Weekly livestock and equine news: May 29, 2023
U.S. considering targeted bird flu vaccination strategy for turkeys, chief veterinary officer says
The United States is working on a bird flu vaccination scenario focusing on turkeys in the few states with the largest number of turkey farms, Reuters reports. The initiative would best meet a benefit-cost strategy, said APHIS chief veterinary officer Rosemary Sifford, though she said no decision to vaccinate has yet been made. “We would be looking at a very specific targeted, potentially geographic- and species-oriented that maybe focus on certain turkeys in a certain area,” Sifford said. She said she sees “no positive impact” in vaccinating chickens since they have a short lifespan. “For us, turkeys have been the species most affected in terms of facilities,” Sifford said.
Atypical bovine spongiform encephalopathy detected in South Carolina, no trade impacts expected: USDA
The USDA announced May 19 that an atypical case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy was confirmed in a beef cow at a South Carolina slaughter plant. According to the announcement, the animal never entered slaughter channels and didn’t present a risk to the U.S. food supply or human health. Given the United States’ negligible risk status for BSE, no trade impacts are expected as a result of the finding, the agency said.
Cultured meat’s carbon footprint potentially worse than retail beef under current production methods: UC Davis study
Lab-grown meat’s environmental impact currently is likely “orders of magnitude” higher than retail beef, according to a preprint, not yet peer-reviewed, from researchers at the University of California, Davis. The researchers conducted their study based on current and near-term production methods. If the industry, as planned, eventually creates cultured meat without energy-intensive pharmaceutical-grade ingredients, the product will be much more environmentally competitive, but with a wide range, researchers found.
A new University of Kentucky lab will focus on sustainability in animal forage
The University of Kentucky last week broke ground on the Forage Animal Production Lab, a 52,600-square-foot facility. The facility will house the Forage-Animal Production Research Unit, which aims to improve sustainability on pasture-based operations that raise cattle, horses and other feed animals. Scientists at the facility want to bring “forage science into the 21st century,” said USDA lead researcher Michael Flythe. Upon its planned completion in 2026, the new space will have offices, laboratories, greenhouses and a centralized team of researchers from the United States and the United Kingdom. According to Flythe, researchers will study how to improve health and productivity of forage animals while being sustainable. Spectrum News 1 reports.
Company will use USDA funding to develop vaccines to prevent diseases spread by longhorned tick
The USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture has awarded animal health company Medgene grant funding to study the Asian longhorned tick and its ability to spread diseases in livestock. According to the announcement, the company will use proprietary technology to develop and test vaccine approaches to prevent the spread of diseases caused by the tick. Medgene’s vaccines use a “platform technology” that can be adapted to multiple animal disease targets. The company will incorporate the results of this research into its current vaccine portfolio and apply these findings to other tickborne diseases, according to the announcement.
SoundByte: Equioxx from Boehringer Ingelheim
Equioxx (firocoxib) is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug from Boehringer Ingelheim that aims to relieve horses of joint pain. Read more in the SoundByte from Veterinary Advantage.
