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1. TAHC Releases Equine Herpes Virus (EHV-1) Quarantine [TX]
Texas Animal Health Commission News Release
June 23, 2016
Austin, TX - Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC) officials released the premises quarantined for Equine Herpes Myeloencephalopathy (EHM) in Cooke County on June 22. There are no other reported EHM cases in Texas.
The first case of EHM in Cooke County was confirmed on May 24. Since the original case, six additional horses on the premises tested positive for the neuropathogenic strain of EHV-1. One of the test-positive horses exhibited neurologic signs consistent with EHM, bringing the total number of EHM cases at this facility to two.
TAHC staff worked closely with the facility management and veterinarian to implement testing protocols and biosecurity measures. All test-positive horses (seven) on the premises were removed to an isolation area after being diagnosed. The premises was released after more than 14 days of no new cases, and the previously positive horses tested negative for EHV-1.
TAHC is monitoring a situation at Ruidoso Downs, New Mexico, where a single horse has been diagnosed with EHM. The equine industry is encouraged to obtain the latest information on this outbreak and other disease events across the country by visiting the Equine Disease Communication Center at: http://www.equinediseasecc.org/outbreaks.aspx.
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2. Seneca Valley Virus may be down, but it's not out
Source: American Association of Swine Veterinarians
National Hog Farmer
June 23, 2016
Just since January, diagnostic labs from across the country have already reported more than 60 accessions positive for Seneca Valley Virus or Senecavirus A (Figure 1 [in full text]).
We don't know from this data if each accession is a new case or a continuation of testing from an existing case. But this clearly shows that the disease is far from gone and underscores the critical need for all cases of vesicular lesions or suspect coronary band or interdigital lesions to be reported to state or federal animal health officials. Since these vesicular diseases are indistinguishable from foot-and-mouth disease, complacency or apathy in reporting is not acceptable and could result in terrible consequences for our domestic swine industry.
Of course, the biggest concern regarding SVV is that when clinical signs are present, they're indistinguishable from those of swine vesicular disease, vesicular stomatitis virus and FMD virus, all more serious and economically devastating foreign animal diseases than SVV. Erosions, ulcerations, and vesicular lesions of the snout, oral mucosa, and distal limbs, especially in the interdigital space and around the coronary band, may be observed.
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3. North Carolina Horse Owners Urged to Vaccinate
By Edited Press Release
TheHorse.com
June 23, 2016
North Carolina horse owners are urged to vaccinate their equids after Eastern equine encephalitis (EEE) was confirmed in horses in Horry County, South Carolina, in the past three weeks. Horry County is the northern-most coastal county in South Carolina and borders Brunswick County, North Carolina.
"If your horses exhibit any symptoms of EEE, contact your veterinarian immediately," said State Veterinarian Doug Meckes, DVM.
A viral disease, EEE affects the central nervous system and is transmitted to horses by infected mosquitoes. There is no evidence that horses can transmit EEE to other horses or people through direct contact. Clinical signs of EEE include moderate to high fever, depression, lack of appetite, cranial nerve deficits (facial paralysis, tongue weakness, difficulty swallowing), behavioral changes (aggression, self-mutilation, or drowsiness), gait abnormalities, or severe central nervous system signs, such as head-pressing, circling, blindness, and seizures. The course of EEE can be swift, with death occurring two to three days after onset of clinical signs despite intensive care; fatality rates reach 75-80% among horses. Horses that survive might have long-lasting impairments and neurologic problems.
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4. APHIS and CFIA Release Joint Response to Comments on Draft Framework for Foreign Animal Disease Zoning Arrangement
USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Bulletin
June 23, 2016
WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) are making available a joint response to stakeholder comments received during an external consultation process to gather feedback on a draft framework for implementing and maintaining a foreign animal disease (FAD) zoning arrangement.
APHIS and CFIA conducted the external consultation process over the spring and summer of 2014. The two agencies collectively received 29 unique comments on the draft framework and the joint response document organizes the comments into 7 categories, including international acceptance, emerging diseases, traceability, political pressures, communications and stakeholder engagement, vaccination zones and other topics. Each category also includes a joint response from APHIS and CFIA.
