Biosecurity

First Case of Avian Flu Detected in Wisconsin Dairy Herd

Sun, 14 Dec 2025 20:27:43 GMT

A case of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) has been detected in a dairy herd in Dodge County, Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) announced Sunday. This marks the first confirmed detection of the virus in dairy cattle in the state.

Dodge County, Wisconsin

(USDA)

The herd was identified through routine National Milk Testing Strategy screening, not the surveillance required for moving cattle across state lines. The affected farm has been quarantined, and any cattle showing signs of illness are being separated for treatment.

Bird flu has already been detected in poultry flocks in Wisconsin. On Dec. 9, state officials reported HPAI in a flock in Marquette County, which is just one county away from the affected dairy herd.

HPAI in dairy cattle has been documented in the U.S. before, with the first detections reported in March 2024 in dairy herds in Texas and Kansas. Since then, there have been more than 1,000 confirmed cases across 18 states, primarily through targeted testing and monitoring programs. While the pace of new detections has slowed in recent months, one additional confirmed case has been reported in California within the past 30 days, indicating the virus is still a threat.

HPAI Confirmed Cases in the Last 30 Days

(USDA)

Total HPAI Confirmed Cases

(USDA)

A Wake-Up Call for Dairy Biosecurity

The Wisconsin case comes as new research from Farm Journal highlights ongoing gaps in dairy biosecurity practices nationwide. A survey of more than 300 dairy producers, presented at the MILK Business Conference, found that while many operations report having biosecurity plans in place, consistent implementation and regular review remain a challenge.

According to the survey, 68% of farms with at least 250 cows say they have a biosecurity plan, yet 34% of those producers acknowledge they do not routinely review or update it. The findings point to vulnerabilities at a time when disease threats such as HPAI, New World screwworm and bovine spongiform encephalopathy continue to raise concern across the livestock sector.

(Farm Journal)

“We need biosecurity efforts to be more impactful at the ground level,” said Kirk Ramsey, professional services veterinarian with Neogen, who reviewed the survey results. “Not only to prevent major outbreaks, but also to protect employees and families from what could be carried home every day.”

As emerging diseases continue to challenge dairy operations, the research reinforces the importance of consistent, practical biosecurity measures to reduce risk and protect herd health.

What are the Symptoms of HPAI in Dairy Cattle?

As monitoring continues, officials are urging producers to stay alert for early signs of illness within their herds, as prompt detection and response remain key to limiting further spread. Signs of HPAI include:

Drop in milk production
Loss of appetite
Changes in manure consistency
Thickened or colostrum-like milk
Low-grade fever

State officials are monitoring the situation and working closely with the farm to contain the virus and prevent further spread. DATCP emphasized there is no concern for the safety of the commercial milk supply, as pasteurization eliminates the virus. The CDC considers the human health risk low.

Read more on HPAI in dairy:

Why We're Seeing More Bird Flu Infections Earlier

Tue, 18 Nov 2025 16:21:27 GMT

According to the USDA-APHIS dashboard , there have been 36 commercial flocks of poultry infected with highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in the past 30 days. Including backyard flocks, it totals more than 1.8 million birds.

Rebecca Eifert Joniskan, president of the Indiana State Poultry Association, says the disease has arrived earlier than “usual” as wild birds spread the virus with their seasonal migration patterns.

“We typically don’t see avian influenza until January or February,” she says. “This year we started October 9.”

Matt Makens of Makens Weather says weather patterns play a role in bird movement, and therefore virus transmission.

“In winters like this. our temperatures will be very volatile. There’ll be swings of very, very warm days. And then very, very cold days. And I think there is a connection to bird flu spread in those warmer periods,” he says.

Indiana is a poultry powerhouse for commercial production, ranking No. 1 in duck (60% of the U.S. duck produced), No. 3 in eggs, No. 4 in turkey, and a large-scale epicenter for broiler production as well.

While HPAI has been a renewed biosecurity concern for poultry since Feb. 2022, the infection has set into a seasonal pattern—creating some predictability. However, the early onset of birds being infected this fall has Joniskan and industry members concerned a long and difficult season is ahead.

“Typically, it fades over the summer. The virus burns itself out with birds in the Arctic,” she says. “That hasn’t been happening. The virus isn’t following the rules. It’s back, and it’s early.”

The first infections in Indiana were in northern countries and affected ducks and free-range egg layers. Currently, Indiana has the most reports of HPAI infection in commercial and backyard flocks for the past 30 days.

States reporting recent infections in commercial flocks are: California, Georgia, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota.
The past decade has brought an increased focus on biosecurity and disease prevention.

“When we had avian influenza in 2015 and 2016, there were a lot of learnings on how to reduce the risk of introduction of the virus on your farm,” she explains. “There were changes put in place, including annual biosecurity reviews.”

She says poultry producers in Indiana have taken the virus risk seriously and are actively preventing its introduction while also being ready to respond to it.

“Our companies across the state have taken the learning from ‘15/’16 and what we’ve learned since 2022, and they’ve doubled down to try to reduce any opportunity for introduction wherever they can. It’s difficult, but it’s less expensive and trying than the dealing with an infection,” she says.

Once a flock is infected, the birds don’t recover from the virus, and depopulation is the end result.

Protect Your Livestock: Signs of New World Screwworm

Tue, 01 Jul 2025 15:45:16 GMT

Lizeth Olivarez doesn’t know if people will have the stomach to deal with New World screwworm (NWS). She’s a sixth-generation rancher who runs cattle in the U.S. and in Mexico at Las bendiciones Ranch in Realitos, Texas, and Rancho El Cuellareno in Guerrero, Tamaulipas.

Although she hasn’t experienced it herself, she has grown up hearing story after story about NWS from both her grandfather and father who dealt with NWS when the deadly fly struck in the 1960s. With reports of NWS in seven states in Mexico, the U.S. continues to bolster its defenses to keep the pest out.

(USDA)

“The first time around NWS was eradicated by using sterile flies dropped from planes in a box that look like a Big Mac burger box with a target sign on it,” Olivarez says. “The only way to eradicate the NWS is with sterile flies.”

Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced a five-pronged plan to combat NWS on June 18 partnering with Mexican counterparts and using this sterile insect technology to stop the spread.

“It’s important to clarify we currently don’t have [NWS] here in the U.S.,” says Russ Daly, Extension veterinarian for South Dakota State University.

He admits it’s a strange name for a fly – New World screwworm – because it makes you think it’s a worm.

“It’s not actually a worm – it’s the larvae of the NWS fly that deposits its eggs in animals,” he explains. “They can get big in size, up to two-thirds of an inch. The first person who described them might have thought they look like little worms. They have ridges that are spiral, and that allows these larvae to burrow down into the animal. That’s how they get their name.”

The NWS fly lays eggs and larvae in open wounds of warm-blooded animals. Daly says NWS’s function is similar (but different) to a maggot. Domestic blow flies lay their eggs on dead tissue. The resulting maggots feed on the dead tissue. The difference with NWS is it lays its eggs on living tissue and will feed on living tissue.

“NWS is not easy to recognize,” Daly adds. “You really need an entomologist to recognize the fly and the larvae. For recognizing a problem in the animal, it might come down to recognizing a larval infestation that is showing up in unusual circumstances.”

(Lori Hays)

It’s Not Just a Cattle Problem
Megan Niederwerder, executive director of the Swine Health Information Center (SHIC), says it’s important to remember this is not just a cattle disease – it impacts other livestock species and humans as well.

(Lori Hays)

“The fly can deposit its larvae in any open wounds as well as surgical sites such as castrations and umbilical sites after a newborn animal is born. It can also deposit its larvae in any mucous membranes,” Niederwerder says. “Keep an eye on non-healing wounds or wounds that have a foul odor or bloody discharge.”

She says the animals often feel discomfort and pain due to this non-healing wound so they may isolate themselves and be off feed.

“It’s really important to stay vigilant as we think about increasing awareness and understanding of what the fly looks like,” Niederwerder says. “We also need to understand what the clinical signs may look like as the introduction and incursions in Mexico have increased the risk for the U.S., too.”

Although the cases in Mexico have been primarily cattle, she notes there have also been cases in pigs, horses, sheep, goats, dogs and even in humans in Mexico.

“We really don’t like to think about that human part of it,” Daly says. “I don’t want to downplay it, but in people, we would certainly know when we have an irritation or when a fly is on us. But we need to think about the people who potentially are debilitated and wouldn’t know they have a fly on them for a long period of time or that something’s wrong.”

Watch Out for the Unusual
Olivarez urges producers to call their veterinarian immediately if they suspect NWS. During the 1960s outbreak in the U.S., she says most ranchers first noticed it around the umbilical cords of newborn calves.

“It affected ranches the most, especially those that had cattle out on the range where you need manpower to monitor for open wounds, cuts or sores of any kind as well as cows with newborns since the fly will attack the umbilical cord,” Olivarez explains.

She says it’s not only important to monitor cattle but also pay attention to wildlife and pets that live on your property since they could indirectly bring NWS.

Daly challenges livestock producers to pay attention to unusual situations. If you have an animal that suddenly has a lot of necrotic tissue that fly larvae (maggots) are trying to clean up, Daly says that’s a sign producers need to take seriously.

(Lori Hays)

“If there isn’t a wound or a very good reason why there would be an infestation of those larvae that should tip off animal owners, caretakers and veterinarians,” Daly says. “There needs to be some sort of break in the skin to attract the NWS fly, but that something can be so minuscule you wouldn’t even notice it.”

He says it could be as small as a bug bite and is often so tiny producers don’t know how the initial entry even happened.

“NWS does its damage by burrowing into living tissue,” Daly explains. “But they can be drawn to the animal through secretions from that minor break in the skin, and then start to invade the living tissue as well. In addition, once the NWS sets up the wound and causes the infestation, normal blow flies then can come in and get in there, too.”

(Lori Hays)

The females lay their eggs very quickly, he adds. It doesn’t take long for the larvae to develop from there. He says the flies like to deposit their eggs on their “victims” in the afternoon.

“They choose this timing because when it cools off at night, it helps the development of the eggs into the larvae,” Daly says. “This all happens within 10 to 12 hours. If you have a fly that gets into a nick on a pig in the afternoon, for example, by next morning, there’s larvae starting to burrow in already.”

The fly has a lifespan of 28 days, Olivarez shared with followers of Texas Farm Bureau on TikTok.

@txfarmbureau Ever heard of the New World screwworm? South Texas rancher Lizeth Cuellar Olivarez breaks down why this tiny pest is a big problem for livestock. #texasfarmbureau #agtok #farmtok #fyp #screwworm ♬ original sound - texasfarmbureau

“During this time, NWS can lay eggs four times and lay 300 eggs each time,” Olivarez says. “If it goes untreated, after three weeks the larvae will fall and convert to a fly that then goes looking for another animal to attack.”

Treatment Tactics Aren’t Pretty
If an animal becomes infested with NWS, treatment is not easy or pleasant. The larvae have to be removed, Daly explains.

“NWS does respond to some insecticides that we would use for show pigs or horses during the summer to keep the flies off,” Daly adds. “But in order to get that animal healed up, the larvae have to be flushed out and removed by a veterinarian. These infestations can lead to secondary infections to worry about. And, if the infestation has gone deep enough, there could be severe muscle damage or damage to other organs that are beyond help.”

Treatment products need to be considered, adds Lisa Becton, assistant director of SHIC. Because of this, wound care is key during NWS infestation.

“If you have animals that have sores, it’s very important to treat that wound,” Becton says. “You may or may not be able to use a sealant, whether that’s iodine or antibacterial. Wound care is very important to help get a wound healing fast, even if you also have to use antimicrobials for an animal to help prevent other infection.”

It is treatable, but NWS is a painful event for animals and humans alike, Becton says. Rapid identification and action are critical.

Stay Alert, But Don’t Panic
Livestock trade and wildlife migrating due to different issues with climate and weather have helped move the infestation further north.

“The flies actually don’t fly that far,” he explains. “They typically fly less than 10 to 12 miles in their life span. So, they aren’t flying over on the wind and getting into these new places. It has more to do with animal movement.”

Fortunately, Daly says NWS is like any other fly in that they need somewhere to overwinter, so they won’t survive freezing temperatures. However, if they moved into this region in June or July, they would have a foothold until the frost.

