AnimalNet Feb. 26/09 -- II
WASHINGTON:
AVMA testifies at Senate hearing on GAO veterinary shortage
report
Scripps
research team finds immune molecule that attacks wide range
of flu viruses
INDIANA:
Study: Soybean oil reduces carbon footprint in swine barns
EU:
Commission may tighten animal-welfare rules
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WASHINGTON:
AVMA testifies at Senate hearing on GAO veterinary shortage
report
26.feb.00
American Veterinary Medical Association
http://news.prnewswire.com/DisplayReleaseContent.aspx?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/02-26-2009/0004979446&EDATE=
WASHINGTON -- The chief executive of the nation's largest
veterinary association appeared before a Senate subcommittee
today, addressing an alarming new report from the Government
Accountability Office (GAO) that details a dangerous
shortage of veterinarians available to fill critical
positions in the federal government.
Dr. W. Ron DeHaven, CEO of the American Veterinary Medical
Association (AVMA), testified before the Senate Homeland
Security and Governmental Affairs Federal Workforce
Subcommittee that the federal veterinary shortage described
in the GAO report could have profound effects on animal and
public health.
The GAO report, "Veterinarian Workforce Actions Are Needed
to Ensure Sufficient Capacity for Protecting Public Health,"
depicts a grave scenario of federal agencies that face a
lack of current and future veterinarians to fill critical
positions. For example, the report states that the U.S.
Department of Agriculture's Food Safety Inspection Service
(FSIS) has an on-the-job vacancy rate of up to 35 percent,
and the agency's Agriculture Research Service has a 12
percent shortage of mission-critical veterinarians.
According to the report, 27 percent of veterinarians
employed by the U.S. Army, U.S. Food and Drug Administration
and the USDA are eligible to retire within three years.
Should a catastrophic event occur, such as the introduction
of a disease devastating to the food animal population, the
GAO determined that workforce shortages could stress federal
agencies' response.
"It is alarming to see in black-and-white how ill-prepared
our nation appears to be in the event of a major animal
disease outbreak, or worse, a pandemic," Dr. DeHaven told
the subcommittee. "Equally disconcerting is the lack of an
integrated approach for assessing the current and future
needs of the veterinary workforce by many federal agencies
that rely on veterinarians to fill critically important
public health, food safety and animal health roles."
Dr. DeHaven told the subcommittee that the federal
veterinary shortage has multiple causes. Specifically, he
pointed to soaring veterinary student debt, noncompetitive
federal salaries, limited ability to increase the number of
veterinarians graduating from veterinary schools, and a
demographic shift of students away from the rural farm
settings that historically produced many food animal
veterinarians as reasons for a declining applicant pool.
To address the critical shortage of federal veterinarians,
the AVMA has sought legislation to provide increased funding
to expand capacity at the nation's 28 veterinary colleges.
The AVMA is also working with Congress to change the
compensation for federal veterinarians so it is on par with
other federal health professionals, and to reduce student
debt through loan repayment programs.
The National Veterinary Medical Service Act (NVMSA), which
exchanges student loan debt relief for graduates who commit
to serving in the field of food supply veterinary medicine,
was signed into law by Congress in 2003, but no benefits
have been realized due to limitations in funding and delays
in implementation.
"Our concerns about NVMSA are echoed in the GAO report,
which indicates that officials from the USDA believe the
money allocated to the program thus far is insufficient and
would have minimal impact on the shortage," Dr. DeHaven
said.
With a long history of working with Congress and federal
agencies to address the veterinary shortage, the AVMA,
according to Dr. DeHaven, remains dedicated to pre-empting
challenges to public health. "I am confident that by working
together, we can address these challenges, welcome more
bright minds into the veterinary profession and provide our
citizens the level of food safety and security they deserve
and expect," he said.
The AVMA and its more than 78,000 member veterinarians are
engaged in a wide variety of activities dedicated to
advancing the science and art of animal, human and public
health. Visit the AVMA Web site at www.avma.org for more
information.
Scripps
research team finds immune molecule that attacks wide range
of flu viruses
26.feb.09
Scripps Research Institute
Mika Ono
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-02/sri-srt022509.php
The discovery of the molecule, an antibody known as CR6261,
is good news for researchers who hope to design a flu
vaccine that would give humans lifelong protection against a
majority of influenza viruses. The antibody also has the
potential to treat those who are unvaccinated and become
infected with the flu.
