Cache Valley virus is a mosquito-borne disease which was first discovered in Utah’s Cache Valley in 1956. It has spread across North America over the decades, posing a threat primarily to producers in regions with significant mosquito populations.

It primarily affects sheep, but it has also been found in other small ruminants such as goats.

No vaccine or treatment exists for Cache Valley virus, which can cause abortions and stillbirths in small ruminants such as sheep.

“We’ve seen producers lose up to 30 per cent of their lamb crop in a single season,” said Saskatchewan-based veterinarian Heidi Dubé, while speaking at the Alberta Sheep Breeders Association symposium in Camrose in October.

“The virus can cause extreme birth defects, including scoliosis, fused joints and neurological complications.”

The virus has been found to only impact pregnant sheep in the first 48 days of pregnancy. Dubé said that although about 65 per cent of sheep which have been tested show exposure to the virus, it is only those in the early weeks of pregnancy that are vulnerable to its effects.

“Non-pregnant ewes or sheep that are pregnant beyond that 48 days typically don’t show any clinical disease at all and are typically able to mount a very good immune response to the virus and have no impact on the pregnancy whatsoever,” she said.

“However, in the case of a pregnant ewe during her first trimester, the virus could cross the placenta to infect the fetus, resulting in the symptoms of abortions, stillbirth, congenital defects and so on.”

Steps for prevention

Dubé said there are certain types of mosquitoes that are known to be more likely to carry Cache Valley virus, but studies have shown that more and more varieties of mosquitoes are being found to carry it as well.

There is no vaccine for prevention, and Dubé says there are none on the way. But other steps can be taken to try to prevent infection in sheep.

Since the virus is solely spread through mosquito bites, the first option would be to adjust your operation’s breeding season to early spring or late fall to avoid mosquito season altogether.

If that is not feasible on your operation, managing standing water in the area could play a large role in minimizing the mosquito population on your property.

“Standing water that doesn’t get disturbed at all is your highest source of mosquitoes. Draining all your water pails or emptying your tire swings or any other source of standing water is worth thinking about,” Dubé said.

“The basic gist is that wherever you can reduce any standing water, I would encourage you to do so.”

Testing infected fetuses

Diagnosis of the virus remains challenging, with most detection occurring through postmortem examination of aborted fetuses.

Dubé said it would be beneficial for producers to have their fetuses or stillborn lambs tested for the virus. At worst, it would give the producer peace of mind that another more serious issue is not present in their flock.

“What I have found when I’ve tested, I really like the elimination of diagnosis.”

Human transmission

Cache Valley virus can be transmitted to humans, although it is rare.

Symptoms in humans are generally flu-like, so human transmissions of Cache Valley virus often go unreported.

Future outlook

Dubé said there are really no expectations for a vaccine or treatment for Cache Valley virus on the horizon. But the hope is that, with time, ewes will be able to develop an immunity to the virus.

“There’s lots of questions about it that we don’t have answers for right now. I think there’s a lot of hope that they get long-term immunity to it, but we really don’t know yet,” she said.

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The government had confirmed late on Wednesday that a sample tested positive for the viral disease, saying it came from a commercial poultry farm in the municipality of Anta Gorda.

“The official protocols to mitigate (risks) have been put in place and the surrounding area continues to be monitored,” ABPA said.

Newcastle is a viral disease that affects domestic and wild birds, causing respiratory problems, among other symptoms. Its notification is mandatory as per guidelines from the World Organization for Animal Health.

The last confirmed cases of Newcastle disease in Brazil occurred in 2006 in subsistence birds in the states of Amazonas, Mato Grosso and Rio Grande do Sul, the agriculture ministry said.

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Many different strains of bird flu are present in China and some sporadically infect people, usually those working with poultry. There is no indication that H10N3 can spread easily in humans.

The man, a resident of the city of Zhenjiang, was hospitalized on April 28 and diagnosed with H10N3 on May 28, the health commission said. It did not give details on how the man was infected.

His condition is now stable and he is ready to be discharged. Investigation of his close contacts found no other cases, the NHC said. No other cases of human infection with H10N3 have been reported globally, it added.

H10N3 is low-pathogenic, which means it causes relatively less severe disease in poultry and is unlikely to cause a large-scale outbreak, the NHC added.

The World Health Organization (WHO), in a reply to Reuters in Geneva, said: “The source of the patient’s exposure to the H10N3 virus is not known at this time, and no other cases were found in emergency surveillance among the local population. At this time, there is no indication of human-to-human transmission.