“When we let our guard down and don’t look for it as much, or don’t use the sterile flies as often, that’s when things fire up again,” Daly says.

He says it’s not time to panic, but it’s important to be observant. The basics of good animal husbandry remain the most important thing for producers to focus on now.

“Sometimes it’s much easier said than done, especially in outdoor raising situations,” Daly says. “From fly control to monitoring animals, the best way to snuff something out like this quickly is good observation and animal care.”

Your Next Read: New World Screwworm: The Billion Dollar Battle at the Southern Border

Chinese Scientist Accused Of Smuggling ‘Potential Agroterrorism Weapon’ Into the U.S.

Wed, 04 Jun 2025 21:11:47 GMT

Two Chinese nationals have been charged with trying to smuggle a fungus, Fusarium graminearum, into the United States.

Yunqing Jian, 33, and Zunyong Liu, 34, citizens of the People’s Republic of China, were charged in a criminal complaint with conspiracy, smuggling goods into the U.S., false statements and visa fraud.

The charges against the pair were unsealed in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan, on Tuesday.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office references Fusarium graminearum online as a “dangerous biological pathogen … which scientific literature classifies as a potential agroterrorism weapon.”

Fusarium graminearum causes significant diseases in a number of U.S.-grown food crops, including corn, wheat, barley, soybeans and rice.

Diseases caused include Fusarium head blight (scab) in wheat, and two corn diseases Gibberella ear rot and Gibberella stalk rot , which can lower yield and feed quality of silage corn, according to the Crop Protection Network, a partnership of land grant universities.

Toxins the fungus produces can cause vomiting, liver damage, reproductive defects and mycotoxin-induced immunosuppression in humans and livestock, including cattle, hogs, horses and poultry.

One Scientist Arrested, One Returned To China
The 25-page criminal complaint alleges Liu tried to smuggle the fungus through the Detroit Metropolitan Airport (DMA) in July 2024, so he could study it at a University of Michigan laboratory where his girlfriend, Yunqing Jian, worked at the time.

Jian had been living in the U.S. and working at the university laboratory since 2022.

The roots of the case involving Yunqing Jian, 33, and her boyfriend, Zunyong Liu, 34, stretch back to March 2024. That is when Liu applied for a B2 tourist visa to enter the U.S.

(The Detroit News and Sanilac County Jail)

According to the criminal complaint, Jian and Liu had both previously conducted work on the fungus in China.

Officials further allege Jian received funding from the Chinese government for her research on the pathogen in China. They also claim she is a member of the Chinese Communist Party.

Jian, who was arrested by the FBI, remains in federal custody. On Thursday, her detention hearing was adjourned until 1 p.m. June 13 to allow time for a new defense attorney to get up to speed.

Liu was sent back to China last year after changing his story during an interrogation at the Detroit airport about red plant material discovered in a wad of tissues in his backpack, the FBI says.

The U.S. does not have an extradition treaty with China, which makes Liu’s arrest unlikely unless he returns.

In a statement released on June 3, the University of Michigan said it condemns “any actions that seek to cause harm, threaten national security or undermine the university’s critical public mission.”

“It is important to note that the university has received no funding from the Chinese government in relation to research conducted by the accused individuals,” the university added. “We have and will continue to cooperate with federal law enforcement in its ongoing investigation and prosecution.”

In a statement released on June 3, the University of Michigan said it condemns “any actions that seek to cause harm, threaten national security or undermine the university’s critical public mission.”

(Michigan News Source)

Boyfriend Spills Intentions To Investigators
An article in The Detroit News said Liu told investigators during an interrogation at the Detroit airport he planned to clone the different strains and make additional samples if the experiments on the reddish plant material failed, according to the government.

“Liu stated that he intentionally hid the samples in his backpack because he knew there were restrictions on the importation of the materials,” an FBI agent wrote. “Liu confirmed that he had intentionally put the samples in a wad of tissues so CBP officers would be less likely to find and confiscate them, and he could continue his research in the United States.”

Liu told investigators he planned on using UM’s Molecular Plant-Microbe Interaction Laboratory to research the biological materials, the FBI agent wrote.

“Liu stated that, while he was in the United States, he would have free access to the laboratory at the University of Michigan on some days, and that other days his girlfriend would give him access to the laboratory to conduct his research,” The Detroit News article reported.

Before preventing Liu from entering the U.S. and sending him back to China, the investigators found messages between the couple that indicate Jian previously smuggled biological material into the U.S., the FBI agent wrote.

The messages are from August 2022 and discuss smuggling seeds into the U.S.

Lawmakers Respond To The Criminal Complaint
Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement that the Justice Department “has no higher mission than keeping the American people safe and protecting our nation from hostile foreign actors who would do us harm.”

“Thanks to the hard work of our excellent DOJ attorneys, this defendant — who clandestinely attempted to bring a destructive substance into the United States — will face years behind bars,” the attorney general says.

“I can confirm that the FBI arrested a Chinese national within the United States who allegedly smuggled a dangerous biological pathogen into the country,” FBI Director Kash Patel said on Tuesday.

(FBI)

FBI Director Kash Patel addressed the arrest of Jian late Tuesday on X, formerly Twitter.

“This case is a sobering reminder that the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) is working around the clock to deploy operatives and researchers to infiltrate American institutions and target our food supply, which would have grave consequences … putting American lives and our economy at serious risk.”

U.S. Custom and Border Protection, Director of Field Operations Marty C. Raybon says the criminal charges against Jian and Liu are indicative of CBP’s critical role in protecting the American people from biological threats that could devastate its agricultural economy and cause harm to humans.

“This was a complex investigation involving CBP offices from across the country, alongside our federal partners,” says Raybon in a prepared statement. “I’m grateful for their tireless efforts, ensuring our borders remain secure from all types of threats while safeguarding America’s national security interests.”

Your next read: Surveillance State: Game Wardens Sued for Secret Private Land Intrusions in Alabama

Trump Administration Announces $1 Billion to Combat Avian Flu and Soaring Egg Prices

Wed, 26 Feb 2025 15:28:34 GMT

The Trump administration is investing up to $1 billion in new funding to combat impacts of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) and soaring egg prices.

USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins in the Wall Street Journal said, “There’s no silver bullet to eradicating avian flu.” She laid out a five-point plan to address the situation.

Dedicate up to $500 million to helping U.S. poultry producers implement “gold-standard” biosecurity measures. USDA has developed a successful pilot program, called Wildlife Biosecurity Assessments, to identify and implement more safety measures. USDA will pay up to 75% of the cost to address any identified biosecurity vulnerabilities at poultry farms.
Make up to $400 million of increased financial relief available to farmers whose flocks are affected by avian flu, and we will assist them in receiving faster approval to begin safe operations again after an outbreak.
USDA is exploring the use of vaccines and therapeutics for laying chickens. While vaccines aren’t a stand-alone solution, we will provide up to $100 million in research and development of vaccines and therapeutics, to improve their efficacy and efficiency. This should help reduce the need to “depopulate” flocks, which means killing chickens on a farm where there’s an outbreak. Note: USDA hasn’t yet authorized the use of a vaccine. Before making a determination, USDA will consult state leaders, poultry and dairy farmers, and public-health professionals. The agency will also work with trading partners to minimize potential negative trade effects for U.S. producers and to assess public-health concerns.
USDA will take other actions to lower the price of eggs. For starters, it will remove unnecessary regulatory burdens on egg producers where possible. This will include examining the best way to protect farmers from overly prescriptive state laws, such as California’s Proposition 12, which established minimum space requirements for egg-laying hens.
USDA will consider temporary import options to reduce egg costs in the short term. We will proceed with imports only if the eggs meet stringent U.S. safety standards and if we determine that doing so won’t jeopardize American farmers’ access to markets in the future.

Senate Ag Committee Chair John Boozman (R-Ark.) said, “Producers and consumers alike have experienced the economic burden of this outbreak since 2022. I applaud Secretary Rollins and the Trump administration for prioritizing a strategy to combat this evolving threat. I look forward to working with USDA to ensure all poultry and livestock producers’ unique challenges are taken into consideration and they have the tools they need to address animal disease risks.”

In the Wall Street Journal Op-Ed , Rollins said some of the money will come from cuts to USDA spending by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

“Egg prices are skyrocketing, and it isn’t simply a matter of inflation. Grocery prices rose by more than 20% on President Biden’s watch, but the average price of a dozen eggs went up 237%, from $1.47 in January 2021 to $4.95 last month,” Rollins said wrote in the Wall Street Journal. “This matters for American families because eggs are a healthy, accessible and generally affordable source of protein.”

By the Numbers: Soaring Egg Prices
USDA upped its 2025 egg price forecast to a 41.1% increase (range of up 15.0% to 74.9%), more than double the 20.3% rise they forecast in January. USDA started their 2025 egg price forecast in July 2024 looking for them to decline 7.6% versus 2024

“Retail egg prices increased by 13.8% in January 2025 after rising by 8.4% in December 2024,” USDA detailed. “Retail egg prices continue to experience volatile month-to-month changes due to an outbreak of HPAI that began in 2022. HPAI contributes to elevated egg prices by reducing egg-layer flocks and egg production. About 18.8 million commercial egg layers were affected by HPAI in January 2025, the highest monthly total since the outbreak began in 2022.”

Egg prices in January were 53% higher than January 2024 and “surpassed the previous peak prices in January 2023,” USDA detailed.

I just left a message for Chris Kempczinski, CEO of McDonalds USA, thanking him for the choice to not add surcharge to eggs. THANK YOU @McDonalds!!!

(note the egg mcmuffin🥰🍳) https://t.co/UhBUJicTje pic.twitter.com/kRu6DXYutg
— Secretary Brooke Rollins (@SecRollins) February 26, 2025

Avian Flu a Top Priority for Rollins
On Monday, Rollins met with poultry farmers and industry leaders in Texas to address the ongoing avian flu crisis. She toured a Cal-Maine Foods facility in Bogata before hosting a roundtable in Mount Pleasant, where discussions focused on outbreak response and mitigation strategies. Rollins criticized the Biden administration’s handling of the issue, emphasizing the Trump administration’s commitment to supporting farmers and stabilizing egg prices.

“Clearly, this is a massive issue for our poultry producers, especially our egg layers,” Rollins told AgriTalk’s Chip Flory, in an exclusive interview, during Top Producer Summit. “Ensuring that we have a plan, not just for the short-term to bring down egg prices, which the president is very focused on, but for the long-term. What are the best practices around the world? Why in America have we been hit so hard? Why did the last USDA, a couple of years ago, recognize it as a major issue, but not many steps were taken.”

Just hours after being confirmed, Rollins’ first official meeting at the White House was on avian flu. She told Flory it’s her top priority right now, and she’s gathered a team from within USDA and the White House to focus on the issue.

“I’ve been talking to governors. I’ve been talking to the companies that are facing this. I’ve been talking to grocery. I mean, we’ve been talking to everyone, trying to come up with a big toolkit to be able to really approach this and hopefully figure out a way to, again, solve it for the long-term,” Rollins said.

Flory followed up by asking Rollins if vaccines will be one of the tools used by USDA.

“Vaccines are being discussed right now. I think that there is a lot of opinion on that on both sides. And we’re working through all of that right now,” Rollins told Flory.

The big announcement released on Wednesday did not include any plans to approve vaccines to combat the disease.

Your Next Read:
As the Trump Administration Shifts Strategy on Avian Flu, it’s a Complicated Issue in Need of a Long-Term Solution

Oregon Identifies 3 Human Cases of Avian Influenza in Farm Workers from Washington State

Fri, 01 Nov 2024 14:21:40 GMT

Avian influenza (bird flu) has infected three more people from Washington state after they were exposed to poultry that tested positive for the virus, according to health authorities in Washington and in Oregon, where the human cases were identified.

A total of 39 people have tested positive in the U.S. this year, including nine from Washington, as the virus has infected poultry flocks and spread to more than 400 dairy herds, federal data show. All of the cases were farm workers who had known contact with infected animals, except for one person in Missouri.

The people from Washington cleaned facilities at an infected chicken farm after birds were culled to contain the virus, the Washington State Department of Health said in an email on Thursday.

Officials tested workers who had symptoms, including red eyes and respiratory issues, and those with potential exposure to the birds, the department said. People with symptoms were told to isolate and given antiviral treatment, it added.

