Beef Biosecurity

Federal Agents Intercept Bizarre Monkey Remains and Prohibited Meat at Chicago Airport

Thu, 23 Apr 2026 18:07:46 GMT

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agriculture specialists intercepted a monkey carcass and prohibited ruminant meat on April 11 at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport.

The monkey remains discovered during an X-ray examination of a Cameroon traveler’s baggage is a major concern for human health, but the ruminant meat is strictly prohibited for the safety of U.S. animal agriculture.

(US Customs and Border Protection)

“A subsequent traveler from Liberia tried to deceptively sneak in prohibited ruminant meat,” CBP reports. “CBP agriculture specialists inspected eight boxes within the traveler’s baggage and discovered meat, bones and hair concealed in dried seafood. The traveler admitted that the concealed meat was beef. Seafood is generally admissible, but ruminant meat from certain parts of the world is prohibited due to the presence of disease, such as Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) and foot-and-mouth disease (FMD).”

In total, CBP agriculture specialists seized a total of 125 pounds of prohibited ruminant meat, one pound of prohibited fresh leaves, and four types of prohibited seeds for planting from the Liberian traveler’s baggage.

“CBP’s agriculture specialists mitigate the threat of non-native plants and pests, plant and animal diseases, and other potentially contaminants entering the United States,” Chicago Field Office’s Acting Director of Field Operations Michael Pfeiffer, said in a release. “The sheer volume of prohibited items our specialists intercept daily demonstrates how they play an essential and critical role in preventing plant and animal diseases from entering the United States.”

With outbreaks of FMD and other foreign animal diseases on the rise in regions of the world, it’s critical to protect U.S. borders by getting prohibited products out of the country. Earlier this week, South Africa announced that its government received 2 million doses of FMD vaccine from Turkey in light of South Africa’s worst FMD outbreak in years .

Travelers who wish to import plant materials, animal materials and other agricultural items should visit Bringing Agricultural Products into the United States .

4 Essential Biosecurity Strategies to Protect Your Cow Herd

Fri, 13 Feb 2026 14:43:09 GMT

“Start early and start now.” It’s a simple but powerful message Tanner Pickett of 5 Rivers Cattle shared during a National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) biosecurity webinar.
As the New World screwworm continues to move closer to the U.S., the need for strong biosecurity practices has never been greater.

There is no better time than now for producers to evaluate and strengthen biosecurity procedures on their operations. Here are four biosecurity strategies to consider implementing:

1. Create or Update Your Secure Beef Supply Plan

According to the Kansas Department of Agriculture, the Secure Beef Supply (SBS) Plan is a voluntary tool designed to help cattle producers move animals from uninfected operations during a disease outbreak. Without a plan, a “stop movement” order could freeze your business.
Following SBS protocols helps sustain the economic viability of the cattle industry while limiting disease spread.

How to start: Complete the 11-question questionnaire and provide an operation map.
Next step: Meet with a state representative to validate the plan for your specific geography.

Once established, it is critical to keep the SBS plan current, especially in an ever-changing industry.

2. Participate In a Mock Outbreak

You don’t know where your gaps are until you test them. Pickett recommends participating in a one-day simulation.

The Benefit: Walking through a simulated shutdown reveals if your SBS Plan actually functions during a crisis.
The Goal: Identify weaknesses and adjust protocols before a real event occurs.

3. Establish Pasture Movement Protocols

If an outbreak occurs, do you know which pastures your herd can be moved to safely? Kelly Oliver-Halbleib with the Kansas Department of Agriculture emphasizes the importance of having a plan in place, even without an SBS Plan.

Knowing where cattle can and cannot be moved during an outbreak is a foundational step in protecting herd health and preventing further disease spread.

4. Create Visual Lines of Separation

During the chaos of an outbreak, it is easy for employees or delivery drivers to cross into “dirty” zones. Visual cues act as a physical reminder of biosecurity boundaries.

Examples of Barriers: Use round bales, traffic cones, fencing or parked vehicles.
Alignment: These lines should match the “Line of Separation” (LOS) designated in your SBS Plan.

While the threat of a disease outbreak can feel overwhelming, producers are not alone. Resources and professionals are available to help guide the process. More information on the SBS Plan can be found at securebeef.org , and species-specific biosecurity resources are available at cfsph.iastate.edu .

Having a plan in place is essential. “Producers are the best problem solvers,” Oliver-Halbleib summarizes.

How Vet Visits and Biosecurity Shape Producers’ Views on Disease Preparedness

Wed, 05 Nov 2025 20:45:58 GMT

When it comes to animal health, what beef producers believe about disease risk can shape what they do about prevention. A recent study by Dr. Csaba Varga and his colleagues at the University of Illinois explored what influences how beef cattle producers in Illinois think about biosecurity, prevention and the threat of foreign animal diseases (FADs). The findings point to a simple, but powerful, truth: meaningful engagement with veterinarians and structured biosecurity evaluations can dramatically improve producer outlooks on disease preparedness.

The Survey

Between June and August 2022, researchers surveyed more than 500 beef producers across Illinois. They wanted to know how producers viewed disease prevention and the risk of FADs, and what factors might shape those views.

The team focused on three things:

Whether the farm had a biosecurity evaluation
Whether a veterinarian visited the farm
Whether the producer was willing to invest money in prevention measures

These factors were then compared to producers’ attitudes about disease risk and preparedness.

While the majority of respondents recognized infectious diseases could threaten their operations, attitudes toward the likelihood of an outbreak and the value of prevention varied widely.

Veterinarians Make a Clear Difference

The results showed producers who had regular veterinary visits were far more likely to think positively about disease prevention and awareness. That means simply having a vet stop by, even for routine herd checks, can strengthen a producer’s understanding of disease risk and increase confidence in prevention measures.

For veterinarians, this highlights the value of staying engaged with beef clients — not just for treatments or emergencies, but as trusted advisers on herd health and biosecurity. Every visit is a chance to start a conversation on prevention.

“Veterinarians should engage in proactive, ongoing communication with producers about the importance of biosecurity and disease prevention strategies,” Varga encourages. “Emphasizing the potential negative economic and herd health consequences of an FAD outbreak is also important to show producers the long-term benefits of investing in prevention measures. Biosecurity assessments and educating producers on how to assess their farm’s biosecurity vulnerabilities and recommend specific actions to address these gaps are also important, which were associated with better preparedness in our study.”

The Power of Biosecurity Evaluations

The same was true for producers who had a formal biosecurity evaluation. These producers were more likely to see prevention as worthwhile and to feel ready for a potential disease outbreak.

Biosecurity reviews help turn vague ideas into practical action. They pinpoint areas that need improvement, like managing visitors, animal movement, or feed deliveries, and make prevention feel achievable — rather than overwhelming.

For vets, helping producers complete or interpret these evaluations can be a simple way to boost awareness and strengthen farm-level protection.

Willingness to Invest Reflects Awareness

Producers who said they were willing to spend more money on prevention, whether through new equipment, facility upgrades or herd health programs, also tended to have stronger positive views on disease preparedness. Those same producers were also more likely to believe FAD outbreaks could happen in the U.S.. Awareness of risk seems to motivate action.

This suggests that honest, evidence-based conversations about disease threats can encourage producers to invest in prevention. When the risk feels real and relevant, preparation feels worthwhile.

Practical Takeaways for Vets and Producers

The message from this study is straightforward: regular veterinary engagement and structured biosecurity evaluations work. They improve understanding, confidence and readiness across beef operations.

For veterinarians and industry educators, practical steps could include:

Adding quick biosecurity check-ins to routine herd visits
Encouraging producers to join state or industry biosecurity programs
Showing how prevention pays off by reducing the cost and stress of disease events
Using real examples of outbreaks to make the importance of preparedness clear

Even small efforts can have lasting impacts when they come from a trusted voice.

While this study focused on Illinois, the lessons apply anywhere beef cattle are raised. With foreign animal diseases, such as lumpy skin disease and Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza , posing threats, preparedness is a shared responsibility.

The more producers understand about prevention, and the more veterinarians engage them in those conversations, the stronger the industry becomes. Varga’s team has also developed an educational website where producers can access information on disease prevention, biosecurity best practices and FAD risks.

“Disease prevention is a shared responsibility,” Varga says. “For veterinarians, it means taking a proactive role in engaging producers through regular farm visits, biosecurity evaluations and education on emerging disease risks. For producers, it means recognizing that investing in prevention — whether through improved biosecurity, veterinary partnerships, or ongoing education — is more cost-effective than responding to an outbreak after it occurs.”

Ultimately, prevention isn’t just about protecting a single herd. It’s about building resilience across the entire beef community. That starts with everyday conversations between producers and vets.

Kansas Beef Producers Beware: A Case of Theileria Found

Thu, 17 Jul 2025 18:51:08 GMT

Theileria orientalis ikeda, a protozoan parasite that infects red and white blood cells and can lead to anemia and, in some cases, death, has been found in Kansas.

The primary insect vector is the Asian longhorned tick (ALT) . According to the Kansas Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory (KSVDL) ALT has not been found in Kansas but has been found in Missouri, Arkansas and in Oklahoma most recently in the county adjacent to Labette County, Kan.

The disease can be spread through multiuse needles and insect vectors.

KSVDL reports the infected calves in the case were purchased on the East coast and imported into Kansas for feeding.

If you are witnessing any of these clinical signs in cattle of all ages — anorexia, lethargy, dyspnea, icterus or death — please consider this new pathogen.

KSVDL also stresses producers need to be wary of importing cattle without testing for this disease. KSVDL has a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) (MDL7130) that identifies both Anaplasma and Theileria. As with all PCR’s, whole blood (purple top tube) is the appropriate antemortem sample. Fresh spleen is the appropriate postmortem sample.

KSDVL has a map of where the disease has been confirmed by KSDVL testing.
For more details on the disease, you can view a webinar produced by KSDVL.

Experts Encourage Beef Quality Assurance Certification

Wed, 25 Jun 2025 12:55:45 GMT

What started as a grassroots effort to reduce injection-site lesions in beef has evolved into one of the most comprehensive training programs in the cattle industry.

On their weekly Cattle Chat podcast, the Beef Cattle Institute at Kansas State University explained how the Beef Quality Assurance program is still relevant and important today.