The team's findings were published in the February 26, 2009,
issue of Science Express, an advance, online publication of
selected research papers from the prestigious journal
Science.
"This is very exciting because it marks the first step
toward the Holy Grail of influenza vaccinology – the
development of a durable and cross-protective universal
influenza virus vaccine," says the study's senior
investigator, Ian Wilson, D.Phil., a professor in the
Department of Molecular Biology and a member of The Skaggs
Institute for Chemical Biology at Scripps Research. "Such a
flu vaccine could be given to a person just once and act as
a universal protectant for most subtypes of influenza, even
against pandemic viruses."
Flu vaccines now offer protection only for the specific
strains of influenza that public health officials believe to
be currently circulating in the population. This involves a
lot of guesswork about which strains will be most prevalent
and, because the virus is constantly mutating, this
guesswork must be repeated year after year.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, in the
United States more than 200,000 people are typically
hospitalized from flu complications every year, and about
36,000 people die from the illness. But that is in a normal
year. Over the past century, three major human influenza
pandemics (the Spanish Flu of 1918-1919, the Asian Flu of
1957-1958, and the Hong Kong Flu of 1968-1969) have
devastated the human population, killing around 50-100
million people worldwide.
Broad Action
In the new research paper, the scientists, composed of a
team from Scripps Research and the biopharmaceutical company
Crucell, in the Netherlands, show that the CR6261 antibody
attaches to the virus that caused the devastating 1918
"Spanish flu" and to a virus of the "H5" class of avian
influenza that jumped from chickens to a human in Vietnam in
2004 The scientists at Crucell previously demonstrated in
laboratory experiments that this antibody can neutralize
common, seasonal flu viruses.
"We can see exactly how and where the antibody grabs on to
these influenza viruses," says the study's first author,
Damian Ekiert, a graduate student in the Scripps Research
Kellogg School of Science and Technology working in the
Wilson laboratory. "And we can see that this same mode of
interaction occurs in viruses that are very different from
each other."
Wilson says the discovery was possible because of the modern
tools that the research team employed, such as phage display
to isolate antibodies from human blood, and a
state-of-the-art robotic crystallization laboratory that
helps solve the structures of microbial antigens much more
quickly than in the past.
"I have been working with influenza virus antigens since
1987, and I find it just amazing to suddenly see antibodies
now appear that we had no idea existed," Wilson says.
Researchers at Scripps Research and collaborating
institutions have long been looking for influenza antibodies
with a broader spectrum of action. To find these antibodies,
the researchers extracted white blood cells from a healthy
immunized volunteer to make a library of antibodies to look
for antibodies that interact with viruses that the donors
could not have come into contact with before, such as H5
avian influenza that has spread only from chickens to
humans, but not from humans to humans.
The researchers found one such antibody in the blood of a
donor who had recently been vaccinated with a flu shot to
protect against H1 influenza virus, one of the seasonal
subtypes that most commonly circulates in humans. That
antibody was isolated and named CR6261– although some of the
researchers later dubbed it "Supermantibody" when they began
to realize how effective it was.
CR6261-like antibodies have now also been found in other
people. According to Ekiert, it is likely that many people,
if not all, have these antibodies, but the body doesn't
always produce or use them efficiently.
Solving the Puzzle
The next step for the researchers was to understand exactly
how CR6261 recognized and responded to such a broad array of
influenza viruses.
To do that, Ekiert led the successful effort to solve two
crystal structures: one with the antibody bound to the
hemagglutinin H1 virus that caused the 1918 pandemic and
another with the antibody glued to the hemagglutinin from
the 2004 Vietnam H5 avian influenza.
Influenza antibodies, including those induced by current
vaccines, target mushroom-shaped proteins known as
hemagglutinin (HA) that stud the outer coat of a virus
particle to help the virus infect cells of a host organism,
such as humans.
What the Scripps Research scientists found is that CR6261
latches on to the "stalk" of the mushroom-like hemagglutinin
particle, near where the protein juts out from the viral
coat, and that this binding area, known as an epitope, is
the same in both the H1 and H5 viruses. The scientists then
analyzed the genome of more than 5,000 different influenza
viruses and found the epitope's sequence is nearly identical
in all of them, suggesting that this part of the virus is
much more highly conserved than the virus's constantly
mutating cap.
