Weekly Livestock-Equine News: June 23, 2025

New SoundByte: EquiCoxib™

EquiCoxib (firocoxib) oral solution for horses by Aurora Pharmaceutical has proven pharmacokinetic bioequivalence to Equioxx® Paste, and it can provide a better and more economical tool for managing pain and inflammation from osteoarthritis in your patients. It is flavorless and easily administered based on the actual weight of the patient with the provided syringe. Find more in the SoundByte from Veterinary Advantage.

Iowa reports first case of Asian Longhorned Tick in livestock

Iowa State Veterinarian Dr. Jeff Kaisand confirmed the first detection of the Asian Longhorned Tick and Theileria orientalis Ikeda in Iowa livestock. The case occurred in Van Buren County, located in southeast Iowa. Theileria is a parasite carried by the ALHT, which infects red and white blood cells and can cause bovine infectious anemia. This is the first known case of both Theileria and the ALHT in Iowa.

Meat Institute says processors must be included in ag worker solutions

The Meat Institute is calling for the processing sector – hog farmers, cattle ranchers and poultry growers – to be included in the Trump Administration’s plans for the agriculture workforce. “Our members, together with suppliers and others in the meat and poultry supply chain, need changes to the H-2A visa program and modernization of E-Verify to ensure the processing sector has … a consistent, year-round, legal workforce,” said Institute President and CEO Julie Anna Potts.

Brazil hopeful it will escape further bird flu infections

It has been more than a month since Brazil has reported a new bird flu case on a commercial poultry farm. Brazil’s vast and diverse geography, with the Amazon to the north, mountain ranges along the Atlantic coast and the Andes to its west, may have helped it avoid the U.S. fate of widespread bird flu by keeping migratory birds away from farms in the country’s interior.

Pork producers applaud legislation on foreign animal diseases

The National Pork Producers Council applauded the introduction of legislation in the U.S. House and Senate to fund U.S. Department of Agriculture measures and programs that help prevent, prepare for and respond to foreign animal diseases. The bill would fund the National Animal Health Laboratory Network, the National Animal Disease Preparedness and Response Program, the National Veterinary Stockpile, and the National Animal Vaccine and Veterinary Countermeasures Bank.

USDA announces plan to contain New World Screwworm

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced a plan to establish a sterile fly dispersal facility at Moore Air Base near Edinburg, Texas, the site of a sterile fly production lab to rid the U.S. of NWS in the 1960s and 1970s. Then, hundreds of millions of flies were reared, sterilized with radiation and dropped from aircraft to eliminate the parasitic pest that preyed upon wildlife and livestock.