“Beef quality assurance was a producer-initiated program to decrease injection-site lesions in premium beef cuts,” K-State veterinarian Brian Lubbers says. “Since then, beef quality assurance has kind of morphed and grown; it now covers many aspects of the cattle industry”

Over the years, BQA has expanded to include training on antimicrobial stewardship, animal handling, farm biosecurity, and proper injection protocols. The certification, available both online and through in-person sessions nationwide, promotes industry-wide consistency in animal care and food safety.

The benefits of BQA certification include consistency in safe meat and safer working conditions, as well as consistency between producers and employees working with beef cattle. Lubbers described the value gained for workers and producers from the certification.

“There are a lot of things that if I were just to stand next to somebody in a chute for 15 or 20 minutes, I’m going to forget a couple of things that they should know, but would have learned in the module,” Lubbers says. “I can be assured that the people on my operation that may be working with cattle in any way have already had that training whether I have explained it to them or not.”

Another crucial benefit to getting BQA certified lies in maintaining consumer trust and building industry reputation. “I would love to say 99.95% of our producers are Beef Quality Assurance verified, because then it demonstrates a commitment from the entire industry to do things right,” Lubbers says.

The BQA program is developed by producers, for producers. Its’ voluntary nature reflects the cattle industry’s dedication to continuous improvement and responsible practices. Whether a seasoned rancher or a new employee, BQA equips individuals with practical, science-based knowledge to improve cattle management and protect the reputation of U.S. beef worldwide.

To get BQA certified, visit www.bqa.org

To hear the full discussion, listen to Cattle Chat on your preferred streaming platform.

Your Next Read: How to Win Beef Consumers’ Trust: Authenticity and Responding to Concerns

Secretary Rollins Takes On a Global Agenda for U.S. Agriculture

Sat, 17 May 2025 02:33:17 GMT

A day after returning from the United Kingdom (UK), Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins says agriculture is a “big, big deal” in the trade agreement now being negotiated between the U.S. and UK.

“The No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 concessions that we received from the UK were for agriculture. It was beef cattle, it was ethanol and the conversations continue on pork,” Rollins told “AgriTalk” host Chip Flory in an exclusive interview on Friday. “I was so proud of President Trump for putting our farmers first as he promised to do.”

During her time in the UK, she met with four cabinet members, her counterpart and three others, and key advisers to the prime minister to work toward striking a deal they’ve “been trying to get it done for 25 years.”

When it comes to non-tariff trade barriers between the U.S. and UK, particularly with beef, Rollins says progress is being made. She prioritizes social media and interviews with the media to talk about the robust, abundant and safe products U.S. farmers grow and produce.

📍Day one in the UK: Kicked off a powerful U.S. agriculture cooperator roundtable at the U.S. Embassy in London.

We’re building on President Trump’s historic trade announcement and his promise to put farmers FIRST—at home and around the world. 🇺🇸🇬🇧 pic.twitter.com/xqsIoDLyAe
— Secretary Brooke Rollins (@SecRollins) May 12, 2025

While in the UK, she was often asked about chlorinated chicken and hormone filled beef.

“I would immediately push back, and they all seemed a little bit surprised. I think by my final day in the UK, they knew what my answer was going to be. I asked him to go look at the science and understand the data and what we’re producing here is so safe and so reliable,” Rollins says.

When it comes to potential opportunities for the U.S., the ag secretary sees additional potential for:

pork
poultry
rice
specialty crops
seafood

While Rollins is quick to point out the U.S. doesn’t agree with the UK on everything, such as net zero goals, she says they “desperately needs our ethanol,” including biofuels, biomass and wood pellets.

“The zero percent tariff on our ethanol is going to play a huge part in them achieving [their net zero] goal and, for our farmers in America, that’s a really big deal,” Rollins says.

“So you see, with Rochambeau’s fleet in the Chesapeake and Washington’s army on the peninsula, your garrison at Yorktown had no chance. Caught, as between my fingers here.” 😁😂

No, seriously — so grateful for our time at 10 Downing Street today. Grateful too, as America… pic.twitter.com/OKAOtLkSqB
— Secretary Brooke Rollins (@SecRollins) May 14, 2025

Imports of Live Cattle from Mexico Remain Off Limits Due to New World Screwworm

Prior to leaving for the UK, the U.S. suspended Mexican cattle, horse and bison imports from Mexico because of the threat of New World Screwworm (NWS).

“My commitment to Secretary Villalobos, who is my counterpart in Mexico, was that we weren’t just going to shut the border down and then just go away for a couple of months. This would be a daily discussion with repercussions not just to the farmers and ranchers in his country but also in ours. This is not good for us either in the short term or the long term, but we have to protect our beef cattle industry,” Rollins says. “There were some promises made and data points given to us that we didn’t fully trust were in best interest of our cattle ranchers. That’s why I made that decision, though it wasn’t an easy decision.

While Rollins continues to analyzes the situation and assess next steps, she stresses the real threat the pest poses.

“It has gotten within 700 miles of our southern border in Texas, which is inexcusable and unsustainable and we can’t let it get any closer,” Rollins says.

Secondary Screwworm Fly

She says production of sterile flies is being considered and hopes to have some good news to announce on that very soon.

In the mean time, the border will remain closed until Mexico can put more miles between NWS and the U.S. border. A couple weeks ago, NWS was 1,100 miles from the border, Rollins says, but then that gap narrowed.

“There’s just too much at stake. It took us 30 years to eradicate [NWS] the last time, and we just can’t get there again,” she adds.

‘Make America Healthy Again’ Report to be Released May 22

On May 22, a report is expected to be released by supporters of the “Make America Healthy Again” movement. What can farmers expect in that report?

“As you can imagine, it’s a work in progress,” Rollins says. “I and my team at USDA, my partners across the Trump cabinet, including Lee Zeldin at EPA, Russell Vought at OMB and Kevin Hassett with the National Economic Council, and, of course, Bobby Kennedy, chair of the committee, just finished a couple hour discussion on that and we’ll be continuing over the weekend. I think it will make some really important points about the chronic diseases in our country, about diabetes in our country and about addiction to medicine and prescriptions. It’s really an all-encompassing report.”

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins posted this photo with RFK Jr. on X, saying “Supporting hardworking farmers like the Sawyer family is vital for Making America Healthy Again.”

(Secretary Brooks Rollins X Account)

“Of course, my lane is making sure our farmers and ranchers are put first and that we’re able to continue to feed and fuel and provide fiber for not only America, but the rest of the world, so that will be a big part of it. I feel confident President Trump’s vision of putting America first and putting American farmers and ranchers first will be reflective in that document as it comes out next week, and we continue to talk about it,” she continues.

Your Next Read: China Plans ‘World’s Biggest Export Terminal’ For Brazil Amid U.S. Trade Talks

U.S. Suspends Mexican Cattle, Horse and Bison Imports Over Screwworm Pest

Mon, 12 May 2025 00:43:59 GMT

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins on Sunday said she is suspending imports of live cattle, horses and bison through the southern U.S. border over the damaging pest New World screwworm, a measure that immediately drew opposition from Mexico.

“I am announcing the suspension of live cattle, horse and bison imports through U.S. southern border ports of entry effective immediately,” Rollins said. “The last time this devastating pest invaded America, it took 30 years for our cattle industry to recover. This cannot happen again.”

Her Mexican counterpart, Julio Berdegue, swiftly rebuked the action, but said he hoped the two countries could soon come to an agreement over the pest, known as NWS.

“We don’t agree with this measure,” he said in a post on social media, adding that it would be in place for 15 days.

The U.S. agriculture agency in a statement on Sunday said the suspension would be in effect on a “month-by-month basis.”

The U.S. and Mexico last month reached an agreement on the handling of the damaging pest, which can infest livestock and wildlife and carry maggots that burrow into the skin of living animals, causing serious and often fatal damage.

The U.S. agriculture agency in a statement said the efforts so far were not sufficient, and acknowledged “an economic impact” on both countries due to the suspension.

“There has been unacceptable northward advancement of NWS and additional action must be taken to slow the northern progression of this deadly parasitic fly,” USDA said.

It said the pest had been detected in Oaxaca and Veracruz, about 700 miles (1,127 km) from the U.S. border.

Reporting by Joey Roulette in Washington and Lizbeth Diaz in Mexico City; Editing by Bill Berkrot

Read more: Mexico Takes Additional Measures to Help Fight New World Screwworm

USDA Threatens To Halt Imports If Mexico Doesn’t Step Up New World Screwworm Control

Kersia to Buy Neogen's Global Cleaners and Disinfectants Business

Tue, 22 Apr 2025 22:08:58 GMT

Neogen Corporation announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its global cleaners and disinfectants business to Kersia Group for $130 million in cash at closing plus contingent consideration tied to the future performance of the business.

“The sale of our cleaners and disinfectants business further focuses Neogen on food safety diagnostics and continuing to build on our leadership position in what we believe is an attractive end market with long-term tailwinds,” John Adent, president and CEO of Neogen, said in a release.

“The transaction is expected to be accretive to margins and close in the first quarter of the company’s 2026 fiscal year, subject to regulatory approval and customary closing conditions,” Neogen said in a release.

With approximately $60 million of annual revenue, Neogen has a broad range of cleaners and disinfectants, the release says.

“Being used to such transactions and equipped with a dedicated process for a smooth and efficient integration, we are keen to appropriately welcome the collaborators within the business,” Sébastien Bossard, CEO of Kersia, said in a release. “I am convinced that their expertise and experience, as well as the wide range of products in the business, which perfectly complement our existing solutions, capabilities and skills, will be a key step in enabling Kersia to better serve its clients in the U.S. and abroad. Together, we will pursue our mission to ensure food safety across the food chain.”

Neogen’s disinfectant and cleaner products are formulated for use in a range of livestock applications, including swine, poultry and ruminant operations.

“The cleaners and disinfectants business has been a strong contributor to our Animal Safety segment and Neogen is committed to a smooth transition for customers, employees and other stakeholders,” Adent says. “We expect Kersia’s prioritization of investment and growth in the biosecurity market will benefit the business and provide sharpened strategic focus to maximize its potential for continued growth.”

Your Next Read: Biosecurity at Wean-to-Harvest Sites Needs Attention in the U.S. Pork Industry

Hungary Suggests 'Biological Attack' Could be Source of Foot-and-Mouth Outbreak

Thu, 10 Apr 2025 15:35:24 GMT

Hungary on Thursday suggested a “biological attack” as a possible source of the country’s first foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in more than half a century, which has triggered border closures and the mass slaughter of cattle in the northwest.

