AnimalNet April 6/05
Bird flu
kills Vietnam girl, Asia toll now 50
Use Hong
Kong model to control bird flu – Expert
Differential
shuffling of native genetic diversity across introduced regions in a brown alga:
Aquaculture vs. maritime traffic effects
Farm
inspectors are rarely seen
Eastern Iowa
farmer specializes in hogs favored by Japanese
TQA credited
for improved animal welfare
Awards
recognize Alberta innovators in livestock care
how to subscribe
Bird
flu kills Vietnam girl, Asia toll now 50
April 6, 2005
Reuters
HANOI - A state-run newspaper on Wednesday was cited as quoting researchers as
saying that a 10-year-old girl has become Vietnam's 36th bird flu victim.
The teenager, who died on March 27 at a Hanoi hospital, lived on the capital's
outskirts in Long Bien, the Hanoi Moi Tin Chieu daily quoted the National
Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology as saying.
It gave no further details.
Use
Hong Kong model to control bird flu – Expert
April 5, 2005
Reuters
Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent
WASHINGTON - Robert Webster of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis,
Tennessee, an influenza expert, was cited as telling a conference on avian flu
organized by the Institute of Medicine Tuesday that the methods that Hong Kong
used to get rid of bird flu in flocks of fowl should be used across Asia to wipe
out the virus before it causes a human pandemic and that separating ducks and
geese from chickens is one inexpensive approach, and the outside world could
help pay for culling and vaccination, adding, "Hong Kong has developed a
strategy for dealing with this that has been rather largely ignored in the rest
of the world."
The story notes that Webster, who helped formulate an experimental bird flu
vaccine now being tested in people, was also one of the first to warn that H5N1
flu posed a threat to the world.
The World Health Organization and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention now agree that avian flu may be the single biggest health threat the
world is facing.
Differential
shuffling of native genetic diversity across introduced regions in a brown alga:
Aquaculture vs. maritime traffic effects
March 31, 2005
PNAS Online Early Edition
Marie Voisin, Carolyn R. Engel, and Frédérique Viard *
Equipe Evolution et Génétique des Populations Marines, Unité Mixte de
Recherche, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique/Université Pierre et
Marie Curie 7144, Station Biologique de Roscoff, Place Georges-Teissier, BP 74,
29682 Roscoff Cedex, France
Communicated by Juan Carlos Castilla, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile,
Santiago, Chile, March 3, 2005 (received for review October 1, 2004)
Abstract
Worldwide marine invaders, such as the brown alga Undaria pinnatifida, offer
challenging models for unraveling the apparent paradox of sustainable settlement
of exotic species over a large spectrum of environments. Two intergenic
noncoding mitochondrial loci were found to be highly informative at the
within-species level. Twenty-five haplotypes were found over the whole dataset
(333 base pairs, 524 individuals, and 24 populations). The native range showed
striking population genetic structure stemming from low diversity within and
high differentiation among populations, a pattern not observed in the introduced
range of this seaweed. Contrary to classical expectations of founding effects
associated with accidental introduction of exotic species, most of the
introduced populations showed high genetic diversity. At the regional scale,
genetic diversity and sequence divergence showed contrasting patterns in the two
main areas of introduction (Europe and Australasia), suggesting different
processes of introduction in the two regions. Gene genealogy analyses point to
aquaculture as a major vector of introduction and spread in Europe but implicate
maritime traffic in promoting recurrent migration events from the native range
to Australasia. The multiplicity of processes and genetic signatures associated
with the successful invasion confirms that multiple facets of global change,
e.g., aquaculture practices, alteration of habitats, and increased traffic, act
in synergy at the worldwide level, facilitating successful pandemic
introductions.
Farm
inspectors are rarely seen
April 6, 2005
The Vancouver Sun
A18
Gunther Schwichtenberg of Agassiz, B.C. writes that he has been a commercial
dairy farmer for 45 years. Once upon a time the department of agriculture
employed barn inspectors -- trained personnel with a degree in agriculture. They
made regular inspections of your premises regarding cleanliness or fly control,
and environmental concerns, leaving behind a report pointing out the
deficiencies. Soon they were back to ensure that infractions had been taken care
of. If not, they could take your product off the market for a limited time.
