USAHA News Alerts

1. In & Around USAHA: The Future of FARAD

The future of the Food Animal Residue Avoidance Databank (FARAD) remains in question due to a lack of permanent funding. This land-grant university-based consortium focuses on identifying, gathering, extracting, analyzing, generating and extending drug residue avoidance information to ensure that animal derived foods will be free of illegal
chemical residue and safe for consumers. The operations will cease in September of this year if funding is not provided.

FARAD, administered through the USDA, Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service (CSREES), is currently operating with emergency funding from the Food and Drug Administration, Center for
Veterinary Medicine. FARAD is in need of additional emergency funding, as well as long-term funding to ensure its availability to animal agriculture. Over the years, FARAD has been an invaluable resource for
large animal veterinarians and other animal health professionals in helping to assure a safe food supply in the U.S.

Individuals are urged to contact their congressional representatives in support of continuing funding for FARAD, and to ask for their support for permanent funding for FARAD at $2.5 million per year. Language has been included in the Senate Farm Bill authorizing that amount for future years. The American Veterinary Medical Association is actively pursuing funding for the program, and the USAHA executive committee has offered its support in continuing FARAD based upon previous years' resolutions. FARAD has been in existence since 1982 and was authorized by the
Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Reform Act of 1998 (P.L.105-185, Title 6, Subtitle A, Section 604). More information on FARAD can be found at http://www.farad.org/.

2. Bovine Tuberculosis Confirmed in Manitoba
CFIA Press Release
May 8, 2008

Bovine tuberculosis (TB) has been confirmed in a five-year-old beef cow from a herd in Manitoba. The herd is located within 10 km of Riding Mountain National Park, in a portion of the Riding Mountain Eradication Area (RMEA) that is considered to be at highest risk for bovine TB.

The herd was tested in March 2008 under the Canadian Food Inspection Agency's (CFIA) enhanced surveillance program and the test result for this cow was considered to be suspicious. The animal was ordered destroyed and tissue samples were submitted to the CFIA laboratory in Ottawa for further testing. Bovine TB was confirmed on May 1. No part of the infected cow entered the human or animal food chain.

There is no public health risk associated with this case. This finding does not affect Manitoba's status as bovine TB-free under the Health of Animals Regulations. As well, Canada's status for international trade of animals and animal products is not affected by this finding.

The CFIA is working closely with the operator of the infected farm in conducting the investigation into this case. All susceptible animals determined to have been exposed to bovine TB will be ordered destroyed and compensation will be paid to the owner.

Full text: http://tinyurl.com/6ggxw2

3. South Korea may demand revision of US beef import pact
By Jae-Soon Chang, Associated Press Writer
Ft. Worth Star-Telegram
May 8, 2008

SEOUL, South Korea -- South Korea said Thursday it may demand a revision of a beef import agreement with the United States as the government struggled to quell widespread perceptions that American beef is unsafe.

The agreement, struck last month, has been widely criticized as making too many concessions to the United States because it scrapped nearly all the quarantine regulations Seoul imposed earlier to guard against mad cow disease.

Prime Minister Han Seung-soo said in a nationally televised address that Seoul would demand changes to the pact "if a new situation occurs while monitoring negotiations between the United States and other nations."

Han did not elaborate, but the remark apparently meant Seoul would try to improve its beef deal with the U.S. if it is deemed unfair compared with similar agreements Washington might sign with other countries.

"The government will protect the people's heath as the foremost priority in any situation," Han said.

Full text:
http://www.star-telegram.com/461/story/629957.html

4. Statement by Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer on Congress' Announcement of a New Farm Bill [edited]
USDA Press Release
May 8, 2008

WASHINGTON - In January 2007, the President put forward a farm bill proposal that represents fiscal responsibility, would improve the safety-net for farmers and move current programs toward market oriented policies. Our proposals were warranted and timely considering that 2008 net farm income is forecast to be $92 billion - 51 percent above its 10 year average.

"Today, the United States House and Senate announced the completion of a farm bill that unfortunately fails to include much needed reform and increases spending by nearly $20 billion. At a time of record farm income, Congress decided to further increase farm subsidy rates, qualify more people for taxpayer support, and move programs toward more government control. We should not remove farm commodities from market forces and make them dependent upon government support programs.

We are also concerned about a lengthy list of extraneous provisions that are not related to farm programs and have no place in this legislation.

For a year and a half, the Administration has been consistently clear that Congress needs to move forward with a good farm bill that the President can sign. They have failed to do so. This legislation lacks meaningful farm program reform and expands the size and scope of government. I have visited face to face with our President and he was direct and plain. The President will veto this bill."