Oregon identified the three new cases after the people traveled to the state from Washington while infected, the Oregon Health Authority said in a Thursday statement. They have since returned to Washington, where public health staff are monitoring them, according to the statement.

There have been no infections among people living in Oregon and is no evidence of human-to-human transmission, the Oregon Health Authority said. It said the risk for infection to the general public remains low.

Since 2022, the virus has wiped out more than 100 million poultry birds in the nation’s worst-ever bird flu outbreak.

H5N1 bird flu was confirmed in a pig on a backyard farm in Oregon, the first detection of the virus in swine in the country , USDA said on Wednesday.

(Reporting by Tom Polansek; Editing by Lincoln Feast)

Your Next Read: Influenza Expert Gets Real About the H5N1 Risk to Your Swine Herd

Influenza Expert Gets Real About the H5N1 Risk to Your Swine Herd

Thu, 31 Oct 2024 22:11:28 GMT

Is influenza a greater concern to pigs and people in light of the Oct. 30 USDA announcement that H5N1 was detected for the first time ever in a pig from a backyard Oregon farm? If so, how?

Andrew Bowman, DVM, one of the country’s top swine influenza experts, joined The PORK Podcast to answer that question and more during a special report on H5N1. A professor in the Department of Veterinary Preventive Medicine at The Ohio State University, he is well known for his expertise in swine production medicine, veterinary public health and epidemiology.

“Across the swine industry, we routinely deal with influenza, so we’re pretty well versed in flu,” Bowman says. “But this adds a whole other character to the scene that we really don’t want and reassorting with the flu viruses we already have.”

This isn’t just something that will go away, he adds. This is a topic that’s becoming a bigger issue across the ‘entire proverbial barnyard.”

“Poultry has been dealing with this problem for a while. Dairy, this year, has joined the influenza game. Pigs have had our own endemic strain. The idea that high-path might be affecting pigs as well, and even if not, is a good warning sign the threat is there,” he says.

It’s an important topic for the pork industry to think about, Bowman points out. Oregon might be miles from your farm, but the threat isn’t going away. So, how are you trying to keep diseases such as influenza out of your herd with biosecurity protocols?

“We need to work together. I don’t think there’s much finger pointing left in the flu world. We’re all on the same bus, and we need to figure out how we manage this,” Bowman says. “Granted, it will be different in different species, but this is a problem everyone’s having to deal with.”

Listen to the podcast here as Bowman tackles some of host Jennifer Shike’s questions after hearing USDA’s announcement.

Your Next Read: USDA Reports First H5N1 Detection in Swine

USDA Reports First H5N1 Detection in Swine

Wed, 30 Oct 2024 19:05:00 GMT

USDA announced on Oct. 30 the first reported case of H5N1 in a pig in an Oregon backyard farm. It’s important to note there is no concern about the safety of the nation’s pork supply as a result of this finding, USDA said. This farm is a non-commercial operation, and the animals were not intended for the commercial food supply.

“The confirmed case in Oregon poses no threat to consumer health or food safety; properly handled and cooked pork products remain safe for consumption,” Bryan Humphreys, National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) CEO said in a statement. “The entire pork industry remains committed to safeguarding food safety and human and animal health.”

The case was discovered on a backyard farm that includes a mix of poultry and livestock, including swine. The Oregon Department of Agriculture announced on Friday, Oct. 25, that poultry on this farm represented the first H5N1 detection in Crook County, Oregon. On Tuesday, Oct. 29, the USDA National Veterinary Services Laboratories also confirmed one of the farm’s five pigs to be infected with H5N1, marking the first detection of H5N1 in swine in the U.S., USDA reports.  

“The livestock and poultry on this farm shared water sources, housing, and equipment; in other states, this combination has enabled transmission between species. Although the swine did not display signs of illness, the Oregon Department of Health and USDA tested the five swine for H5N1 out of an abundance of caution and because of the presence of H5N1 in other animals on the premises,” USDA wrote.

The swine were euthanized to facilitate additional diagnostic analysis. Although test results were negative for two of the pigs, and test results are still pending for two others.  
The farm has been quarantined to prevent further spread of the virus. Other animals on the farm include sheep and goats that remain under surveillance.  

“USDA’s National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL) has conducted genomic sequencing of virus from the poultry infected on this farm, and that sequencing has not identified any changes to the H5N1 virus that would suggest to USDA and CDC that it is more transmissible to humans, indicating that the current risk to the public remains low,” USDA wrote.

H5N1 detections include viral genome sequencing to provide additional information of interest to medical professionals and the research community to improve understanding of the virus. Genetic sequencing for these samples is underway, but results may be inconclusive due to low viral levels in the samples, USDA said.   

Pork Producers Practice Biosecurity to Protect Pigs
Biosecurity is critical to eradicating H5N1 and other viruses. Not only does biosecurity protect the health of livestock, but it also protects the health of farmworkers and their families. For more information on protecting farmworkers, visit the CDC’s website .
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10 Powerful Take Homes to Enhance Biosecurity on Your Pig Farm
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The pork industry has worked alongside USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) since 2009 to carry out the swine influenza surveillance program to identify influenza viruses circulating in swine, proactively detect reassortment viruses that could impact public health, and gain knowledge to contribute to improved animal health diagnostics and vaccines, NPPC pointed out in a statement.

“Pork producers have always been proactive and diligent about implementing biosecurity plans as part of their daily production practices to assure animals wellbeing and food safety,” Lori Stevermer, NPPC president and Minnesota pork producer said. “This detection serves as a reminder for producers of all sizes to understand and address influenza virus risks.”

What’s Next?
USDA recently approved two vaccine field safety trials for vaccine candidates designed to protect dairy cows from H5N1, and continues to explore vaccine options for other species.   As USDA takes additional steps to protect the health of livestock, it will continue to work closely with CDC to protect the health of people and FDA to protect the safety of the food supply.

“These collective, collaborative efforts have helped protect farmworkers and farmers, the health and welfare of livestock animals, and reaffirmed the safety of the nation’s food supply. The U.S. government remains committed to addressing this situation with urgency,” USDA said.

Learn more about USDA’s response to HPAI in dairy cattle.

The situation is being monitored by local public health officials, Oregon Health Authority, Oregon State Veterinarian, Oregon Department of Agriculture, as well as USDA and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.   

Read More:
Get the Facts Straight on Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza
Animal Health Experts Open Up About Future Disease Preparedness
How the Swine Industry Responded to H5N1 Outbreak in Dairy Cattle
A Message to the Ag Industry about H5N1

Brazil Rules Out Three Potential New Cases of Newcastle Disease in Poultry

Mon, 22 Jul 2024 14:02:43 GMT

Brazil’s Agriculture Ministry said on Sunday it has ruled out three potential new cases of Newcastle disease in poultry after testing additional samples taken from animals in the area close to where a first case was confirmed last week.

Newcastle is a viral disease that affects domestic and wild birds, causing respiratory problems, among other symptoms, and can lead to death. Brazil on Thursday detected its first case of Newcastle disease in poultry since 2006.

“The negative results are an extremely positive sign regarding the containment of this sanitary event, which is important for a quick resolution of the situation, and reinforces the robustness of Brazil’s agricultural defense system,” the ministry said in a statement on Sunday.

The additional samples were collected on Friday from birds in three properties within the protection zone established in Rio Grande do Sul, where authorities found the first case of the disease in 18 years, when it was detected in subsistence animals.

Last week’s confirmation of the case led the government to enforce a voluntary ban on poultry exports to certain countries.

Brazilian meat lobby ABPA and the state poultry association ASGAV welcomed the results of the additional testing on Sunday, saying they corroborated the single case found last week was “an isolated” event.

Authorities reported the single case on Thursday after the death of around 7,000 birds on a small chicken farm, representing 50% of the flock there.

Brazil voluntarily adopted export restrictions on Friday, affecting sales to 44 nations, including China, Argentina, the European Union, Japan and Saudi Arabia.

“I am confident that with the agility of our teams, we will return to normal export operations very soon,” Agriculture Minister Carlos Favaro said in Sunday’s statement.

(Reporting by Marcela Ayres and Ana Mano in BrasiliaEditing by Matthew Lewis)

USDA Identifies Ways HPAI H5N1 Has Likely Spread in Michigan Dairy and Poultry Operations

Mon, 17 Jun 2024 22:29:29 GMT

On June 9, the USDA issued a report that summarizes the findings from field epidemiological investigations of disease spread between premises for 15 dairy herds and eight poultry flocks confirmed with HPAI genotype B3.13 in Michigan.

The following information is pulled from the USDA’s 2024 Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (H5N1) - Michigan Dairy Herd and Poultry Flock Summary (see Michigan Dairy Herd and Poultry Flock Summary ).

The information offers potential insights for how the dairy and poultry industries in states beyond Michigan likely have been impacted, as well.

A ‘Eurasian Lineage Goose’

Whole genome sequencing (WGS) of viruses from the dairy and poultry premises identified Eurasian lineage goose/Guangdong clade 2.3.4.4b, genotype B3.13 on the Michigan farms and suggests likely indirect transfer of virus from the dairy premises to the poultry premises.

USDA reports that interstate animal movement initially introduced the HPAI genotype B3.13 virus from Texas into a Michigan dairy. However, USDA says the continued disease transmission within Michigan has been determined to be multifactorial.

Transmission between farms is likely due to indirect epidemiological links related to normal business operations such as numerous people, vehicles, and other conveyances frequently moving on and off the affected dairy premises, with many of these indirect links shared between premises.

Importantly, USDA says, disease spread due to independent introduction of the virus onto dairy or poultry premises from migratory waterfowl is not supported based on both genomic and epidemiological data analysis.

Key findings identified to date and potential risk factors for local transmission in Michigan specifically, include:

Shared personnel between premises
o 20% of affected dairies’ employees and 7% of dairies’ employees family members work on other dairy premises

o 7% of affected dairies’ employees also work on poultry premises; 13% of affected dairies’ employees have family members who work on poultry premises

o 31% of dairies have employees who own livestock or poultry at their personal residence

Shared vehicles between premises
o 62% of affected dairy premises use shared vehicles to transport cattle, with only 12% of premises cleaning vehicles before use

Frequent visitors on/off premises
o 100% of affected dairy premises have regular visits by veterinarians, nutritionist/feed consultant, and/or contract haulers (e.g., cattle or manure); the majority of these visitors have direct contact with cattle

o 40% of affected dairy premises have regular visits for deadstock removal, with 20% having direct contact with cattle. Furthermore:

-53% of affected dairies utilized the same deadstock removal company and 40% had animals removed from the premises by that company within 30 days prior to clinical onset

o Milk haulers visit dairy premises, on average, 34 times within a 30-day time period. Furthermore:

-93.3% of affected dairy premises are part of the same milk co-op with at least one other affected dairy premises within the state (i.e., only one of the affected dairy herds is part of a milk co-op that none of the other 14 affected dairy herds belong to)

Disease Spread Between Dairy and Poultry Premises
Apart from the potential for resident wild birds or peri-domestic species to move and transmit the virus, the only other potential transmission routes found from dairy herds to the poultry flocks were through shared employment, housing, or movement of employees.

Approximately 22 employees of three poultry flocks worked weekend shifts at two different dairy premises. Shared housing between dairy and poultry workers was identified between three poultry premises and two dairy premises. It is also possible that dairy employees have social contact with poultry premises employees, USDA reports.

In Summary
The investigations discussed in this report, including the respective WGS information, indicate that HPAI H5N1 genotype B3.13 was introduced into Michigan through animal movement from Texas and subsequently spread within the state between dairy premises with spillover into poultry premises through multiple possible routes.

Factors that appear to be of greater risk for introduction into a dairy premises may be mitigated through enhanced biosecurity, increased animal testing, and potentially through within-state animal movement restrictions if they can be implemented without impacting animal welfare.

USDA says the willingness of Michigan producers to participate in these investigations has greatly increased the body of knowledge of HPAI H5N1 B3.13 detections in Michigan and throughout the nation; this report could not have been completed without them.

