|
* * * * * * * * * *
1. Two more deer confirmed to have chronic wasting disease [MI]
By Will Greenberg
MichiganRadio.com
March 18, 2016
Since May of last year, Michigan has now had seven deer test positive for chronic wasting disease.
The two latest cases come out of Ingham and Clinton Counties. Officials with the Department of Natural Resources have been testing deer across the state, having checked around 4,900 animals so far.
Deer program specialist Chad Stewart said he's not ready to call this an "outbreak" yet, but the findings aren't great.
"It is disheartening that we keep finding more positives because the more we find the more likely that the disease becomes established," he said.
Full text:
********
|
|
2. USDA proposes to eliminate redundant trichinae rules
Source: USDA
National Hog Farmer
March 18, 20016
The USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is announcing a proposed rule that would consolidate and streamline existing regulations for meat and poultry products. The rule would eliminate redundant trichinae control requirements for pork and pork products and consolidate regulations for thermally processed, commercially sterile meat and poultry products. FSIS is seeking comment on this rule. This rule is a supplement to 2001 FSIS proposed rule that proposed to establish food safety performance standards for all ready-to-eat (RTE) and all partially heat-treated meat and poultry products.
Consistent with the 2001 proposed rule, this supplemental proposed rule, if finalized, will remove the provisions for the prescribed treatment of pork products. FSIS' Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) regulations require every federally inspected establishment to identify and control food safety hazards that are reasonably likely to occur, making prescriptive trichinae regulations no longer necessary. Under this proposed rule, establishments will still be required to control for the risk of trichinae and other parasites. FSIS' HACCP regulations require establishments to develop science-based controls for trichinae that are appropriate for the hazards identified for each specific establishment. Compliance with FSIS' HACCP guidelines has proven effective at eliminating trichinae, and the risk for Trichinella infection associated with commercial pork has decreased substantially.
Full text:
*******
|
|
3. Livestock Board quarantines facility following case of equine disease [edited]
New Mexico Livestock Board News Release
March 18, 2016
SUNLAND PARK, N.M. - A private racehorse-training facility in southern New Mexico is under quarantine after a single horse there was confirmed to have a parasitic disease.
The New Mexico Livestock Board imposed the quarantine -- no horses in, no horses out -- at Jovi Training Stables late Friday after one horse there was confirmed to have equine piroplasmosis (EP). EP is a bloodbome disease transmitted by ticks, or mechanically via improperly sanitized syringes and the like. Mild forms of EP can appear as weakness and lack of appetite. More severe signs include fever, anemia, weight loss, swelling of the limbs, and labored breathing. Death may occur in some cases.
"It is important to keep in mind that equine piroplasmosis is nowhere near as transmissible as EHV-1," said Bill Bunce, the executive director of the New Mexico Livestock Board. "Compared to the EHV-1 outbreak, we are looking at a vastly different scenario here."
Because tick-spread diseases are very uncommon in the dry climate of southern New Mexico, Bunce said "the chances are very good that we are looking at an isolated case."
"To ensure the disease is not widespread and to prevent further risk to the racing industry, we will be completing all regulatory testing and surveillance steps," Bunce added. "That's in addition to the quarantine that prevents horses from entering or leaving Jovi -- meaning that during the quarantine period, no horses from Jovi will be admitted at Sunland Park Racetrack."
Full text:
********
|
|
4. Top food companies urge funding to combat antibiotic resistance
By Jacqui Fatka
Feedstuffs
March 18, 2016
Leading food companies such as Wal-Mart, Costco, Cargill, McDonald's, Tyson Foods, Hormel, Cargill and others have written a letter to congressional appropriators urging Congress to build on investments in the fiscal 2017 appropriations legislation that would help combat antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
The companies sought support for the Administration's National Action Plan for Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria through the Food & Drug Administration and at the Department of Agriculture.
In the letter, the groups cited recent reports showing that highly mobile resistance genes are emerging to "last resort" antibiotics like colistin, which raise serious concerns over the future availability of these vital drugs. "Combating this threat and avoiding a world without effective antibiotics will require increased and sustained federal investments in biomedical research, public health infrastructure and surveillance," the letter said.
Full text:
********
|
|
5. Next Generation Antibiotics Could Protect Against Bioterrorism
Penn State University
Laboratory Equipment
March 189, 2016
Compounds that stop a cellular rescue operation for stuck ribosomes may bolster the nation's defenses against biowarfare and bioterrorism, as well as create alternative antibiotics to handle increasingly resistant pathogens, according to a team of researchers.
In a study of macrophages -- white blood cells -- from animals, researchers used two inhibitors -- KKL-10 and KKL-40 -- to stop the proliferation of Franscisella tularensis, bacteria that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control classifies as a tier 1 select agent because the strain is highly infective and easily spread, said Kenneth Keiler, professor of biochemistry and molecular biology, Penn State.
The compounds target ribosomes in the translation phase of the bacteria's genetic process, he added. For bacteria to grow and proliferate, protein-generating ribosomes, like engines rolling down a track, must travel down the messenger RNA (mRNA) to translate additional proteins. However, when the ribosomes become stuck, the bacteria dispatches ribosome rescue factors -- tmRNA, ArfA and ArfB -- to free the ribosome.
Keiler said that KKL-10 and KKL-40 were able to halt this rescue operation in the bacteria without damaging host cells.
********
|
|
6. Canadian grocery stores commit to cage-free eggs
The Canadian Press
Caledon Enterprise
March 18, 2016
TORONTO - A slew of grocery members of the Retail Council of Canada, including Loblaw, Metro, Sobeys, Walmart and others have joined a growing list of merchants saying they plan to offer only cage-free eggs by the end of 2025.
However, the commitment depends on farmers being able to meet the growing demand for eggs from hens not living in cages.
Egg Farmers of Canada, an organization that represents more than 1,000 egg farms, has previously said that wouldn't be a problem as other retailers such as McDonald's, Tim Hortons and Starbucks announced plans for cage-free products.
But with grocery store consumers being the No. 1 buyers of eggs in Canada, it was unclear if that still holds true since the timeline for a complete switch from current practice is 2036, and farmers are proposing enriched cages as well as cage-free alternatives.
Egg Farmers of Canada issued a statement Friday saying it looks forward to discussing the benefits of enriched cages with industry partners.
********
|
|
7. Deadly listeria outbreak linked to raw milk
CBS News
March 18, 2016
Health officials say a deadly outbreak of listeria has been linked to raw milk from an organic farm in Pennsylvania.
The illnesses happened in 2014 but it took investigators until now to determine the cause. Two patients got sick from the bacteria, one in California and one in Florida, and the patient in Florida died.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Friday that the outbreak had been traced to unpasteurized raw milk produced by Miller's Organic Farm in Bird-In-Hand, Pennsylvania.
Full text:
********
|
|
