Category Archives: USDA

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is announcing initial plans to carry out new animal health activities using resources provided by the 2018 Farm Bill. Section 12101 of the 2018 Farm Bill established a three-part program to comprehensively support animal disease prevention and management. The bill included funding to create two new programs: the National Animal Vaccine and Veterinary Countermeasures Bank (vaccine bank) and the National Animal Disease Preparedness and Response Program (NADPRP). It also expands funding opportunities for the existing National Animal Health Laboratory Network (NAHLN). [Source: USDA APHIS 12 August 2019]

Dr. Alan Huddleston, Director of the USDA Aquaculture, Swine, Equine & Poultry Health Center, announces that Dr. Koren Custer has joined the Center as the new Assistant Director of Swine Health. In this role, Koren will directly supervise all members of the Swine Health team (Drs. Celia Antognoli, Ross Free, Nicki Humphrey and John Korslund), oversee day-to-day Swine Health activities including stakeholder outreach, and work directly with Dr. Huddleston on long-term strategic planning and execution of the Veterinary Services mission as it relates to Swine Health.

The Center for Veterinary Biologics (CVB) recently added CVB Notice 19-07: Discontinued Availability of Pasteurella multocida 169 (Porcine) Bacterin, to its website. The purpose of this notice is to notify veterinary biologics manufacturers that the Center for Veterinary Biologics (CVB) will stop distributing Pasteurella multocida 169 (Porcine) Bacterin after December 31, 2020. CVB will stop shipping this reagent December 31, 2020. Complete any necessary Outline of Production changes by the same date.

Wildlife Services (WS), a program within the United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service would like to invite you to participate in the development of an Environmental Assessment (EA) that proposes to evaluate the potential of a revised feral swine toxicant HOGGONE® 2.0, a sodium nitrite based bait developed for feral swine control. In 2017, WS completed an EA that analyzed the potential environmental effects and concerns of conducting field trials to evaluate the effectiveness of HOGGONE®. WS conducted an initial field trial in 2018. Improvements to the bait and changes to the study protocol were made to increase the effectiveness of the product now referred to as HOGGONE® 2.0. This EA analyzes the improvements to the bait and the potential environmental effects and concerns of conducting a small scale field trial to evaluate the effectiveness of the revised HOGGONE® 2.0 as a potential control measure for feral swine. WS is seeking review and comments on the EA from interested parties to identify additional concerns, issues, and alternatives. [Source: USDA 27 June 2019]

In an ongoing effort to prepare the pork industry for a potential foreign animal disease (FAD), the USDA is working on a full-function exercise that will be conducted the week of Sept. 23. The exercise will focus on a fictional outbreak of ASF and the subsequent response by federal and state authorities along with the rest of the pork industry. [Source: National Pork Board, Farm Journal’s Pork, 27 June 2019]

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is releasing a plan that outlines the department’s vision for the National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF) today, following the signing of a Memorandum of Agreement to transfer operations of NBAF from the Department of Homeland Security to USDA. [USDA 20 June 2019]

A September 2006 outbreak of E.coli in 26 states that sickened more than 200 people and led to the deaths of three may have been caused by feral swine roaming on a central California spinach farm, according to a study published in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Emerging Infectious Diseases journal.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)announced today it is offering $75 million in funding for the eradication and control of feral swine through the Feral Swine Eradication and Control Pilot Program (FSCP) in a joint effort between USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). The 2018 Farm Bill included this new pilot program to help address the threat that feral swine pose to agriculture, ecosystems and human and animal health. [Source: USDA 20 June 2019]

The House Appropriations Committee approved $155.3 billion in discretionary and mandatory funding for the 2020 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies bill. As expected, the bill contains language that blocks the US Dept. of Agriculture’s proposed plan to move the Economic Research Service (ERS) and the National Institute for Food and Agriculture (NIFA). But the bill also contains an amendment that blocks USDA from implementing a final rule on swine inspections pending a study by the Office of Inspector General. [Source: Meat and Poultry by Erica Shaffer, 5 June 2019]

Today, United States Chief Veterinary Officer (CVO), Dr. Jack Shere working in collaboration with the Canada’s CVO, Dr. Jaspinder Komal, issued the following statement: We are pleased to announce that the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) have agreed to allow safe trade to continue in the event African swine fever (ASF) is reported in either country. [Source: USDA 22 May 2019]