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1. Iowa State studies major cause of dairy cow lameness
AgriVIew.com
June 2, 2016
AMES, Iowa - Iowa State University veterinarians have uncovered new insight into the development of a foot disease in cows that causes more lameness than any other malady.
Bovine digital dermatitis, a disease that appears as painful lesions on the heel of a cow's hoof, has caused difficulty for the U.S. dairy industry for decades and has become a growing concern for beef producers as well, said Paul Plummer, an assistant professor of veterinary diagnostic and production-animal medicine. Plummer leads a group of researchers at the Iowa State College of Veterinary Medicine studying the disease and potential treatments for its management. The researchers recently published an article in the peer-reviewed Journal of Dairy Science that takes a close look at the epidemiology of the disease, revealing new information on how the disease develops and how likely it is to recur after treatment.
"People have been researching this disease for 40 years," Plummer said. "But we still don't understand its exact causes."
Veterinarians often link bovine digital dermatitis to a form of pathogenic bacteria known as treponemes because the bacteria are usually present in advanced lesions caused by the disease. But Plummer said the research showed treponemes don't appear during earlier development of the disease. That suggests other bacteria may drive the disease process and later create a favorable environment for the treponemes to thrive.
Plummer and his team studied 60 cows at the Iowa State Dairy Farm for three years. They took regular photos of the hooves of each animal to create a trail of data for each cow. When they found an animal with lesions caused by digital dermatitis, they went back through their photos and data to look for patterns in the early development of the disease.
The study also allowed them to catalog cases of recurrence after treatment and how often the disease resulted in lameness or immobility. The research showed a majority of cows that contracted the disease weren't lame, a finding that has implications for how dairy and beef producers should track the disease.
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2. Q&A with FDA's New Deputy Commissioner Dr. Stephen Ostroff [edited]
By Staff
Food Safety Magazine
June 2, 2016
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published a question and answer interview conducted with the agency's new Deputy Commissioner, Dr. Stephen Ostroff. Below are snippets from his commentary in relation to food safety the agency's upcoming plans.
Q: What are your goals for the FVM [Foods and Veterinary Medicine] program?
The primary goal is embodied in our public health mission: to ensure that Americans have access to the safest and most healthful food supply possible. To accomplish that, we must have a robust program to promote the safety of the food supply through full implementation of the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). It also means we must have a strong program to address nutrition issues related to diet.
Accomplishing this goal also means that we base our decisions on the best available scientific information. Something I've observed repeatedly as chief scientist and as acting commissioner is that when the science is strong, it is much easier to reach consensus and to make sound regulatory decisions.
Q: How do you see FVM's approach to foodborne illness outbreaks?
One of the fundamental principles of FSMA is to try to move the food safety system to a more preventive posture from a posture that largely reacts to problems once they're recognized, usually in the form of outbreaks of foodborne illness. That's the ideal, but no one should be under the illusion that once FSMA is fully implemented food safety problems will completely disappear. We have to remain vigilant and we must respond as rapidly as possible.
We're working to put tools in place to be able to do that, and we will be working in partnership with CDC and with partners at the local, state and international levels. We will also partner with regulated industry to support compliance and to recognize and correct problems.
One of the best tools we'll be using more frequently is whole genome sequencing (WGS), a scientific tool that is something of a game changer in how rapidly it enables us to identify an outbreak and find the source. There will also be enhanced methods to monitor FSMA compliance. So there's going to be a lot more data available for us to potentially spot problems and link them to their source. This will help us recognize outbreaks earlier and prevent them from growing, and to find outbreaks that we previously would not have been able to see.
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3. School for Global Animal Health announces new director
By Laura Lockard, College of Veterinary Medicine
Washington State Univ.News
June 2, 2016
PULLMAN, Wash. - Professor Tom Kawula will be the new director of the Paul G. Allen School for Global Animal Health at Washington State University beginning Oct. 1.
He succeeds Guy Palmer who stepped down last year to assume a larger role as WSU's senior director of global health. Palmer promotes both the WSU veterinary college and broader WSU interests as part of the university's development of a medical school and its Grand Challenge of Sustaining Health (https://research.wsu.edu/research-initiatives/grand-challenges/).
Interim director Doug Call will resume his role as associate director for research and graduate education in the Allen School and continue his role in directing WSU's initiative in combating antimicrobial resistance.
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4. Decision Postponed on Chronic Wasting Disease Management Regulations [TX]
Texas Parks and Wildlife News
May 27, 2016
AUSTIN - On Thursday [May 26], the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission postponed their decision regarding proposed changes to state regulations for managing chronic wasting disease (CWD), until a more thorough review is conducted. CWD is a fatal neurodegenerative disorder that affects cervid species like white-tailed deer, mule deer and elk.