Hungary reported a first case of foot-and-mouth disease in over 50 years on a cattle farm in the northwest near the border with Austria and Slovakia last month, the World Organisation for Animal Health said, citing Hungarian authorities.

Animal health authorities had made checks at nearly 1,000 farms across Hungary by Thursday, with only four in the affected northwestern region returning positive results.

“At this stage, we can say that it cannot be ruled out that the virus was not of natural origin, we may be dealing with an artificially engineered virus,” Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s chief of staff, Gergely Gulyas told a media briefing.

Responding to a question, Gulyas said he could not rule out that the virus outbreak was the result of a biological attack, without giving information on who might be responsible.

He also said that suspicion was based on verbal information received from a foreign laboratory and that their findings have not yet been fully proven and documented.

Hungary’s cattle stock numbered 861,000 head based on a livestock census in December, little changed from levels a year earlier. That constituted 1.2% of the European Union’s total cattle stocks, official statistics showed.

Foot-and-mouth disease poses no danger to humans but causes fever and mouth blisters in cloven-hoofed ruminants such as cattle, swine, sheep and goats, and outbreaks often lead to trade restrictions.

Thousands of cattle had to be culled as the landlocked country tried to contain the outbreak, while Austria and Slovakia have closed dozens of border crossings, after the disease also appeared in the southern part of Slovakia.

“Everyone was just standing there, crying and saying that this cannot be true, that this was impossible,” said Paul Meixner, an Austrian-Hungarian dual citizen, who owns of one of the affected farms in Hungary.

While his business has taken a 1.5 billion forint ($4.09 million) loss after culling 3,000 cattle and other livestock, Meixner has vowed to rebuild.

“In two weeks, we will start harvesting and storing the hay,” he said. “We need the fodder for next year.”

Your Next Read: What Do Foot-and-Mouth Disease Outbreaks in Europe Mean for the U.S.?

Don't Be Deceived: Wildlife Pose Serious Threat to Livestock Producers

Tue, 01 Apr 2025 14:30:52 GMT

At first glance, the house sparrow may not seem all that intimidating. But now that highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) is endemic in the wildlife waterfowl population, this tiny bird could become a huge problem for U.S. livestock producers, USDA’s David Marks said at the 2025 American Association of Swine Veterinarians annual meeting in San Francisco in March.

“Ducks and geese waterfowl are a reservoir for highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI),” says Marks who serves on the staff of USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services (APHIS) Wildlife Services (WS). “They brought it over here in 2022 from Europe and Asia, and now it is circulating in waterfowl. HPAI is a foreign animal disease in North and North America, but now it’s endemic in wildlife. It’s not a good situation.”

Peri-domestic birds like the house sparrow and the American robin are attracted to the same water sources as these ducks and geese, which can result in peri-domestic birds carrying the disease back to the livestock barns, Marks explains.

“Keep your farms tight,” he says. “HPAI is mixing and reassorting in our waterfowl. Every time it gets in these birds, it’s mutating. Over 85% of positive farms now are from wildlife introductions.”

When it comes to managing wildlife disease threats, there are basically three options: manage the site itself, manage the wildlife, or install a barrier to keep wildlife out.

How Big of a Problem Do We Have?
Since the outbreak in poultry in 2022, APHIS has worked with state animal health officials to identify and respond to detections and mitigate the virus’ impact on U.S. poultry production and trade. Marks says more than 105.2 million birds in 1,197 flocks in 48 states have been affected by the virus since then. In response to this current outbreak, USDA has spent over $1 billion, paying for indemnity, cleanup and disinfection of facilities, diagnostics and other aspects related emergency response.

“More than 75% of infections have been directly related to new introductions of virus of wildlife origin and not related to lateral transfer between facilities, employees and equipment as in previous HPAI outbreaks,” Marks says.

WS developed the Midwest Wildlife Biosecurity Assessment Pilot Project in response to the continued outbreaks of HPAI across the country. Four states (Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota) were selected as the focus for this project based upon the high number of infections and re-introductions of facilities during calendar year 2022 from within this area.

Earlier this month, USDA announced it is expanding the availability of its biosecurity assessments to commercial poultry producers.

“These assessments, which were previously available on a limited basis have been extremely successful in improving biosecurity on individual premises and preventing the introduction or spread of avian influenza,” USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins said.

The goal of the assessments is to take a proactive approach to managing potential disease transfer and improve the wildlife biosecurity of commercial poultry facilities in the U.S., thus reducing the number of facilities that become infected with HPAI and other diseases of concern to the poultry industry, Marks explains.

Wildlife biosecurity assessments are through evaluations of all buildings, external operations and wildlife population use and movements that occur on and near commercial poultry facilities. These reports are directly provided to facility managers and include long-term management recommendations for mitigating any identified risks related to wildlife.

The formal WBA process is comprised of three main components: Wildlife hazard identification surveys, wildlife abundance surveys, and in most cases, direct control and continued monitoring for attractants, hazards, and wildlife.

Barn swallow nest

(USDA Wildlife Services)

Step 1: Wildlife Abundance Surveys
What species are there in the first place? Marks says wildlife abundance surveys (WAS) simply determine what wildlife species one could expect and that one finds on an operation.

“A farm in northwest Iowa might be different than a farm in southeast Iowa or Texas,” he points out. “WS conducts WAS at different times during the day (morning, midday, evening, and night) to understand the different species present in and around the facilities at these times.”

After establishing multiple survey points to represent all habitats and cover the perimeter, WS conducts standardized wildlife point counts at each survey point and revisits those monthly to create population trend data. These maps show areas of wildlife activity for each facility.

Standing water is an attractant for wildlife.

(USDA Wildlife Services)

Step 2: Wildlife Hazard Identification Surveys
Wildlife hazard identification survey (WHIS) take place at all facilities as they enter the program, he says. These reports provide a detailed list of all the wildlife biosecurity hazards found within the perimeter buffer area of the facility, and categorizes hazards into three tiers, with tier 1 being of the greatest concern. Examples of Tier 1 hazards include holes in barn exterior walls, exclusionary netting, or other breaches that would allow direct contact with wildlife and poultry.

Lower Tier hazards include wildlife attractants and potential sources for indirect transmission routes, such as standing water and food sources. WS conducts the first WHIS during an initial facility site visit and generates the report for the producer shortly after. WHIS reports contain photographs of all hazards identified and their locations represented on an aerial photo. WS designs the reports so producers can quickly identify and mitigate any hazards found.

WS personnel conduct subsequent WHIS quarterly to monitor progress. They also monitor for additional hazards continuously while on site, and any additional hazards found are recorded and relayed to producers in real time. Formal quarterly WHIS reports help track hazards and mitigation over time.

Starling on a barn roof.

(USDA Wildlife Services)

Step 3: Direct Control
The next step is to develop a plan for routine direct control actions. This includes both lethal (removal) and nonlethal (habitat management, exclusion, harassment) management of wildlife present at the facility, Marks explains.

“WS records all direct control activity results, along with wildlife observations while on site,” he says. “These are not standardized data, but over time are very valuable in showing trends and we expect a direct inverse correlation to result from wildlife abundance surveys (ie, the more wildlife managed, the lower the wildlife abundance on site). Similar to wildlife abundance data, direct control trend data can be depicted on a map of a facility to show areas of wildlife activity.”

After the first six months of participation in the program, WS generates a comprehensive report for the facility, which summarizes all WS personnel activities.

While on site, WS personnel collect samples from wildlife species for HPAI testing, he adds. Sampling strategies focus on facilities that have recently become positive for HPAI because of the increased likelihood of the virus being present in non-reservoir species. WS processes samples and submits them to the diagnostic lab for analysis, and all influenza A detections are forwarded to the USDA National Veterinary Services Laboratory for confirmation and genomic sequencing. Additionally, WS collects samples from a subset of wildlife collected from non-infected facilities.

What Can You Do Now?
Although the biosecurity assessments and audits are offered to poultry producers only at this time, WS does offer financial support to help dairy producers enhance biosecurity and offset costs associated with Influenza A testing, veterinary expenses, personal protective equipment purchases, milk disposal and milk losses.

“The wildlife exclusions and barn setups are similar between swine and poultry facilities,” Marks says. “Biosecurity is a critical tool for disease prevention for all species.”

USDA encourages all producers to review their biosecurity plans and take action now to prevent disease from reaching their herds. While the actual assessments may not be available to pork producers right now, USDA does offer biosecurity resources for swine producers here .

Your Next Read: Is the Swine Industry Ready for H5N1? Texas Veterinarian Says “No”

What Do Foot-and-Mouth Disease Outbreaks in Europe Mean for the U.S.?

Fri, 28 Mar 2025 22:18:14 GMT

Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is rearing its ugly head in Europe. After an outbreak in water buffalo in Germany in January, an outbreak in cattle in Hungary in early March and an outbreak in cattle in Slovakia last week, why now? What is the U.S. doing to keep this foreign animal disease out and protect the country’s livestock industry?

“FMD is caused by a virus that affects cloven-hoofed animals so that can include cattle, pigs, sheep and goats,” explains Megan Niederwerder, DVM, who serves as the executive director of the Swine Health Information Center (SHIC). “It does not affect humans and is not a threat to food safety, but it has significant trade implications once it is introduced into a country.”

FMD has been fairly quiet in these European countries – with no cases reported for decades. Other parts of Europe have seen outbreaks more recently like the 2001 outbreak in the United Kingdom that caused a crisis in British agriculture and tourism and resulted in the cancellation of the World Pork Expo held in Des Moines, Iowa.

“FMD really decimated the United Kingdom,” says Barb Determan who was serving as president of the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) at the time. “It became very apparent that we couldn’t guarantee the safety for our U.S. pig herd because of the high numbers of international travelers that would be at the show. We had to cancel World Pork Expo out of an abundance of precaution.”

Although there is still a lot to be discovered about how FMD was introduced into these populations, it’s a significant warning to the U.S. to be on alert.

(Lori Hays)

That was the first time, but not the only time World Pork Expo was canceled. The event was also canceled in 2019 because of the African swine fever outbreak in China and again in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“That was a hard financial decision,” Determan says. “We had just completed the separation agreement between NPPC and the National Pork Board. NPPC was very tightly budgeted at that time, so it was a huge hit.”

However, keeping the U.S. pig herd safe was the most important thing on everyone’s mind. She says they made their decision after hearing reports from veterinarians who had been to England to better understand the extensiveness as well as from the USDA that had sent veterinarians over to help.

