A warning to southwestern Ontario’s poultry producers in May to step up biosecurity over a non-avian-flu-related disease outbreak has been lifted. The Feather Board Command Centre, the emergency response office for Ontario’s poultry and egg sector boards, last week issued a “stand down” for heightened biosecurity, following an outbreak of avian infectious laryngotracheitis (ILT) in […] Read more
SW Ontario pullet flock’s ILT contained
Preventing negative side-effects of vaccinations in cattle
Beef 911: Vaccinating is a great tool, but producers need vaccination protocols and should be ready to deal with their negative effects
Reading Time: 4 minutes There is now a multitude of vaccines on the market for all facets of the beef and dairy industry. Vaccinating has become part of the biosecurity program on your farm, ranch or dairy. It is good for our industry as it controls disease, minimizes antibiotic use, improves production, and decreases death or losses from abortion. […] Read more
Massive biosecurity effort in hog sector proves its worth
The list of changes is long and no detail was deemed too small in the effort to keep PEDv out of Alberta
Reading Time: 3 minutes When it comes to biosecurity, all the rules, time, and expense are worth it. And the proof can be seen in the successful effort to keep PEDv (porcine epidemic diarrhea virus) out of Alberta, attendees at the recent Canadian Livestock Transport conference were told. “Everybody in the chain has done their job to prevent PEDv […] Read more
When thinking about biosecurity on a beef farm, it helps to think both big and small
Disease can be introduced when people visit the farm, such as in the case of the bull sale
Reading Time: 3 minutes When people think about biosecurity, they generally think about swine, poultry or dairy operations. But biosecurity is important on beef operations too and there are a number of things producers can do to minimize their risk. “Dairy, swine and poultry are in barns, so biosecurity is easier to control, whereas in the beef industry, the […] Read more
Sysco sees U.S. bird flu hurting egg supply up to 18 months
New York | Reuters — Food distributor Sysco Corp. said on Friday that a record U.S. outbreak of avian flu would limit its chicken and egg supply for nine to 18 months, based on information provided to the company by its suppliers. Sysco is the biggest U.S. food distributor, whose clients include restaurants, hotels and […] Read more
U.S. could use vaccines being developed to fight bird flu in poultry
Chicago | Reuters — Faced with a deadly bird flu outbreak that has infected millions of chickens and turkeys, the U.S. Agriculture Department could turn to what it has always seen as a last resort: readying and deploying a vaccine to fight the disease. Up to now, USDA has said it would prefer not to […] Read more
Manitoba canola pest lab backed for equipment, research
A new Manitoba lab with federal, provincial and canola industry backing has been opened with the goal of staying a step ahead of canola diseases such as clubroot and verticillium wilt. The federal and Manitoba governments on Thursday announced $969,000 for equipment, including a polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) machine, and $250,000 for research at the […] Read more
New, multi-pathogen test being developed for beef cattle
Reading Time: < 1 minute Work is underway to create a new multi-pathogen test for respiratory and enteric diseases, the most common and costly diseases in beef cattle. Both involve several viruses and bacteria, but current tests only target a single pathogen at a time. Checkoff dollars and funding from the beef science cluster are being used to develop two […] Read more
Upping biosecurity will pay dividends for years
Reading Time: 2 minutes The hog industry’s response to PEDv was a huge win for animal health, says a veterinarian who was on the front line of the effort in Alberta. “The pork industry already had the highest biosecurity standards out there, but with this disease, we’ve really put a lot of emphasis on it, and people have responded […] Read more
Nursery barn Quebec’s sixth case of PED
Another nursery barn in Quebec’s Monteregie is the site of the province’s sixth case of porcine epidemic diarrhea in hogs, provincial officials said Thursday. The infections were confirmed Wednesday through lab tests on fecal samples from a 5,000-hog operation at St-Aime, about 30 km southeast of Sorel, Quebec’s provincial swine health team (EQSP) said in […] Read more
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