"How Texas responds to the prevalence of CWD in its captive deer herd will have significant effects on the way state wildlife agencies and animal health organizations mitigate epidemiological issues like this from here on out," said TPW Commission Chairman T. Dan Friedkin. "The commission believes it is important to take some additional time to review the proposed rules, which are the product of months of study and consideration by the department, the Texas Animal Health Commission and a subject matter experts from the medical and deer breeding community."
Following an extensive public hearing where commission members heard comments from a wide range of stakeholders, landowners and licensed deer breeders, Chairman Friedkin recommended tabling a formal decision on the proposed changes until June, when a special meeting can be held to vote on the changes. Time and location of the special meeting will be announced at a later date.
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5. Construction underway on Auburn's poultry research and education center [AL]
By Jamie Creamer Special to the News
Opelika Auburn News
June 2, 2016
Alabama's largest agricultural industry is seeing construction begin this week on a comprehensive, state-of-the-art research and teaching facility at Auburn University.
The university's Department of Poultry Science and National Poultry Technology Center broke ground last week on the Charles C. Miller Jr. Poultry Research and Education Center, being built about two miles north of Auburn's main campus. The three-phase construction project is beginning with two poultry research houses and a poultry equipment testing and evaluation house.
The Auburn University Board of Trustees approved naming the center to honor a forward-thinking poultry industry pioneer, Charles C. Miller Jr., who earned a textile engineering degree from Auburn in 1938 and a degree an agricultural business and economics in 1940. Miller's son, Charles C. "Buddy" Miller III, and daughter-in-law, Pinney Allen, have supported the construction of the center through a $2.5 million gift in honor of Miller III's parents.
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6. Shared responsibility for antibiotic reduction
WorldPoultry.net
June 2, 2016
A world without antibiotics - is that a possibility? This question was at the centre of the first edition of the 2-day executive level VIV Summit in the Netherlands. Based on 6 challenges, some 250 attendees from 26 countries around the world discussed a possible future without or with very little antibiotic use in the poultry industry.
Discussion leader Peter Best focuses on animal welfare and sustain-ability in relation to antibiotic use.
"We need to produce poultry without using antibiotics or using fewer antibiotics. Everyone involved in our industry knows this, but no one knows exactly what to do about it. Just as with world peace, although everyone wants it, it is a constant struggle to get there," said Peter Best, one of the discussion leaders at the Summit.
The efficacy of the wonder drug that became commercially available in the 1940s is under pressure and this puts lives at stake. "That said, drug-resistant bacteria are a fact of nature. It is inherent to the use of antibiotics," states Peter Oostenbach from MSD Animal Health.
The discussion that is centre stage today is some 50 years old. Half a century ago the scientific Swann report showed that the use of antibiotics as a growth promotor in feed posed such a risk of the development and spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria that it should be banned. Oostenbach: "Today we live in a world where this discussion isn't fact-based anymore. It has become a politically/socially and far more emotionally charged argument." His core message to the audience: "We have to avoid getting stuck in a rat race to zero use, because it is simply undesirable not to be able to treat sick animals. We have a shared responsibility, a holistic commitment to a continual improvement in the responsible use of the antibiotics that are available."
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7. US survey shows gaps in understanding of antibiotic resistance
Robert Roos, News Writer
CIDRAP News
June 2, 2016
Most Americans understand that overuse of antibiotics can threaten their effectiveness, but only a minority agree that bacterial resistance is a serious problem, according to the results of a small survey reported yesterday in Open Forum Infectious Diseases.
The survey also showed various misunderstandings about antimicrobial resistance, with a large majority of respondents believing they could become personally immune to some antibiotics and 40% thinking antibiotics are the best treatment for a cold.
Amazon recruiting tool used
The survey was conducted by researchers at Case Western Reserve University and the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Cleveland. They recruited participants through Mechanical Turk, an online platform developed by Amazon for recruiting and paying people to perform tasks. "MTurk" makes it possible to attract respondents with a wide range of ages, socioeconomic backgrounds, and ethnicities, the report says.
Using this tool, the researchers recruited 225 participants, who were paid 30 cents to complete the survey. The participants had a slightly lower median age and a somewhat higher educational level than the US population as a whole.
After a group of demographic questions, the 13-item survey began by asking respondents to briefly describe antibiotic resistance in their own words, an approach designed to prevent the survey itself from introducing biases.
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