact, food safety practices and how socially responsible it is. The audits, MacMillan said, require mountains of paperwork, and the company must pay fees based on its annual production.
The audits are on top of some 1,300 regulations generated by 30 government agencies that domestic aquaculture operations must meet, said MacMillan, the company's vice president.
But the certifications assure retailers - and their customers - that Clear Springs Food products meet their expectations.
"Most customers don't understand the regulatory system in the U.S.," MacMillan said. "They don't understand the federal Clean Water Act. They don't understand state standards for clean water, so we're at a real disadvantage."
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7. WHO emergency vector control group meets in Geneva
By Lisa Schnirring, News Editor
CIDRAP News
March 14, 2016
As part of the ramp-up in response to Zika virus outbreaks, a 2-day emergency meeting of the World Health Organization's (WHO's) vector control advisory group began in Geneva today with the goal of discussing new tools, given a recent assessment that current tools are having little impact against the Aedes mosquitoes that spread the virus.
Last week at a meeting in Geneva to set research and development priorities on tools to battle the disease in humans, such as vaccines and diagnostic tests, mosquito experts described how traditional approaches such as spraying haven't been able to interrupt dengue transmission, raising concerns that they wouldn't help much in the battle against Zika virus, either, as both pathogens are spread by A aegypti mosquitoes.
In a statement on the meeting, the WHO said the expert group will review existing mosquito control methods as well as the evidence on proposed vector control tools, with an eye toward identifying gaps that might limit their use.
The new tools under discussion include Wolbachia bacteria, transgenic mosquitoes (Oxitec OX513A), sterile insect technique (SIT), vector traps, and attractive toxic sugar baits. At the meeting's conclusion, the group will issue a position statement on existing and new vector control tools for use in response to Zika virus outbreaks.
Brazil's National Biosafety Committee has already approved the release of Oxitec's "self-limiting" mosquitoes, and Oxtitec projects are under way in a few Brazilian locations and have shown promising results, according to an earlier report.
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