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November 2005
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The Japanese banned imports of U.S. beef after reports of possible bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in downed cattle.
In June, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), the FDA, the Texas Animal Health Commission and the Texas Feed and Fertilizer Control Service investigated and released a report in August.
Investigators concluded that the positive animal was born and raised on a ranch in Texas. It was born prior to the implementation of the 1997 feed ban instituted by the FDA to help minimize the risk that a cow might consume contaminated feed.
The animal was sold through a livestock sale in November 2004 and transported to a packing plant. The animal was dead upon arrival at the packing plant and was then shipped to a pet food plant where it was sampled for BSE. The plant did not use the animal in its product, and the carcass was destroyed in November 2004, USDA officials said.
APHIS attempted to trace all adult animals that left the index farm after 1990, as well as all progeny born within two years of the index animal’s death. Together, these animals are called animals of interest.
During the course of the investigation, the USDA removed and tested 67 animals of interest from the farm where the index animal’s herd originated. All of these animals tested negative for BSE.
“There is a growing frustration and anger in the U.S. agriculture community regarding the deliberately slow response of the Japanese government,” farm board officials said in the letter. “Given the overwhelming evidence that U.S. beef is safe, Japanese officials must move now to reopen its market to imports of U.S. beef. Otherwise, we will be convinced that their actions on this issue have gone beyond careful scientific certainty and now function as an active trade barrier.”
The AFBF board called on the administration “to work at the highest level of government to resolve the issue by November 2005.” AFBF told Johanns that Japan’s ban on U.S. beef imports has directly affected American beef producers and has cost the U.S. beef industry more than $1.7 billion a year.
Since the United States and Japan reached an agreement nearly one year ago to facilitate the resumption of U.S. beef exports to Japan, that nation’s Food Safety Commission (FSC) has been reviewing the safety of U.S. beef.
Despite aggressive negotiations on the part of the U.S. government and extensive scientific information that has been provided to Japan, the date for a final report from Japan’s FSC is uncertain. According to AFBF officials, without a decision from Japan’s FSC, trade remains halted and economic losses to U.S. beef producers continue to mount.
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The USDA’s APHIS expanded the portion of Union County, N.J., quarantined to stop the spread of the destructive Asian longhorned beetle (ALB). However, it removed the quarantine from parts of Hudson County.
APHIS determined that the 3.7 square mile quarantine zone encompassing portions of Jersey City and Hoboken in Hudson County no longer displays evidence of ALB infestation and will be removed from quarantine. With the Hudson County quarantine zone deregulated, firewood, lumber, nursery stock and other materials that serve as hosts for the invasive beetle can now be moved freely through the region.
Trees in the former Hudson County quarantine will be inspected annually to prevent the spread of this tree-killing pest to noninfested areas of the United States.
Although Jersey City and Hoboken have been deregulated due to lack of beetle activity, an infested tree found this summer prompts the addition of two square miles to the Union County quarantine area. With these actions, New Jersey now has a 16.5-square mile quarantine area that encompasses Union and Middlesex counties.
The infested tree was discovered at the Rosehill Cemetery, in Linden, Union County, in July. While within the previous quarantine area’s northernmost boundary, the infestation’s specific location within the quarantine zone prompts an expansion of the zone north and westward around the new find. The northern most boundary of the quarantine will now be Allen Street in Linden, Union County, N.J. The northwestern boundary is now Dill Avenue, also in Linden.
The 16.5-square mile quarantine now in place in New Jersey with the amendment to the ALB regulations covers portions of the borough of Carteret and the Avenel section of Woodbridge Township in Middlesex County, and portions of the cities of Rahway and Linden in Union County. This is now New Jersey’s only active ALB quarantine area. Movement of materials that could play host to ALB and ALB larvae remains regulated in this area, officials said.
ALB infestations are responsible for the destruction of more than 11,000 trees in New Jersey since the first beetle was discovered. The ALB was initially discovered in New York in 1996, with subsequent finds in Illinois in 1998 and New Jersey in 2002.