For more information on the H5N1 issue:

H5N1 Virus Found in Beef for First Time, FSIS Says

FDA Says New Round of Tests Prove the U.S. Milk Supply is Safe From H5N1 Virus

USDA Now Requiring Mandatory Testing and Reporting of HPAI in Dairy Cattle as New Data Suggests Virus Outbreak is More Widespread

Second Michigan Farmworker Tests Positive For H5N1 Virus

Thu, 30 May 2024 21:40:19 GMT

A second human case of HPAI (H5N1) was confirmed in a Michigan farmworker on Thursday, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

This is the third human case (two in Michigan, one in Texas) associated with an ongoing multistate outbreak of H5N1 in U.S. dairy cows. In all three cases, cow-to-person spread is suspected but none of the cases is related.

Tim Boring, director of the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, says government officials are working closely with producers to understand the scale of the virus in dairy operations across the state.

“We’re learning more every day about the epidemiology of this virus and just how it spreads. I think it’s a manageable situation on the dairy side for us right now, but we have continued concerns around just how we can best mitigate the further spread,” Boring told AgriTalk Host Chip Flory on Thursday, prior to the CDC’s latest announcement.

Boring reports that Michigan has confirmed the virus in 23 dairies, primarily in the west-central part of the state.

The virus had been confirmed in at least 66 dairy herds in nine states earlier this week, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture: 20 herds in Michigan, 15 in Texas, eight in New Mexico, nine in Idaho, four in Kansas, four in Colorado, four in South Dakota and one each in Ohio and North Carolina.

Biosecurity Practices Are Helping
The H5N1-infected farm workers were not wearing a face shield or other personal protective equipment (PPE), according to Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, the chief medical executive of Michigan’s health department.

That “tells us that direct exposure to infected livestock poses a risk to humans, and that PPE is an important tool in preventing spread among individuals who work on dairy and poultry farms,” said Bagdasarian, in a prepared statement.

While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) maintains the public health risk from H5N1 is low, the agency encourages the use of its recommended precautions by people exposed to infected or potentially infected birds and animals.

The use of good biosecurity measures is helping contain the virus and prevent its spread, Boring emphasizes.

“These biosecurity systems work; pasteurization works,” Boring says. “The screening to make sure that we don’t have infected animals of any kind with any disease making it into the food system works.

“As the FDA has talked about, this continues to be a communicable virus and where this continues to move – potentially further impacting human health down the road – is a real concern,” Boring adds. “That continues to be a driving force for us to address the virus on the animal side.”

Vaccine Development
Last week, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced officials are moving forward with a plan to produce 4.8 million doses of an H5N1 vaccine for human use.

According to an article in Reuters , human exposures to the virus in poultry and dairy operations could increase the risk that the virus will mutate and gain the ability to spread easily in people.

The article noted that the U.S. and Europe are “taking steps to acquire or manufacture H5N1 bird flu vaccines that could be used to protect at-risk poultry and dairy workers, veterinarians and lab technicians, government officials said, moves influenza experts say could curb the threat of a pandemic.”

H5N1 Virus Found in Beef for First Time, FSIS Says

FSIS’ Final Results of H5N1 Testing Confirms Meat Supply is Safe

The complete conversation between Michigan’s Boring and AgriTalk Host Chip Flory is available here:

Ground Beef Tests Negative for H5N1, says USDA-APHIS

Thu, 02 May 2024 15:46:16 GMT

The USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced results from testing 30 samples of ground beef on Thursday, showing that all were negative for H5N1.

The agency made the announcement on its website, available for review here .

USDA-FSIS said it collected the samples from “states with dairy cattle herds that had tested positive for the H5N1 influenza virus at the time of sample collection. The samples were sent to APHIS’ National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL) for PCR testing.”

PCR stands for polymerase chain reaction. Such testing is done to identify the presence or absence of human pathogens in food. Common pathogens routinely tested for in food include E. coli and Salmonella, for instance. In the ground beef study, no virus particles were found to be present.

The USDA said it is working on two additional beef safety studies. According to the information posted online, these include:

1. Beef muscle sampling of cull dairy cows condemned at select FSIS-inspected slaughter facilities: FSIS is currently collecting muscle samples at FSIS-inspected slaughter facilities of cull dairy cattle that have been condemned for systemic pathologies. The samples will be analyzed by APHIS using PCR to determine presence of viral particles. The results are forthcoming and will be posted as soon as they become available.

2. Ground beef cooking study: ARS will be conducting a beef cooking study and will be using a virus surrogate in ground beef and cooking it at different temperatures to determine log-reduction of the virus. The results will be posted as soon as they become available.

The agency said the results from both studies will be posted as soon as they become available.

A Message to the Ag Industry about H5N1

Fri, 26 Apr 2024 20:49:16 GMT

“We’re going on a bear hunt. We’re going to catch a big one… We’re not scared.”

So goes a beloved children’s book written by Michael Rosen. The story is a metaphor for how to address fear. Kay Russo, DVM, often reads it to her son and daughter, ages 4 and 6.

“This unfortunate family seems to deal with a lot of issues as they’re going on their hike,” Russo says. “Ultimately, every time they reach one of these issues, the book basically says, ‘You know, we can’t go over it. We can’t go around it. We can’t go under it. We have to go through it.’”

That story illustrates how the dairy industry must deal with the growing impact of H5N1, says Russo, Novonesis technical services manager for dairy and poultry. She’s watched the spread of the virus with alarm and urges U.S. leaders across dairy and agriculture to step up and take action.

“Address it head-on,” she says. “Don’t hide.”

As with all major threats, she says ag needs a comprehensive, cohesive plan to address the virus in dairy – and to also look at how to protect the beef, pork and poultry industries.

“At this point, I believe it’s important to take one day at a time and systematically answer the questions that we need to get answered in order to define a sustainable path forward,” Russo says.

“We have a very clear picture that it’s in the udder and is being shed in milk. But where else do we need to be concerned? That matters because that is going to define the control tactics to reduce spreading it from cow to cow. Those questions are ultimately going to be the pillar of our understanding and help to define strategies for controlling the virus in a sustainable way.”

On The Front Line
Help can’t come soon enough for dairy producers and veterinarians in the trenches working with cows.

Veterinarians such as Dr. Barb Petersen in Texas have been dealing with the virus in their clients’ dairy herds since at least March.

“It has been circulating here as early as February, based on retrospective feedback from owners and fellow veterinarians,” says Petersen, owner of Sunrise Veterinary Service in Amarillo.

By early March, she had begun sending daily emails and text messages to her Texas Panhandle dairy clients who needed answers and support.

Petersen, who has been in practice 15 years, did her best to provide both. But she didn’t know what she was dealing with. Neither did any other veterinarian Petersen reached out to within 200 miles of her practice.

“We started to text and email each other, and give summaries of ‘OK, here’s the test that this doctor has run. Here’s what another colleague has run,’” Petersen recalls.

“We tested for every single viral bacterial mycotoxin, lepto, rumensin toxicity, nitrates… I mean, you name it, every single thing that we vaccinate for, we tested for, for sure, right off the bat. And then even some of the things that we don’t or can’t vaccinate for. We tried to cast a really wide net.”

None of the initial tests, conducted by the Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory (TVMDL), provided an answer.

Recurring Symptoms Emerge

Some members of the animal health community suspected winter dysentery – an acute, highly contagious gastrointestinal disorder that can affect housed dairy cattle of all ages.

Petersen was skeptical.

“The first clinical symptom I saw was cows that had indigestion. They had manure that wasn’t well-digested, manure with particles of feed in it,” she says.

As she checked more cows and talked with colleagues, more information came to light and she began to identify recurring symptoms: thick, colostrum-like milk; lesions on cow vulvas; high temperatures; respiratory distress; a drop in feed consumption; and a corresponding lack of rumination. None of it added up to winter dysentery.

“This is a really strong and fierce reminder to keep your hands on the cows,” Petersen says. “It’s wonderful to have data, but you have to trust and then verify.”

When Russo at Novonesis got news of the problem from a colleague, she called Petersen.

Russo has worked as a dairy veterinarian and is also a board-certified poultry veterinarian. She and Petersen discussed what kinds of tests had already been done and what health concerns had been ruled out.

“I said, ‘You know, I may sound like a crazy person, a tinfoil-hat-wearing person, but this sounds a bit like (highly pathogenic avian) influenza to me. We’ve seen this particular strain of influenza that’s been circulating, that’s been jumping into mammalian hosts,’ and I kind of left it there,” Russo recalls.

More conversations between Russo, Petersen and other veterinarians ensued. Russo encouraged Petersen to collect some of the dead birds she had encountered at the dairies and submit them to TVMDL for testing, which she did.

On March 19, Petersen received a call from the Texas lab, confirming the wild birds were positive for H5N1.

At about the same time, barn cats at the dairies Petersen worked with were getting sick and starting to die. They had consumed some of the H5N1-infected birds and milk that had not been pasteurized.

“I spent one weekend picking up dead birds and the next weekend picking up dead cats. It was very sad,” Petersen says.

Science Provides Answers
Petersen sent some of the dead cats and a pooled sample of milk to TVMDL pathologists for testing. Because of their heavy workload, she sent the same material to a former veterinary classmate at Iowa State University (ISU), Dr. Drew Magstadt, now a pathologist at the school’s diagnostic laboratory.

“Whenever I’ve gotten into a real jam professionally – like, you have a question that you can’t seem to find an answer to – the group of folks that have always helped me solve it have been pathologists,” Petersen says. “It’s been pathologists that I could give the clues to who helped finish the puzzle.”

On a warm March night in Amarillo, Petersen sat resting on her back porch at home when a text message from Magstadt popped up on her phone.

“There’s something in the results,” he wrote. “Can I call you?”

On the phone, Magstadt shared what he’d found in the lab tests done on the cats and milk: H5N1.

“I was like, ‘Are you serious?’” Petersen asked Magstadt. “Are you going to run those tests again?”

“Yes,” he said. “Just to make sure.”

The initial H5N1 confirmation flabbergasted Magstadt. The next day, he retested the samples to confirm the finding.

“I had thought we would find the results were negative and we would move on to other testing. So I was very, very surprised when the results came back positive,” says Magstadt, ISU clinical associate professor and a pathologist at the Iowa State Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory.

The National Veterinary Services Laboratory (NVSL) then confirmed Magstadt’s findings. The documentation of H5N1 by NVSL in a sample of milk from a dairy cow represented an industry first.

“The most surprising part of this, in my mind, is the fact that we’re finding so much virus as we are in the milk, in the mammary gland,” Magstadt says.

‘Show Us The Data’
On April 23, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reported it had detected “viral particles of H5N1 avian influenza” in pasteurized milk available for purchase at grocery stores.

Russo is quick to point out this doesn’t mean the actual virus is in milk. Rather, it’s the genetic material known as RNA.

“I think the FDA needs to show us the data,” Russo says. “The fact that there is viral material in some of the milk on shelves, as detected by rt-PCR. That test doesn’t say whether it is alive or dead. Virus isolation is necessary. The first tests have not grown virus, thankfully, but we need more data.”

No unusual human illnesses have been documented. Government health officials say they have seen nothing unusual in flu activity, according to a senior official at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) who was interviewed for this story. The overall assessment and risk to human health remains low from H5N1, the official says.

“CDC looks for a host of flu-like symptoms,” he told “U.S. Farm Report” host Tyne Morgan during a phone interview. “They do so by looking at people coming into emergency rooms, care systems, etc.”

Yet anecdotal evidence suggests the people most likely to be infected – dairy farm workers who have their hands on cows regularly – aren’t necessarily going to doctors for treatment.

The World Health Organization (WHO) website references just one “laboratory-confirmed case of human infection with an influenza A (H5N1) virus on 1 April 2024” on a dairy farm.

“It’s a mild, mild case and the only symptom he had was pinkeye,” Sid Miller, state commissioner of the Texas Department of Agriculture, told “AgriTalk” host Chip Flory at the time, as reported on AgWeb.

That Texas case marked the second confirmed human case of influenza A(H5N1) detected in the U.S. — and the first in the dairy industry. The first documented case, identified in 2022, involved a person in Colorado who worked with infected poultry that tested positive for the virus.

During his interview with Miller, Flory asked whether the virus could impact beef cattle at some point.

“You’ve seen what’s happened in the cattle markets,” Flory said. “They’re looking at it like this is a major problem for beef.”

Problems aren’t anticipated for Texas beef cattle, which consist primarily of feedlot cattle in the Panhandle, Miller replied.

