Animalnet May 7/04
Lyme disease
levels climbing
A National
Public Health Strategy For Terrorism Preparedness And Response: 2003 -
2008", (Final External Draft)
Avian
influenza - Eastern Asia (69): Viet Nam
By-products
from ethanol production show promise in swine rations
Premium beef
producer B3R Country Meats, in alliance with Distributor Temple Tag, Ltd.,
adopts Digital Angel's Cattle tracking technology for its food-audit system
Questions
and answers on animal by-products
FVO -
Veterinary inspections
FVO -
Veterinary inspections
how to subscribe
Lyme
disease levels climbing
May 7, 2004
The Barrie Examiner
C13
ATLANTA (AP) -- Lyme disease has climbed to its highest level on record in the
United States, in part because of the building of more and more homes in the
woods, the government reported Thursday.
During 2002, a total of 23,763 cases were reported to the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention -- up 40 per cent from the previous year.
The story says that Lyme disease bacteria are transmitted to humans by ticks
that are carried by deer. The CDC attributed the rise in cases to growing
populations of deer that support deer ticks, more homes being built in wooded
areas and better recognition and reporting of the disease.
A
National Public Health Strategy For Terrorism Preparedness And Response: 2003 -
2008", (Final External Draft)
March 2004
CDC
http://www.bt.cdc.gov/planning/tprstrategy/pdf/FinalExternalStrategicPlan4-15-04.pdf
Executive summary
The purpose of this document is to provide the national public health strategy
for terrorism preparedness and response by The Centers For Disease Control And
Prevention and the Agency For Toxic Substances And Disease Registry (CDC/ATSDR).
This strategy provides a comprehensive framework comprised of our vision,
mission, strategic imperatives, critical objectives and key actions that will
guide not only our organization, but also the greater public health community to
achieve readiness.
The task to achieve readiness for terrorist attacks across the whole of public
health is very complex. However, our agency has worked for many years to
identify, diagnose and treat many of the diseases and health consequences
associated with present day terrorist threats. The core competencies of public
health that have driven our success in the past now provide the foundation for
our renewed effort to protect the public’s health from terrorist attacks. This
strategy highlights our efforts that will continue building on these
competencies to bridge gaps for comprehensive terrorism preparedness and
response services.
This strategic plan helps meet the need to protect the public’s well-being and
assume our role as stewards of public resources. As such, CDC/ATSDR has
integrated its processes to align resources to achieve the best overall result
with America’s tax dollars.
This planning and program execution supports the government-wide expectations
set forth by the Government Performance And Results Act of 1993 (GPRA).
Complete document available at: http://www.bt.cdc.gov/planning/tprstrategy/pdf/FinalExternalStrategicPlan4-15-04.pdf
Avian
influenza - Eastern Asia (69): Viet Nam
May 6, 2004
A ProMED-mail post
http://www.promedmail.org
ProMED-mail is a program of the
Date: Thu, 6 May 2004
From: Alfonso Rodriguez
Source: Reuters Health News [edited]
Viet Nam Finds New Case of Bird Flu, Contains It
Bird flu has broken out in Viet Nam more than a month after an outbreak that
killed 16 people was declared over. The latest outbreak of the deadly H5N1 bird
flu virus was found on a farm in the south of the country. It has been
successfully contained, a senior agriculture official was quoted as saying on
Thursday.
"There is an outbreak in Dong Thap," Bui Quang Anh, director of the
Agriculture Ministry's animal health department, told the state-run Tuoi Tre
(Youth) newspaper, referring to a southern province. "After it was spotted,
the outbreak was contained. Dead chickens have been treated to ensure the
disease does not spread," he said. Bird flu erupted across many parts of
Asia beginning in late 2003 and killed millions of chickens and devastated
poultry industries in several countries. It also killed 24 people -- 16 in Viet
Nam and 8 in Thailand.
Viet Nam had declared itself free of the disease on 30 Mar 2004. Thailand has
twice delayed declaring itself free, most recently after a new outbreak was
found on 19 Apr 2004.
A representative of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization in Vietnam said
the new outbreak was not a surprise. The area where the outbreak was detected
should be immediately isolated and the situation should be carefully controlled,
said FAO official, Anton Rychener.