Full text: http://tinyurl.com/45v7qv

See Also:

Farm Bill Summary
AgWeb.com
May 8, 2008

Covers highlights of the bill titles. Example:

RESEARCH

-- Combines resources and staff from various research agencies into a single office within the office of the Undersecretary. This new office will provide an oversight and coordination mechanism intended to streamline administration, avoid unnecessary duplication, and improve accountability and constituent input.

-- Provision replaces the existing Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service with a new National Institute of Food and Agriculture. The new institute will be charged with managing USDA's portfolio of extramural research, extension, and education programs and will seek to expand the emphasis on competitively awarded, scientifically meritorious research grants.

Full text: http://tinyurl.com/5s376n

5. DDA in search of a state vet once again [DE]
By Sean Clougherty, Associate Editor
AmericanFarm.com
May 7, 2008

DOVER, Del. - The Delaware Department of Agriculture has begun its search for a state veterinary after Dr. Sarah Busch left the department in April and with a national shortage of qualified veterinarians, the search could last several months.

Busch left the department on April 11, according to Bob Moore, supervisor-veterinary assistant for the department's Poultry and Animal Health and Food Products Inspections section, after becoming Delaware's state veterinarian in December 2006.

Busch filled an eight-month vacancy after Dr. Michael Vanderklok left the job for personal reasons in April of that year.

Vanderklok was Delaware's state veterinarian for less than a month and replaced Dr. H. Wesley Towers, who retired in 2005 and had held the job since 1969.

Dr. Caroline Hughes, veterinarian and food products inspections administrator at the department, is serving as acting state veterinarian until the position is filled.

Under Busch's term, Hughes said, the Poultry and Animal Health section and the Food Products Inspections section were merged together and the state veterinarian, now officially named Veterinary Medical Officer, oversees the merged section.

Full text:
http://www.americanfarm.com/TopStory5.06.2008b.html

6. New research into mad cow-linked prions reveals silver lining [edited]
CBC News
May 7, 2008

Prions have traditionally been linked with the development of Creutzfeld-Jakob Disease (CJD), the brain-wasting equivalent of mad cow disease (also known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy). (CBC)Prions - infectious agents that cause diseases like the human variant of mad cow disease - also have protective properties, new research suggests.

When functioning normally, prion proteins protect neurons in the brain from becoming overstimulated and dying, indicates the study, published in the May 5 issue of the Journal of Cell Biology.

Researchers at Rockefeller University discovered that when they removed prion proteins from the brain cells of mice, their neurons overreacted to electrical and drug-induced stimulation, eventually dying.

The authors believe that prion proteins only turn deadly when they are physically altered, as they can no longer regulate the behaviour of the neurons and offer a neuroprotective effect. Researchers aren't sure how this transformation occurs.

In other news, PrioNet Canada, a network of research groups that aims to eradicate prion diseases, announced Wednesday it has awarded $8 million to Canadian researchers to help prevent prion-related diseases.

The funding will support 19 projects across the country and involve 60 Canadian scientists dedicated to researching BSE, CJD, a variant human form of CJD acquired from eating BSE-contaminated cattle products and chronic wasting disease (CWD) in deer and elk.

The projects announced Wednesday include:

* The development of a BSE vaccine for cattle to ensure that Canadian herds are protected against BSE.
* A strategy to minimize the spread of CWD among deer and elk.
* The development of new food testing standards for BSE.

Full text:
http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2008/05/07/prions-study.html

7. Rapid Test for Foot-and-Mouth Disease Now Available [UK]
The Stackyard
May 7, 2008

A rapid on-farm ("pen-side") test for foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) is now available commercially.

Dr Nigel Ferris of the Institute for Animal Health's Pirbright Laboratory has been collaborating with Svanova Biotech AB (Sweden) since 2002 to develop the test, which was launched in April. The small, hand-held "lateral flow" device involves the same technology as is used in home pregnancy tests. An extract of a small sample of tissue taken from an animal suspected of having FMD is spotted onto the bottom of the device. This then flows up the device. If FMDV is present in the sample, a line forms within 10 minutes.

The test can easily be used on farms, meaning that a result can be obtained faster than sending a sample to the laboratory. Appropriate action can then be taken, based on firm, timely evidence.

The development has been supported by the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and partners within European Union LAB-ON-SITE project http://www.labonsite.com/.

"In effect," said Dr Ferris, "we are taking the laboratory to the farm, for on-the-spot testing to support clinical diagnosis."

Source:
http://www.stackyard.com/news/2008/05/veterinary/02_iah_fmd_test.html