“The cattle that get it are the older lactating cows, and we don’t have those in the feedlot,” Miller explained. “I think we’re OK, but we’re certainly going to research that.”

Tip Of The Iceberg?
So far, H5N1 has been officially confirmed in only 32 herds in eight states, according to data from USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS).

Some veterinarians working with dairies in Texas believe the virus is more active than current data suggest. Nick Schneider, a consulting dairy practitioner, is one of them.

“The thing is, when you get into the Panhandle of Texas, I’m not sure there’s anybody (dairy farms) that did not have it,” says Schneider.

Texas is home to 335 Grade A dairies with an estimated 625,00 cows, according to information on the Texas Association of Dairymen website. More than 100 of those operations are in the Panhandle.

The virus likely is being under-reported by the dairy industry because the presence of the virus in dairy cows is new, and there are no reporting requirements, Russo says.

“It’s not a foreign animal disease like it’s considered in poultry, where there are reporting requirements,” she explains. “This is considered an emerging disease (in dairy cattle).”

The dairy industry needs to be “very forward looking” now and address the virus, advises Schneider, the Texas dairy consultant.

“Looking at what happened in the rearview mirror is great, but if you’re not looking at where you’re going, it’s really just a pointless endeavor,” he says.

To that end, he advises gaining insights and expertise in preparation for whatever new information emerges next.

“We need to think about this potentially being something we have to live with, as being a part of the industry in the future,” Schneider says. “I hope I’m wrong. I would love to be wrong about that. But it’s something that we definitely need to consider when we’re thinking of how we’re going to manage it.”

Lessons From Swine And Poultry
Russo also advocates learning the lessons from swine and poultry, which have faced a variety of viral challenges for years.

“It’s important that we don’t try to reinvent the wheel as the cattle industry, but sort of cross the aisle to interact with the poultry folks and the swine folks who have gone through this repeatedly over the years and learn from the defined principles they use and try to adapt them into the bovine space,” she says.

Both swine and poultry have modified their animal management practices from the farm to the marketplace as a result of those experiences.

“Poultry, for instance has very distinct biosecurity principles they abide by to include lines of separation,” Russo says. “One is they keep the outside world out. Another is their use of PPE (physical protective equipment) to protect employees and also the birds from anything that might be carried onto the farm.”

The latter is a message Dr. Barb Petersen has taken to heart. Petersen says she was exposed to H5N1 for more than a month before she learned about the virus and its ability to infect dairy cows and people.

“I’m very fortunate that I never got sick,” she says.

Her advice? “Protect yourselves and your people on the dairy. There’s been underreporting of the virus. Understandably, there’s been a lot of fear. But every dairy that I’ve worked with has – with the exception of one – had sick human beings at the same time they had sick cows.”

Based on that knowledge, Petersen has acquired PPE available through Texas Health and Human Services.

“All the states have personal protective equipment available. Go and get it for your dairies,” she encourages other veterinarians. “If a dairy is on the fence, just provide it to them, offer it to everybody.”

Petersen says she has worked with people infected by H5N1 who do not interact with dairy cows. “I’m talking owners and feeders who don’t usually touch cows,” she says.

Research is underway to determine how much of a health risk the virus poses to humans, Russo says.

“This is a rapidly evolving situation, and the people that are working on it are doing everything they can to ensure the safety of those individuals that are most at risk,” she says.

A Paradigm Shift
The virus continues to hit the U.S. poultry industry hard.

Cal-Maine Foods, the largest producer and distributor of fresh shell eggs in the U.S., announced April 2 that chickens at its facility in Parmer County, located in the southwest part of the Texas Panhandle, tested positive for the virus. As a result, Cal-Maine had to cull nearly 2 million chickens − 1.6 million hens and 337,000 pullets.

In the AgriTalk discussion aired earlier this spring, Flory asked Miller, the Texas ag commissioner, whether he believes state agriculture department investigators are in front of the latest issues with HPAI in dairy cattle.

“I think so,” Miller replied. “We’ve got about 10 months before the ducks and geese come back, so I think we’ll have it figured out by then.”

Moving forward, the U.S. livestock industry might operate in a new world – one where the H5N1 virus is endemic.

Russo is undaunted by the challenge.

“This is not insurmountable, but it’s an issue we need to address swiftly,” she says.

Culled dairy cows going into the food supply deserve special attention, she says.

“We need to do the work so that we can define those movement strategies for the practitioners that are being asked to write health certificates on these farms that have the virus circulating,” Russo says.

The dairy industry needs to be more proactive for the sake of the poultry industry, she adds.

“Putting our heads in the sand, and hoping it burns itself out is not going to work. It’s just not,” she says. “It would take down the entire poultry industry by doing that, because this is highly pathogenic to them.”

That is not hyperbole, Russo says: a dime-sized piece of manure with H5N1 can infect up to 1 million chickens or turkeys.

In essence, the livestock industry needs to go on a bear hunt, as the children’s story says.

‘We can’t go over it. We can’t go around it. We can’t go under it. We have to go through it.”

With that as the focus, solutions to H5N1 can be found and help delivered to livestock producers and veterinarians on the front lines and, ultimately, the U.S. agriculture industry can insure a safe food supply.

This story will be updated by Bovine Veterinarian and Farm Journal editorial staff as more information is available.

USDA Now Requiring Mandatory Testing and Reporting of HPAI in Dairy Cattle as New Data Suggests Virus Outbreak is Widespread

USDA Shares Recent H5N1 Avian Flu Sequences

Texas-Sized Problems Hit the Lone Star State, but Ag Commissioner says ‘Things are Getting Better’

Rare Human Case of Bird Flu Confirmed. Officials Believe it Began on Texas Dairy

Wild Pigs Kill More People Than Sharks, Shocking New Research Reveals

Thu, 18 Apr 2024 14:43:28 GMT

Hogzilla or Jaws? More humans are killed annually by wild pigs than by sharks, a startling new study reveals. By slice, puncture, hook, and gouge, the global number of fatalities from wild pig attacks is rising by the decade.

Between 2014 and 2023, the average yearly number of fatal shark attacks worldwide was 5.8, while the average number of fatal wild pig attacks was 19.7. In 2024 alone, there have already been seven deaths from wild pig incidents.

According to groundbreaking research published in 2023, the number of humans killed by wild pig attacks steadily climbed from 2000 to 2019, for a total of 172 deaths—including a freakishly grisly fatality in southeast Texas.

“Most of the public doesn’t know the facts about wild pig attacks on humans,” says John J. Mayer, lead author of the study and wild pig research pioneer. “It’s not sharks, wolves, or bears that kill the most people—it’s wild pigs, and the numbers are consistently trending up.”

1,532 Attacks and 172 Deaths

In 1973, well before the global pig bomb exploded, Mayer began noting wild pigs’ capacity for habitat destruction. At a steady drip, he also heard anecdotes of pig attacks on humans. Although many of the stories initially could not be verified, by the 1990s Mayer accumulated a folder bulging with confirmed encounters, and in 2013, he published research detailing wild pig attacks.

The public reaction to his findings surprised Mayer: “I got a significant number of negative responses from people who refused to believe wild pigs were dangerous. I had people telling me the stories of attacks on humans were pure nonsense. Interestingly, if you asked those same people about sharks, they would, to a person, say that sharks are dangerous.”

A decade later, after collating a global dragnet of sources with colleagues James Garabedian and John Kilgo, both USDA wildlife biologists, Mayer published Human Fatalities Resulting From Wild Pig Attacks Worldwide: 2000–2019 , and the report is packed with eye-opening detail: 1,532 wild pig attacks on humans from 2000-2019, resulting in 172 human deaths in 29 countries.

Of the 172 fatalities, 88% occurred in non-hunting circumstances; 77% of victims died due to blood loss; 86% of attacks occurred in daylight; 84% of victims were male and 62% of victims were adults; 38% of attacks involved farm workers engaged in agriculture; almost all attacks were by solitary pigs, except for 20 encounters featuring multiple pigs; and average pig size in each incident was 240 lb.

“Tigers, Indian elephants, Nile crocodiles, and venomous snakes kill more people than wild pigs, but wild pigs are certainly worse than bears, wolves, and all shark species put together,” says Mayer, technical program manager at the Savannah River National Laboratory in Aiken, S.C. “Wild pigs are nowhere near the worst of the worst, but they’re far more dangerous than people believe.”

“These attacks can be horrific,” Mayer adds. “Typically, wild pigs don’t bother anyone if they don’t feel threatened, but they can deliver tremendous damage to the human body in a matter of seconds in a very gruesome manner. We found that in fatal attacks, 55% of people died on the scene. A wild pig is at the waist to knee range for most humans, and when pigs slash in that area, they do tremendous damage to the arterial system.”

Sincerely. Boars deliver stab-and-slash wounds, often around the groin area, with tusks that operate as nails and razors.

7x Predatory

Boar tusks are extremely sharp, with 60-70% of a canine enclosed in the jaw and roughly 1”-4” outside the socket. The upper and lower tusks rub against one another each time a boar opens and closes its mouth, honing the lower tusks into cutters via a perpetual sharpening process.

“Boars punch holes with their tusks, making rough-edged slashes and gouges,” Mayer describes. “They can also break bones with a powerful bite. Sows have smaller tusks, proportionally almost like dogs, so a sow tends to bite, rather than stab or slash. Therefore, most fatal attacks are by males with large canines, and often to the inner leg and femoral artery. On top of that, they can run in short bursts up to 30 to 35 miles per hour.”

Mayer’s benchmark report makes clear that almost all fatal wild pig attacks are associated with defensive behaviors. However, he documented seven attacks “during which the pig’s behaviors appeared to be predatory.”

“If they can get their mouths around something, they’ll eat it. It’s rare, but without question, they sometimes attack unprovoked,” Mayer notes. “We found one case in India where a young girl was walking with her father when a wild pig emerged from brush, grabbed her and picked her up in its jaws, and carried her away. The father gave chase and caught up, but both the father and daughter ended up in the hospital and the little girl died from her wounds.”

“And then there was the 2019 case in Texas where a lady endured the worst,” he adds. “That case is as terrible as it gets.”

As in, maneater. Wild pigs as maneaters.

Feeding Frenzy

The Sunday before Thanksgiving, Nov. 24, 2019, arguably ranks as the most savage wild pig attack on record.

As caregiver at the home of an elderly couple living in rural Chambers County, Christine Rollins, 59, arrived to work at roughly 6 a.m., in clockwork fashion. Rollins parked a Chrysler sedan in the yard of the well-kept property, directly beside the driveway, and exited her vehicle. She likely was dead within minutes, partially consumed while alive.

At approximately 7:45 a.m. law enforcement arrived at the property and found Rollins—5’1” and 130 lb.—on her back against the manicured lawn, 6’ from the Chrysler. Rollins’ clothing was torn away. A shirt and jacket were bunched high on her torso; pants and shoes were gone.

Her body, head to toe, was a roadmap of injuries—bites, punctures, and lacerations, including large portions of her legs devoid of flesh. Gone. Eaten.

Arriving on site as an investigation unfolded, nothing in Sheriff Brian Hawthorne’s 35-year southeast Texas career prepared him for the scene.

“I’d never seen anything like it in my life,” he recalls. “Miss Rollins was annihilated. A third of her body was mutilated and in ghastly condition. We could see that she’d been attacked by wild animals and we could see clear signs of hog rooting in the yard. The area around the property was rural and partially wooded, and the elderly owners told us they had major wild hog problems.”

“The owners also had two dogs outside, a 14-year-old Lab and a dachshund, a classic wiener dog. The Lab was extremely friendly toward us and was happy to see the deputies.”

Designated as an “unknown death,” the incident automatically triggered a criminal investigation. Hawthorne reserved judgement, pending an autopsy.

The autopsy was telltale.

“It was tragic. Miss Rollins bled to death,” Hawthorne says. “She had wounds over her whole body, but the lower extremities were horrific. People tried to attribute the attack to dogs, but the evidence was clearly to the contrary. The pathologist found no canine bites on the body. There certainly were bites and tusk marks of all sizes and different widths, but they were made by hogs. Material was sent to labs for DNA testing, and those results confirmed the wild hog attack.”

