The purpose of this Funding Opportunity is to solicit applications to generate evidence that could support the approval of label changes to establish more targeted durations of use for certain approved medically important antimicrobial new animal drugs in food animals.
Monthly Archives: January 2020
2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) and Animals
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is closely monitoring an outbreak of respiratory illness caused by a novel coronavirus first identified in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. Additional cases have been identified in a growing number of other international locations, including the United States. [Source: CDC]
AASV Candidates for Vice President: Drs. Brent Pepin and Mike Senn
The annual election for AASV Vice President is underway. The nominees are Drs. Brent Pepin (Pipestone, Minnesota) and Mike Senn (Newton, Kansas). Information about the candidates appears in the Jan/Feb 2020 issue of the Journal of Swine Health & Production. The ballot also includes the candidate for President-elect, Dr. Mary Battrell (see the Jan/Feb 2019 JSHAP issue for her biographical details). This year, voting is being conducted online. Each voting member (veterinarian in the US, Canada or Mexico) has been sent an email message containing a link to their ballot. Voters may also access their ballot by logging into their AASV Member account at aasv.org/members. The last day to enter a vote is Friday, February 28. The election results will be announced at the AASV 2020 Annual Meeting in Atlanta.
5 Steps to Build Your Own Emergency Operations Center
When it comes to preparing for an on-farm emergency, experts say you can’t rely solely on other people to mitigate the problem. [Source: Farm Journal’s Pork 23 Jan 2020, by Jennifer Shike]
Multilayer Network Analysis Unravels Haulage Vehicles as a Hidden Threat to the British Swine Industry
When assessing the role of live animal trade networks in the spread of infectious diseases in livestock, attention has focused mainly on direct movements of animals between premises, whereas the role of haulage vehicles used during transport, an indirect route for disease transmission, has largely been ignored. Here, we have assessed the impact of sharing haulage vehicles from livestock transport service providers on the connectivity between farms as well as on the spread of swine infectious diseases in Great Britain (GB). Using all pig movement records between April 2012 and March 2014 in GB, we built a series of directed and weighted static multiplex networks consisting of two layers of identical nodes, where nodes (farms) are linked either by (a) the direct movement of pigs and (b) the shared use of haulage vehicles. The haulage contact definition integrates the date of the move and the duration Δs that lorries are left contaminated by pathogens, hence accounting for the temporal aspect of contact events. For increasing Δs, descriptive network analyses were performed to assess the role of haulage on network connectivity. We then explored how viruses may spread throughout the GB pig sector by computing the reproduction number R. Our results showed that sharing haulage vehicles increases the number of contacts between farms by >50% and represents an important driver of disease transmission. In particular, sharing haulage vehicles, even if Δs < 1 day, will limit the benefit of the standstill regulation, increase the number of premises that could be infected in an outbreak, and more easily raise R above 1. This work confirms that sharing haulage vehicles has significant potential for spreading infectious diseases within the pig sector. The cleansing and disinfection process of haulage vehicles is therefore a critical control point for disease transmission risk mitigation. Porphyre T, M. de C. Bronsvoort B, Gunn G, Correia-Gomes C. Multilayer network analysis unravels haulage vehicles as a hidden threat to the British swine industry. Transbound Emerg Dis. 2019 Dec. https://doi.org/10.1111/tbed.13459
Porcine Deltacoronavirus Infection and Transmission in Poultry, United States
Coronaviruses cause respiratory and gastrointestinal diseases in diverse host species. Deltacoronaviruses (DCoVs) have been identified in various songbird species and in leopard cats in China. In 2009, porcine deltacoronavirus (PDCoV) was detected in fecal samples from pigs in Asia, but its etiologic role was not identified until 2014, when it caused major diarrhea outbreaks in swine in the United States. Studies have shown that PDCoV uses a conserved region of the aminopeptidase N protein to infect cell lines derived from multiple species, including humans, pigs, and chickens. Because PDCoV is a potential zoonotic pathogen, investigations of its prevalence in humans and its contribution to human disease continue. We report experimental PDCoV infection and subsequent transmission among poultry. In PDCoV-inoculated chicks and turkey poults, we observed diarrhea, persistent viral RNA titers from cloacal and tracheal samples, PDCoV-specific serum IgY antibody responses, and antigen-positive cells from intestines. Boley PA, Alhamo MA, Lossie G, Yadav K, Vasquez-Lee M, Saif LJ, Kenney SP. Porcine Deltacoronavirus Infection and Transmission in Poultry, United States. Emerging Infectious Diseases. 2020 Feb. https://dx.doi.org/10.3201/eid2602.190346
USDA Consolidates Regulations for Laboratory Testing
The United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is making it easier for animal diagnostic laboratories to carry out vital livestock disease testing on behalf of the agency. USDA is updating regulations that outline how the agency approves laboratories outside the National Animal Health Laboratory Network (NAHLN) and the National Poultry Improvement Plan (NPIP) to conduct official testing for animal diseases, as well as how they can remain approved. USDA will now use a single, user-friendly process for laboratory approval and consolidate the existing regulations into one location. [Source: USDA 23 Jan 2020]
NIAID Conference – A One Health Approach to Antimicrobial Resistance: Confronting the Resistome in Humans, Animals, and the Environment
March 16-17, 2020 – Rockville, Maryland. Hosted by the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and Division of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (DMID), this meeting will focus on understanding the link between environmental sources of antimicrobials and clinical antibiotic resistance. Discussions will include an overview of One Health, and explore methods of detection and surveillance, comparisons of data and surveillance systems, diagnostic platform technologies, and strategies which address antimicrobial stewardship across the One Health landscape. Collaborative networks will be explored for surveillance systems, sharing existing data, diagnostic technologies and strategies which mitigate antimicrobial use and foster antimicrobial stewardship. Free but you must Register to attend.
Last Call for Abstracts for SCT and ACT – Due Feb 1
The Society for Theriogenology and American College of Theriogenologists issued a call for research and case abstracts to be presented at the annual Therio Conference July 22â25, 2020 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Application deadline is February 1, 2020. Please see the SFT website for the details for submission.
Looking for Swine Veterinarians to Participate in a Perceptions of Euthanasia Online Survey
A Colorado State University research team has received funding from the National Pork Board to conduct a survey with caretakers who perform euthanasia as part of the their job on sow farms. The goal of the research is to gain a detailed understanding of the euthanasia-related experiences of caretakers in order to develop appropriate intervention, support, and training programs to be utilized by employers to help support this important animal care responsibility. The research team has expanded the target population to include swine veterinarians and is looking for interested individuals to participate. Veterinary survey questions are related to method and frequency of euthanasia, training, and decision-making around euthanasia. Participation is voluntary and anonymous and $25 gift cards are provided for participants if they choose to leave an email at the end of the survey (email is not linked to survey responses). The survey is expected to take less than 30 minutes. The survey is still open to caretakers if you know of interested parties. The survey can be accessed directly at this link: http://colostate.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3HLD09aBkMhD0ah.