“At that time, we didn’t have near the biosecurity practices and things that we do now with the disinfectant foot mats,” Determan says. “We also don’t have live pigs on the on the grounds now compared to how we did things many years ago. We used to have live pigs everywhere on the fairgrounds in the early 2000s from genetics companies with pigs in their displays to the pigs in the live shows.”

The Truth About FMD
The clinical signs of FMD are similar to what the name implies. It can cause vesicles or blisters on the feet, mouth and tongue of animals that are infected. The U.S. has not had a case of FMD since 1929.

“We certainly want to keep it that way, as the economic implications for producers are significant if the virus is introduced,” Niederwerder says.

Compared to many viruses, FMD is a highly stable, non-enveloped virus that allows it to be infectious for longer periods. It’s very contagious and highly transmissible. Not only are there risks with transmission of the virus through infected meat products that may come in through illegal trade, but it can also be carried on contaminated clothes or equipment or supplies of humans.

“The human would not be infected, but certainly people can carry the virus on contaminated clothing,” Niederwerder says. “That’s why it’s really important as we think about prevention of entry into the U.S.”

FMD causes fever and pain. It results in excessive salivation and causes reduced milk production in dairy cattle.

“When you think about the impact, certainly there’s an impact on animal health with regards to the clinical signs, but even further is this impact on trade restrictions and the economic losses for producers,” Niederwerder says. “When you try and contain the virus, that oftentimes results in those infected animals being culled or euthanized so the disease no longer has the chance to spread.”

Why Should the U.S. Pay Attention?
When a virus moves into a new geographical range or is reintroduced into a country that has maintained a negative status for a long period, Niederwerder says it’s critical to reassess the risk to the U.S.

“In January, Germany reported their first case in over 30 years in water buffalo near Berlin,” she explains. “It was 14 animals, and those animals were all culled after the infection was confirmed but certainly trade restrictions and implications on surrounding areas of that Berlin farm were significant.”

Fast forward to March when two additional countries have reported cases. Hungary reported FMD in a single farm of cattle in the north part of the country for the first time in over 50 years. Shortly thereafter, the virus appeared in Slovakia (who also hadn’t seen a case in over 50 years) in multiple herds of cattle.

“Just recently, another herd was a suspect herd in Slovakia, near the southern border near Hungary,” Niederwerder says. “This is certainly concerning about how this virus is being reintroduced. Is it associated with contaminated fomites that may be in the country or traveling to new locations? Is it associated with wild boar? Could it be associated with infected hay?”

Although there is still a lot to be discovered about how FMD was introduced into these populations, it’s a significant warning to the U.S. to be on alert .

“We need to do everything we can to make sure it doesn’t get reintroduced into the U.S.,” Niederwerder says. “How can we amp up any biosecurity measures that are necessary to reduce our risk? We also need to think about reducing the risk of introduction into our country through travel and illegal trade.”

Be on Alert
Livestock operations should reevaluate biosecurity protocols. If any of your farm’s employees travel to areas where there are infected animals, implement a quarantine period for entry back into your U.S. farm, she advises.

“Be vigilant,” Niederwerder urges. “One of the challenges of FMD is that it does cause these characteristic lesions of vesicles or blisters on the mouth, nose or the hoof. What becomes very tricky is that those clinical signs are indistinguishable from other vesicular diseases such as Senecavirus A. If producers and veterinarians see these lesions, they must report it immediately so it can be investigated and confirmed that it is not FMD virus.”

FMD is not just a disease of pigs and cattle, she points out. Sheep, goats and cloven-hoofed zoo animals may also be impacted by FMD. This increases the breadth of what the industry needs to monitor.

“The world is very small now,” Niederwerder says. “Not only do people travel more internationally, but animals move around more than ever, too. It’s extremely important for those of us that are producers to keep our eyes open and pay attention to what’s going on worldwide so we can be as prepared as possible for any change in disease risk.”

That’s one of the ways that SHIC is trying to help producers. SHIC provides timely domestic and global disease updates to producers.

“Watching the SHIC global disease report is really important for producers,” Determan says. “It comes out every month and really gives you a feel for what’s happening in the entire world from a swine health standpoint. The biggest lesson we learned from the 2001 FMD outbreak is that looking farther out than just our own farm gate is so important.”

Keep Reading:
An Update on Foot-and-Mouth Disease Virus Serotype O in Germany

Hungary Confirms Foot-and-Mouth Disease Outbreak in Cattle

Slovakia Records First Foot-and-Mouth Cases, Minister Says

Smart Partnership Strengthens Disease Traceability

Thu, 13 Mar 2025 16:12:32 GMT

The beef industry is a complex network of stakeholders — seedstock producers, cow-calf operations, stockers, feedlots and packers. With this segmentation comes a challenge: being prepared to act swiftly and effectively if a highly contagious disease like Foot and Mouth Disease strikes.

To amplify traceability efforts U.S. CattleTrace is now partnering with Where Food Comes From . The collaboration aims to align resources and expertise improving disease traceability while maintaining producer-driven decision making, data privacy and data confidentiality.

“This partnership is a collaborative effort to strengthen traceability and enhance the tools available to producers,” says Callahan Grund, U.S. CattleTrace executive director.

U.S. CattleTrace was founded as a voluntary, producer-driven, private-industry, confidential traceability system designed to provide rapid contact tracing. By collecting four key data points — animal identification, date, time and GPS location — the system builds a critical infrastructure for disease response and containment.

Participation is simple for producers. For ranches, backgrounders or stockers, the start is tagging with an RFID tag. Once cattle leave the ranch of origin, U.S. CattleTrace aims to trace an animal through its life cycle at any point of commerce or comingling in the beef supply chain.

U.S. CattleTrace is a hands-free, speed of commerce contact tracing system for animal disease traceability. Utilizing primarily RFID technology, the system collects a minimal four data points any animal that passes through a reader at a facility that works with U.S. CattleTrace.

(U.S. CattleTrace)

U.S. CattleTrace will work with any operation in the supply chain looking to facilitate the flow of data for animal disease traceability purposes. The system collects only those four data points on any animal that passes through a reader at a facility working with U.S. CattleTrace. The data collected is securely locked up and only utilized in the case of a disease outbreak and no other identifying data is included.

“The need for the industry to unite around one effort to accomplish animal disease traceability is paramount to achieving a nationally significant contact tracing program,” says Joe Leathers, 6666 Ranch general manager and U.S. CattleTrace board chairman. “With Where Food Comes From’s long-time leadership within the cattle industry, I’m excited to see the progress we can make together in advancing this important initiative.”

IMI Global , a division of Where Food Comes From, has been providing verification solutions for the beef industry since 1995 ensuring transparency in labeling claims and adding value with product differentiation and market access domestically and internationally.

Highlighting the synergy of the partnership, Leann Saunders, COO and co-founder of Where Food Comes From, explains, “Whether verifying environmental and animal raising claims or tracing cattle movements, the common denominator is animal identification and traceability. Our hope is to reduce duplication for customers that wish to support both efforts, though it remains optional for all Where Food Comes From customers.”

Where Food Comes From will administer the technical aspects of U.S. CattleTrace’s mission while keeping key decisions in the hands of its leadership and board.

“The partnership comes at pivotal moment. We’ve seen the disruption disease outbreaks can cause. Being proactive with traceability is essential to securing the future of the beef industry,” adds John Saunders, Where Food Comes From CEO.

The collaboration helps position the industry to maintain high biosecurity standards, which will be crucial in safeguarding the long-term sustainability of beef production.

“Disease traceability isn’t just a precaution, it’s a proactive strategy for securing the industry’s future,” Grund says. “By participating, producers will not only protect their operations but also contribute to a stronger, more resilient beef supply chain.”

Your Next Read: Foot And Mouth Disease: Producers Should Be Prepared

Hungary Confirms Foot-and-Mouth Disease Outbreak in Cattle

Fri, 07 Mar 2025 22:43:19 GMT

Hungary reported its first case of foot-and-mouth disease in more than 50 years, on a cattle farm in the northwest of the country, the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH) said, citing Hungarian authorities on March 7.

According to WOAH, the outbreak, discovered in the city of Gyor, is the first outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease outbreak reported since 1973. The case was found on a 1,400-strong cattle farm on the border with Slovakia, Hungary’s National Food Chain Safety Office (Nébih) reported on Friday .

The farm showed classic symptoms of foot-and-mouth disease at the beginning of March, the report says.

“The presence of the pathogen was confirmed by the Nébih laboratory, which is why Dr. Szabolcs Pásztor, the national chief veterinarian, immediately ordered the closure of the farm and the initiation of an epidemiological investigation,” the report says. " In order to prevent the further spread of the disease, extremely strict official measures will be implemented, including a ban on the transport of susceptible live animal species.”

On Jan. 10, Germany confirmed its first outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease since 1988. The outbreak was detected in a herd of water buffalo in the Märkisch-Oderland district of Brandenburg, near Berlin.

“The confirmation of foot-and-mouth disease in cattle in Hungary comes less than two months after the virus was found in water buffalo in Germany,” the Swine Health Information Center (SHIC) said in a statement. “Hungary does not share a border with Germany; FMD-affected animals are approximately 475 miles apart.”

FMD affects cloven-hoofed animals such as cattle, pigs, sheep and goats. Not only is it highly contagious, but it also causes severe symptoms, including fever, painful blisters, reduced milk production and significant economic losses for farmers.

FMD poses no direct health risk to humans, but it’s important to note that they can act as carriers of the virus via contaminated clothing, shoes or equipment.

Your Next Read: An Update on Foot-and-Mouth Disease Virus Serotype O in Germany

APHIS Answers Call to Protect Animal Agriculture

Thu, 16 Jan 2025 21:00:13 GMT

Despite facing many challenges, including the continued response to highly pathogenic avian influenza, USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services (APHIS) worked to protect the health and value of America’s agricultural and natural resources.

“2024 was a year that confronted APHIS with new challenges. It was a year that forced us to find new and creative solutions to animal and plant health threats,” says Michael Watson, administrator for APHIS, in the 2024 Impact Report.

