AnimalNet Dec. 17/03
S. Korea ups
poultry cull in bid to stem bird flu
Preparing
for the bird flu
African wild
meat is increasingly smuggled into U.S. airports
Poultry
litter law suit
Wyo., U.S.
officials discuss brucellosis
Farmer
fined: Irish livestock producer is convicted for failing to dispose of animal by
products properly
Tag system
unpractical: Irish producers believe European Commission proposal on sheep
tagging is ludicrous
Weeding out
the black sheep
Salmon
farms-fleet
Industry
input sought for seafood standard
Hollywood
star Alec Baldwin writes to pope over animal cruelty
Tests
discover parasite in asian oysters: Infection causes concern about species'
introduction into Chesapeake Bay
Iowan holds
top pork job
how to subscribe
S.
Korea ups poultry cull in bid to stem bird flu
December 17, 2003
Reuters
SEOUL - Faced with signs a highly contagious strain of bird flu is spreading,
South Korea was cited as saying on Wednesday it would slaughter tens of
thousands of poultry and disinfect farms in an area south of the capital, Seoul,
and authorities also said they were looking at migratory birds as a possible
cause of the outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza, which can in rare
cases be deadly to humans.
a statement from the Agriculture Ministry was quoted as saying, "The
National Veterinary Research & Quarantine Service suspects migratory birds
are responsible for the outbreak of the infection.”
The story says that since the country confirmed its first case of bird flu on
Monday among chickens at a farm about 80 km (50 miles) southeast of Seoul, two
other farms have also reported symptoms of the disease among 15,000 chickens and
3,480 ducks.
Preparing
for the bird flu
December 17, 2003
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/17/opinion/17WED3.html
While Americans scramble to protect themselves against a form of influenza that
is only slightly different from strains that have circulated before, experts
are, according to this editorial, keeping a wary eye on several bird flu strains
that could someday pose a radically new challenge and that should avian flu
mutate enough to spread easily from person to person, it could set off a global
pandemic.
The editorial adds that late last month, in the latest case, a 5-year-old boy in
Hong Kong was infected with a bird flu, and such bird-to-human infections cause
concern for two reasons. In a typical flu season, many people are at least
partly protected because they have been exposed to similar virus strains in the
past and their immune systems have been primed to combat them. But if an avian
flu mutated enough to become easily transmissible among humans, almost no one
would have a natural immunity. To make matters worse, the usual methods of
producing vaccines might fail if a bird virus did start to circulate among
humans. Those methods rely on growing flu viruses in fertilized chicken eggs,
but some avian viruses are lethal to the eggs.
The editorial says that the potential for trouble has experts at the World
Health Organization and American health agencies searching for different
production methods and for faster ways to detect and respond to viruses that
might emerge from animal hosts. The effort is in its early stages and clearly
needs to be accelerated. Even as they struggle to cope with the current
influenza epidemic, health officials need to gird for a potentially bigger
threat.
African
wild meat is increasingly smuggled into U.S. airports
December 17, 2003
Knight-Ridder Tribune
Charles Seabrook, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Inspectors at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson airport, suspicious of a smoky odor
wafting from the suitcase of a passenger arriving from Cameroon in Central
Africa, peered, according to this story, into her bag.
The story says they were shocked by what they saw --- an entire smoked monkey.
The meat, the woman said, was intended for a traditional wedding reception of
some African immigrants.
Authorities were cited as saying in August, two large monkey heads seized from a
passenger arriving in Atlanta from Senegal apparently were intended for
consumption by a family of immigrants.
Airport inspectors from New York to Hawaii are reporting similar findings as a
demand for "bush meat," or wild animal flesh, mostly from Africa,
increases in the United States. Mike Elkins, deputy wildlife agent in charge at
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's regional office in Atlanta, was quoted as
saying, "We're probably seeing only the tip of the iceberg."
Public health officials were cited as saying the wild meat may harbor deadly
microbes that could cause epidemics in humans, from Ebola to AIDS.
Dr. Paul Argwin, a global health specialist with the U.S. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, was quoted as saying, "It certainly poses public
health risks."
A report in the Journal of the American Medical Association last year warned
that many monkeys captured in Cameroon harbored a plethora of viruses that are
close cousins of the AIDS virus. The microbes pose a major health risk to people
who eat the animals, the report warned.
Importation of nonhuman primates is prohibited under an international treaty.
This year scientists linked the widespread consumption of wildlife in China to
the outbreak of SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, a viral disease new
in humans, and often fatal to them, that was rapidly spread by travelers from
East Asia.
