Weekly livestock news: July 20, 2020

Purdue team gets $1M federal grant to develop rapid bovine respiratory disease test

Purdue University researchers are developing technology to reduce diagnosis time for bovine respiratory disease, which accounts for about half of all feedlot deaths in North America and costs beef and dairy producers as much as $900 million a year, Farm Progress reports. The goal of the research is to reduce diagnosis time for BRD to about 30 minutes, down from the current wait time of four days or more. The team, led by Purdue assistant professor Mohit Verma, is being funded by a $1 million USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture IDEAS grant.

Kansas State University vet school signs research agreement for COVID-19 vaccine candidate

Kansas State University has signed a new preclinical research and option agreement with Tonix Pharmaceuticals, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, to develop a vaccine candidate for the prevention of COVID-19, the Hastings Tribune reports. The inventor of the technology, Waithaka Mwangi, professor of diagnostic pathobiology in Kansas State’s veterinary medicine college, will direct the research, which is based on a new vaccine platform that his research team developed for bovine parainfluenza 3 virus—BPI3V—which is closely related to human parainfluenza 3 virus.

Michigan governor signs order for meatpacking plant safety

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed an executive order with new safety guidelines for workers at the state’s meatpacking plants, WXYZ reports. Among other things, the order requires that plants have daily entry screening protocols for employees and other people entering facilities, ensure workers are spaced at least six feet apart in communal work environments, and require employees to wear a face covering.

Economic recovery from COVID-19 may favor rural communities, report says

Despite significant challenges, rural industries may be relatively well-positioned to recover economically from the pandemic, according to a new report from CoBank. “2020 will go down as a year when many American businesses were shaken,” the report said. “But we believe rural industries, bruised as they may be, will bounce back more resilient, wiser, and more efficient.” Shutdowns were shorter, with less negative economic impact, in many rural areas, said Dan Kowalski, vice president of CoBank’s Knowledge Exchange division. Kowalski noted that currently, even with improvements from business reopenings, economic indicators “are signaling a plateau, followed by a possible downshift in the economy.” Still, “economic recovery may now favor rural communities for the first time in many years.” Feedstuffs reports.

New SoundByte: Vetera from Boehringer Ingelheim

Vetera is the only vaccine portfolio demonstrating duration of immunity of at least six months in an equine influenza virus challenge, and duration of immunity of at least 12 months for West Nile virus. Nearly 12 million doses have been used to provide immunity for horses, according to Boehringer Ingelheim. To see the full list of benefits, and guidance to discuss the vaccine with customers, see the SoundByte here.

China floods blamed for new African swine fever outbreaks

China has seen a surge in African swine fever cases after heavy rains, putting at risk plans for replenishing the country’s pork supply, Reuters reports. Heavy rains and flooding across southern China since mid-June seem to have triggered dozens of new ASF cases. “Even the medium to large farms were hit,” said Zheng Lili, chief analyst with consulting firm Shandong Yongyi. Farmers usually bury infected pigs, and the rains may have spread the disease through groundwater, according to analysts.