APHIS and its cooperators undertake ALB eradication by removing infested trees and adjacent high-risk trees, imposing quarantines, conducting intensified visual inspections around confirmed sites to determine the reach and scope of an infestation and chemically treating trees as part of an area-wide integrated pest management strategy. The goal is to eliminate this destructive insect from New York, New Jersey and Illinois before it can establish itself elsewhere.
USDA officials plan to allow the movement of clonally propagated, rust-resistant Berberis cultivars to move into or through quarantine areas without a required two-year growth period.
A two-year growth period is not necessary for clonally propagated, rust-resistant plants because they are genetically identical to their parental source and naturally rust resistant. This proposed action would provide producers and distributors relief from unwarranted restrictions to prevent the spread of black stem rust.
All seed-propagated plants and seedlings of Berberis will continue to be restricted from interstate movement prior to reaching two years of age. Seeds, fruit, seedlings and other seed-propagated materials can yield black stem rust-sensitive plants, which, if infected, could spread the disease to protected areas.
APHIS officials also proposed adding 13 varieties to its list of 126 rust-resistant Berberis species. The proposed addition of these species is based on recent testing to determine rust resistance.
Black stem rust is an important disease of wheat. It has a wide host range including wheat, oats, barley, rye and barberry. APHIS’ black stem rust regulations quarantine the conterminous 48 states and Washington and govern the interstate movement of certain plants of the genera Berberis, Mahoberberis and Mahonia.
Federal health officials began distributing oral rabies vaccine baits in late October to prevent the spread of raccoon rabies in portions of Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee.
Officials distributed baits containing the oral rabies vaccine over rural areas using low-flying twin engine aircraft, and hand baiting will occur in populated regions using ground-based vehicles. The projected two-week program will result in the distribution of close to 1 million baits covering roughly 4,423 total square miles in three states.
This season, portions of Georgia, northeastern Alabama and southeastern Tennessee will receive nearly 950,000 baits total. This project is part of a national effort by federal, state and local cooperators to eliminate rabies in raccoons. There are more confirmed cases of rabies in raccoons than any other wild animal.
Baits are coated with a fish meal attractant and may be packaged in 1-in square cubes or clear plastic sachets similar in size and shape to a ketchup packet. Humans and pets cannot get rabies from coming into contact with the baits.
This vaccine has been shown to be safe in more than 50 different species of animals, including domestic dogs and cats. Dogs that consume large numbers of baits may experience an upset stomach, but there are no long-term health risks, federal health officials said. Most sightings of rabid raccoons occur during the spring and summer when people are more likely to come into contact with wildlife.
Researchers at the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH) will discuss findings that mosquitoes feeding side by side can transmit West Nile virus (WNV) to each other, challenging conventional theories of transmission and suggesting that the virus can spread much more quickly than originally thought.
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Source: CDC/James Gathany |
ASTMH member Stephen Higgs, PhD, conducted a study to determine whether the quantity of WNV secreted in the saliva of infected mosquitoes is high enough to infect other mosquitoes that are feeding at the same time on a bird, horse or other mammal.
Until now, scientists believed the transmission process occurred over several days, circulating between birds and mosquitoes.
For example, an infected mosquito bites a bird, which over time develops high levels of the virus in its blood and then an uninfected mosquito bites the bird and becomes infected.
In this study, Higgs tested whether the transmission of WNV is more immediate by having two sets of mosquitoes cofeed on an uninfected host.
One set of mosquitoes was infected with WNV and the other set was not.
Higgs noted that the uninfected mosquitoes became infected with WNV simply by feeding next to each other.
“Essentially this study shows that the virus can be directly transmitted from the saliva of one mosquito to another, thereby accelerating the transmission process,” Higgs said.
Higgs suggested that this research may help explain why WNV has spread so rapidly across North America and should prompt a re-examination of prevention strategies.
He will present his study findings at the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene’s 54th Annual Meeting in Washington, Dec. 11-15.