Agriculture Minister Le Huy Ngo was also cautious. "The risk of bird flu
re-occurrence in Vietnam is very high," he was quoted by Tuoi Tre as
saying.
--
ProMED-mail
[Indeed not a surprise. As the FAO said earlier about the intention of the
Vietnamese government to declare freedom from avian influenza on 30 Mar 2004:
"it's premature, but it's a political decision. In case there are more
outbreaks, which there almost certainly will be, it will undermine the
credibility of the government." (see ref 20040330.0867, including
commentary). On top of that, according to OIE's International Animal Health
Code, a country which applies stamping-out policy can be declared free of HPAI
only 6 months after the complete eradication of its last outbreak. If
stamping-out has not been applied, the period becomes 3 years. For more details
see commentary to ref 20040420.1095. - Mod.AS]
By-products
from ethanol production show promise in swine rations
May 7, 2004
Farmscape for (Episode 1511)
Research conducted near Saskatoon shows cereal by-products from ethanol
production hold great promise as feed ingredients in swine diets. A 20 fold
increase in North American ethanol production over the past 20 years has made
available more cereal by-products, namely dried distillers grain plus solubles
abbreviated as DDGS. Scientists at the Prairie Swine Centre examining the
potential of these by-products in swine rations looked at corn DDGS, wheat DDGS
and wheat and corn DDGS. Swine Nutritionist Dr. Ruurd Zijlstra says dried
distillers grains have generally higher concentrations of fibre, crude protein,
fat, vitamins and minerals than their parent grains.
Clip-Dr. Ruurd Zijlstra-Prairie Swine Centre
We know simply by some chemical characteristics that wheat DDGS compared to corn
DDGS has more fibre and less fat and that was reflected in a lower digestible
energy content of wheat DDGS verses corn DDGS. That would mean that wheat DDGS
is a valuable feed ingredient for pigs but it's not as valuable as corn DDGS.
Another nutrient of importance is phosphorus. Nutritionally it's a required
nutrient for pigs but also excreted phosphorus, we would like to reduce the
environmental impact of the swine industry. What we found in this study is that
wheat DDGS, similar to corn DDGS, the phosphorus in these ingredients is very
highly digestible with a much higher digestibility of this phosphorus in the
by-product as compared to the original feedstock for ethanol production.
Dr. Zijlstra says over the next two years scientists plan to examine what can be
done to improve the feed quality of dried distillers grains, identify maximum
inclusion rates in rations and evaluate the effects of these ingredients on
carcass quality. For Farmscape.Ca, I'm Bruce Cochrane.
Premium
beef producer B3R Country Meats, in alliance with Distributor Temple Tag, Ltd.,
adopts Digital Angel's Cattle tracking technology for its food-audit system
May 4, 2004
From a press release
ST. PAUL, Minn -- Digital Angel Corporation (Amex: DOC), an advanced technology
company in the field of rapid and accurate identification, location tracking,
and condition monitoring of high-value assets, today announced that B3R(TM)
Country Meats LP based in Childress, TX, in an alliance with Temple Tag, Ltd. of
Temple, TX, has selected Digital Angel's Destron(R) cattle-tracking products for
use in its food-audit system. B3R is a pioneer in the field of branded,
high-quality, all-natural beef products. For over eighteen years, B3R has
provided a premium, signature beef line to grocery stores in Texas and the
Southwest. "In the course of our business we monitor many critical aspects
of the beef production process, and we have been faced with an increasing need
to enhance the automation of our data collection process," commented Neil
Odom, B3R Special Projects Coordinator. "Destron's technology and Temple's
complementary products and services have met our needs by offering a complete
line of electronic and visual identification products from the farm through to
the processing plant. The resulting improved and simplified data collection
process we have adopted also provides quality assurance and traceability for our
unique products, ultimately benefiting the consumer. We evaluated Destron's
electronic identification products for nearly a year, and we now believe that
the system is ready for full-scale implementation into our audit system."