“It can only be speculation, but we believe she exited her car while the wild pigs were coming around the house,” he continues. “Initially, she was an obstruction, but then became the center of a feeding frenzy by multiple adult hogs and multiple juveniles of various sizes. I’d compare it to the frenzy of domesticated pigs when slop is dumped in a pen, or the frenzy normally associated with sharks at feeding.”

Glaringly, the 2019 wild pig attack in Chambers County accords with Mayer’s research and study. “Every part of me wishes Christine Rollins’ death was attributable to something other than wild hogs, but every bit of evidence says it’s not so,” Hawthorne concludes. “This attack was an exception, but I tell people all the time: Wild hogs are problematic and a danger to be around. Period.”

No More Skeptics

Why do most of the attacks and deaths from wild pigs go unnoticed? Over half (51%) of all fatal pig attacks occur in India, followed by China (8%), with the U.S. well behind at six recorded fatalities in the past 100 years, as noted in Human Fatalities Resulting From Wild Pig Attacks Worldwide: 2000–2019 .

However, the attack rate is trending up everywhere, Mayer says. “In the last 30 years, the global wild pig population has exploded, and we expect encounters to climb alongside, and now the news media is also catching up and the data is more available. In America, for example, I’m certain there were more wild pig fatalities in the past century, but those accounts were never documented. No doubt, there are more lost in family histories.”

In the early 1970s, when Mayer first began giving presentations on wild pig expansion, he was met with puzzled looks and a frequent question: “Why study an animal with no relevance?”

Fifty years later, with the U.S. wild pig population ballooning to 7 million, and annual damage to the agriculture economy at $1.5 billion, according to USDA estimates, no one questions Mayer over the impact of wild pigs.

“You hear about shark attacks all the time in the news, but you almost never hear about wild pig attacks. I hope our study increases awareness about wild pigs and makes people more cautious,” he says. “Wild pig attacks are rare and fatal attacks are rarer, but the rate is still much, much higher than people think—high enough to place wild pigs over sharks in cause of death.”

Sincerely. By the numbers, Hogzilla defeats Jaws.

For more articles from Chris Bennett ( cbennett@farmjournal.com or 662-592-1106), see:

Corn and Cocaine: Roger Reaves and the Most Incredible Farm Story Never Told

American Gothic: Farm Couple Nailed In Massive $9M Crop Insurance Fraud

Priceless Pistol Found After Decades Lost in Farmhouse Attic

Cottonmouth Farmer: The Insane Tale of a Buck-Wild Scheme to Corner the Snake Venom Market

Tractorcade: How an Epic Convoy and Legendary Farmer Army Shook Washington, D.C.

Bizarre Mystery of Mummified Coon Dog Solved After 40 Years

While America Slept, China Stole the Farm

South Dakota Confirms First Case of HPAI in a Dairy Herd

Thu, 11 Apr 2024 21:41:59 GMT

The South Dakota Department of Agriculture (DANR) and the Animal Industry Board (AIB) have received confirmation from the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Veterinary Services Laboratory (NVSL) of the detection of highly pathogenic avian influenza in a dairy cattle herd in South Dakota.

This is the first confirmed case of HPAI in a dairy operation in South Dakota.

“South Dakota Dairy Producers encourage all dairy producers to closely monitor their herd and contact their herd veterinarian immediately if cattle appear symptomatic,” said Marv Post, Chairman of South Dakota Dairy Producers, in a prepared statement. “USDA continues to emphasize that pasteurization kills the virus and that milk and dairy products are safe to consume.”

Read the complete press release here .

Get the Facts Straight on Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza

Wed, 10 Apr 2024 23:13:09 GMT

Updated as of 4.10.24

Now that the mystery illness impacting dairy herds in multiple states has been revealed as the same strain of influenza virus [Influenza A (H5N1)] that has been impacting the U.S. poultry flock, pork producers are asking a lot of questions. Is this strain transmittable to pigs? Should livestock producers with cattle and pigs be concerned about cross-species transmission?

Those are all important questions, but understanding influenza is the best place to start, says National Pork Board chief veterinarian Dusty Oedekoven.

“Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) is influenza. HPAI is an official term defined by the severity of the mortality rate in poultry,” he explains.

Within strains of influenza A, the naming convention goes by two proteins on the outer surface of the virus: hemagglutinin (H type) and neuraminidase (N type). Typically, HPAI is of the H5 or H7 types, but there are many other possibilities as there are 18 hemagglutinin types and 11 neuraminidase types, he explains.

“Not all of those occur in poultry, not all of those occur in pigs, and not all of those occur in humans,” Oedekoven clarifies. “But the term highly pathogenic applies to poultry.”

He believes the reason it’s making headlines as HPAI is because it’s the same strain, H5N1, or similar strain that has been found recently in poultry where they have designated it as HPAI.

“Maybe that’s a narrow thing to tease apart,” he points out. “But in my mind, I hope we can separate that a little bit. This is influenza A virus.”

Influenza A viruses affect many warm-blooded animals, including birds and mammals. That’s nothing new, Oedekoven says. Influenza A viruses have been identified in cattle in the past, as well as swine and birds.

“If we think about influenza in domesticated species and humans, we are typically looking at the cycle between humans and pigs,” he says. “Pigs become amplifying hosts of influenza A viruses and the mixing vessel for different types of viruses, as are birds. Birds can get multiple viruses and those viruses mutate within the bird, and new strains evolve. That’s how we have new strains of the virus that emerge and become different strains.”

And that’s why receiving the annual flu vaccine is so important, he adds.

“It’s likely the vaccines we got last year were designed for a different strain than what we’re looking at this year because the virus reassorted and it’s slightly different. Scientists predicting which strain we might be dealing with for the vaccine are right sometimes, and sometimes they miss the mark a little and you may see more influenza in a given year,” he says.

Fact #1: The threat of influenza virus infection in people and pigs is ever present.

Oedekoven says he has not heard of the H5N1 strain being identified in pigs at this time.

“We know pigs are susceptible to influenza A viruses, and swine influe-nza is not uncommon in the U.S. We see outbreaks of routine swine influe-nza fairly frequently,” he says. “We don’t know if there’s any special higher risk of disease or illness or mortality for pigs due to this virus strain than any other swine influenza strain we have.”

The key is diligent observation. If producers see signs of illness in their pigs, Oedekoven urges them to contact their veterinarians.

On the same hand, if they see signs of respiratory illness or flu-like symptoms in people, seek advice from healthcare providers.

Influenza A viruses are common in people, just like they are pigs. Influenza viruses are constantly changing and reassorting.

“The threat of influenza virus infection in people and pigs is ever present. It’s why healthcare providers recommend people get annual influenza vaccines to prevent against new strains of the virus that are emerging all the time,” he says.

This doesn’t represent an elevated threat, Oedekoven adds.

“It’s recognition of a threat we know is there,” he says. “Influenza viruses exist and circulate in people all the time.”

Good sanitation and hygiene are important. If employers have workers who are ill with influenza signs, don’t let them come to work because they could potentially spread that disease to the pigs, which could cause more spread to other humans.

Fact #2: There’s no evidence to support a higher risk of influenza infection from cattle to pigs than exists otherwise.

“We’re not even sure yet to what extent this strain of influenza may be transmitted from cattle,” he says.

USDA reports bovine influenza A virus (originally referred to as HPAI in many reports) in dairy cattle was first identified in samples that included unpasteurized milk from one dairy farm in Texas and two in Kansas, as well as an oropharyngeal swab from another dairy in Texas. The virus was first confirmed in one Texas herd on March 21 by Iowa State University’s diagnostic lab that was helping Texas labs process samples more quickly. Affected farms also reported finding deceased wild birds on their properties.

“Most waterfowl and wild bird species can carry influenza viruses, but usually they don’t die from it. They are good carriers of it and can become infected and produce high levels of the virus and spread it. It’s always a good biosecurity practice to keep birds away from your pigs,” he says.

Remain Vigilant
Megan Niederwerder, executive director of the Swine Health Information Center (SHIC), encourages producers to keep close tabs on biosecurity protocols to reduce risk of pathogen exposure from wildlife.

“As part of the Swine Health Information Center’s Standardized Outbreak Investigation Form, there are several hazards associated with wild birds that can be proactively considered to enhance biosecurity,” Niederwerder explains.

Examples include surface water, wild bird access to inside swine barns, equipment stored outside, compost piles, mortality disposal boxes, open feed bags, open feed bin covers and feed spillage fed to pigs, she says.

“It is important to clean and disinfect tools and equipment with potential exposure to wildlife prior to utilizing inside facilities housing pigs,” Niederwerder says.     

Prompt investigation is key, Oedekoven says. This helps veterinarians and producers handle disease challenges better. USDA notes additional testing is underway, including genome sequencing, to characterize the strain(s) associated with the detections.

Spread the Word

Pork producers play an important role in disseminating truth, Oedekoven says. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, influenza has not been shown to spread through eating properly handled pork.

“You can’t get influenza from eating or handling pork,” Oedekoven emphasized. “There’s not a risk of acquiring influenza that way. The way that it is transmitted is through aerosolization and direct contact between infected animals, including humans.”

Read More:

Piecing the Puzzle Together: Diagnostic Monitoring and Flu Prevention

Veterinarians Answer Questions on Influenza

BREAKING: Mystery Illness Impacting Texas, Kansas Dairy Cattle is Confirmed as Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Strain

Meat Institute: Properly Prepared Beef is Safe to Eat; HPAI is not a Food Safety Threat

North Carolina Reports First Case of HPAI in Dairy Herd

Wed, 10 Apr 2024 19:59:16 GMT

The National Veterinary Services Laboratory (NVSL) has detected Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) in a dairy herd in North Carolina.

The North Carolina Commissioner of Agriculture, Steve Troxle, said in a press release he is waiting for more diagnostic information from the NVSL and will work collaboratively with federal partners and dairy farmers in the state.

“We have spent years developing methods to handle HPAI in poultry, but this is new and we are working with our state and federal partners to develop protocols to handle this situation,” he said. “It is important to note the FDA has no concern about the safety or availability of pasteurized milk products nationwide.”

North Carolina is the seventh state to officially confirm the presence of HPAI in a dairy herd.

The other six states with NVSL-confirmed reports of HPAI in dairy are:

Idaho: 1 case
Kansas: 3 cases
Michigan: 2 cases
New Mexico: 4 cases
Ohio: 1 case
Texas: 9 cases

In addition, the National Milk Producers Federation reports that eight states now have dairy cattle importation requirements or restrictions:

The Federation adds that there is “no concern about the safety of the milk supply or that this circumstance poses a risk to consumer health because products are pasteurized before entering the market, per the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Only milk from heathy animals is authorized for distribution into interstate commerce for human consumption. Additionally, pasteurization has continually proven to inactivate bacteria and viruses, including influenza, in milk.”

More information and HPAI dairy-specific resources are available at the Federation’s website, www.nmpf.org

Rare Human Case of Bird Flu Confirmed. Officials Believe it Began on Texas Dairy

Get the Facts Straight on Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza

Minnesota Goat Confirmed to Have Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza

Six Questions One Industry Veterinarian Says She Is Asked Most Often About HPAI

AABP Decides to Reference Cattle Disease as Bovine Influenza A Virus (BIAV)

Tue, 09 Apr 2024 20:17:20 GMT

On Sunday evening, the American Association of Bovine Practitioners (AABP), released a letter to its media partners to update them on how the organization will reference the emerging cattle disease, currently confirmed in dairy herds in six states, moving forward.

“Because this infection in cattle is not the same as highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), after thoughtful consideration and discussion with many experts, the AABP will now refer to this as Bovine Influenza A Virus (BIAV), which more accurately depicts it,” wrote Geni Wren, director of marketing and communications for the organization, in an email accompanying the letter.

The letter was developed and signed by AABP executive director, Fred Gingrich, DVM, and president Michael Capel, DVM.

Gingrich and Capel are asking other organizations, state animal health officials, diagnostic labs, and state and federal agencies to use Bovine Influenza A Virus (BIAV) “so we can be consistent with our messaging and better distinguish the disease syndrome in cattle from the pathogenesis in birds. We believe it is important for the public to understand the difference to maintain confidence in the safety and accessibility of beef and dairy products for consumers,” they wrote.