The Framework for Implementing and Maintaining the Arrangement between CFIA and USDA for the Recognition of Foreign Animal Disease Control and Eradication Zones [see: http://tinyurl.com/gn8gzku ] provides an operational plan for the United States and Canada to recognize each other's decisions to control a highly contagious FAD outbreak through zoning. The framework also establishes a structure for maintaining the zoning arrangement over time and strategies for engaging stakeholders in actions taken under the arrangement, including planning and preparedness.
The two agencies developed the zoning arrangement and framework under the auspices of the U.S.-Canada Regulatory Cooperation Council (RCC), which was established in 2011 to promote regulatory cooperation and facilitate trade for the benefit industry and consumers.
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5. Research: Old Technique Greatly Reduces Salmonella in Ground Meats
By Staff
Food Safety Magazine
June 23, 2016
New research presented this week has revealed that an old technique can reduce the presence of Salmonella in meat by as much as 90 percent. The findings and supporting data were presented by a University of Nevada (Reno) assistant professor at the American Meat Science Association's conference earlier this week in Texas.
"We were able to reduce Salmonella by as much as 90 percent in ground poultry, ground pork and ground beef. We're excited to be able to show such good results, food safety is an important part of our work and salmonella is one of the most prevalent bacteria in the nation's food supply." says assistant professor Amilton de Mello, representing the university's College of Agriculture, Biotechnology and Natural Resources.
The technique that's been found to reduce Salmonella bacteria is actually an old technology. Bacteriophages--natural bacteria predators--was used to treat meat products that were infected with four types of Salmonella. Bacteriophages are viruses that can only harm specific bacterial cells and are harmless to humans, animals and plants. They are commonly found in natural environments.
In the experiments, the Salmonella bacteria was inoculated on refrigerated meat and poultry trim, then the treatment was applied to the meat before grinding. The bacteriophages invaded the cells of the bacteria and destroyed them.
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6. Seagulls Are Now Carrying One of the World's Deadliest Superbugs
By Tom Philpott
Mother Jones
June 23, 2016
Last year, UK and Chinese researchers identified an E. coli strain in Chinese pigs that resists colistin, a break-glass-in-case-of-emergency antibiotic used to combat pathogens that are resistant to most other antibiotics. The discovery sent a shudder through global public health circles, not just because coliston is so crucial to human medicine, but also because the gene that conferred colsistin resistance, known as mcr-1, is highly mobile-it jumps easily between bacteria species.
"Gulls migrate hundreds to thousands of miles, so they could serve as a vehicle for carrying resistant bacteria somewhere new."
Predictions it would quickly go global have come true. Just weeks ago here in the United States, colistin-resistant bacteria turned up in a Pennsylvania woman with a urinary-tract infection and a pig intestine. And now researchers have discovered one of the ways colistin-resistant bacteria can travel, reports National Geographic's Maryn McKenna:
... two research teams in Lithuania and Argentina report that they trapped birds and swabbed their butts, or scooped up seagull droppings, and found the resistance-conferring gene in E. coli being carried by two species: herring gulls in Lithuania (Larus argentatus) and kelp gulls in Argentina (Larus dominicanus).
McKenna adds that "gulls migrate, from hundreds to thousands of miles depending on the species-so they could serve as a vehicle for carrying resistant bacteria somewhere new." She points to a 2011 study finding other antibiotic-resistant bacteria in these continent-hopping birds. They likely pick up such bacteria from their habit of eating garbage, Maryn reports.
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7. Senate lawmakers reach deal on labeling foods containing GMOs
By Christopher Doering
USA Today
June 23, 2016
WASHINGTON - Senate lawmakers reached a deal Thursday to label foods containing genetically modified ingredients, a week before Vermont's first-in-the-nation labeling law takes effect on July 1.
The bipartisan legislation, reached following weeks of negotiations between Agriculture Committee members Sens. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., and Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., would establish a single nationwide, mandatory label for products containing the controversial ingredients found in up to 80 percent of packaged food products sold in the United States.
"This bipartisan bill is a win for consumers and families," said Stabenow, top Democrat on the Agriculture Committee. "For the first time ever, consumers will have a national, mandatory label for food products that contain genetically modified ingredients."
States such as Vermont would be blocked from putting in place their own labels, avoiding food companies' concerns about the costs and other difficulties of having to comply with a confusing patchwork of different state labels. They had warned those costs would be passed on to consumers through higher prices.
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