Poultry
litter law suit
December 16, 2003
From a press release
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -- The first of several lawsuits was filed today in
Washington County on behalf of residents of Prairie Grove, Arkansas. These
residents have all lost children or suffered serious health problems, including
cancers and blood disorders, because of high levels of arsenic ingested as a
result of chicken litter spread around their town. Alpharma, Inc. (NYSE:ALO),
Tyson (NYSE:TSN) and other poultry producers were named defendants in the
lawsuit. The details of the lawsuits and the health problems were discussed at a
news conference in Fayetteville today.
According to John Baker, attorney representing the residents, the first suit
includes survivors of cancer and the parents of four children who died from
leukemia and brain cancer. Several residents have been diagnosed with rare forms
of cancer normally occurring at a rate of one in a million. Prairie Grove has a
population of just 2,540, with a county population of 175,000. Sandra Beckcom, a
registered nurse who has worked in medical facilities in the community, has a
muscle cancer called leiomysarcoma. "I've seen first-hand the failure of
the medical community to report cancers and other serious diseases in this
county. I have a recurring diagnosis of what is normally a rare form of cancer,
but there are three known cases diagnosed in this community. This is extremely
alarming and should be a red flag for everyone who lives here."
Alpharma, Inc., manufacturers a product called 3-Nitro (Roxarsone) that is
ground and mixed with chicken feed by Tyson and others in the poultry industry
to enhance growth of the chicken. Roxarsone passes straight through chickens to
their litter and becomes the very toxic poison known as Inorganic Arsenic III
and Inorganic Arsenic V when placed in the environment.
Chicken litter is spread throughout the Norwest corridor of Arkansas with a high
concentration in Washington County, particularly in the farmland surrounding
Prairie Grove. The poultry industry typically spreads the fertilizer in a
three-mile radius around the chicken farms, exaggerating the concentration in
Washington County where there is an abundance of these farms. Attorneys say
Washington County has the second largest chicken population in the United States
(approximately 10 million).
A large group of families gathered at the Radisson in Fayetteville today to ask
the poultry industry to stop using the chemical additive Roxarsone and to stop
spreading the contaminated chicken litter throughout their community. Prairie
Grove resident Tommy Johnson lost his teenaged son Austin to brain cancer.
"The petroleum industry, chemical industry, healthcare industry, and
private citizens have to treat and dispose of waste in a safe and healthy
manner," he says. "Why shouldn't the poultry industry be held to the
same standard?"
The families represented in the lawsuits have asked the court to enjoin the
poultry producers from using the chemical Roxarsone as a poultry food supplement
and from spreading the poison in Washington County.
The lawsuit was originally filed earlier this year in Hinds County, Mississippi,
where one family moved at the recommendation of their child's physician.
The Mississippi Court felt it would be more convenient to try the case in
Washington County where more witnesses and victims reside so the case was
dismissed without prejudice and re-filed here today.
Wyo.,
U.S. officials discuss brucellosis
December 16, 2003
Associated Press
PINEDALE, Wyo. – Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal was cited as saying that other
states are closely watching how Wyoming responds to the brucellosis outbreak in
a cattle herd, adding, "First, I want all of you to understand that we view
this very significantly statewide ... I know you sometimes feel alone, but
you're not.”
The story says that the meeting touched on the possible source of brucellosis in
Sublette County, the effectiveness of vaccines, methods of transmission, the
possibility of forming a brucellosis task force and other related issues.
So far, tests have shown the disease has not spread beyond the one herd. If the
illness is found in more than one herd, Wyoming could lose its brucellosis-free
status, leading other states to prohibit out-of-state shipment of Wyoming cattle
or require stepped-up testing.
Freudenthal was further quoted as saying, "If we do not act expeditiously
and in a thoughtful manner ... the other states will go down like dominos and
we'll be in a much worse situation that we are in today."
State Veterinarian Jim Logan was quoted as saying other states "may well
impose some type of restraints on us" regardless of whether Wyoming keeps
it's brucellosis-free status, adding that, "If Wyoming was to lose that
status, it would mean ... breeding cattle and test-eligible females would have
to be tested prior to being moved across state lines and maybe prior to the sale
of ownership."
So far, preliminary tests show that 31 of 391 head of cattle on a ranch near
Boulder, which is about 10 miles south of Pinedale, have tested positive for the
disease. The National Veterinary Services Laboratories in Ames, Iowa, is
conducting tests to confirm the outbreak.