Digital Angel's Kevin Nieuwsma, President of the RFID Division, added, "The
need for traceability systems has been elevated by outbreaks of bovine
spongiform encephalopathy (BSE, or mad cow disease) and foot and mouth disease
in the U.K. and Europe in recent years. The occurrence of BSE in North
America last December has further heightened the call for a national and branded
food safety audit system from farm to plate in the U.S. Our systems provide the
necessary tools for the industry automatically to track an individual animal to
its farm of origin and to assist in capturing full life- cycle information on
individual animals. Because mad cow disease has no known treatment or method of
early detection, we believe the cattle industry's best course of action at this
time is to attempt contain the disease to the individual, affected animal
through tracking technologies, and not to allow that animal to enter the food
chain."
Bill McCoy, President of Temple Tag, added, "Since the December 23, 2003
discovery of a cow with BSE in the State of Washington, the nation's largest
feedlots and cattle processors have been increasingly interested in all aspects
of electronic identification as they prepare for a national cattle
identification program. The feedlot customers that we meet with are beginning to
understand the potential value created by implementing automated systems
utilizing electronic tags and scanners, in addition to realizing the impact of
the potential compliance requirements that are expected to be a part of any
national identification program."
http://www.B3R.com.
http://www.templetag.com
http://www.DigitalAngelCorp.com
Questions
and answers on animal by-products
May 6, 2004
European Commission: Press Release MEMO/04/107
What are animal by-products?
Animal by-products are the parts of a slaughtered animal that are not directly
consumed by humans, including dead on farm animals and catering waste (i.e.
waste food originating from restaurants, catering facilities and kitchens) that
contains or has been in contact with meat products, whether cooked or uncooked.
Some of these products are used in animal proteins like meat-and-bone-meal,
fats, gelatine, collagen, petfood and other technical products, such as glue,
leathers, soaps, fertilisers etc. The alternative is their destruction, most
often by incineration.
What quantity of animal by-products are we talking about?
It has been estimated that humans directly consume only 68% of a chicken, 62% of
a pig, 54% of a bovine animal and 52% of a sheep or goat. Therefore, every year,
more than 10 million tons of meat not destined for direct human consumption
derived from healthy animals are produced in the EU. This material is then
transformed in a variety of products used in human food, animal feed, cosmetic,
pharmaceutical and other technical use. For example:
Bones, skin and connective tissue such as tendons are used for the production of
gelatine which is then used in human food (desserts, gummed candies, marshmallow
and prepared meat products), animal feed (coats of vitamins, binders of feed
pellet and dogchews), pharmaceutical (hard and soft capsules) and technical use
(in the photographic industry for paper coating and as a component in silver
halide emulsion coatings, etc).
Mixture of bones, meat trimmings and offals are rendered into fats and into
animal proteins which are then used in human food, animal feed, cosmetic,
pharmaceutical and technical products.
Offals and meat trimmings are used as fresh raw material in petfood and
pharmaceuticals or, following strict heat treatment (e.g. 133°C for 20 minutes
at 3 bars of pressure) in animal feed.
How are animal by-products regulated on EU level?
The new Regulation©ˆ on animal by-products as adopted by the European
Parliament and the Council applies as of 1 May 2003. It aims to integrate the
animal by-products sector into the "farm to table" approach for food
safety as set out in the White Paper on Food Safety adopted in January 2000. It
introduces stringent conditions throughout the food and feed chains requiring
safe collection, transport, storage, handling, processing, uses and disposal of
animal by-products.
It sets up a completely new approach. In the past, raw material of a lower
health standard than the one used for human food were permitted for use in
animal feeds. For example, animals that died on farm and were unfit for human
consumption could enter the animal feed chain. This practice of recycling
cadavers and material unfit for human consumption into the feed chain was the
main factor in the spreading of the BSE epidemic, but also of other food
scandals, such as the dioxin crises and foot and mouth disease. This practice is
now prohibited.
Classification in categories
The Regulation classifies animal by-products into three categories based on
their potential risk to animals, the public or to the environment, and sets out
how each category must or may be disposed of.
Category 1 materials (i.e. animal by-products presenting highest risk such as
TSEs or scrapie, residues of prohibited substance e.g. hormone used for growth
promotion or environmental contaminants e.g. dioxins, PCBs) must be completely
disposed of as waste by incineration or landfill after appropriate heat
treatment.
Category 2 materials include animal by-products presenting a risk of
contamination with other animal diseases (e.g. animals which die on farm or are
killed in the context of disease control measures on farm or at risk of residues
of veterinary drugs), and may be recycled for uses other than feeds after
appropriate treatment (e.g. biogas, composting, oleo-chemical products, etc).