This insight into the way the CR6261 antibody binds to the
virus's structure makes sense, the researchers say. It helps
explains why the antibody may not be as powerful as it needs
to be to attack influenza. "The epitope it needs to latch on
to is at the base of the stalk of the hemagglutinin protein,
so it is difficult to get to because these proteins are
packed together tightly on the viral coat," Ekiert says.
"Plus, most antibodies try to attack the mushroom cap of the
hemagglutinin proteins because that is much more accessible,
and so this probably sets up a huge competition between
antibodies."
"Certain regions of the hemagglutinin protein are like big
red flags to the immune system, but they are functionally
unimportant," Wilson says. "The task now is to figure out
how to suppress reactivity with those regions and enhance
the immune system's attack on this conserved epitope."
It may also be possible that some people who rarely if ever
contract the flu may have CR6261-like antibodies that are
more efficient than others in neutralizing influenza
viruses.
So far, the researchers have shown the CR6261 antibody works
against many of the 16 different subtypes of influenza
viruses. The antibody neutralized every H1 virus that the
group tested, including those that have caused pandemics
over the past 100 years. The antibody also worked on the H5
bird viruses that are not yet circulating in humans.
However, the CR6261 antibody is not effective for the H3
subclass, which is a common human influenza virus, because a
sugar molecule blocks the epitope.
"If a sugar is the only impediment in the way, we think
there is a way around that in vaccine design," Wilson says.
"Even so, this antibody could still potentially hit 12 out
of the 16 influenza viral subtypes. We now have a blueprint
upon which to design the next generation of anti-virals, and
that is why we are so enthusiastic about these findings as
they give hope that it may indeed be possible to generate a
universal vaccine against influenza virus, as well as
provide immediate protection when used as an antibody
therapeutic."
In addition to Wilson and Ekiert, authors of the paper
"Antibody recognition of a highly conserved epitope across
influenza viruses" are Gira Bhabha and Marc-André Elsliger
of Scripps Research, and Robert Friesen, Mandy Jongeneelen,
Mark Throsby, and Jaap Goudsmit of Crucell Holland BV,
Leiden, The Netherlands.
The work was funded by a grant from the National Institutes
of Health, a predoctoral fellowship from the ARCS Foundation
and the Skaggs Institute. Facilities supporting this work
were funded by the NIH National Institute of General Medical
Sciences, the National Cancer Institute, and the U.S.
Department of Energy.
About The Scripps Research Institute
The Scripps Research Institute is one of the world's largest
independent, non-profit biomedical research organizations,
at the forefront of basic biomedical science that seeks to
comprehend the most fundamental processes of life. Scripps
Research is internationally recognized for its discoveries
in immunology, molecular and cellular biology, chemistry,
neurosciences, autoimmune, cardiovascular, and infectious
diseases, and synthetic vaccine development. Established in
its current configuration in 1961, it employs approximately
3,000 scientists, postdoctoral fellows, scientific and other
technicians, doctoral degree graduate students, and
administrative and technical support personnel. Scripps
Research is headquartered in La Jolla, California. It also
includes Scripps Florida, whose researchers focus on basic
biomedical science, drug discovery, and technology
development. Scripps Florida is currently in the process of
moving from temporary facilities to its permanent campus in
Jupiter, Florida. Dedication ceremonies for the new campus
will be held February 26 – 28, 2009.
INDIANA:
Study: Soybean oil reduces carbon footprint in swine barns
26.feb.09
Purdue University
Steve Leer
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-02/pu-sso022609.php
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- One of agriculture's most versatile
crops could one day play a role in combating climate change,
Purdue University research shows.
In addition to using soybeans in beverages, biofuel, lip
balm, crayons, candles and a host of other products, Purdue
agricultural engineers Al Heber and Jiqin Ni found that
soybean oil reduces greenhouse gas emissions when sprayed
inside swine finishing barns.
Heber and Ni led a team of Purdue and University of Missouri
researchers in the yearlong project, which monitored the
effectiveness of soybean oil on dust and odor within hog
facilities. Additional research is needed to address
problems with oil spraying and substantiate the study's
findings, the researchers said.
"This project provided baseline measurements of the
greenhouse gas contributions of swine finishing barns,"
Heber said. "In addition to the baseline measurements, we
now have some data on an abatement technology to reduce the
carbon footprint contribution of a pound of pork."