“As long as avian influenza viruses circulate in poultry, sporadic infection of avian influenza in humans is not surprising, which is a vivid reminder that the threat of an influenza pandemic is persistent,” the WHO added.

The strain is “not a very common virus,” said Filip Claes, regional laboratory co-ordinator of the Food and Agriculture Organization’s Emergency Centre for Transboundary Animal Diseases at the regional office for Asia and the Pacific.

Only around 160 isolates of the virus were reported in the 40 years to 2018, mostly in wild birds or waterfowl in Asia and some limited parts of North America, and none had been detected in chickens so far, he added.

Analyzing the genetic data of the virus will be necessary to determine whether it resembles older viruses or if it is a novel mix of different viruses, Claes said.

There have been no significant numbers of human infections with bird flu since the H7N9 strain killed around 300 people during 2016-17.

— Reporting for Reuters by Hallie Gu and Dominique Patton; additional reporting by Julie Steenhuysen in Chicago and Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva.

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That study, by a team of Chinese scientists and published by the U.S. journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), warned that a new swine flu virus, named G4, has become more infectious to humans and could become a potential “pandemic virus.”

However, China’s agriculture ministry said in a statement that the study has been interpreted by the media “in an exaggerated and nonfactual way.”

An analysis by the ministry concluded that sampling of the published study is too small to be representative, while the article lacks adequate evidence to show the G4 virus has become the dominant strain among pigs.

The ministry said it drew its conclusions after holding a seminar on the G4 virus’s impact on the hog industry and public health. Participants included Chinese veterinarians and anti-virus experts, as well as the leading authors of the PNAS study.

The participants concurred that the G4 virus is not new, the statement said. Furthermore, such a strain has been monitored continuously by the World Health Organization (WHO) and related agencies in China since 2011, the statement said, citing a senior WHO official.

In addition, the authors of the published study agreed that the G4 virus does not effectively replicate in the human body and cause disease, according to the statement.

The ministry’s statement was authored by Yang Hanchun, a swine viral disease scientist at China Agricultural University who also serves the role of expert on a ministry anti-epidemic committee.

— Reporting for Reuters by Samuel Shen, Hallie Gu and Ryan Woo.

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The declaration, seen by Reuters, may be an effort by China to reduce the additional testing it has carried out on imported foods over the last week and make exporters responsible for guaranteeing their products’ safety, one meat importer who had signed it said.

He declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the issue.

The French pork industry association Inaporc also received the notice, an official said.

China’s General Administration of Customs did not immediately respond to a fax seeking comment.

The declaration says the exporter is willing to comply with Chinese laws and guidance from the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Health Organization to ensure food imported into China is not contaminated with the virus that causes COVID-19.

“In the event that a new case/suspected case of COVID-19 is detected in a food enterprise, or if there is a risk of contamination of food products exported to China, we are willing to take all necessary measures to eliminate food safety risks and protect consumer health,” it adds.

Beijing began testing imported food for the coronavirus after an outbreak in a wholesale food market last week.

In Tianjin, the primary port for Beijing, authorities are testing all containers of meat, importers said.

More than 30,000 samples of meat, seafood, vegetables and fruit were tested between June 11-17. All tested negative for the coronavirus, customs said on Thursday.

“It’s very costly and time-consuming to test all products. They’re asking suppliers to sign this letter so they can go back to normal,” said the meat exporter.

How much weight the declaration will carry, however, is unclear.

“If any shipments are found to have COVID-19, they will be destroyed anyway, with or without the letter,” said another meat supplier who had not signed it.

— Reporting for Reuters by Dominique Patton; additional reporting by Emily Chow in Shanghai and Gus Trompiz in Paris.

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The provincial government and hog producer agency Alberta Pork on Monday announced the first of two cases reported Friday was in fact a “false positive.”

Specifically, Alberta Pork said Monday, the investigating lab in the third case “identified the virus in a sample, but pigs at the formerly-suspected affected premise have shown no signs of illness.”

False positives, the agency said, are “infrequent but can be expected occasionally in disease investigations, due to the sensitivity and concern for positive results.”

“Investigation into possible explanations around these results is underway,” the province said in a separate statement Monday.

Alberta Pork said it apologized for “any confusion or alarm” resulting from Friday’s notice.

As of now, Alberta Pork said, “we can confirm three outbreaks of PED in Alberta in 2019” so far. Those include the other case reported Friday as well as the cases confirmed Jan. 7 and Feb. 21.

The province and other stakeholders are “monitoring the situation to determine a source for all outbreaks, but none have been found yet,” the agency said.

Any possible connection between the three outbreaks “remains uncertain,” the agency added.

