Brucellosis Tests Turn Up No New Cases
Great Falls Tribune
6 Jun 2007
G Florio
Area: Montana, USA
No further brucellosis has been found in about 25 herds of cattle tested since the disease was detected in a herd near Bridger last month, the Montana Board of Livestock announced on Tuesday. Discovery of the disease, which causes pregnant cattle to abort, in a second herd could cause the state to lose the brucellosis-free status it's maintained since 1985, and mandate an expensive statewide testing program for at least a year.
The state has 60 days from the time the disease was first detected to verify that no cattle that came in contact with the Bridger herd are infected. So far, most of the herds tested are in the south-central Montana area around Bridger, said Montana Department of Livestock spokeswoman Lisa Schmidt. State veterinarians and a vet from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service are supervising the testing in the Paradise Valley and other areas, she said.
Related Articles
>>>Brucellosis Testing Continues; Bison Staying Put
>>>Bison Buffer Idea Doesn't Gain Traction
Scientists Join Fight To Save Tasmanian Devil From Deadly CancerScience Daily
6 Jun 2007
Area: Australia
Photo Courtesy of iStockphoto/Leo Stanners
CSIRO scientists have joined the battle to save Australia’s iconic Tasmanian devils from the deadly cancer currently devastating devil populations.Researchers from CSIRO’s Livestock Industries’ Australian Animal Health Laboratory (AAHL), Textiles and Fibre Technology and Land and Water, are working together to hunt down the cause of Devil Facial Tumour Disease (DFTD) and possibly develop a test to identify infected animals. DFTD is infectious and is thought to be passed between animals by biting when, for example, devils compete for food.
Once the cancer becomes visible and spreads internally through the body, the animal usually dies within a few months from starvation and the breakdown of body functions.
The integrated research team at AAHL will use a variety of techniques including microscopy, microarrays and a range of molecular techniques to search for infectious agents, markers for disease and to determine where the tumours originate.
Old and New Emerging Diseases Threaten Countries Worldwide
Gulf Times
2 Jun 2007
C Pellerin
In the days before high-speed travel and international commerce, a disease that arose in a country usually stayed in that country. Today, viruses are globetrotters, carrying, for example, sub-Saharan Africa’s Rift Valley fever to the Arabian Peninsula, and West Nile virus to Idaho and Colorado in the US. Many viruses are transported by mosquitoes that arrive in a country on aircraft or in shipping containers.
The insect influx cannot be stopped completely, but scientists at the Centre for Medical, Agricultural and Veterinary Entomology, part of the US Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service, are working at home and overseas to keep Rift Valley fever and other diseases out of the US. For Rift Valley fever — a viral disease associated with heavy rainfall that affects cattle, sheep, goats and camels, and for people has a 1% fatality rate — the work begins in sub-Saharan Africa, said centre director Kenneth Linthicum in an interview.
A Different Perspective Of Newcastle Disease
ThePoultrySite.com
6 Jun 2007
This is an Opinion of the Scientific Panel on Animal Health and Animal Welfare regarding a request from the European Commission to review Newcastle disease focusing on vaccination worldwide in order to determine its optimal use for disease control purposes. In view of a revision of the Community rules on the control of Newcastle disease (ND), laid down in Council Directive 92/66/EEC, a disease of major importance for poultry and other birds, the Commission requested EFSA to provide a complete and update review on this disease, concerning the definition, the role of pigeons and other avian species in the spread of ND and the vaccines used.
A risk assessment approach was not requested however, in order to evaluate the present vaccination control strategies, an evaluation of the available data was required.The working group agreed that the scope of the report should consider the present scientific knowledge and analyse the available epidemiological data from Animal Disease Notification System ADSN system (DG SANCO), HANDISTATUS II data base (OIE) and data from the EU Reference Laboratory (Veterinary Laboratory Agency, VLA, Weybridge) taking into consideration the above mentioned mandate.
Journal Article of Interest
Projected Impacts of Climate and Land-Use Change on the Global Diversity of Birds
PLoS Biology 5(6): e157
W Jetz et. al
No comments:
Post a Comment