Plans include development of efficient field polymerase chain reaction tests primarily for swine.
Dec 23, 2020
The Tennessee Department of Agriculture’s (TDA) C. E. Kord Animal Health Diagnostic Laboratory aims to strengthen animal health programs with assistance from a federal grant. The National Animal Health Laboratory Network awarded $250,000 in funding to Kord Lab through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS).
The grant is a second round of USDA Farm Bill funding, and TDA will use the funds to build on previous work. Plans include development of efficient field polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests primarily for swine. Specifically, TDA aims to streamline lengthy and expensive testing procedures for Senecavirus A and foot-and-mouth disease virus. Both viruses are highly contagious among livestock and can result in economic losses and delays in the food supply chain.
-The Hagstrom Report
The House and the Senate late Monday passed the fiscal year 2021 omnibus appropriations bill and a COVD-19 relief package, sending the legislation to President Donald Trump for his signature.
The omnibus appropriations bill will cost $1.4 trillion and the COVD-19 relief package $900 billion.
The measure was split in two in the House.
The House vote on Divisions B,C, E and F was 327 to 85, with 43 Republicans, 41 Democrats and one Independent opposing it.
The House vote on the rest of the combined bill was 359 to 53, with 50 Republicans, two Democrats and one independent opposing it.
The vote in the Senate was 92 to 6.
Dec 21, 2020
Congress is expected to vote today on a COVID-relief package and an omnibus appropriations bill that funds the government through Sept. 30, 2021. The National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) is urging members of Congress to vote yes on these critically important bills.
Several high-priority NPPC asks are included in these measures: $635 million to ensure U.S. agriculture inspectors are fully funded; extension of livestock mandatory price reporting until Sept. 30, 2021; $20 million in funding for the National Animal Health Laboratory Network; $284.5 billion for the Paycheck Protection Program, which removes restrictive language that prevented some pork producers from eligibility; and funding to compensate hog farmers who were forced to euthanize animals due to COVID-related supply chain disruptions, valued at 80% of the animal’s value and for the cost incurred during the process.
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Avian influenza A(H7N3) virus on commercial turkey farms in NC & SC, USA Emerging Infectious Diseases. 2020;26(12):2966-2969. 13 December, 2020 Highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses (HPAIVs) have devastating impacts on the poultry industries. With infections in poultry, H5 and H7 low-pathogenicity avian influenza viruses (LPAIVs) have spontaneously mutated into HPAIVs by different mechanisms, one of which is acquisition of basic amino acids at the hemagglutinin (HA) cleavage site. In March 2020, an outbreak of LPAIV H7N3 occurred in turkey farms, affecting 11 premises in North Carolina and 1 in South Carolina, USA. The initial decision to depopulate LPAIV-affected flocks was based on a risk assessment that included the location of affected premises, the poultry density in the area, and the presence of a basic amino acid substitution at the cleavage site among the initial LPAIV detections (PEKPKTR/GLF; substitution sequence is highlighted).