Neither the province nor Alberta Pork have yet said whether Friday’s confirmed case is geographically close to either of the first two.

The February case, however, is “far away” from the January case, Alberta Pork’s quality assurance and production manager Javier Bahamon said Feb. 22 via email.

Alberta’s hog herd, up until January, had managed to avoid any on-farm outbreaks of PED. Almost 250 other on-farm PED outbreaks have been confirmed in Canada since its arrival in early 2014, mostly on hog operations in southern Ontario and southeastern Manitoba.

The PED virus (PEDv) is a coronavirus which, once introduced in a herd, causes vomiting, watery diarrhea and dehydration in infected hogs. Mortality rates run up to 100 per cent in infected nursing-age piglets but are much lower in growing hogs, which generally present with milder diarrhea. There is no known human health risk or food safety risk associated with PED. –– Glacier FarmMedia Network

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Parvovirus is a hardy, highly contagious, often deadly virus that’s spread through the feces of infected dogs. It attacks the intestinal tract and white blood cells causing symptoms such as bloody diarrhea and vomiting. Although all ages of dogs can be affected, puppies and juvenile dogs are most vulnerable to severe symptoms. The virus can affect most members of the dog family (including wolves, coyotes, and foxes).

There are several strains of canine parvovirus. The latest one is parvovirus type 2c (CPV-2c) first detected in 2000 in Italy.

Dogs become infected through oral contact with feces, infected soil (where it can survive for one year or longer), or contaminated items such as kennel surfaces, food and water bowls, leashes, toys. The incubation period is three to seven days. In surviving dogs, the virus may be shed for two to three weeks after they were infected. Bleach is the most effective disinfectant.

Dogs with parvovirus are very depressed and off food. They are nauseous, vomiting, and have diarrhea which is usually bloody. Abdominal pain and dehydration quickly follow. The virus also attacks white blood cells making dogs susceptible to secondary infection. In very young puppies the virus can damage the heart muscle.

Because parvovirus is a life-threatening disease, vaccination is crucial. Puppies receive some immunity from their mothers’ milk but to maintain protection a series of vaccinations are necessary.

There is no specific treatment for the virus and infected dogs must be housed in isolation. The latest strain of parvovirus can infect cats. However, cats vaccinated against feline distemper will be protected.

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Lorne Babiuk, world-renowned virologist and vice-president of research at the University of Alberta, was awarded the prestigious prize in recognition of his lifetime achievement.

“Vaccines, whether for producers or for humans, have saved more lives than any other medical intervention has,” he said.

Babiuk, who assisted in the creation of six vaccines for livestock, focuses on the development of vaccines for diseases that can transfer from livestock to humans.

Animal vaccines and the prevention of animal disease has a huge impact on human health and economies.

“The rotavirus vaccine (for E. coli/scours) saves hundreds of millions of dollars a year for producers,” he said. “But most importantly, no producer or veterinarian likes to see a young calf die.”

That’s doubly true in the developing world “where a lot of these smallholder farmers are living on $2 a day with four goats,” he added.

“If one of the goats dies, the kids go hungry without any milk to drink. We know that protein and nutrition influence cognitive development, and for the rest of their lives, they could have devastating consequences. It is a hugely important area of research — especially in the developing world.”

Though he plans to retire in June, Babiuk, who has been at the University of Alberta since 2007, is hard at work on his seventh vaccine — a five-in-one vaccine to stop pox viruses in sheep, goats, and cattle.

“In the developing world, it’s very difficult to maintain a cold chain and keep vaccines refrigerated,” he said. “So what we have done is take a virus that causes lumpy skin diseases in cattle and another that causes goat pox in goats and sheep pox in sheep. They are all pox vaccines and we’ve been able to show that they are very closely related. If you can make one vaccine, you can protect three different species against three different diseases.”

The researchers can put genes from other viruses into the vaccine, so that producers can vaccinate for more than one disease at a time.

The vaccine Babiuk is currently working on could also target Rift Valley fever, which is similar to West Nile virus and transmitted by mosquitoes. It is infectious to both humans and animals.

“It is much more virulent than West Nile,” he said. “West Nile is a summer picnic compared to the devastation of Rift Valley fever.

“Infectious diseases don’t carry passports. With Rift Valley, it could be here tomorrow.”

Babiuk’s achievements in virology have made significant contributions to the global livestock industry. He worked on the rotavirus for calves, which other researchers used to create a matching vaccine for humans. He and his team of researchers also developed the world’s first genetically engineered vaccine for shipping fever, a disease that previously cost the North American cattle industry about $1 billion annually.