Greenhouse gases are chemical compounds that contribute to
the greenhouse effect, a condition in which heat is trapped
in the lower atmosphere, producing global warming. In 2005,
agricultural practices were responsible for 7.4 percent of
total greenhouse gas emissions in the United States,
according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The Purdue study was conducted at a northern Missouri farm
during a 12-month period ending in July 2003. Oil was
sprayed in one of two monitored barns. Each barn housed
about 1,100 pigs, Ni said.
The treated barn was sprayed with five cubic centimeters of
oil per square meter of floor for one minute per day. The
spray system was similar to the spray technology used to
treat cropfields with pesticides.
"We tested three different methods of pollution mitigation:
soybean oil sprinkling, misting with essential oils, and
misting with essential oils and water," Ni said. "Our
original intent was to see if those three methods would
control dust, as well as odor emissions, ammonia, hydrogen
sulfide, methane and carbon dioxide emissions."
Compared with the unsprayed monitored barn, the oil-treated
barn showed an average 20 percent decrease in methane
emissions and a 19 percent average reduction in carbon
dioxide emissions. Methane and carbon dioxide are greenhouse
gases.
Dust reduction was even more significant. The treated barn
emitted about 65 percent less particulate matter than the
untreated barn. Researchers suspected controlling dust also
would lead to reduced greenhouse gas escapes, Heber said.
"The spray takes out dust, and since dust carries odor and
it absorbs other gases, there was a scientific reason why it
might take out those greenhouse gases," Heber said.
"We saw a reduction in odor, but it wasn't statistically
significant. That may be because we didn't take enough air
samples. All we can say is that there was a trend in odor
reduction."
Several challenges stand in the way of using soybean oil in
swine barns, including safety, cleaning and the cost of
application, Heber said.
"First of all, soybean oil is more expensive now than it was
when we did the study," Heber said. "Whereas we thought it
would cost less than a dollar per pig marketed to treat the
barn - around 60 cents - since then the price of soybean oil
has increased dramatically, and so the economics are not as
good. Also, the application of oil can create a safety
hazard for the producer.
"In addition, some of the oil ended up on the floor, the
pigs, the feeders and fans. This makes the cleaning process
more difficult. The producer we worked with indicated it
took an additional day of power washing to clean that barn.
That's an extra expense."
While soybean oil shows promise as a greenhouse gas control
agent, it is too early to declare the findings conclusive,
Heber and Ni said.
"There are technical problems with this practice, but those
may be overcome through good engineering," Heber said.
"We need to do more research to get a better idea of the
effectiveness of this technology and its benefit on
environmental protection," Ni said.
The oil spraying study appeared in the November-December
issue of Journal of Environmental Quality. To read the full
paper, "Methane and Carbon Dioxide Emission From Two Pig
Finishing Barns," go online to
http://jeq.scijournals.org/cgi/reprint/37/6/2001.pdf.
EU:
Commission may tighten animal-welfare rules
26.feb.09
European Voice
Zoe Casey
http://www.europeanvoice.com/article/2009/02/commission-may-tighten-animal-welfare-rules/64136.aspx
The European Commission today said that it is considering
tougher rules on the treatment of animals in transit and
that it shares the concern of 150,000 Europeans who have
signed a petition calling for an end to the “unnecessary
suffering of millions of animals” being transported long
distances in Europe.
The petition, which was handed to the European Commission
today, says that EU animal welfare rules on the
transportation of live animals are not being correctly
applied and should be updated.
Androulla Vassiliou, the European commissioner for health,
said that the Commission was “well aware” of the problems of
animal suffering and of non-compliance with EU rules. The
Commission “shares the view of the petitioners that the
correct implementation of EU rules on animal transport is a
priority”, she said.
She also said that the Commission is considering drawing up
stricter guidelines on maximum travel times for animals and
the amount of space they should have when in transit.
Developing ‘intelligent' satellite systems that can track
animals in transit could be part of that plan, she added.
Animals intended for slaughter are among the worst treated,
Vassiliou said.
The World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) is
calling for a maximum travelling period of 8-12 hours,
instead of the current legal maximum of 24 hours, as well as
rules on adequate water and food supply for the animals,
Leah Garces from WSPA said.
Garces said that horses transported from Spain or Poland to
Italy, where horsemeat is a popular delicacy, are a
particular problem. The journey can often take up to 36
hours and there are no steps to give the horses rest or
water, she said. “We have seen saw many injuries, and most
horses suffer from dehydration and stress,” she said.
The task of enforcing the existing EU rules is assigned to
national authorities, but the Commission said that if it
gathers evidence of repeated failings, it can launch legal
action.
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