Only category 3 materials (i.e. by-products derived from healthy animals
slaughtered for human consumption) may be used in the production of feeds
following appropriate treatment in approved processing plants.
The Regulation also requires reliable traceability and identification systems of
marking for certain materials intended for specific disposal options (e.g.
incineration of meat and bone meal) to avoid possible frauds or risk of
diversion of unauthorised products into food and feed.
Intra-species recycling (cannibalism) ban
The Regulation extends the current ruminant intra-species recycling
(cannibalism) ban to other species. Porcine animal by-products cannot be fed to
pigs and poultry animal by-products cannot be fed to poultry. However,
derogation is provided for in the case of fish and fur animals subject to strict
controls by the competent authority.
Catering waste
While the uses of catering waste in feed for pigs and poultry is not the focus
of the Regulation, it is of major concern to nearly all Member States. Hence the
Member States agreed last year on a total ban on such feeding practices
("swill feeding to pigs, i.e. liquid feed") in the revised Council
Directive on Swine Fever. Such uses of former foodstuffs and restaurant kitchen
waste containing meat products were at the origin of a number of major animal
disease epidemics including the outbreak of foot and mouth disease in the UK
recently, which have led to enormous losses to the farming and non-farming
community.
The three EU institutions agree on the ban on intra-species re-cycling
(cannibalism). Because catering waste fed to pigs may contain porcine material,
catering waste feeding will be inconsistent with the ban on cannibalism. It is
also not possible to establish clear traceability for catering waste.
The adopted Regulation is flexible, permitting a temporary relaxation of the ban
on the use of category 3 catering waste in feed. This relaxation will last for a
period of not more than 4 years for Austria and Germany (see IP/03/553).
How do Member States dispose of animal by-products?
Based on data provided by each Member State, the Commission issued a paper on 20
November 2001 giving a snapshot of the situation on the disposal, processing and
uses of animal by-products across the Community. The paper covers:
Processing and disposal routes;
Trade/export of processed animal protein and rendered fat;
Collection, transport and rendering costs;
Storage capacity for rendered products and costs;
Incineration, co-incineration and small on-farm incineration;
Burial and/or landfill;
Biogas;
Composting and use of processed animal protein as fertiliser; and
Disposal capacity.
See also MEMO/01/378 for more details.
How does the new approach deal with processed animal proteins such as meat and
bone meal?
Animal by-products are used to produce meat and bone meal. The Regulation does
not affect the current EU total ban on the feeding of meat and bone meal to
farmed animals, which is a separate issue and remains in force without any date
set to terminate it. However, the Regulation establishes clear safety rules for
the production of meat and bone meal in case it is ever re-authorised for
inclusion in feed for certain non-ruminant species, e.g. poultry and pigs.
The new Regulation on animal by-products requires that only animal by-products
derived from animals fit for human consumption (category 3) may be used for
animal feed. In other words, the same health standards required by EU
legislation for human food will be required for animal feed.
In order to guarantee that animal by-products derived from animals unfit for
human consumption cannot enter the human food or animal feed chain, the
following requirements have been introduced:
complete separation during collection, transport, storage, handling and
processing of animal waste not intended for animal feed or human food;
complete separation of plants dedicated to feed production from plants
processing other animal waste destined to destruction;
stricter rules for traceability of animal by-products, including the control of
movements of BSE specified risk material by a record keeping system and
accompanying documents or health certificates, and visual markers for animal
proteins and fats intended for destruction.
In practice, food and feed products cannot be derived from BSE suspects,
specified risk materials (SRM) or animals slaughtered over thirty months of age
not submitted to a BSE rapid test. All the potentially infected material in
these categories is destroyed, eliminating any prospect of it entering the food
or feed chain.
Will these controls work and will they be respected?
The Regulation introduces a set of controls, which are as strict as the control
established for the food industry. Furthermore, the use of markers for the
identification of material unfit for human or animal consumption and the
availability of new tests for the detection of prohibited ingredients in animal
feed will provide practical instruments for an effective control.
Unfortunately, the possibility of a criminal act can never be ruled out. This
applies to the animal feed sector as well as to any other sector such as the
food industry. But it lies within the competence of Member States to ensure that
the penalties for any non-compliance are sufficiently strict to ensure respect
of the Regulation.