The letter is available in its entirety for review here:

HPAI Now Detected on Ohio Dairy: Strange Bird Flu Concerns See Growth

Thu, 04 Apr 2024 16:45:08 GMT

Ohio has become the sixth state where dairy cattle have tested positive for highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), also known as bird flu. A recent news release from the Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA) reports presumptive positive results from dairy cows in Wood County.

According to officials, the cows arrived in Wood County on March 8 from a dairy in Texas. That dairy later reported a confirmed case of HPAI. The Ohio dairy operation alerted state officials when the livestock began showing signs of illness. State officials are awaiting confirmation from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

“We have official confirmation that we do have a case at a dairy in Wood County of HPAI, which is an influenza,” says ODA Director Brian Baldridge. “We’ve been working with this in the poultry industry for about the last two-and-a-half years and it has found its way into the dairy industry. We are working diligently with the dairy, with their vets and with our Animal Health division and our state veterinarian, Dr. (Dennis) Summers, on this issue.

According to the USDA, HPAI has now been detected in five other states, including:

Texas
Kansas
New Mexico,
Idaho
Michigan

“Clinically sick dairy cattle from affected herds range from 1% to 20%, with an average of 10% of the milking herd affected. There are no confirmed reports of death loss in dairy cattle directly attributed to these detections. Most sick cows begin recovering within a few days.”

“Federal and state agencies continue to conduct additional testing from sick animals and in unpasteurized clinical milk samples from sick animals, as well as viral genome sequencing, to assess whether HPAI or another unrelated illness may be underlying any symptoms,” the ODA reports.

The agency notes that clinically sick dairy cattle from affected herds range from 1% to 20%, with an average of 10% of the milking herd affected. Currently, there are no confirmed reports of death loss in dairy cattle directly attributed to these detections with most sick cows recovering within a few days.

HPAI symptoms in dairy cattle include:

Sudden drop in milk production.
Some severely impacted cows are producing thicker, more concentrated, colostrum-like milk.
Drop in feed consumption with a simultaneous drop in rumen function, accompanied by loose feces and some fever.
Impacted herds have reported older cows in mid-lactation may be more likely to be severely impacted than younger cows, fresh cows or heifers.
Some herds have reported pneumonia and mastitis.

Officials are strongly advising dairy producers to use all standard biosecurity measures. They note it’s important for producers to clean and disinfect all livestock watering devices and isolate drinking water where it might be contaminated by waterfowl. Farmers are also being asked to notify their herd veterinarian if they suspect any cattle within their herd are displaying symptoms of this condition.

For more on HPAI, read:

5 Practical Ideas Pork Producers Can Borrow from the Egg Industry

Mon, 26 Feb 2024 17:54:41 GMT

The laying hen industry shares many similar risks to the pork industry regarding the need to prevent the introduction of disease agents onto farm operations. When highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) struck the commercial poultry industry in both 2015 and 2022, the result was millions of birds that required depopulation and disposal.

Versova general manager for cage-free production Craig Rowles, DVM, said the primary method of preventing this risk is to invest time, money and effort into biosecurity measures. As a former pork producer himself, Rowles shared at what egg producers are doing now that swine producers could benefit from trying (if they aren’t already doing) in their own operations.

Layered approach
“It’s everyone’s responsibility to keep flocks and herds from becoming infected by focusing on biosecurity they can control on their premises,” Rowles explained during his presentation at the American Association of Swine Veterinarians annual meeting in Nashville, Tenn.

That’s why he believes it’s critical to incentivize good behaviors on the farm. It’s also why Versova has invested millions in creating a lasting, comfortable and appealing environment within their operations to keep people inside.

“The most basic principles for biosecurity remain the same in layers as pigs. The most important aspect of those principles is to maintain the line of separation,” he shared. “The lowest hanging fruit of biosecurity is to prevent disease from being ‘walked’ into a farm.”

Perhaps one of the biggest differences between swine and layer operations is the size and scope of the operations.

“It is not unusual for a layer farm to have 150 to 200 employees,” Rowles says. “We are heavily investing in infrastructure to make the process easy for employees to operate.”

He says it’s important to think of ways to keep people inside. Rowles encourages systems to think about the reasons why employees leave the building and work to find solutions to keep them inside. Here are five practical examples he shared from the egg industry to help make biosecurity easier to implement on farms.

1. Invest in quality shower facilities.
“Make sure you have good shower systems so the last person in gets a hot shower,” Rowles says. Versova has invested in in-floor heat, so floors dry out in the winter. They use hotel industrial-grade fan systems to exhaust the humid air out. Humidistats in the shower run the fan until the humidity is brought down.

2. Prioritize the break room.
Provide employees with a quality break room. At Versova, their break rooms have outside windows, nice floors, good chairs and TVs to deliver coaching/teaching or to be able to watch the news during breaks.

3. Incorporate central kitchens.
Although a nice kitchen may not be needed for a biosecure facility, it does incentivize people to work for us, Rowles explains. “We want to keep them inside the facility as opposed to going out to get their lunch,” he adds.

4. Keep outside work outside, and inside work inside.
Versova farms have vibrators on every bin that can be controlled by workers inside when feed bridge events occur. He says this works about 80% of the time and when it doesn’t, there are designated people who work outside who can go check problems on the outside.

5. Set up a perimeter buffer.
Put fencing around the entire operation to keep wild animals out, he adds. Rolling automatic gates are also helpful to help control traffic in and out of the farm.

Mississippi Hunter and Florida Trapper Survive Wild Pig Attacks

Tue, 14 Nov 2023 19:59:48 GMT

Face to snout with a wild pig, unarmed, and knocked to knees and elbows in a Mississippi river bottom, Monte Sullivan stared at death: “I figured I might be going to meet my maker. We were almost eye to eye, and I was a dead man if that’s what the pig wanted. People think they know all about pigs till they get one on’em.”

Likewise, just two years prior in Florida, while shielding two children from a potential wild pig attack, James Dean sustained horrific injuries that almost ended his life. “The pig moved so fast that I had no idea how bad or deep I was cut. I’ve been doing this for almost 30 years and wild pig numbers weren’t like this when I started.”

Sullivan’s freakish brush and Dean’s gruesome survival highlight the wild pig perils of an exploding population, increased human contact, and expansion into urban locales. “The public doesn’t realize what these animals are capable of,” Dean adds. “Unfortunately, you’re going to see more and more reports of people getting hurt in wild pig encounters.”

Mississippi: Still as a Stone

On Jan. 13, 2022, Monte Sullivan was primed for an afternoon deer hunt. On family bottomland in northeast Mississippi’s Clay County, adjacent to the Chuquatonchee Channel, Sullivan, 70, climbed a ladder stand, loaded a .270 Weatherby rifle, and waited on mature antlers. As evening approached, his stand was crossed by numerous young bucks—but nothing to trigger the interest of a long-in-the-tooth hunter.

At approximately 5:45 p.m., Sullivan unloaded his gun, descended the ladder in near-darkness, and began walking a trail by the light of a fat, full moon toward a GMC Sierra parked a mile distant. Moving quietly on sandy ground, Sullivan crossed along a neighbor’s 50’-x-100’ food plot and spotted four wild pigs rooting in rye and clover. “They were easy to see in the moonlight and maybe 75 yards away. All four went 300-pounds, easy.”

Sullivan kept going, easing down the west side of the food plot, walking parallel to the Chuquatonchee, roughly 20 yards off the bank. A quarter mile from his truck, he heard a soft rattle of brush over his left shoulder and tried to turn—too late. In a flash, he was airborne and steamrolled onto his stomach by a full sounder of wild pigs.

Sullivan had crossed a wash—essentially a trail leading from water to food plot—at the exact moment a sounder moved off the creek. The pigs clattered into his left side and knocked the rifle 5’ away into mud.

On the edge of consciousness, Sullivan pushed onto his elbows and knees, shook away the cobwebs, and took stock: Hand cut by hoof or tusk and shoulder throbbing.

“I was almost knocked out and I’m not exactly sure how long I was down, but I started to regain my senses and I finally looked up to see the most frightening site of my life.”

Injured, alone, unarmed, and exposed on all fours, Sullivan was eyeball-to-eyeball with a wild pig 4’ from his face. As still as a stone, the pig stared at Sullivan, not betraying a hint of intent.

“This pig was on me, just watching,” Sullivan describes. “I’m not gonna exaggerate and say it was 500 pounds, but I promise you it was about 300 pounds—plenty big. Sow or boar, I’m not positive, but I think it was a sow. It’s tough to explain how scared and shook I was, because that pig was deciding its next move and I knew that if she came in, I was going to die right there.”

Florida: Red on Black

James Dean is as tough as hickory. The legendary wildlife removal specialist in east-central Florida’s Brevard County has been mauled by countless critters, bitten by cottonmouths and rattlesnakes, and sustained a coral snake pop for good measure. All told, Dean’s body is a roadmap of scars obtained in encounters from rattlesnakes to pythons to possums to pit bulls.

Every year, Dean traps and removes 1,000-plus wild pigs, but in 2019, he endured the worst injuries of his 26-year career and barely survived a wild pig clash. In October, Dean received a phone call from a homeowner about a rogue boar in a residential neighborhood outside Melbourne. “I’d gotten pig calls from this neighborhood in the past, but this particular pig was especially aggressive and had threatened two little kids and some elderly people walking their dog.”

Wearing steel-toe boots, jeans, and a loose t-shirt with “State Wildlife Trapper” stamped on the back, Dean placed a box trap at the backside of the neighborhood and baited with a batch of sour corn soaked for five days in whiskey, sugar, and yeast. Within 24 hours, as expected, the trap’s guillotine door was triggered, and the boar was bagged.

“He was on the smaller side for a pig, probably just under 200 pounds or so. He had razor-sharp tusks on his bottom jaw that I’d estimate at 1.5 to 2 inches.”

“I did what I always do,” Dean continues. “I pulled my truck up and dropped a transport trap. It’s just a matter of getting on top of the two traps, lifting the doors, and running the pig through. Once he’s secured in the transport trap, I winch it into the back of the truck.”

As Dean mounted the traps, in mid-transfer of the boar, two young girls burst out the backdoor of the nearest house and startled the pig. “He lurched toward them and was squeezing out between the traps,” Dean recalls. “I didn’t have any choice because my only thought was to protect the kids.”

Dean jumped down in front of the boar, attempting to force the pig back into the trap. “I did everything I could to wrestle him away from the girls. All I can tell you is that God gave me the strength to push him back into the trap and shut the door, but that’s when he laid me open. Even though he was a smaller pig, I had no idea what all he’d done to me. His speed was impossible to explain; just so fast.”

The boar had torn through both of Dean’s calf muscles, sliced through one kneecap, exposed bone, chewed hunks out of his arms, doled out multiple head injuries, and cut into Dean’s feet—the steel-toe boots were mangled and later tossed in the trash.

Losing copious amounts of blood, Dean tried to crawl in his cab and drive for help. Instead, he lost consciousness. “I was covered in red and didn’t know it, because all I saw was black.”

Mississippi: “Don’t Want to Know”

Perched on all fours with a wild pig in spitting distance, Monte Sullivan bet all his chips. Posturing as much as circumstances would allow, Sullivan threw up his hands, hollered in alarm, and lunged at the hog. The sow pivoted and shot toward the food plot. “If I had done anything else, that pig was coming at me and I know it.”

Sullivan stood, grabbed his rifle, and staggered down the trail, looking over his shoulder with every step. Reaching the truck, he wiped away blood and felt pain roll across his body as adrenaline effects waned. Recovery included shoulder surgery and seven months of therapy.

“I realize I got between the water and their food, and I paid the price. They probably had no idea I was there and hit me by accident, but once I was down on the ground, the situation changed. I’m not sure what that big sow looking at me was thinking of doing, and maybe I don’t want to know.”

The experience left Sullivan permanently rattled: “People don’t appreciate how fast these animals are until you see it up close. I’ll never forget it for even a second. Keep in mind, when I was a kid there were basically no hogs around, but now they are everywhere. Everywhere.”

Florida: Someone’s Gonna Get Killed

In and out of consciousness, Dean was in danger of bleeding out when his family, and subsequently an emergency crew, arrived on the scene after a homeowner called the sheriff’s office. Dean’s son, Christian, pulled his father from the truck and fastened a tourniquet as paramedics arrived. “I was still feeding off adrenaline and didn’t realize how bad I was hurt. There was so much blood—enough that I remember it dripping out the back of the ambulance onto the ground. I’d been put on aspirin two weeks before as a blood thinner, and that must have made my wounds bleed even worse.”