Valerie Reagan, an associate director of the Animal and Plant Health Service,
said cattle herds at risk of contracting brucellosis may have to be vaccinated
against the disease again.
Farmer
fined: Irish livestock producer is convicted for failing to dispose of animal by
products properly
December 16, 2003
Meat News
http://www.meatnews.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Article&artNum=6655
Seamus Kerr, of Aughiogan, Carrickmore, County Tyrone in Northern Ireland has
been convicted at Omagh Magistrates Court on two charges relating to Cattle
Identification legislation, two charges relating to Animal By-Product
legislation and three charges relating to Animal Welfare legislation.
Kerr was found guilty on two charges of failing to dispose of animal by-products
in his possession or under his control without due delay, one charge of causing
unnecessary pain or unnecessary distress to cattle, one charge of causing
unnecessary suffering to cattle and one charge of cruelly ill-treating cattle.
He was also found guilty of one charge of failing to notify the Department of
the death of three beef animals and one charge of failing to notify the
Department of the birth of two calves.
Kerr was fined a total of £1,300 and was ordered to pay £10 court costs and £200
witness costs.
Tag
system unpractical: Irish producers believe European Commission proposal on
sheep tagging is ludicrous
December 16, 2003
Meat News
http://www.meatnews.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Article&artNum=6650
Irish Farmers’ Association National Sheep Committee Chairman Laurence Fallon
has called on Agriculture Minister Joe Walsh and the Department of Agriculture
to act over new EU plans for sheep tagging.
He said that the government has have seriously underestimated the negative
impact a bureaucratic individually based sheep identification system is having
on the Irish sheep sector.
Fallon said there are no material benefits to the Irish sheep sector from a
bureaucratic individually based tagging system.
“The reality over the last three years is that 6,253 farmers have left sheep
production and our ewe numbers have fallen by 607,556 head since 2000,” he
said.
The IFA sheep farmers’ leader said the Minister for Agriculture Joe Walsh
should adopt a simple and practical system of sheep identification based on a
flock tag and a batch movement system.
Fallon said it is extremely worrying that the EU Commission is strongly pushing
a double tagging system with individual numbers.
“What is even more worrying is the fact that Minister Walsh and the Department
have not yet objected to this ludicrous proposal at EU level,” he said.
He said they seem content to allow such a bureaucratic and unworkable system be
imposed on the sheep sector.
Weeding
out the black sheep
December 16, 2003
Australia CSIRO Media Release, Ref #2003/227
http://www.csiro.au/index.asp?type=mediaRelease&id=Prblacksheep
In an effort to stamp out one of the most costly quality control problems facing
the Australian wool industry, CSIRO Livestock Industries - with assistance from
the Australian Sheep Industry CRC - is investigating which Merino sheep genes
are responsible for producing black or piebald offspring.
According to research team leader, Dr Belinda Norris, while the Australian
Merino is renowned for its uniformly white fleece, a significant proportion of
the national flock may carry gene(s) that cause coloured wool in Merino sheep.
"A white ram carrying pigmentation genes can produce a significant number
of pigmented offspring and clearly it would be an advantage to both producers
and ram breeders if such carriers could be detected by some alternative to the
currently expensive process of 'parentage testing'," Dr Norris said.
Parentage testing involves costly breeding programs designed to determine
whether specific rams carry aberrant black or piebald genes.
The three-to-four-year project aims to identify the genes responsible for the
whole-colour black and spotted pigmentation of Merino wool and to develop
DNA-based tests to detect these pigmentation genes in white animals.
"Such tests would be relatively inexpensive and could be used for routine
screening, especially in ram breeder's flocks, to eliminate the problem in the
industry," Dr Norris said.
She called on ram breeders to participate in the project by providing detailed
records of any pigmented animals within their flocks and blood samples from the
pigmented animals, their sires and dams. All information received will be
treated as 'strictly confidential'
Salmon
farms-fleet
December 16, 2003
Associated Press
Jeff Barnard
NEWPORT, Ore. -- With salmon farms in Norway, Chile, Canada and Scotland
producing 60 percent of the world's supply, prices paid to fishermen for
ordinary troll-caught chinook in recent years have, according to this story,
sunk as low as $1 a pound.
And that's why Pazar and partner Laura Anderson formed Local Ocean Seafoods, a
company willing to pay more money to fishermen who follow their guidelines so
that the company will have a premium product to sell to upscale restaurants and
markets from Florida to Seattle.