These inspectors were also available to farmers who encountered problems with
their milking systems or otherwise.
All this changed in 2001. It is now the Ministry of Water, Land and Air's
responsibility to ensure safe food production. Inspectors rarely, if ever, are
seen due to cutbacks. Farmers are requested to self-police. This works for
commercial farmers, who are under close scrutiny by processors who reject any
food product that does not meet rigid quality standards. Schwichtenberg says
that the dairy farmers he knows abide by the guidelines set regarding safe
manure storage and handling. But what about the hundreds of small holdings with
just a few acres and some livestock? Many barely have adequate shelter for their
animals -- they do not deem proper manure storage a priority.
As long as there is no inspection, let alone any way of enforcement, nitrate
will continue to leach into the ground and waterways.
Eastern
Iowa farmer specializes in hogs favored by Japanese
April 4, 2005
Knight-Ridder Tribune
Marlene Lucas, The Gazette, Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Ray Slach's hogs live, according to this story, in buildings that, from the
outside, look like any other hog barns. But inside, gates are open and hogs roam
freely from one end to the other.
They eat at a central food court, rather than being served a feed ration
delivered to points throughout the building.
Slach, 52, raises special Hog Works hogs that produce redder, more marbled meat.
They are raised for Cargill and are not typically consumed by Americans.
The story says that Slach changed his production methods when he began working
with Hog Works in 1996. He has adopted some innovations that allow him to raise
happier hogs and improve his life as well.
Slach had been working hard at running a 1,400-sow, farrow-to-finish operation
that wasn't making money.
He had contracted 12 farmers to help raise his hogs and had eight employees.
Now he raises 24,000 hogs a year in Iowa and 8,000 hogs in Illinois and has only
two employees.
The pigs he bought through Hog Works for the first few years were lean, heavily
muscled pigs.
Two years ago, Hog Works switched to DeKalb genetics to produce the redder, more
marbled meat favored by the Japanese. The switch provided an opportunity for
Slach and other Hog Works producers to visit pork processors in Japan on a tour
coordinated by Cargill.
TQA
credited for improved animal welfare
April 6, 2005
Farmscape (Episode 1768)
The National Pork Board is crediting its Trucker Quality Assurance Program for
dramatic improvements in the condition of pigs that are arriving at packing
plants. The Trucker Quality Assurance Program was introduced in the US in 2002
and is being made available by Sask Pork to truckers in Saskatchewan beginning
April 26th. National Pork Board Certification Programs Manager Erik Risa says
TQA has had a significant impact in the US.
Clip-Erik Risa-National Pork Board
If measuring the numbers of individuals that are certified is enough, we have
over ten thousand individuals certified in just under three years. More
importantly, I think, the support that we have from the US packing industry to
help support this program. In most cases the packers in the US require that
drivers who are entering their gates are certified. As well, the Food Safety and
Inspection Service has seen that the number of live hogs and the condition of
those hogs has steadily improved since 2002 which also happens to be the year
the program was implemented. We can see several successes, not only from the
scope of the people that have touched the program or have been touched by the
program but also by those that are endorsing the program itself. The program is
funded entirely by US producers through their investment in the pork checkoff.
It was intended for those who are within the US but we realize that there are
hogs entering the US from Canada and there are market weight hogs that are
entering in. We need to be able to provide this to those drivers that are
entering into the United States because those packers that they're delivering to
do find value in TQA and do ask that those drivers are certified.
Risa stresses, while the TQA program was originally designed for drivers, its
focus continues to expand and it actually targets all those who impact the hog's
well being including drivers as well those who handle the hogs on a daily basis.
For Farmscape.Ca, I'm Bruce Cochrane.
