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1. Second Maryland Horse Tests Positive for EHV
By Edited Press Release
TheHorse.com
April 21, 2016
A horse residing at the same facility as a Howard County horse that was recently diagnosed with non-neuropathogenic equine herpesvirus-1 (EHV-1) has tested positive for the same strain.
This second horse was tested as a result of a fever and EHV-1 diagnosis was confirmed by the Frederick Animal Health Laboratory. This second horse was euthanized for unrelated reasons.
All horses that were exposed to the two positive horses are currently free of clinical signs, appear healthy, and are being monitored daily. The farm will remain under quarantine to ensure the virus is contained. As of today (April 21), the Maryland Department of Agriculture believes the virus is contained to this farm and is not aware of any other EHV-1 cases in the state.
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2. First Phase of CWD Sampling Reveals 23 Percent Prevalence Rate in Focal Area [AR]
KARK.com
April 19, 2016
ASPER, Ark. (News Release) - The first phase of chronic wasting disease sampling by the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission revealed a 23 percent prevalence rate in Newton and Boone counties. Of 266 randomly collected wild deer, 62 were found to have the fatal disease.
To determine the prevalence of the disease among deer, the AGFC took samples March 14-24 within a 125,000 acre, capsule-shaped area ranging from 5 miles west of Ponca to 5 miles east of Pruitt, and 10 miles across.
Including the sampled area, the AGFC has received results of 82 animals with the disease. A total of 648 wild animals (619 white-tailed deer and 29 elk) have been sampled since laboratory results confirmed the disease Feb. 23, 2016. 79 deer and three elk were found to be positive.
Phase 2 of the sampling effort will focus on learning the spatial distribution of the disease, and includes statewide collection of sick or dead deer and elk. Two positive cases have been identified from the first 196 samples of this effort. One was a deer in Boone County northeast of Harrison. The deer was 10 miles outside of the CWD focal area and 16 miles from Missouri. The second positive sample was from a dead deer found near Ponca within the CWD focal area. To date, the only animals identified with the disease have been in Newton and Boone counties.
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3. Parx makes plans to implement safeguards against equine herpesvirus
By Jim Dunleavy
Daily Racing Form
April 21, 2016
On Thursday at Parx Racing, an isolation area was being constructed to house any horses diagnosed with the equine herpesvirus. Also, after the current quarantine ends, new health requirements will be put into effect for horses at Parx, according to Sam Elliott, the track's director of racing.
Six horses at Parx have been diagnosed with the herpesvirus since April 1. Parx also was quarantined for much of last October after a horse shipped to the track and then became ill with the virus.
"When the quarantine is over we are going to put into place a program similar to what Monmouth Park and Maryland have started," Elliott said.
Elliott said horses shipping to Parx will have to be vaccinated for the equine herpesvirus at least seven days but not more than 90 days before entering the backstretch. Horses stabled at Parx will have to be vaccinated every four months.
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4. Marsh: Quick Response Key to Containing Avian Flu [IN]
By Jerry Goshert
The Farmer's Exchange
April 22, 2016
According to the Indiana state veterinarian, the Indiana Board of Animal Health's quick response to a high pathogenic avian influenza outbreak in January in southern Indiana was crucial to helping keep the disease from spreading to a larger area and having a more widespread impact.
While this latest incident affected just the poultry industry, state veterinarian Dr. Bret Marsh, speaking at last Tuesday's Indiana Milk Quality Conference in Columbus, says there are lessons for dairy producers too.
Avian influenza is a foreign animal disease that affects birds. It can occur in various forms, some more deadly than others. A year ago, when the highly pathogenic H5N2 strain occurred across a wide area of the upper Midwest, it had devastating results for the national poultry industry. It wiped out 48 million egg-laying chickens and caused significant trade problems for U.S. producers. Indiana had one case of avian influenza, found in a backyard flock in Whitley County, but it was a different strain-H5N8, a Eurasian strain.
Fortunately, Marsh said there was no human health threat associated with the 2015 outbreak. But the economic impact was costly, with 223 detections nationwide amounting to $2.6 billion in losses. Sixty countries banned the import of U.S. poultry. Also, egg prices skyrocketed, raising prices for consumers.
If a major animal disease were to happen in the U.S. dairy herd, Marsh said we would see similar trade implications.
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5. How California's chicken industry is rapidly changing
By Rose Hayden-Smith, UC Food Observer
Univ. of California News
April 20, 2016
This is a time of radical change for California poultry, with a large number of commercial farmers moving quickly to pastured, cage-free systems and a rapidly growing group of backyard chicken owners looking for advice.
That's why we turned to Maurice Pitesky to get the dirt on these changes to the state's chicken industry ... and to see if the proposed changes are all they are cracked up to be. Pitesky is a Cooperative Extension poultry specialist with the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. He also is the co-leader of the university's new Pastured Poultry Farm, which opened in September 2015.
This living laboratory - unique in the western states - is where students and researchers hope to develop innovative solutions for pasture-based poultry farms, integrated crop-and-poultry farms and backyard flocks. Here's more about the 4.5 acre farm.
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6. Strong outlook for food-animal vets
By John Maday, Editor
Bovine Veterinarian
April 21, 2016
Today's veterinary students face increasing competition, substantial debt and changing role in the industry, but for those pursuing large-animal practice, the employment outlook remains positive.
During the recent Food Animal Medicine Student Symposium at Ohio State University, Zoetis Group Director of US Cattle Veterinary Operations Roger Saltman, DVM, MBA, outlined trends in the veterinary business for students from around the country. Saltman serves on the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) Economics Strategy Committee, which conducts ongoing research on trends in supply and demand for veterinary services.
Between 1982 and 2015, the number of first-year veterinary students in the United States climbed from around 2,200 to 3,600, with much of the increase occurring since 2011. Saltman says AVMA projects that the number of available seats at U.S. veterinary schools will level off over the next few years, and the applicant-to-seat ration will run around 1.5 to 1. The cost of veterinary school will leave some students with considerable debt, which likely will encourage some students to enter the job market after completing their undergraduate degrees rather than applying for veterinary school.
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7. Mexico Lifts Ban on U.S. Raised Poultry
USAgNet
Wisconsin Ag Connection
April 20, 2016
Mexico's government has lifted its highly pathogenic avian influenza-related bans on poultry exports from 14 U.S. states, while a ban remains in place for poultry exports from Indiana, reports Feedstuffs magazine.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said the action is a result of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's close communications with Mexico to reduce trade restrictions imposed due to HPAI detections in the United States.
"By persuading other trading partners to enforce regionalized bans that affect only those areas where HPAI was detected and to rely on internationally accepted, science-based standards for trade, USDA has helped preserve billions in U.S. poultry exports," Vilsack said.
In 2015, despite the HPAI outbreak, U.S. poultry and poultry product exports reached $4.6 billion. Mexico has been the largest market for U.S. poultry and poultry products since 2010.
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