The story says that after biting the lure and being winched to the side of the
boat, these salmon are thumped in the head with a club while still in the water,
then laid out on padded decks so that scales and slime aren't lost from their
flanks that could open a pathway for bacteria and spoilage.
After gutting the fish, the fishermen massage the blood from the meat and lay
them out on shaved ice to cool so that when they are packed in the hold, their
lingering body heat does not melt the ice around them, which would allow them to
start spoiling.
Pazar tells fishermen to troll more slowly, which attracts bigger fish, which
also command a higher price.
Industry
input sought for seafood standard
December 2003
Food Standards News 48
http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/mediareleasespublications/foodstandardsnews/foodstandardsnews48d2322.cfm#_seafood
Development of the Primary Production and Processing Standard for seafood has
now reached the point where FSANZ has assessed the public health risks of
sectors and activities within the seafood industry and is proposing three
management options.
These options will be refined in conjunction with the Seafood Standard
Development Committee, comprising representatives from the industry, the
Australian Consumers’ Association and State and Territory food regulators.
The current thinking identifies the need for good hygienic practice and good
agricultural practice across the seafood industry as a whole, but recognises the
need for special provisions to be put in place for high-risk sectors or
activities, such as oysters. Such management strategies are already being
practiced throughout industry and so implementation of the new standard should
have a minor effect on compliance workload and pre-harvest and post-harvest
activities.
The new seafood standard will be mandatory and national in scope. This means
that seafood businesses can expect food regulators to enforce the standard in a
nationally consistent manner. The standard will be consistent with
internationally recognised benchmarks and will apply to imported seafood
products as well as domestic production.
It should also bring into the food regulatory system those few seafood
businesses that presently fail to abide by voluntary industry codes of practice.
The three management options being considered are:
Option 1: Status quo, which encompasses existing State and Territory regulations
and industry adherence to voluntary codes of practice.
Option 2: A new Primary Production and Processing Standard for all seafood. This
would extend the food hygiene provisions of the Food Standards Code (Chapter 3)
to the primary production and processing end of the seafood chain and require
the implementation of food safety plans for high-risk sectors or activities.
Option 3: A new PPP standard for high-risk sectors of the seafood industry only.
This would not contain general hygiene provisions.
These management options will appear in a Draft Assessment Report to be
considered by the FSANZ Board in May 2004 and made available for public
discussion and comment.
FSANZ is actively working with State and Territory jurisdictions to ensure that
seafood businesses are not only aware of the directions of the seafood standard,
but also given every opportunity to engage meaningfully with the
standard-setting process.
Individuals and organisations with an interest in the Primary Production and
Processing Standard for seafood can contact FSANZ at any stage of the process at
food.safety@foodstandards.gov.au .
Hollywood
star Alec Baldwin writes to pope over animal cruelty
December 16, 2003
Agence France Presse
LOS ANGELES - Activists were cited as saying Tuesday that Hollywood star Alec
Baldwin has appealed to Pope John Paul II asking him to condemn "shocking
cruelty" to animals on factory farms that produce food products.
Baldwin was cited as writing to the pontiff on Friday on behalf of the animal
rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), pointing out
that Catholic teaching requires people to treat animals kindly, adding, "In
a clear violation of this teaching, modern factory farms greedily produce the
greatest possible amount of meat, milk, and eggs while using the least possible
amount of space, time, and money. I am writing to ask that you exercise your
moral authority in a clear statement of condemnation of present factory-farming
methods," Baldwin said in the letter written"Your words would do a
world of good for God's animals, who are suffering so horribly on factory farms
and in slaughterhouses.”
Tests
discover parasite in asian oysters: Infection causes concern about species'
introduction into Chesapeake Bay
December 17, 2003
Washington Post
Page B03
Susan Levine
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6480-2003Dec16.html
A parasite has, according to this story, been found in a population of Asian
oysters raised in the mid-Atlantic region, indicating potential problems with
the species many watermen hope will flourish in the Chesapeake Bay and revive
their moribund industry.
The Virginia Institute of Marine Science was cited as announcing the discovery
of the pathogen among two samples of the non-native oysters being held at Bogue
Sound, N.C. Tests confirmed the infection among 60 percent of the oysters
examined and immediately added to concerns about introducing Crassostrea
ariakensis in significant numbers into the bay.
No similar infection has been detected among oysters from the same spawn that
are being held in the bay, and scientists have not found it in any other
non-native oysters in the bay or along Virginia's Eastern Shore.
The parasite seems to be a previously unknown species of single-celled
protozoans that infect oyster blood cells, the institute said. Related species
have significantly affected oyster populations in France and New Zealand.