*Farmscape is a presentation of Sask Pork and Manitoba Pork Council
Awards
recognize Alberta innovators in livestock care
April 6, 2005
Alberta Farm Animal Care Media Release
www.afac.ab.ca
Calgary, Alta.: Alberta's livestock industry saluted three outstanding leaders
in promoting livestock care in the province, at the recent Livestock Care
Conference, April 1, in Red Deer.
"Our goal with these Awards of Distinction is to draw attention to those in
our industry who have worked hard to advance the mandate of animal care,"
says Aart Okkema, Chairman of Alberta Farm Animal Care (AFAC), which hosted the
Conference. "This year, we recognized three leaders who have taken the
extra step to really be innovative in the interest of animal care in their
respective areas. All are tremendous assets and ambassadors for the Alberta
livestock industry."
The Award of Distinction for Industry Leadership was presented to Dr. Matt
Schoonderwoerd, Director of Veterinary Affairs and Pork Quality for Olymel in
Red Deer, for his efforts in promoting food safety and animal welfare.
Schoonderwoerd was a lead advocate for integrating these components into the
pork industry's Canadian Quality Assurance Program, a HACCP-based program
providing for food safety, product quality and production integrity.
"Matt was one of the first in Alberta to say that we needed to do something
about food safety and animal welfare," says Sarah Turner, Manager of
Alberta Quality Pork. "He was a leader in the province in the developing
the CQA program. It would not be where it is if not for him."
Among other accomplishments, Schoonderwoerd has led the implementation of an
innovative internal auditing system for animal welfare at Olymel. This system
assesses animal welfare from the plant's barn to the kill floor, with audits
performed daily at random times. Schoonderwoerd also was the first to set up a
data collection system to report the health of status of an animal back to the
producer. This feedback system is used extensively to communicate with producers
and help them to improve the care given to animals before they enter the plant.
The Award of Distinction for Communication was awarded to Debbie Lee, who for
over 20 years has delivered the message that farmers care for their animals,
through milking demonstrations at public venues such as the Calgary Stampede,
Klondike Days and Aggie Days.
"Debbie puts a face on agriculture that we can all be very proud of,"
says Susan Church, Manager of AFAC. "She does a fast-paced highly
interactive presentation. The crowds - kids, parents, teachers and even old-time
farmers love it. She has honed her delivery and responses to continuously
reinforce the constant care and attention farmers provide their livestock."
The Award of Distinction for Innovation was presented to Plain Lake Colony, for
its innovative free run system for hens. The system is designed to house the
birds in an open area, rather than in cages, on slated floors separated by nest
boxes and an automatic egg collection system that runs down the middle of the
barn. The slatted floor areas are equipped with water and feed dispensers. The
barn also has multi-level perches for roosting. Belts run under the slated
floors to allow manure removal.
"The Plain Lake system has not just improved the welfare for the
birds," says
Dr. John Church, leader of the Livestock Welfare Unit for Alberta Agriculture,
Food and Rural Development (AAFRD). "According to Mike Hofer of Plain Lake,
it
has produced an immediate increase in egg quality - in shell strength,
cleanliness and consistency. This reinforces the message that that good animal
welfare generally means improved productivity or better quality."
The system is one that would be achievable for most Canadian producers, adds
Church. "It's a very practical and effective system, and this achievement
comes as no surprise. I've always been impressed with the culture of animal care
and stewardship at Plain Lake Colony." The colony has also drawn praise for
its innovative group housing of gestation sows.
"We went to group housing in sows and loose housing in the birds because we
wanted to be leaders in the industry and show consumers our animals are well
treated," says Ben Hofer, who accepted the award on behalf of the colony.
"All of our industries stand behind what the egg producers say in their
animal
care statement: 'Egg producers are always looking for ways to improve
production practices,'" says Susan Church, Manager of AFAC. "Plain
Lake Colony is an excellent example of this."
AFAC is a partnership of Alberta's major livestock groups, with a mandate to
promote responsible, humane animal care within the livestock industry. The
Livestock Care Conference drew more than 100 participants, including producers,
industry, researchers and extension. More information is available at
www.afac.ab.ca.
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