Here are a few highlights from the 2024 Impact Report surrounding animal agriculture:

Confirmed the first detection of HPAI H5N1 in a dairy herd in March 2024, and subsequently identified, investigated, and responded to H5N1 detections in livestock in over 860 herds across 17 states. APHIS issued two federal orders, implemented a producer support program, set up a voluntary monitoring and surveillance program for interested producers, and developed a national bulk milk testing strategy to help states protect the health of their dairy herds.
- Opened new market access for American agricultural exports, including U.S. rice to Ecuador, Texas grapefruit to South Korea, and California peaches and nectarines to Vietnam. APHIS also opened markets for U.S. live cattle, day-old chicks, and hatching eggs to Mozambique and beef and bone meal to Ecuador and Peru.
- Worked with regional partners in Central America to implement a multilateral response to the New World screwworm outbreak, increasing production of sterile flies weekly from 20 million to 90 million. These efforts, combined with rigorous surveillance and livestock inspections, protected U.S. borders from this devastating pest.
- Provided assistance to livestock producers on more than 123,000 occasions, including outreach and direct control activities to protect livestock from predation through a combination of techniques and tools. As much as possible, we responded using nonlethal methods like range riding, fladry, fencing, and husbandry practices.
Continued an emergency program to address nationwide detections of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI). Since the outbreak began in February 2022, we have confirmed the virus in over 1,300 poultry premises across the nation and supported affected producers through depopulation, disposal, and indemnification programs.
Protected American agriculture from harmful plant pests and foreign animal diseases by intercepting 289,855 prohibited agricultural items and 3,008 quarantine-significant pests during baggage inspections. These inspections involved more than 16.7 million passengers bound for the U.S. mainland from Hawaii and Puerto Rico.

Read the full report here.

German Meat Exports Face Disruption After Foot-and-Mouth Disease Case

Mon, 13 Jan 2025 16:02:46 GMT

Germany’s meat and dairy exports outside the EU face severe restrictions after the country’s first case of the livestock disease foot-and-mouth was confirmed on Friday, the country’s agriculture ministry said.

German authorities confirmed the country’s first outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in nearly 40 years in a herd of water buffalo on the outskirts of Berlin.

Foot-and-mouth disease causes fever and mouth blisters in cloven-hoofed ruminants such as cattle, swine, sheep and goats and in past decades has required major slaughtering campaigns to eradicate. Measures to contain the highly infectious disease, which poses no danger to humans, are being implemented, German authorities said.

The loss of Germany’s status as free from foot-and-mouth disease under World Organisation for Animal Health requirements, means many veterinary certificates for exports outside the EU can no longer be issued, Germany’s federal agriculture ministry said.

Consequently, exports of milk and dairy products, meat and meat products, hides and skins and blood products are “currently hardly possible”, the ministry said, adding that it “assumed third countries would immediately impose bans on such goods from Germany.”

The immediate goal is to ensure the disease does not spread, German agriculture minister Cem Oezdemir said.

German meat exports to the EU were likely to continue because current rules require exports to be stopped only from the region of an EU country directly suffering from a disease, an agriculture ministry spokesperson said separately.

Some countries are restricting imports of German meat including South Korea, the spokesperson said.

Authorities in Berlin and Brandenburg announced a six-day halt tothe transport for animals which can transmit the disease while investigations into the cause continue.

The president of the association of German farmers Joachim Rukwied called for urgent and intensive action to prevent the disease spreading and causing more serious financial losses for farmers.

The disease occurs regularly in the Middle East and Africa, in some Asian countries and South America.

(Reporting by Michael Hogan in Hamburg, additional reporting by Christian Kraemer in Berlin, editing by Kirsten Donovan and Christina Fincher)

New World Screwworm is Moving Toward the U.S.

Wed, 08 Jan 2025 20:15:31 GMT

By Kathy Simmons, DVM, Chief Veterinarian, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association

The U.S. cattle industry has not faced the threat of New World screwworm (NWS) for over 60 years. Currently, the NWS fly, about the size of a common housefly, has migrated across Central America from Panama and entered Mexico.

Live cattle trade to the U.S. from Mexico was halted on Nov. 22, 2024, after a cow in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas was found to have NWS myiasis. Live cattle trade with Mexico will only resume with established NWS mitigation protocols, the holding of Mexican cattle for preventive treatments, and multiple inspections of Mexican cattle on both sides of the border.

At the time of this article, NWS has not been found in the U.S., but this harmful pest can travel on humans, vehicles, pets, livestock and even on some wildlife species — all of which increase the likelihood it could eventually enter our country.

What is NWS Myiasis?

NWS myiasis is the infestation of NWS larvae or maggots that feed on the living tissues of all warm-blooded animals, including humans, and rarely birds. Adult female flies lay their eggs, often as many as 200 to 300 eggs at a time, at the edges of wounds on animals or at the mucous membranes or body orifices. Within 12 to 24 hours the eggs will hatch, and larvae emerge to feed on living flesh by burrowing into tissue, tearing at the tissue with their hook-like mouthparts, like a screw being driven into wood and hence, their name.

The larvae can be difficult to detect for the first 24 to 48 hours, but as larvae feed on tissue, the wound enlarges and drains a serosanguineous fluid. There is severe inflammation and secondary infection as well as the stench of necrotic tissue.

Screwworm larvae pass through three stages (or instars), and they will reach maturity about five to seven days after the eggs hatch. At maturity, the larvae stop feeding and fall to the ground where they burrow and pupate to become adult flies. Adult flies live for two to three weeks in the field. Females mate only once in their lifetime.

Diagnosis, Treatment and Prevention of NWS Myiasis

Laboratory diagnosis of NWS is usually made by identification of the parasites under the microscope. NWS is a foreign animal disease that is reportable to state animal health authorities and to USDA-APHIS. The U.S. is responsible for reporting NWS to the World Organization for Animal Health and to our trading partners.

Before collecting or sending any samples from animals with a foreign animal disease, the proper authorities should be contacted. Samples should only be sent under secure conditions and to authorized laboratories. NWS can infest humans, so samples should be collected and handled with proper precautions. Larvae should be removed from the wound prior to treatment and placed in 80% ethanol for transport to the lab. Formalin should not be used.

Treatment for NWS myiasis generally includes cleaning and debriding the wounds and applying organophosphate insecticides, which are effective against newly hatched larvae, immature forms and adult flies. Carbamates and pyrethroids are also effective against larvae. Antibiotics are indicated if an infection is present. Livestock can also be protected by regular spraying or dipping with insecticides, or by subcutaneous injections of ivermectin and related compounds.

In endemic areas, animals must be inspected for screwworms every few days. NWS myiasis is often fatal in untreated cattle within 14 days.

Whenever possible, procedures that leave wounds (castration, dehorning, branding, ear tagging) should not be performed during screwworm season, and sharp objects should be removed from livestock pens. No vaccine is currently available for NWS.

Eradication from a Region

Screwworms can be managed by repeatedly releasing sterile male flies that mate with wild NWS female flies to produce unfertilized eggs. This process is called sterile insect technique and leads to a reduction in screwworm numbers and eventual eradication.

In addition, infested animals in a region are treated and their movements are controlled. Currently, the U.S. and Panama operate an NWS sterile male fly production facility in Pacora, Panama, through the Panama-U.S. Commission for the Eradication and Prevention of Screwworm, or COPEG, which produces 100 million sterile male flies per week.

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association is committed to informing cattle producers and their veterinarians about current animal health risks and advocating for cattle health issues in Washington, D.C., on behalf of the U.S. cattle industry.

Click here for more resources.

More information on Bovine Veterinarian:
Protecting the Herd from New World Screwworm

TSCRA Hosts Educational Webinar About USDA's Final Animal Disease Traceability Rule

Tue, 27 Aug 2024 15:47:49 GMT

The Texas & Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association will host an educational webinar Oct. 1 at 7 p.m. to discuss the newly finalized animal disease traceability rule.

Featuring a panel of livestock industry experts and cattle raisers, the webinar will answer important questions about requirements for electronic identification of various classes of beef and dairy cattle in response to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) final rule for animal disease traceability that goes into effect Nov. 5.

Topics to be discussed include:

Impacted classes of livestock
Electronic identification tag requirements
Industry responsibilities for implementation
Data and program security
Resources for cattle raisers including how to access free tags

Panelists include Dr. Alex Turner, USDA APHIS Veterinary Services, director of national animal disease traceability; Austin Brown III, Brown Land & Cattle LLC, Beeville; Sigrid Johannes, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, senior director, government affairs; and Ken Jordan, Jordan Cattle Auction, San Saba.

The webinar is open to the public. To RSVP, tscra.org/upcoming-livestock-electronic-tagging-requirements-webinar/ .

U.S. to Expand Bird-Flu Testing of Beef in Slaughterhouses

Fri, 16 Aug 2024 17:31:32 GMT

The U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Tuesday it will expand bird-flu testing of beef entering the food supply as part of its response to the ongoing outbreak among dairy cattle, adding that U.S. beef and dairy products remain safe to consume.

USDA officials, in a call with reporters along with staff from other U.S. health agencies, said the tests will begin in mid-September and urged livestock workers to remain vigilant.

Nearly 200 herds in 13 U.S. states have contracted bird flu since March after the virus jumped from wild birds to cows, according to USDA data.

The USDA in May tested 109 beef samples from dairy cows sent to slaughter and found bird flu virus particles in one cow’s tissue sample. Older dairy cattle are often slaughtered for ground beef.

The expanded testing will continue for the rest of the year, and will focus on beef from dairy cows, said Emilio Esteban, USDA’s under secretary for food safety.

Eric Deeble, deputy under secretary for marketing and regulatory programs, said the USDA is confident with the current level of bird-flu testing conducted by the nation’s dairy farmers.

“I do feel that the response is adequate,” he said.

The Food and Drug Administration is talking with states about the plausibility of additional nationwide raw milk testing, said Steve Grube, chief medical officer of the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.

Colorado implemented mandatory weekly milk testing for dairy farmers on July 22 and has since detected 10 additional positive herds in the state.

Farm workers remain at risk of bird-flu infections so long as the virus circulates among livestock, said Nirav Shah, principal deputy director at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Thirteen poultry and dairy workers have contracted bird flu since April, according to the CDC.

The CDC is working on expanding its surveillance wastewater testing to H5 viruses in advance of the fall and winter flu season, Shah said.

Remember Biosecurity Practices As You Exhibit Animals at Shows and Fairs

Tue, 06 Aug 2024 19:16:00 GMT

As show and fair season continues throughout the country, it’s important livestock exhibitors remember good biosecurity practices. Idaho state veterinarian, Scott Leibsle, shares about what youth and their parents should be thinking about as they prepare for exhibiting and comingling animals.

