Canada Bird Flu Free Once More

Three months of surveillance work in Manitoba’s Interlake region have restored Canada’s status as fully free of notifiable avian flu. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency reported May 5 the end of “targeted, enhanced surveillance” in the area where a turkey-breeding operation was confirmed last November to have birds with low-severity avian influenza H5N2. No new

New Findings On Foot-And-Mouth

Scientists studying foot-and-mouth disease have found that cattle with the virus are infectious for only a very short time, suggesting that mass culling previously used to reduce the disease’s spread may in future be avoided. In research published in the journal ScienceMay 5, scientists found that even if the foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) virus is detected


New Animal Diseases Emerge

Agrowing number of livestock, such as cows and pigs, are fuelling new animal epidemics worldwide and posing more severe problems in developing countries as it threatens their food security, according to a report released Feb. 11. Epidemics in recent years, such as SARS and the H1N1 swine flu, are estimated to have caused billions of

Pain Control For Dehorning

The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) has released a new video promoting its policy on how to reduce pain for cattle during dehorning. The AVMA policy and informational video offer guidance to help make this procedure as comfortable as possible for animals. Dr. Cia Johnson of the AVMA Animal Welfare Division said AVMA policy recommends

Turkey Flu Costs Manitoba Producer Big Time

AManitoba turkey breeder faces losing up to a year’s income after an avian influenza virus was detected on his farm. The producer’s birds have been destroyed, his barn must be disinfected and it’ll be months before he can get back into production, said Bill Uruski, Manitoba Turkey Producers chairman. “For this producer, he has lost


Avian Influenza Impact Devastating To Poultry Industry

Understanding how avian influenza works and how it spreads is the best way to prevent future outbreaks and the economic devastation they cause. That’s the message Dr. Colleen Christianson, a veterinary pathologist with Alberta Agriculture, delivered to an audience at the recent Wetaskiwin Poultry and Rabbit show. Avian influenza, also known as avian flu or

CFIA Learned From Animal Disease Outbreaks

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is usually the target of complaints from farmers, consumers and the food industry but for once Auditor General Sheila Fraser has kind words for the agency. In her latest report on government spending, Fraser says CFIA has learned from its past experiences with animal disease outbreaks that threaten farmers and

How Clean Is Clean Enough?

We live in a fairly sanitized world with all sorts of anti-bacterial products available to consumers. In fact, some medical researchers have questioned whether we might be a little too clean. Antibacterial products are linked by some researchers to the development of “superbugs” resistant to antibiotics. The products kill the normal bacteria in our environment,


Pandemic Virus Swapping Genes In Pigs

The H1N1 swine flu virus has been spreading quietly in pigs in Hong Kong and swapping genes with other viruses, and researchers said the findings support calls for tighter disease surveillance in pigs before new bugs can emerge and infect people. The finding, published in Science June 18, supports the theory that flu viruses infecting

Cold Fronts Linked To Bird Flu Outbreaks

Outbreaks of H5N1 flu among birds in Europe came at the edges of cold fronts that caused wild birds to change migration patterns, scientists said April 8, suggesting cold snaps may signal future outbreaks. Dutch and American researchers found European outbreaks of avian influenza during the 2005-06 winter were driven by collective movements of wild