And he was also part of the team that helped develop the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization (VIDO) at the University of Saskatchewan in 1975. He went on to lead the organization from 1993 to 2007, and helped turn it into an internationally renowned research centre.

Babiuk will accept the 2016 World Agricultural Laureate award in Cape Town, South Africa on Oct. 18.

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It and a couple of strains of rotavirus are the two main viruses we see in our scours vaccines. (It also causes a winter dysentery bloody diarrhea in mature cattle, especially housed dairy cattle in the winter.) What you also may not have known is this same virus can be involved in the bovine respiratory disease complex.

The respiratory syndrome is often masked by the other much more prominent viruses such as IBR and BRSV or the main bacterial causes of pneumonia that being Mannheimia Hemolytica, Pasteurella Multocida and finally Histophilus Somnus. Often it may be involved with the respiratory disease complex with these other components, but is generally less serious. There is no respiratory vaccine on the market that has the corona virus antigen in it, but in the future — as the vaccines become broader and broader spectrum — a company may put in the corona virus to bolster the immunity to more respiratory pathogens once again.

Respiratory disease is the No. 1 economic disease in feedlots across Canada so anything we can do to reduce cases is beneficial. Cattle have a lot less lung capacity than other species but the big rumen and digestive process require a lot more oxygen. So technically the lungs have very little reserve in them, and that leads to more issues with respiratory disease.

A few separate outbreaks of corona virus respiratory disease have occurred and you generally see some slight depression, but overall animals will still look bright. There may be increased nasal secretions and feed intake may go down significantly. In fact, it may be this feed decrease is the first thing that is experienced. One still has to treat the sick calves for secondary bacterial infection. It can also occur if there is suppression of the immune system because of vitamin or mineral deficiency, internal parasites or a concurrent disease. You may even have some cattle infected with corona and have the enteric form as well. You would then expect to have diarrhea accompany some of the other clinical signs in a small percentage of infected cattle.

So if a group of cattle seems to be sicker than in the past — in spite of vaccinating for pneumonia — have them checked out, as the corona virus may be the culprit.

Another bacterial cause of pneumonia presents itself a different way and may be an emerging disease in the United States — which means we should keep our eyes open in Canada because of all the trading of cattle and other livestock that goes on.

The bacterium is Bibersteinia trehalosi and is very closely related to M. Hemolytica that is the key bacteria involved in the whole bovine respiratory disease complex. It presents itself as sudden death and in the U.S. has involved Holstein cows primarily and is significant at causing pneumonia and blood infection (septicemia) in sheep. The pneumonia veterinarians see on a post-mortem is really indistinguishable from the M. Hemolytica form and it is indistinguishable on routine lab submissions. So unless the lab does special testing it is hard to identify. It may be another emerging component to the whole respiratory disease complex.

U.S. veterinarians noticed this form of pneumonia was different because it was a quick killer of cows and was fairly unresponsive to antibiotics. Part of the reason was its acute nature — the antibiotic simply doesn’t have enough time to work. Also, we generally are not expecting full-grown cows to develop respiratory disease and so it catches us off guard. In some cases, this organism can be quite resistant to many different antibiotics when we culture it.

Even though now there are several good long-lasting macrolide antibiotics for treating groups of high-risk calves, this should not reduce our vigilance in watching for unusual respiratory disease. If the incidence of treatment or death loss is higher than expected or there have been sudden deaths, then have some of the animals autopsied by your veterinarian. Finding the root cause will definitely help them determine better treatment, biosecurity and preventive measures for your farm.

Cow-calf, feeders and feedlot operators have definitely reduced the incidence of pneumonia deaths in Canada over the last decade through a combination of using vaccines with broader coverage, using metaphylactic antibiotics, better treatment antimicrobials, and anti-inflammatory drugs.

Feed conversion is better with less chronics present. So if your response to vaccines seems poor; pulls are too high; or death rates are unacceptable, get the cattle checked and post-mortem any recently dead ones (especially sudden deaths). One of these emerging pathogens (especially B. trehalosi) could be present and you need to do a culture to find out.

Be aware of new advances in the early detection prevention and treatment of respiratory disease. Different vaccination combinations are always presenting themselves and there is always going to be continued research in this area of cattle medicine.

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Often evidence for infection is noted only after routine surveillance testing for EIA.

EIA is a blood-borne and potentially fatal viral disease affecting the immune system of horses, donkeys, and mules worldwide.

EIA can present in an acute or chronic disease state or as an inapparent carrier. With initial exposure, the virus reproduces and traffics throughout the animal’s body within white blood cells.

