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1. Sheep organization president worries about new FDA rules
By Matthew Weaver
Capital Press
March 25, 2016
The federal Food and Drug Administration's new rules for antibiotics will leave sheep producers without a key drug used to prevent abortions in their animals, the president of the Washington State Sheep Producers says.
Sheep producers typically feed chloratetracycline to prevent abortions in ewes before lambing, said Jill Swannack, president of the sheep producers organization and a veterinarian and rancher in Lamont, Wash.
Sheep producers now can go to feed stores to buy the product and mix it into rations. But the new rule, effective Jan. 1, 2017, says users of antibiotics in livestock feed or water have to follow label directions. The drug is labeled only for cattle use.
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2. Arkansas Game and Fish looking to change hunting regulations because of CWD [edited]
By Stacey Spivey
KATV.com
March 24, 2016
The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission confirms there are now 22 elk and deer that tested positive for chronic wasting disease. After the first case of CWD was confirmed in February, near Jasper, Game and Fish began a sampling project around that area.
They've sampled 280 deer and elk, and never expected this outcome.
"It was inevitable that CWD would get to Arkansas, but we did not expect it to get to Arkansas this soon," Randy Zellers, assistant chief of communications with Game and Fish, said.
Game and Fish officials have been sampling almost 300 deer and elk in Newton and Boone Counties to see how prevalent chronic wasting disease is in the Natural State.
"We did not expect at all to see this many come back positive," Zellers said. He told Channel 7, out of 49 sampled in the first batch, 19 tested positive.
This devastation has causing Game and Fish to consider changing hunting regulations, like thinning herds and requiring check-in sampling locations.
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3. Antemortem Detection of Chronic Wasting Disease Prions in Nasal Brush Collections and Rectal Biopsy Specimens from White-Tailed Deer by Real-Time Quaking-Induced Conversion
By Nicholas J. Haleya, Chris Siepkera, W. David Walterb, Bruce V. Thomsenc, Justin J. Greenleed, et al.
Journal of Clinical Microbiology
April 2016 vol. 54 no. 4 pp 1108-1116
ABSTRACT
Chronic wasting disease (CWD), a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy of cervids, was first documented nearly 50 years ago in Colorado and Wyoming and has since spread to cervids in 23 states, two Canadian provinces, and the Republic of Korea. The expansion of this disease makes the development of sensitive diagnostic assays and antemortem sampling techniques crucial for the mitigation of its spread; this is especially true in cases of relocation/reintroduction of farmed or free-ranging deer and elk or surveillance studies of private or protected herds, where depopulation is contraindicated. This study sought to evaluate the sensitivity of the real-time quaking-induced conversion (RT-QuIC) assay by using recto-anal mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (RAMALT) biopsy specimens and nasal brush samples collected antemortem from farmed white-tailed deer (n = 409). Antemortem findings were then compared to results from ante- and postmortem samples (RAMALT, brainstem, and medial retropharyngeal lymph nodes) evaluated by using the current gold standard in vitro assay, immunohistochemistry (IHC) analysis. We hypothesized that the sensitivity of RT-QuIC would be comparable to IHC analysis in antemortem tissues and would correlate with both the genotype and the stage of clinical disease. Our results showed that RAMALT testing by RT-QuIC assay had the highest sensitivity (69.8%) compared to that of postmortem testing, with a specificity of >93.9%. These data suggest that RT-QuIC, like IHC analysis, is an effective assay for detection of PrPCWD in rectal biopsy specimens and other antemortem samples and, with further research to identify more sensitive tissues, bodily fluids, or experimental conditions, has potential for large-scale and rapid automated testing for CWD diagnosis.
[Full text available to subscribers or by purchase]
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4. Research by ISU team takes a closer look at disease causing lameness in cows
By Julie Erickson, Associate Editor
Ames Tribune
March 25, 2016
Research lead by an Iowa State University assistant professor has provided more information on a disease known for causing lameness in cows.
The disease, bovine digital dermatitis, first appears as lesions on the heel of a cow's hoof, but it is also the lead cause of lameness in cows. Paul Plummer, an assistant professor of veterinary diagnostic and production animal medicine, said researchers have been trying to discover the exact cause of the disease for 40 years.
"It's been a problem in the dairy cow industry for a long time. It's the leading cause of lameness, the leading cause of having to pull animals from farms because of lameness," Plummer said. "But the difficult thing is nobody's been able to really identify what the cause was."
Plummer, along with a group of researchers from ISU, recently published their work in the Journal of Dairy Science.
In the past, Plummer said, researchers had believed the bacteria treponemes were responsible for the malady. But further research has shown the bacteria are only present in the later stages of the disease.
"It appears they're kind of joining into the process later... A different group, not a single organism but a group of bacteria working together, is initiating the disease process," he said. "We like diseases where there's one cause and you get rid of the bacteria and the disease goes away. But unfortunately, that's not the case here."
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5. UK Researchers Study MicroRNAs Throughout Gestation in Mares
By University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, Food, and Environment
TheHorse.com
March 25, 2016
Shavahn Loux, a postdoctoral scholar at the University of Kentucky (UK) Gluck Equine Research Center, is studying microRNAs (or miRNAs), a small nonprotein coding gene in animals, in pregnant mares.
She said the research into miRNAs began due to their potential to act as biomarkers (a measurable indicator of a biological state or condition). The body expresses them in response to disease, and they act as a measurable substance as concentrations change.
"If we could easily assess different aspects of placental health in the mare with a simple blood test, that would have phenomenal implications for the equine breeding industry," Loux said.
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6. Hog Problems: MDC Busy Trapping Swine, As Wild Hogs Invade Southern Missouri
Missouri Dept. of Conservation
LakeExpo.com
March 25, 2016
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) wildlife biologists on the Department's feral hog strike team have tallied up numbers for the first quarter of 2016. The first three months of the year yielded a total of 955 hogs trapped by MDC, partner agencies, and private landowners. This is a 23-percent increase compared to the first quarter of 2015, when 777 hogs were trapped.
"We see this as very successful, although there are more hogs where those came from," said MDC Wildlife Management Coordinator Alan Leary. "The key to eradicating these destructive, invasive, pests is cooperation with private landowners and partners in efforts to report hog sightings, continue trapping, and deter hog hunting."
Leary, who leads the Department's feral hog eradication efforts, said while hunting is a very effective tool for managing populations of wildlife, feral hogs are not wildlife and MDC will not manage them. The goal is to eradicate them.
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7. Continued Education For Veterinarians Bill Signed Into Law [MI]
WHMI.com
March 25, 2016
A bill, co-sponsored by a local state representative and recently signed into law, will require continued education for veterinarians and vet technicians.
State Representative Hank Vaupel, a Handy Township Republican, says House Bill 4408, now Public Act 47 of 2016, is vitally important and long overdue. The bill will require 15 hours of continuing education annually in order for veterinarians and veterinary techs in the state of Michigan to renew their licenses. Proponents say this will ensure veterinary professionals receive the best and most up-to-date training to protect animal health, food safety and public health.
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