Category Archives: USDA

In June 2014, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant and Health Inspection Service (APHIS) issued a Federal Order for monitoring and managing novel swine enteric coronavirus diseases (SECD) and provided $26.2 million in emergency funding to support these efforts. This emergency funding is projected to be exhausted in approximately two months.

The Veterinary Services Grant Program (VSGP) is authorized by Section 7104 of the 2014 Farm Bill and received a first-time appropriation of $2.5 million in the FY16 federal budget. The purpose of the VSGP is to relieve veterinarian shortage situations and support veterinary services. Grants will be made available on a competitive basis to qualified entities to develop, implement, and sustain veterinary services through education, training, recruitment, placement, and retention of veterinarians, veterinary technicians, and students of veterinary medicine and veterinary technology. Grants will also be made to establish or expand veterinary practices in rural areas.

In June 2014, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant and Health Inspection Service (APHIS) issued a Federal Order for monitoring and managing novel swine enteric coronavirus diseases (SECD) and provided $26.2 million in emergency funding to support these efforts. This emergency funding is projected to be exhausted in approximately two months.

The Veterinary Services Grant Program (VSGP) is authorized by Section 7104 of the 2014 Farm Bill and received a first-time appropriation of $2.5 million in the FY16 federal budget. The purpose of the VSGP is to relieve veterinarian shortage situations and support veterinary services. Grants will be made available on a competitive basis to qualified entities to develop, implement, and sustain veterinary services through education, training, recruitment, placement, and retention of veterinarians, veterinary technicians, and students of veterinary medicine and veterinary technology. Grants will also be made to establish or expand veterinary practices in rural areas.

In 2010, USDA implemented the Influenza Virus A in Swine (IAV-S) Surveillance Program with funding APHIS received through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a fiscal year (FY) 2009 supplemental appropriation. That funding source will likely be exhausted during FY 2016.

In June 2014, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant and Health Inspection Service (APHIS) issued a Federal Order for monitoring and managing novel swine enteric coronavirus diseases (SECD) and provided $26.2 million in emergency funding to support these efforts. This emergency funding is projected to be exhausted in approximately two months.

Dr. Jack Shere, a long-time employee of USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), was recently named USDA’s Chief Veterinary Officer leading APHIS’s Veterinary Services program. [Source: USDA APHIS VS, April 19, 2016] Dr. Shere joined APHIS in 1990 and has held a variety of field and leadership positions – serving as the area commander during the exotic Newcastle disease outbreak in 2003 and spending many weeks in Iowa during the 2015 Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza outbreak where he represented USDA and Secretary Vilsack. Dr. Shere also spent several years in private veterinary practice prior to joining APHIS.

The Veterinary Services Grant Program (VSGP) is authorized by Section 7104 of the 2014 Farm Bill and received a first-time appropriation of $2.5 million in the FY16 federal budget. The purpose of the VSGP is to relieve veterinarian shortage situations and support veterinary services. Grants will be made available on a competitive basis to qualified entities to develop, implement, and sustain veterinary services through education, training, recruitment, placement, and retention of veterinarians, veterinary technicians, and students of veterinary medicine and veterinary technology. Grants will also be made to establish or expand veterinary practices in rural areas.

In June 2014, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant and Health Inspection Service (APHIS) issued a Federal Order for monitoring and managing novel swine enteric coronavirus diseases (SECD) and provided $26.2 million in emergency funding to support these efforts. This emergency funding is projected to be exhausted in approximately two months.

The USDA has issued a revised guidance document describing procedures and responsibilities for handling herds suspected of having senecavirus A to ensure that foreign animal disease investigations occur per agency guidelines. Accredited veterinarians must immediately report all diagnosed or suspected cases of animal diseases not known to exist in the United States to State or Federal animal health officials and take precautions to prevent the spread of communicable diseases. Any swine having vesicular lesions are suspects for foreign animal diseases, such as foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), until determined otherwise by Veterinary Services (VS) via the Foreign Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory and through authorized testing at approved National Animal Health Laboratory Network (NAHLN) laboratories. Vesicular lesions in swine are caused by several viral pathogens, including FMD, swine vesicular disease, vesicular stomatitis virus, and Senecavirus A. They cannot be differentiated without diagnostic testing. The guidance document is posted on the AASV website.