Viral particles are then released into the blood and become attached to red blood cells. The horse’s immune system mounts a vigorous attack against the virus by producing antibodies.

This attack inadvertently also causes destruction of the horse’s own red blood cell components, resulting in anemia and organ-damaging inflammation. During this time the horse will be acutely ill, with heavy concentrations of virus in its bloodstream.

Clinical signs vary

The clinical signs, morbidity, and mortality of EIA vary with the strain of the virus and the immune system of each individual horse. Symptoms include fever, loss of appetite, depression, anemia, dependent swelling, jaundice, inco-ordination and/or muscle weakness and loss of condition.

Horses may die from the direct effects of the virus or from secondary infections as the body is weakened by the virus. Horses that survive the acute phase go on to experience chronic cyclic flare-ups of clinical signs as the horse alternates between remission and the disease state.

The onset of symptoms is often associated with stressors. Within a one-year period many horses begin to control the infection and show no clinical signs. These inapparent carriers may serve as a source of infection for other horses. On occasion an apparently healthy horse will show serological evidence of viral infection yet never exhibit any symptoms of the disease.

Evidence for infection is noted when a horse develops a clinical bout of illness or after routine surveillance testing for EIA. Much about the pathogenesis of EIA is not completely understood, including the mechanism which allows the virus to survive the immunological response of the horse.

In a natural setting, the EIA virus is most commonly transmitted from an infected horse to a non-infected horse by the mechanical transfer of blood from blood-feeding insects such as horseflies and deer flies.

Transmission

The virus is passed from one horse to another on the insect’s mouthparts as it feeds. The painful bite of the flies causes the horse to react and interrupt the insect’s feeding. The fly seeks to immediately resume feeding on either the same animal or on another nearby horse.

If an uninfected horse is in close proximity to the infected horse, the completion of this blood meal is likely to effectively transfer virus between horses. Because of their strong instinct to immediately complete a blood meal, horseflies do not travel long distances before biting again.

Through the insect vector pathway, the disease can enter a herd and slowly and silently infect an increasing number of horses. Since these insects are mainly active in the summer months and prefer wet, marshy and wooded areas, outbreaks of EIA are often associated with horses pasturing in swampy areas, hence the name swamp fever.

Another means of blood transmission of EIA amongst horses is through the practice of sharing needles, and other blood-contaminated equipment such as dental floats, surgical instruments and tattooing tools.

There is currently no cure for EIA, nor is there an effective vaccine available to protect horses from getting EIA. As a result many countries including Canada and the U.S. have established control and containment programs based on voluntary serological testing.

Testing

The Coggins test is used to consistently and reliably detect the presence of EIA-specific antibodies. Confusion often arises because reference to the Coggins name does not appear anywhere on the EIA Serum test report and certificate.

The original test was developed by Dr. Leroy Coggins in 1970 and thus was aptly named the Coggins test. Currently a c-ELISA test is also employed, as it offers the advantage of rapid results. Blood sample can only be taken from horses by veterinary practitioners accredited by the CFIA.

A negative Coggins test is a snapshot of a horse’s health status at a particular point in time. A negative Coggins test means there were no detectable antibodies at the time of testing. A positive test indicates the horse does have detectable EIA-specific antibodies.

Venues involving the movement, co-habitation, and commingling of horses recognize different time frames regarding the eligible status of a negative Coggins test. Its eligibility can range from 30 days to a year.

Proof of a negative EIA test is an entry requirement for many competitions, horse-related events, boarding facilities, and is necessary for border crossings. For export purposes a negative Coggins is sufficient for 180 days. For the most part, the requirement for EIA testing is based on and determined by members within the horse industry itself.

EIA is a reportable disease under the Health of Animals Act. Horses confirmed to have EIA have limited options.

The CFIA requires that positive horses be either euthanized or quarantined for life. Strict quarantine measures considerably limit the quality of life for the affected animal.

Owners of euthanized horses are compensated by the CFIA at a specified rate for the loss. In the case of a positive horse being identified, CFIA conducts focal testing where other positives may be identified.

The many stakeholders in the equine industry all share equal responsibility and vigilance for educating themselves regarding the management of EIA. In truth, there are many unknowns when assessing the risk EIA poses to any one individual horse.

Certain management and geographic factors do put particular horses at a greater risk for contracting EIA. Environments with a steady influx of new horses, horses pastured in damp, swampy areas, and animals in frequent contact with outside horses that live and travel in regions known for EIA outbreaks or which may have contact with feral horses chance a higher level of exposure to the EIA virus.

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