What has the Commission done since the adoption of the Regulation in October
2002?
The Commission prepared a series of transitional and permanent implementing
measures in order to prepare for and facilitate a swift application of the
Regulation on 1 May 2003.
The temporary transitional measures cover…
Feeding catering waste (swill feeding) to animals (Austria, Germany)
Feeding used cooking oil to animals (Ireland, UK)
To avoid cross-contamination, the Regulation requires total separation between
plants handling Category 1, 2 and 3 materials. Transitional measures have been
agreed for the separation of oleo-chemical plants (Belgium, Germany, Italy,
Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, UK); the separation of processing plants, dealing
with heat treatment of materials (France, Finland); and the separation of
intermediate plants, dealing with collection, handling, temporary storage and
dispatching (Finland, Italy)
Low-capacity incinerators/co-incinerators (Finland, UK)
Manure processing standards (Belgium, France, Finland, Netherlands)
Composting standards (all Member States)
Biogas standards (all Member States)
Processing standards for mammalian blood (Germany, Italy, Spain, UK)
Collection of wastewater (Austria, Denmark, France, Finland, Italy, Ireland,
Portugal, Spain, Sweden)
Collection, transportation and transformation of former foodstuffs (all Member
States)
Import from third countries
The application of the third country provisions was postponed until 30 April
2004.
Derogation has been granted for the import of photographic gelatine produced
from specified risk vertebrae materials from the US and Japan intended for the
production of photo films in France, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.
Derogation has been granted until 31 October 2005 for the continued import into
the EU of certain products not meeting the requirements of the Regulation
concerning the total separation of Categories 1, 2 and 3 processing plants from
Australia, Canada, China and US.
Derogation has been granted for the import, transit, trade and export of
Categories 1 and 2 risk materials (hides and skins, rendered fats, intestines
and bones) intended exclusively for technical/industrial uses.
The implementing measures cover…
A permanent derogation for the intra-species recycling of wild fish to farmed
fish (all Member States)
A permanent derogation for intra-species recycling of fur animals (Finland)
A permanent derogation for the feeding of endangered/protected species of
necrophagous (carrion) birds (France, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain)
Rules on the burial and burning of animal by-products (all Member States)
Rules for low capacity incinerators/co-incinerators (all Member States)
The introduction of technical amendments to the Annexes (all Member
States)Revised models of import health certificates and repealing of old
legislation, which apply on 1 May 2004 (Regulation (EC) No. 668/2004, Official
Journal L 112 of 19.42004, pag.1). The new health certificates are adapted to an
electronic format, allowing for the speedy transfer of trade documents.
Health conditions have been established for new products such as collagen, egg
products, tri-calcium phosphate and flavouring innards.
What is next?
The Commission will now focus on preparing further implementing measures,
including:
Approval of alternative disposal methods
Introduction of commercial documents and trade related provisions
Identification of markers (dye)
Use of organic fertilisers and soil improvers on pastureland and other lands
Guidance to clarify the link between the Regulation and environmental
legislation.
Guidance on applying the Regulation.
Other uses of milk and milk-based products.
Review of the provisions on fish animal by-products.
Clarification on the use of former foodstuffs, for example expired bakery
products containing small amounts of eggs and milk.
Reporting to the European Parliament and to the Council on the implementation of
the animal by-products Regulation in accordance with Article 35.
Are there any implications for third countries?
After a one-year transitional phase-in period, the strict EU rules on animal
by-products will also apply to imports as of 1 May 2004. For more information,
see the press release from 30 April 2004 specified below. More information
See also the press releases of 22 April 2003 (IP/03/553) and 30 April 2004
(IP/04/588). For more information on the Animal by-products Regulation,
including links to the legislation, please refer to the following website:
FVO
- Veterinary inspections
May 7, 2004
European Commission – Health and Consumer Protection
The complete document of the following can be viewed from:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/food/fs/inspections/vi/reports/greece/index_en.html
Greece - "Border Inspection Posts"
FVO
- Veterinary inspections
May 7, 2004
European Commission – Health and Consumer Protection
The complete document of the following can be viewed from:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/food/fs/inspections/vi/reports/turkey/index_en.html
Turkey - "Poultry Products"
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