“The first thing always is to make sure you’re monitoring the health of your own animals,” Leibsle says. “You never want to transport an animal that may not be in good health condition.”

Leibsle recognizes some jackpot shows and fairs have a significant amount of money involved, and exhibitors put time and resources into raising their project, but the animal’s health needs to come first.

“I think the health and welfare of the animal is important and you never want to forgo that for a blue ribbon or prize money,” he says. “The best way to avoid having to leave an animal at home is to follow all the basic health recommendations that you’re attending veterinarian recommends including vaccinations, good feed, regular examinations. All those types of things and good basic health and wellness are very important.”

After that if all animals are healthy and you’re ready to go to the show, you will want to know any health requirements of the show, he says.

High Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) has made news headlines across the country as 13 states have reported dairy herds testing positive for the H5N1 virus, which affects the mammary glands of dairy cows and reducing milk production.

“With H5N1 showing up in dairy herds around the country, if you have lactating dairy cattle, you’ll want to know any entry requirements,” Leibsle says.

Health certificates, which would certify that a veterinarian had seen the animal within a recent time frame, are usually required for animals crossing state lines.

“Any animal that is going to come to a communal venue where different groups of livestock will be exposed to each other should have a veterinarian give them a physical exam and you identify that they’re healthy,” Leisble says.

Some states are also requiring testing of dairy animals before they can be transported, so it’s important for exhibitors to know the rules for each particular show or exhibition,” he adds.

While cattle infected with H5N1 usually make a full recovery or only culled due to loss of production, HPAI is fatal to poultry, so anyone showing poultry should use sound judgement when deciding to exhibit birds that would then be returned to the flock.

Reminders of biosecurity practices:

• Give adequate space in between animals so to avoid nose-to-nose contact.

• Disinfect pens or stalls prior to adding animals. Bring and use own equipment, including wheelbarrows, shovels, rakes, when cleaning stalls or disinfect tools between uses.

• Use separate water sources and feed pans for each animal.

• Use different boots or footwear when cleaning up manure and stalls.

• Wash hands regularly.

“It’s very basic stuff,” Leibsle says. “I think anybody can do this; it just takes a little bit of extra time. Sometimes it’s the simple things that we forget or get lazy about, but they really can do a lot to prevent some of these pathogens and stuff from affecting our livestock.”

After the show, it’s important to keep animals returning to a flock or herd isolated for several days to a week.

“Keep an eye to see if any illness comes up,” Leibsle says. “You want to limit exposing the entire herd or group to any pathogens. Respiratory illnesses are the most common that arise when we have livestock in a comingled situation.”

USDA Identifies Ways HPAI H5N1 Has Likely Spread in Michigan Dairy and Poultry Operations

Mon, 17 Jun 2024 22:29:29 GMT

On June 9, the USDA issued a report that summarizes the findings from field epidemiological investigations of disease spread between premises for 15 dairy herds and eight poultry flocks confirmed with HPAI genotype B3.13 in Michigan.

The following information is pulled from the USDA’s 2024 Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (H5N1) - Michigan Dairy Herd and Poultry Flock Summary (see Michigan Dairy Herd and Poultry Flock Summary ).

The information offers potential insights for how the dairy and poultry industries in states beyond Michigan likely have been impacted, as well.

A ‘Eurasian Lineage Goose’

Whole genome sequencing (WGS) of viruses from the dairy and poultry premises identified Eurasian lineage goose/Guangdong clade 2.3.4.4b, genotype B3.13 on the Michigan farms and suggests likely indirect transfer of virus from the dairy premises to the poultry premises.

USDA reports that interstate animal movement initially introduced the HPAI genotype B3.13 virus from Texas into a Michigan dairy. However, USDA says the continued disease transmission within Michigan has been determined to be multifactorial.

Transmission between farms is likely due to indirect epidemiological links related to normal business operations such as numerous people, vehicles, and other conveyances frequently moving on and off the affected dairy premises, with many of these indirect links shared between premises.

Importantly, USDA says, disease spread due to independent introduction of the virus onto dairy or poultry premises from migratory waterfowl is not supported based on both genomic and epidemiological data analysis.

Key findings identified to date and potential risk factors for local transmission in Michigan specifically, include:

Shared personnel between premises
o 20% of affected dairies’ employees and 7% of dairies’ employees family members work on other dairy premises

o 7% of affected dairies’ employees also work on poultry premises; 13% of affected dairies’ employees have family members who work on poultry premises

o 31% of dairies have employees who own livestock or poultry at their personal residence

Shared vehicles between premises
o 62% of affected dairy premises use shared vehicles to transport cattle, with only 12% of premises cleaning vehicles before use

Frequent visitors on/off premises
o 100% of affected dairy premises have regular visits by veterinarians, nutritionist/feed consultant, and/or contract haulers (e.g., cattle or manure); the majority of these visitors have direct contact with cattle

o 40% of affected dairy premises have regular visits for deadstock removal, with 20% having direct contact with cattle. Furthermore:

-53% of affected dairies utilized the same deadstock removal company and 40% had animals removed from the premises by that company within 30 days prior to clinical onset

o Milk haulers visit dairy premises, on average, 34 times within a 30-day time period. Furthermore:

-93.3% of affected dairy premises are part of the same milk co-op with at least one other affected dairy premises within the state (i.e., only one of the affected dairy herds is part of a milk co-op that none of the other 14 affected dairy herds belong to)

Disease Spread Between Dairy and Poultry Premises
Apart from the potential for resident wild birds or peri-domestic species to move and transmit the virus, the only other potential transmission routes found from dairy herds to the poultry flocks were through shared employment, housing, or movement of employees.

Approximately 22 employees of three poultry flocks worked weekend shifts at two different dairy premises. Shared housing between dairy and poultry workers was identified between three poultry premises and two dairy premises. It is also possible that dairy employees have social contact with poultry premises employees, USDA reports.

In Summary
The investigations discussed in this report, including the respective WGS information, indicate that HPAI H5N1 genotype B3.13 was introduced into Michigan through animal movement from Texas and subsequently spread within the state between dairy premises with spillover into poultry premises through multiple possible routes.

Factors that appear to be of greater risk for introduction into a dairy premises may be mitigated through enhanced biosecurity, increased animal testing, and potentially through within-state animal movement restrictions if they can be implemented without impacting animal welfare.

USDA says the willingness of Michigan producers to participate in these investigations has greatly increased the body of knowledge of HPAI H5N1 B3.13 detections in Michigan and throughout the nation; this report could not have been completed without them.

For more information on the H5N1 issue:

H5N1 Virus Found in Beef for First Time, FSIS Says

FDA Says New Round of Tests Prove the U.S. Milk Supply is Safe From H5N1 Virus

USDA Now Requiring Mandatory Testing and Reporting of HPAI in Dairy Cattle as New Data Suggests Virus Outbreak is More Widespread

Bird Flu Outbreak Reported in Minnesota Dairy Herd, the State's First

Thu, 06 Jun 2024 21:02:39 GMT

June 6 (Reuters) - The ongoing U.S. outbreak of avian flu in dairy cattle reached Minnesota on Thursday as the state announced its first infected herd.

More than 80 dairy herds have been infected with the virus across 11 states since late March, and three dairy workers have tested positive for the virus.

The Minnesota Board of Animal Health said the farmer of the affected herd reported more than 40 cows with signs of fever. The animals were tested on Monday and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Veterinary Services Laboratories confirmed the positive test on Wednesday night.

The animals are recovering, said Brian Hoefs, the state veterinarian.

Milk from the sick cows was disposed of, and the state Board of Animal Health has quarantined the entire herd for 30 days to reduce the risk of the virus spreading off the farm, the agency said. After 30 days from the last positive test result, the herd can be retested to be released from quarantine, the agency added.

“We knew it was only a matter of time before this detection would reach our doorstep,” said Hoefs. “It’s important for dairy farmers to follow the example of this herd and test sick cows.”

This was not the first Minnesota dairy farm tested for avian flu due to cattle showing signs of illness, but it was the first to confirm positive results, Hoefs said.

More samples from dairy farms could be sent to the state lab in the coming days, he said.

“Once this news gets out, then it kind of triggers other farms to consider doing the testing if they were on the fence prior,” Hoefs said. “My guess is we will see more testing later this week into next week.”

The other states that have reported infected herds so far are Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, South Dakota and Texas.

Dairy cows with avian flu have died or been slaughtered by farmers after not recovering, Reuters reporting found. The USDA said that the vast majority of cows recover from the illness.

(Reporting by Leah Douglas and P.J. Huffstutter; Editing by Bill Berkrot and Lisa Shumaker)

Bird flu found in western China as US combats cattle outbreak

Mon, 20 May 2024 18:04:30 GMT

BEIJING, May 18 (Reuters) - Cases of bird flu have been confirmed among wild fowl in western China, the agriculture ministry said on Saturday, as concerns grow over a U.S. outbreak infecting cattle herds.

Two counties in Qinghai province confirmed 275 cases of H5 influenza among dead Pallas’s gull and other wild birds, China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said in a notice on its website.

The ministry received a report on the cases from the China Animal Disease Control Center, and the national Avian Influenza Reference Laboratory confirmed the finding, the notice said.

The H5N1 outbreak among dairy cattle in at least nine U.S. states since late March has raised questions over whether it could spread to humans. No such cases have been reported.

The U.S. announced on May 11 that it would spend close to $200 million to fight the outbreak.

News of the China cases came as the nation’s anti-graft watchdog announced a corruption probe of the agriculture minister on Saturday. (Reporting by Colleen Howe; Editing by William Mallard)

Brazil Declares Country Foot-and-Mouth Disease-Free Without Vaccination

Mon, 06 May 2024 14:33:25 GMT

Brazil declared itself as free of foot and mouth disease without vaccination on May 2, and will request World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH) to recognize that status as it seeks to open more markets for its meat exports.

Foot-and-mouth disease causes fever and mouth blisters in animals with foot ruptures, such as cattle, swine, sheep, goats and other cloven-hoofed ruminants.

Brazil’s Agriculture Ministry said in a statement it will ask for WOAH recognition next August, adding the request could be approved in May, 2025.

Agriculture minister Carlos Favaro said in a live streaming video the self-declaration is “an important step towards a global recognition.”