Iowan
holds top pork job
December 16, 2003
National Pork Producers Council
http://www.nppc.org/news/stories/2003/031216IOWAN.html
Jon Caspers will spend 120 days on the road this year fighting trade and
political battles for the National Pork Producers Council. Last week, he was in
Canada to meet with the Canadian Pork Council, reports the Des Moines Register.
The Canadian sow herd has grown rapidly in recent years, and feeder pigs and
market hogs are pouring over the border from Canada into the United States.
They are not headed south because they like the warmer temperatures. They are
crossing the border because of the relative strength of the U.S. dollar compared
to the Canadian dollar. That makes the United States an attractive market for
Canadian hog producers.
That currency imbalance is shifting, Caspers said.
"As the Canadian dollar increases relative to the U.S. dollar, maybe they
will start feeling the pain we've felt the past several years," Caspers
said. "Hopefully, they'll stop the expansion of their sow herd."
According to the Des Moines Register, the National Pork Producers Council also
is looking at subsidies the Canadian government provides for its livestock
farmers, such as an income insurance program.
"We're exploring that to see what impacts it might be having on U.S. hog
producers," Caspers said. "If we had a level playing field, we'd be
able to compete."
Meanwhile, Caspers and the pork council are keeping an eye south of the U.S.
border, where the Mexican government is investigating charges by its domestic
hog producers that the U.S. is dumping processed pork in that country.
Caspers traveled to Cancun, Mexico, just before the World Trade Organization
held trade talks there in September. He made the trip to talk with Mexican
producers about the dumping charges.
A preliminary decision by the Mexican government has been delayed and is still
pending, Caspers said.
"We don't believe we have," Caspers said of the pork-dumping
allegation. "We're continuing to defend the U.S. side in the case. We're
encouraging the Mexicans to drop it."
In the 10 years since the passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement,
Mexico has become the second largest market for U.S. pork after Japan. Canada
ranks as the third largest, Caspers said; then the rest of the world is as about
as big as Canada.
"If Mexico put a quota on our pork, it would really hurt us," he said.
"We don't want anything that would restrict our exports."
Closer to home for Caspers, who has been National Pork Producers Council
president since March, is the domestic political dispute over a law that would
have required the labeling of the country of origin of some food products,
including pork, beef and lamb.
The National Pork Producers Council has opposed the labeling requirement, which
was part of the 2002 farm bill. The council recently won a partial victory when
Congress delayed the implementation of the labeling law for two years.
"I'm hoping that with the delay, all parties can step back, take some time
and look at all the information," Caspers said. "Our concern is that
the cost of labeling will far outweigh the benefits. We would never have opposed
(country-of-origin labels) if we could see a benefit to producers."
Caspers imports about 6,000 head of Canadian feeder pigs a year for his hog
operation. He says buying Canadian feeder pigs has nothing to do with the pork
council's stance on country-of-origin labeling.
Pork that comes from hogs imported from Canada would have to be labeled as
foreign, even if the Canadian pigs were fattened and slaughtered in the United
States.
"The NPPC has been opposed to the country-of-origin labeling a lot longer
than I have been president," Caspers said. "We've always thought the
cost would outweigh the benefits."
Caspers, 49, started farming in 1976 after attending Ellsworth Community
College.
"We were a big operation back then," he said. "But we're not
anymore. There have been a lot of changes since then."
Caspers and his wife, Carol, raise 11,000 head of finishing pigs a year. Another
8,000 feeder pigs are sold to other farmers in partnership with Tom Floy, who is
on the National Pork Board.
The mid-1980s farm crisis hit when Caspers was a young farmer, but he and his
family pulled through. There have been some good times for hog producers, but
since 1998 raising pigs has been a much tougher business, Caspers said.
"There's a lot more volatility," he said. "These days, the hog
business is a whole different story."
Times have gotten a lot tougher financially for the National Pork Producers
Council, too, since the breakup with the National Pork Board and the
cancellation of the 2001 World Pork Expo because of the fear that visitors might
bring foot-and-mouth disease from Europe.
The pork council had to slash its budget almost in half, Caspers said, and the
organization asked hog farmers to voluntarily contribute 5 cents to the council
for every $100 in hogs marketed.
Three-fourths of the money went to the National Pork Producers Council for
political work, and the rest was sent to the 44 state hog associations aligned
with the council. Since the voluntary investment program was instituted, 700
producers producing 19 million hogs have signed up.
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