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1. Notice of Availability of an Evaluation of the Fever Tick Status of the State of Chihuahua, Excluding the Municipalities of Guadalupe y Calvo and Morelos in Mexico
USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Bulletin
May 11, 2016
USDA's Animal Plant and Health Inspection Service is inviting public comment on an evaluation of the fever tick status of the State of Chihuahua, MX.
The evaluation was completed in response to a request from Mexico, and determined that the State of Chihuahua, except for the municipalities of Guadelupe y Calvo and Morelos, are free of fever ticks. The evaluation also determined that cattle imported from the area pose a very low risk of exposing animals within the United States to fever ticks.
Fever ticks attach to cattle and can cause a parasitic infection that often leads to fatal diseases such as bovine babesiosis.
We are making the evaluation available for public review and comment. After the comment period closes, we will thoroughly review all comments received, and will notify the public of any changes to the regulations.
This notice is on display in the Federal Register at: https://s3.amazonaws.com/public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2016-11150.pdf. Members of the public will be able to view the evaluation and submit comments beginning tomorrow at: http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2015-0042. Written comments can also be submitted through the mail: Docket No. APHIS-2015-0042, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, APHIS, Station 3A-03.8, 4700 River Road Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737-1238.
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2. Rutgers to host food safety training course
By Doug Ohlemeier
ThePacker.com
May 10, 2016
Rutgers University has scheduled training in Preventive Controls for Human Food.
The June 8-10 sessions in Kearny, N.M., sponsored by the Bridgeton, N.J.-based Rutgers Food Innovation Center, cover topics required by the Food Safety Modernization Act..
The course includes 20 hours of classroom instruction and participants can earn official Food Safety Preventative Controls Alliance certificates for becoming an Food and Drug Administration-recognized "Preventive Controls Qualified Individual" with the credentials for creating an FDA Food Safety Plan.
"Food industry training is a core capability and competency of our center," center director Lou Cooperhouse said in the release. "With the issuance of new regulations resulting from the Food Safety Modernization Act, our center has received numerous inquiries for training in PCHF, particularly from the very large food processing industry that exists in northern New Jersey and New York City."
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3. Animal Agriculture Alliance Warns Against HSUS Council Involvement
WNAX.com
May 10, 2016
The Human Society of the United States has formed a national agriculture advisory council as a way to form coalitions with farmers and ranchers. Hannah Thompson with the Animal Agriculture Alliance cautions farmers about the hidden agenda with these outreach efforts. She says livestock producers need to be very careful about working with activist groups like HSUS.
She advises livestock producers to be on their guard when working with animal activists and if they have any questions they should contact the Animal Agriculture Alliance.
Thompson says HSUS and other activist organizations have been going after producers, customers and consumers with their misinformation.
Thompson says farmers and ranchers need to communicate with consumers directly so they receive the proper information about their industry.
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4. Easy Automation and GlobalVetLINK Announce VFD Integration
GlobalVetLINK News Release
May 11, 2016
Ames, Iowa - GlobalVetLINK (GVL�) announced today the integration of Easy Automation's Feed Office Enterprise (FOE) Software with GVL's FeedLINK� Electronic Veterinary Feed Directive solution.
With this integration, feed mill professionals can manage orders, formulas, inventory, pricing and VFD validity through a single software platform.
"The feed industry has concerns about how they're going to change their processes and stay compliant with the Veterinary Feed Directive rule," stated Cliff Smith, GVL Chief Executive Officer. "GVL's integration with Easy Automation's software offers feed professionals a single solution to manage, track and store their feed and VFD information."
FOE will feature a software module that assists manufacturers and producers in staying complaint with the FDA's new VFD regulations by notifying whether or not there is a valid VFD for a specific order at the time of creation. This automatic verification limits both the time and errors of an operator using the system.
GVL's web-based FeedLINK eVFD system manages Veterinary Feed Directive fulfillment, tracking and storage.
"We are very excited about this partnership and are always looking to provide solutions for our customers as they face regulatory or operational changes," said Chris Gaalswyk, President of Easy Automation Inc. "Staying on top of the industry and our customer's needs is something that drives us as a company and is also something that we take great pride in."
To learn more about Easy Automation's FOE software, visit www.easy-automation.com.
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5. Animal Health In the Heartland: Biotechnology's Role in Emergency Preparedness Symposium
IowaBio News Release
May 11, 2016
The Iowa Biotechnology Association (IowaBio) and the Bio Nebraska Life Sciences Association (Bio Nebraska) are proud to announce the inaugural Animal Health In the Heartland: Biotechnology's Role in Emergency Preparedness symposium scheduled for Wednesday, July 20, 2016, at the Sorrell Center at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha.
Recent outbreaks of Avian Influenza (AIV) and Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus (PEDV) have had serious consequences in our Heartland region, impacting animal health, human health, animal producers, the encompassing agriculture industry, and the overall economy both domestic and abroad. These were not the first diseases emerging in the region, and will certainly not be the last.
Biotechnology's Role in Emergency Preparedness symposium promises to offer key state and industry leaders the opportunity to discuss solutions for animal health preparedness. Our goal is to create an annual event where industry, academia and government sector leaders can interface to address the world's most foremost animal health issues, collaborate, and solve problems.
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6. Feed foundations, University of Minnesota to develop generic hazard analysis
Agri-View
May 11, 2016
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The American Feed Industry Association's Institute for Feed Education and Research, and the National Grain and Feed Association's National Grain and Feed Foundation, are co-sponsoring a hazard evaluation of typical ingredients and processes used in the manufacturing and distribution of animal feed.
The evaluation is being conducted by researchers at the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine's Center for Animal Health and Food Safety. The project is expected to provide a scientific basis for identifying hazards and developing hazard analysis that companies can adapt to specific operations. That could help feed facilities save millions of dollars, instead of performing such analyses from scratch, according to the organizations.
The U.S. Food Safety Modernization Act requires animal-food facilities to establish and implement an animal-food safety system. That includes an analysis identifying "known or reasonably foreseeable" hazards for each type of animal food manufactured, processed, packed or stored at a facility, to determine if any hazards exist requiring risk-based preventive controls. Under the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's final animal-food rule, a hazard analysis must be reviewed every three years or earlier if there are changes to equipment, manufacturing processes or other operations that warrant a review.
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7. New route of TB transmission identified [Africa]
Source: American Society for Microbiology
ScienceDaily.com
May 10, 2016
Scientists have discovered a new species of bacteria, Mycobacterium mungi, that causes tuberculosis (TB) and is transmitted through the skin and nose of banded mongoose in Northern Botswana. The findings, published May 10 in the journal mBio, radically changes scientists understanding of how tuberculosis can be transmitted.
"This is a game changer. We have known about this human and animal pathogen, TB, since ancient times, and it has always been considered something that is transmitted either through oral or aerosol exposure," said lead study author Kathleen Alexander, DVM, PhD, professor, Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia. "We have found that this species of TB is transmitted environmentally through urine and anal gland secretions used in olfactory communication, infecting mongoose through injuries in the skin and nose. This completely changes our understanding of the potential mechanisms for TB transmission."
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