Brazil is the world’s largest beef exporter, with China and the United States as its main buyers.

However, the lack of a status for foot and mouth disease free without vaccination in some states prevents Brazil from selling its beef to nations like Japan and South Korea, a scenario Favaro said he wants to change.

(Reporting by Roberto Samora; writing by Andre Romani; editing by Diane Craft)

APHIS To Require Electronic Animal ID for Certain Cattle and Bison

Thu, 26 Sep 2024 18:29:58 GMT

USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has taken another step toward limiting the impact of an outbreak of foreign animal diseases by amending and strengthening its animal disease traceability regulations for certain cattle and bison. By requiring electronic animal identification for certain cattle and bison, APHIS put into place the technology, tools and processes to help industry stakeholders quickly pinpoint and respond to a foreign animal disease outbreak.

“Rapid traceability in a disease outbreak will not only limit how long farms are quarantined, keep more animals from getting sick, and help ranchers and farmers get back to selling their products more quickly – but will help keep our markets open,” said Dr. Michael Watson, APHIS administrator.

APHIS said one to the rule’s most significant benefits for farmers and ranchers will be the enhanced ability of the United States to limit impacts of animal disease outbreaks to certain regions, which the agency called a “key to maintaining our foreign markets. By being able to readily prove disease-free status in non-affected regions of the United States, we will be able to request foreign trading partners recognize disease-free regions or zones instead of cutting off trade for the entire country. Traceability of animals is necessary to establish these disease-free zones and facilitate reestablishment of foreign and domestic market access with minimum delay in the wake of an animal disease event.”

The April announcement enhances a rule finalized in 2013 for the official identification of livestock and documentation for certain interstate movements of livestock.

The final rule applies to all sexually intact cattle and bison 18 months of age or older, all dairy cattle, cattle and bison of any age used for rodeo or recreation events, and cattle or bison of any age used for shows or exhibitions.

The rule requires official eartags to be visually and electronically readable for official use for interstate movement of certain cattle and bison, and revises and clarifies certain record requirements related to cattle.

“USDA’s final traceability rule updates the existing requirement for animal identification that has been in place since 2013, switching from solely visual tags to tags that are both electronically and visually readable for certain classes of cattle moving interstate,” said National Cattlemen’s Beef Association president Mark Eisele, a Wyoming rancher.

“Many producers are already familiar with using these visual tags and under the new rule, they will instead use electronic tags. NCBA has worked hard to secure $15 million in funding for producers to reduce the cost of implementing this change. We also remain committed to safeguarding producers’ private data and continuing to reduce the cost of ear tags for farmers and ranchers. Our industry faces a tremendous threat from the risk of a future foreign animal disease on American soil. To avoid devastating financial losses during a potential outbreak and to help producers quickly return to commerce, we need an efficient animal disease traceability system.”

USDA said it is committed to implementing a modern animal disease traceability system that tracks animals from birth to slaughter using affordable technology that allows for quick tracing of sick and exposed animals to stop disease spread. USDA will continue to provide tags to producers free of charge to jumpstart efforts to enable the fastest possible response to a foreign animal disease.

To obtain electronic ID tags at no cost, APHIS directs producers to contact their State Veterinarian.

A copy of this rule may be viewed at the APHIS website, and the rule will be published in the Federal Register in the coming weeks. This rule will be effective 180 days after publication in the Federal Register.

To learn more about animal disease traceability and how APHIS responds to animal disease outbreaks, visit www.aphis.usda.gov.

USDA to Test Ground Beef in US States With Outbreaks of Bird Flu in Dairy cows

Mon, 29 Apr 2024 19:05:12 GMT

By Tom Polansek

CHICAGO, April 29 (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Monday it is collecting samples of ground beef at retail stores in states with outbreaks of bird flu in dairy cows for testing but remains confident the meat supply is safe.

The USDA will analyze the ground beef with tests that determine “whether any viral particles are present,” according to a statement. Some dairy cows are processed into ground beef when they grow old.

The USDA on Monday began requiring lactating dairy cows to test negative for bird flu before being shipped across state lines as the federal government seeks to contain the month-old outbreak.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Friday that preliminary results of gold-standard PCR tests of milk showed pasteurization killed the bird flu virus, as Colorado became the ninth U.S. state to report an infected dairy herd.

The USDA said it will analyze the retail beef samples with PCR tests, as well.

In another study, it will use a “virus surrogate” in ground beef and cook it at different temperatures to determine how the virus is affected, according to the statement. USDA said cooking meat to a safe internal temperature kills bacteria and viruses

The department is also collecting beef muscle samples at slaughter facilities of dairy cattle that have been condemned to determine the presence of viral particles.

The USDA last week said it had found bird flu in a lung tissue sample from an asymptomatic dairy cow that was sent to slaughter from an infected herd. The animal did not enter the food supply, according to the USDA.

Colombia restricted the import of beef and beef products coming from U.S. states where dairy cows have tested positive for avian influenza as of April 15, according to the USDA.

There are no known cases of bird flu in beef cattle so far. (Reporting by Tom Polansek; editing by Jonathan Oatis and Marguerita Choy)

A Message to the Ag Industry about H5N1

Fri, 26 Apr 2024 20:49:16 GMT

“We’re going on a bear hunt. We’re going to catch a big one… We’re not scared.”

So goes a beloved children’s book written by Michael Rosen. The story is a metaphor for how to address fear. Kay Russo, DVM, often reads it to her son and daughter, ages 4 and 6.

“This unfortunate family seems to deal with a lot of issues as they’re going on their hike,” Russo says. “Ultimately, every time they reach one of these issues, the book basically says, ‘You know, we can’t go over it. We can’t go around it. We can’t go under it. We have to go through it.’”

That story illustrates how the dairy industry must deal with the growing impact of H5N1, says Russo, Novonesis technical services manager for dairy and poultry. She’s watched the spread of the virus with alarm and urges U.S. leaders across dairy and agriculture to step up and take action.

“Address it head-on,” she says. “Don’t hide.”

As with all major threats, she says ag needs a comprehensive, cohesive plan to address the virus in dairy – and to also look at how to protect the beef, pork and poultry industries.

“At this point, I believe it’s important to take one day at a time and systematically answer the questions that we need to get answered in order to define a sustainable path forward,” Russo says.

“We have a very clear picture that it’s in the udder and is being shed in milk. But where else do we need to be concerned? That matters because that is going to define the control tactics to reduce spreading it from cow to cow. Those questions are ultimately going to be the pillar of our understanding and help to define strategies for controlling the virus in a sustainable way.”

On The Front Line
Help can’t come soon enough for dairy producers and veterinarians in the trenches working with cows.

Veterinarians such as Dr. Barb Petersen in Texas have been dealing with the virus in their clients’ dairy herds since at least March.

“It has been circulating here as early as February, based on retrospective feedback from owners and fellow veterinarians,” says Petersen, owner of Sunrise Veterinary Service in Amarillo.

By early March, she had begun sending daily emails and text messages to her Texas Panhandle dairy clients who needed answers and support.

Petersen, who has been in practice 15 years, did her best to provide both. But she didn’t know what she was dealing with. Neither did any other veterinarian Petersen reached out to within 200 miles of her practice.

“We started to text and email each other, and give summaries of ‘OK, here’s the test that this doctor has run. Here’s what another colleague has run,’” Petersen recalls.

“We tested for every single viral bacterial mycotoxin, lepto, rumensin toxicity, nitrates… I mean, you name it, every single thing that we vaccinate for, we tested for, for sure, right off the bat. And then even some of the things that we don’t or can’t vaccinate for. We tried to cast a really wide net.”

None of the initial tests, conducted by the Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory (TVMDL), provided an answer.

Recurring Symptoms Emerge

Some members of the animal health community suspected winter dysentery – an acute, highly contagious gastrointestinal disorder that can affect housed dairy cattle of all ages.

Petersen was skeptical.

“The first clinical symptom I saw was cows that had indigestion. They had manure that wasn’t well-digested, manure with particles of feed in it,” she says.

As she checked more cows and talked with colleagues, more information came to light and she began to identify recurring symptoms: thick, colostrum-like milk; lesions on cow vulvas; high temperatures; respiratory distress; a drop in feed consumption; and a corresponding lack of rumination. None of it added up to winter dysentery.

“This is a really strong and fierce reminder to keep your hands on the cows,” Petersen says. “It’s wonderful to have data, but you have to trust and then verify.”

When Russo at Novonesis got news of the problem from a colleague, she called Petersen.

Russo has worked as a dairy veterinarian and is also a board-certified poultry veterinarian. She and Petersen discussed what kinds of tests had already been done and what health concerns had been ruled out.

“I said, ‘You know, I may sound like a crazy person, a tinfoil-hat-wearing person, but this sounds a bit like (highly pathogenic avian) influenza to me. We’ve seen this particular strain of influenza that’s been circulating, that’s been jumping into mammalian hosts,’ and I kind of left it there,” Russo recalls.

More conversations between Russo, Petersen and other veterinarians ensued. Russo encouraged Petersen to collect some of the dead birds she had encountered at the dairies and submit them to TVMDL for testing, which she did.

On March 19, Petersen received a call from the Texas lab, confirming the wild birds were positive for H5N1.

At about the same time, barn cats at the dairies Petersen worked with were getting sick and starting to die. They had consumed some of the H5N1-infected birds and milk that had not been pasteurized.

“I spent one weekend picking up dead birds and the next weekend picking up dead cats. It was very sad,” Petersen says.

Science Provides Answers
Petersen sent some of the dead cats and a pooled sample of milk to TVMDL pathologists for testing. Because of their heavy workload, she sent the same material to a former veterinary classmate at Iowa State University (ISU), Dr. Drew Magstadt, now a pathologist at the school’s diagnostic laboratory.

“Whenever I’ve gotten into a real jam professionally – like, you have a question that you can’t seem to find an answer to – the group of folks that have always helped me solve it have been pathologists,” Petersen says. “It’s been pathologists that I could give the clues to who helped finish the puzzle.”

On a warm March night in Amarillo, Petersen sat resting on her back porch at home when a text message from Magstadt popped up on her phone.

“There’s something in the results,” he wrote. “Can I call you?”

On the phone, Magstadt shared what he’d found in the lab tests done on the cats and milk: H5N1.

“I was like, ‘Are you serious?’” Petersen asked Magstadt. “Are you going to run those tests again?”

“Yes,” he said. “Just to make sure.”

The initial H5N1 confirmation flabbergasted Magstadt. The next day, he retested the samples to confirm the finding.

“I had thought we would find the results were negative and we would move on to other testing. So I was very, very surprised when the results came back positive,” says Magstadt, ISU clinical associate professor and a pathologist at the Iowa State Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory.

The National Veterinary Services Laboratory (NVSL) then confirmed Magstadt’s findings. The documentation of H5N1 by NVSL in a sample of milk from a dairy cow represented an industry first.

“The most surprising part of this, in my mind, is the fact that we’re finding so much virus as we are in the milk, in the mammary gland,” Magstadt says.

‘Show Us The Data’
On April 23, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reported it had detected “viral particles of H5N1 avian influenza” in pasteurized milk available for purchase at grocery stores.

Russo is quick to point out this doesn’t mean the actual virus is in milk. Rather, it’s the genetic material known as RNA.

“I think the FDA needs to show us the data,” Russo says. “The fact that there is viral material in some of the milk on shelves, as detected by rt-PCR. That test doesn’t say whether it is alive or dead. Virus isolation is necessary. The first tests have not grown virus, thankfully, but we need more data.”

No unusual human illnesses have been documented. Government health officials say they have seen nothing unusual in flu activity, according to a senior official at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) who was interviewed for this story. The overall assessment and risk to human health remains low from H5N1, the official says.

“CDC looks for a host of flu-like symptoms,” he told “U.S. Farm Report” host Tyne Morgan during a phone interview. “They do so by looking at people coming into emergency rooms, care systems, etc.”

Yet anecdotal evidence suggests the people most likely to be infected – dairy farm workers who have their hands on cows regularly – aren’t necessarily going to doctors for treatment.

The World Health Organization (WHO) website references just one “laboratory-confirmed case of human infection with an influenza A (H5N1) virus on 1 April 2024” on a dairy farm.

“It’s a mild, mild case and the only symptom he had was pinkeye,” Sid Miller, state commissioner of the Texas Department of Agriculture, told “AgriTalk” host Chip Flory at the time, as reported on AgWeb.

That Texas case marked the second confirmed human case of influenza A(H5N1) detected in the U.S. — and the first in the dairy industry. The first documented case, identified in 2022, involved a person in Colorado who worked with infected poultry that tested positive for the virus.

During his interview with Miller, Flory asked whether the virus could impact beef cattle at some point.

“You’ve seen what’s happened in the cattle markets,” Flory said. “They’re looking at it like this is a major problem for beef.”

Problems aren’t anticipated for Texas beef cattle, which consist primarily of feedlot cattle in the Panhandle, Miller replied.

“The cattle that get it are the older lactating cows, and we don’t have those in the feedlot,” Miller explained. “I think we’re OK, but we’re certainly going to research that.”

Tip Of The Iceberg?
So far, H5N1 has been officially confirmed in only 32 herds in eight states, according to data from USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS).

Some veterinarians working with dairies in Texas believe the virus is more active than current data suggest. Nick Schneider, a consulting dairy practitioner, is one of them.

“The thing is, when you get into the Panhandle of Texas, I’m not sure there’s anybody (dairy farms) that did not have it,” says Schneider.

Texas is home to 335 Grade A dairies with an estimated 625,00 cows, according to information on the Texas Association of Dairymen website. More than 100 of those operations are in the Panhandle.

The virus likely is being under-reported by the dairy industry because the presence of the virus in dairy cows is new, and there are no reporting requirements, Russo says.

“It’s not a foreign animal disease like it’s considered in poultry, where there are reporting requirements,” she explains. “This is considered an emerging disease (in dairy cattle).”

The dairy industry needs to be “very forward looking” now and address the virus, advises Schneider, the Texas dairy consultant.

“Looking at what happened in the rearview mirror is great, but if you’re not looking at where you’re going, it’s really just a pointless endeavor,” he says.

To that end, he advises gaining insights and expertise in preparation for whatever new information emerges next.

“We need to think about this potentially being something we have to live with, as being a part of the industry in the future,” Schneider says. “I hope I’m wrong. I would love to be wrong about that. But it’s something that we definitely need to consider when we’re thinking of how we’re going to manage it.”

Lessons From Swine And Poultry
Russo also advocates learning the lessons from swine and poultry, which have faced a variety of viral challenges for years.

“It’s important that we don’t try to reinvent the wheel as the cattle industry, but sort of cross the aisle to interact with the poultry folks and the swine folks who have gone through this repeatedly over the years and learn from the defined principles they use and try to adapt them into the bovine space,” she says.

Both swine and poultry have modified their animal management practices from the farm to the marketplace as a result of those experiences.

“Poultry, for instance has very distinct biosecurity principles they abide by to include lines of separation,” Russo says. “One is they keep the outside world out. Another is their use of PPE (physical protective equipment) to protect employees and also the birds from anything that might be carried onto the farm.”

The latter is a message Dr. Barb Petersen has taken to heart. Petersen says she was exposed to H5N1 for more than a month before she learned about the virus and its ability to infect dairy cows and people.

“I’m very fortunate that I never got sick,” she says.

Her advice? “Protect yourselves and your people on the dairy. There’s been underreporting of the virus. Understandably, there’s been a lot of fear. But every dairy that I’ve worked with has – with the exception of one – had sick human beings at the same time they had sick cows.”

Based on that knowledge, Petersen has acquired PPE available through Texas Health and Human Services.

“All the states have personal protective equipment available. Go and get it for your dairies,” she encourages other veterinarians. “If a dairy is on the fence, just provide it to them, offer it to everybody.”

Petersen says she has worked with people infected by H5N1 who do not interact with dairy cows. “I’m talking owners and feeders who don’t usually touch cows,” she says.

Research is underway to determine how much of a health risk the virus poses to humans, Russo says.

“This is a rapidly evolving situation, and the people that are working on it are doing everything they can to ensure the safety of those individuals that are most at risk,” she says.

A Paradigm Shift
The virus continues to hit the U.S. poultry industry hard.

Cal-Maine Foods, the largest producer and distributor of fresh shell eggs in the U.S., announced April 2 that chickens at its facility in Parmer County, located in the southwest part of the Texas Panhandle, tested positive for the virus. As a result, Cal-Maine had to cull nearly 2 million chickens − 1.6 million hens and 337,000 pullets.

In the AgriTalk discussion aired earlier this spring, Flory asked Miller, the Texas ag commissioner, whether he believes state agriculture department investigators are in front of the latest issues with HPAI in dairy cattle.

“I think so,” Miller replied. “We’ve got about 10 months before the ducks and geese come back, so I think we’ll have it figured out by then.”

Moving forward, the U.S. livestock industry might operate in a new world – one where the H5N1 virus is endemic.

Russo is undaunted by the challenge.

“This is not insurmountable, but it’s an issue we need to address swiftly,” she says.

Culled dairy cows going into the food supply deserve special attention, she says.

“We need to do the work so that we can define those movement strategies for the practitioners that are being asked to write health certificates on these farms that have the virus circulating,” Russo says.

The dairy industry needs to be more proactive for the sake of the poultry industry, she adds.

“Putting our heads in the sand, and hoping it burns itself out is not going to work. It’s just not,” she says. “It would take down the entire poultry industry by doing that, because this is highly pathogenic to them.”

That is not hyperbole, Russo says: a dime-sized piece of manure with H5N1 can infect up to 1 million chickens or turkeys.

In essence, the livestock industry needs to go on a bear hunt, as the children’s story says.

‘We can’t go over it. We can’t go around it. We can’t go under it. We have to go through it.”

With that as the focus, solutions to H5N1 can be found and help delivered to livestock producers and veterinarians on the front lines and, ultimately, the U.S. agriculture industry can insure a safe food supply.

This story will be updated by Bovine Veterinarian and Farm Journal editorial staff as more information is available.

USDA Now Requiring Mandatory Testing and Reporting of HPAI in Dairy Cattle as New Data Suggests Virus Outbreak is Widespread

USDA Shares Recent H5N1 Avian Flu Sequences

Texas-Sized Problems Hit the Lone Star State, but Ag Commissioner says ‘Things are Getting Better’

Rare Human Case of Bird Flu Confirmed. Officials Believe it Began on Texas Dairy

Properly Prepared Beef Remains Safe; Meat Institute Calls For Guidance to Protect Workers at Beef Facilities

Thu, 26 Sep 2024 18:39:30 GMT

As the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) issued a nationwide order including requiring lactating dairy cows to test negative for Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) before interstate transport, the Meat Institute today said that properly prepared beef remains safe to eat and called for USDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to provide worker safety guidance specific to beef processors to ensure workers are protected from infection.

“USDA and CDC are working overtime to understand the spread of the virus and to determine its effects on the health of people and animals,” said Julie Anna Potts, President and CEO of the Meat Institute. “We encourage USDA and CDC to conduct additional testing and monitoring to continue to ensure properly prepared beef remains safe to eat.

“We are also calling on USDA and CDC to issue additional, specific guidance for beef processing facilities to ensure USDA inspectors and meat company workers are protected from infection.”

“It is important to ensure the free flow of healthy animals to slaughter. The Meat Institute and its members will continue to work with USDA, state and local veterinarians and our cattle producer partners to both stop the spread of the virus and to ensure beef production continues.

“We call on Biden Administration officials to anticipate international trade concerns and encourage our trading partners to abide by internationally recognized scientific standards as determined by the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH).”

Background

Dairy cows make-up 6.8 percent of total beef production in the U.S.

The Federal Meat Inspection Act of 1906 and the Poultry Products Inspection Act of 1957, along with the many regulations and policies put in place to implement those Acts, ensure the meat and poultry industry is among the most intensely regulated industries in the nation.

U.S. Department of Agriculture inspectors from the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) are present every day in meat packing plants and are trained to detect disease both prior to slaughter and after. For more information on the federal oversight of the meat and poultry industry, see the inspection information provided on FSIS’s website.

Meat Institute members have robust food safety programs that incorporate key elements such as employee training, pathogen or indicator organism tracking and analysis, foreign material control and prevention, sanitation and allergen control.

USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has a strong HPAI surveillance program. It tracks detections in mammals in addition to wild bird, commercial and backyard flocks.

For more on today’s orders and APHIS’ monitoring of HPAI go here.

FSIS Resources on the Proper Preparation of Beef

FSIS Resources on the Proper Handling of Poultry

CDC Resources on HPAI