“He put those sharp tusks on me and opened holes everywhere,” Dean continues. “He bit and scratched me all over the place, but the real damage came from the tusks. The hospital trauma team was ready for me because they had worked on me before for other wildlife injuries and expected me to show up looking pretty bad.”

Three surgeries and multiple infections later, Dean climbed back in the saddle, once again trapping wild pigs. In 2022, along with a Noah’s Ark of other wildlife, he removed 1,600 wild pigs in Brevard County.

“Mentally, it’s made me more driven to protect kids and the public. I do a lot of media interviews from Animal Planet to CNN to Fox and I just try to educate people because the wild pig problem is getting worse. The agriculture damage by wild pigs is crazy and I feel sorry for farmers around here, but someone’s gonna get killed.”

Worse and Worse

The concerns of Dean and Sullivan are merited when considering the research of one of the foremost wild pig experts in the world, John J. Mayer, who has examined 20,000 specimens spanning 50 years of research.

Mayer, a technical program manager at the Savannah River National Laboratory in Aiken, S.C., published Wild Pig Attacks on Humans in 2013. He noted a total of 412 attacks on at least 665 humans in 47 countries and 21 U.S. states from 1825-2012. Significantly, 70% of recorded attacks occurred between 2000 and 2012.

According to Mayer, at least four fatal wild pig attacks have been recorded in U.S. history. (Mayer currently is preparing an updated study on human fatalities from wild pig encounters.) Wild pigs typically avoid human presence, but as population numbers continue to climb, the potential for human interaction increases in tandem.

The current U.S. wild pig population stands at approximately 6.9 million, a particularly alarming number considering the U.S was home to a far lower total of wild pigs—2.4 million—in 1982.

“When I started in wildlife removal, pig numbers were nowhere near what we’re seeing today,” Dean concludes. “The public needs to be aware of what is happening.”

“For the rest of my life, I’ll never go across any land that has pigs without a loaded gun,” Sullivan echoes. “This is going to get worse and worse.”

For more from Chris Bennett (cbennett@farmjournal.com 662-592-1106) see:

While America Slept, China Stole the Farm

Priceless Pistol Found After Decades Lost in Farmhouse Attic

Cottonmouth Farmer: The Insane Tale of a Buck-Wild Scheme to Corner the Snake Venom Market

Tractorcade: How an Epic Convoy and Legendary Farmer Army Shook Washington, D.C.

Young Farmer uses YouTube and Video Games to Buy $1.8M Land

Bizarre Mystery of Mummified Coon Dog Solved After 40 Years

A New Toxicant Tool Decreases Feral Hog Populations in Texas

Fri, 01 Sep 2023 12:16:14 GMT

Explosive numbers , deadly destruction , devastating economic impact . Is it possible to control the spiraling feral hog population in Texas?

A new Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service study shows a warfarin-based toxicant could help slow the out-of-control feral hog numbers by serving as an effective option for landowners and to help minimize damage on their property.

“Texas A&M AgriLife experts are the leading authorities on feral hog control in the nation, and we are the first to test this in a real-world application and to show that this warfarin-based toxicant can be effective for reducing these pests,” explains John Sharp, Chancellor of the Texas A&M University System. “Unabated feral hog populations threaten our natural resources, our livelihoods and our quality of life, and our goal, as a land-grant institution, is to provide safe, effective, science-backed solutions for all Texans.”

The two-year study took place on 23 sites in 10 counties across the various regions of the state. Conducted by Department of Rangeland, Wildlife and Fisheries Management associate professor and AgriLife Extension wildlife specialist John Tomeček, and Michael Bodenchuk, director of Texas Wildlife Services, the teams were able to effectively and efficiently reduce feral hog numbers with diligent application of the product, according to a release .

“Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service was tasked with evaluating the product’s ability to reduce feral hog numbers and damage in regions across the state and seasons of the year,” Tomeček says. “We found that it can be highly effective when utilized correctly and saw no access to the toxicant by non-target species when all feeder devices functioned properly.”

This study is an important step in the fight to curb the economic and environmental impact of feral hogs in Texas and across the nation, Sharp says. With more than 3 million feral hogs causing more than $500 million in damage to agriculture and private property throughout Texas each year , feral hogs are a burden that also destroy native wildlife and disturb native ecosystems.

Toxicant as a Tool

Researchers conducted field evaluations of a low-dose warfarin-based toxicant to determine its efficacy in various regions of the state and to assess the product’s ability to help landowners prevent property damage and economic harm from feral hogs. AgriLife Extension specialists worked with private landowners on recommended application methodologies to provide real-world testing conditions for the product and the suggested best practices, the release explains.

Bait that included warfarin was placed in specially designed dispensers that prevent access by non-target species, Tomeček says. Feral hogs were conditioned to access the bait before the product was applied. Once the product was applied, feral hogs consumed lethal doses within five days of consistent access to the bait.

Tomeček points out that the product is not considered acutely toxic to non-target animals in the event some might gain limited access to the bait. It’s also not found at lethal levels within the tissue of deceased feral hogs.

The key is to “correctly and consistently” use the warfarin-based toxicant.

After a trial period of close supervision and instruction, landowners in the study applied and managed the bait themselves. During the project, the Texas A&M AgriLife team made several discoveries that will help increase efficacy of the product when applied, the release said.

Landowners who checked the feeder for mechanical issues and replaced bait consistently as part of their regular maintenance schedule reported sharp declines in feral hog numbers and damage levels over the seasons of the year.
Landowners who did not adhere to instruction reported mixed to low success in curbing feral hog numbers on their property. These results were true, regardless of the season of the year or the region of the state where the trial was being conducted.

With threats of African swine fever (ASF) and other foreign animal diseases getting closer to the U.S., wild hog control is becoming an even more critical topic as wild hogs serve as vectors of disease.

Read More About Feral Hogs:

Feral Swine: USDA Monitors World’s Worst Invasive Alien Species

A Sport Utility Vehicle for Disease: Wild Pigs Wreak Havoc in Louisiana

Missouri’s Feral Hog Problem Turns a Corner

Texas Pork Producers Face Uphill Battle with Wild Pigs

Is Aerial Gunning the Answer for Uptick of Wild Hogs?

Is Missouri’s Feral Hog Population on the Decline?

Feral Swine Eradication Program Should Be Permanent, Senators Urge

Destructive, Formidable, Invasive: How is the U.S. Managing the Feral Hog Population?

Feral Swine Test Positive for Pseudorabies at Colorado Farm

Why You Need to Pay Attention Now to EPA’s Proposed Rodenticide Mitigation Measures

Mon, 13 Feb 2023 20:42:02 GMT

Out of sight, out of mind. That theory works for a while until it doesn’t, especially when it comes to rodent control.

“Rodenticide use is like using insecticides. If you don’t see any cockroaches, you don’t worry about them. But once you see one, you throw the bomb at it,” says Larry Delozier, director of national poultry account sales for QC Supply.

Similarly, once you see a mouse or rat, it’s likely you have a big problem on your hands , explains Steve Von Haden, Midwest business manager for Motomco.

“Always assume you have rodents, and you should be putting bait out,” Von Haden says. “All agricultural buildings or structures will have rodents of some type. You just don’t want it to get to such high peaks it causes structural damage, diseases and contamination of food sources .”

Pending regulation could mean agriculture loses critically important tools to protect food security. EPA is proposing significant changes to rodenticides that would result in the canceling of products and uses, add more requirements to the labels, and reclassify some products to restricted use pesticides .

“Regardless of whether you are a livestock producer or citrus grower or manager of a golf course, this will have an impact on your ability to effectively manage a destructive farm pest,” says John Walt Boatright, director of government affairs at American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF). “It’s one more challenge in a regulatory environment where challenges continue to grow for the American producer.”

What is EPA Proposing?

On Nov. 29, 2022, the EPA released for public comment new proposed mitigation measures for 11 rodenticides, which if implemented, will have a major impact on all currently available rodenticide products, the Agricultural Retailers Association (ARA) said on its website . The agency’s proposals are the most significant changes to rodenticides in 15 years that will result in the canceling of products and uses, add more requirements to the labels, and reclassify some products to restricted use pesticides, ARA noted.

EPA’s recommended changes are included in four Proposed Interim Decision documents (PIDs) that cover: 1) the seven anticoagulant rodenticides; 2) bromethalin and cholecalciferol; 3) strychnine; and 4) zinc phosphide.

“EPA’s proposal is quite wide-ranging, and it is going to impact any user of rodenticides and how rodenticides are applied,” Boatright explains. “The challenge is many of EPA’s proposed mitigation measures introduce additional challenges for on-farm application. I don’t know that they will have the intended effect that EPA thinks they’ll have.”

Boatright says this should be very concerning for everyone in the agricultural supply chain who apply rodenticides. Michael Formica, chief legal strategist for the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC), says it will also have a negative impact in urban areas where rodent infestation is a major problem.

“This is an example of one area where rural communities can build positive engagement and cooperate with urban communities. As much as rats and rodents are pests on the farm, they are even more so in an urban area,” Formica says. “In the back alleys in DC, you see rats that look like cats racing from one building to another, running around at night. People don’t want to live with them.”

And they shouldn’t have to, Delozier says. Rodent control companies have made effective, safe bait under EPA’s existing stringent restrictions. EPA’s proposed measures will add great cost and will likely be prohibitive for many.

What Does This Mean for Farmers?

If this proposal is enacted, rodenticide users will see many new restrictions.

“The average livestock farmer wouldn’t be able to use them, you would have to go through certification and training in your state,” Formica explains. “If you’ve got a row crop or grain operation, a lot of folks have that certification because they spray pesticides. But most livestock farmers don’t have all those different certifications.”

Certifications would be required annually, which takes a lot of time, paperwork and training.

“If you don’t have that certification, you would need to hire exterminators to come out. That’s expensive and creates its own biosecurity problem because you’re having people come out not just to apply the rat poison, but also pick up the dead rats,” Formica says.

Pick up dead rats? Yes, that’s part of the new measures, too.

“The proposal talks about mandatory carcass searches in the field. That seems to be quite a challenge to expect a farmer or a farm worker to stop what they’re doing and search for rodent carcasses in potentially hundreds or thousands of acres,” Boatright says.

Once the rodent carcasses are found, farmers would be required to not just log them, but also pick them up and dispose of them.

Another limitation of these measures includes the requirement of single-use base stations, which would create a lot of garbage, Formica adds. The bait stations being used today are refillable.

What Will Happen if Rodent Bait Goes Off the Shelves?

“The more regulation you put on farmers, the more resistance you will have and that’s not conducive to the economic engine that is farming and food in the U.S.,” says Mike Slegl, vice president of product sales for QC Supply.

Farmers aren’t misusing product with the intent of controlling other things, Slegl adds. Some believe EPA is rushing to do this because of pressure from environmentalists for Endangered Species Act concerns.

“There is a potential major negative impact of an additional EPA regulation on the true sustainability of livestock production and the livelihood of farms,” Slegl says. “If it’s one more forced hand that overnight becomes more expensive to something they’re already doing, there’s going to be major resistance and people will push towards non-compliance.”

Delozier fears EPA’s rodenticide mitigation measures will ultimately increase the cost of goods to the consumer.

“Whenever we add requirements, there is always a cost that goes into the food system and will eventually cost the consumer more, too,” Delozier says. “Farmers are already using rodenticides that have to be EPA-approved.”

Darrin Karcher, a poultry specialist and associate professor at Purdue University, says it could be a double-edged sword.

“With the larger integrated companies, if they have to pay someone else to do it, they will pay someone because it has to be taken care of. Where it may catch are those individuals doing it themselves who may not have financial depths to pursue having other people take care of application,” Karcher says. “The question becomes, can they find a way to do that?”

An Increased Biosecurity Risk

And what if they can’t? Rodents present a major biosecurity risk for farms. With devastating diseases like Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) in the poultry industry and the threat of deadly foreign animal diseases like African swine fever (ASF) in the pork industry, leaders fear how this could impact the health of the nation’s livestock herds.

“The restricted-use pesticide designation concerns me,” says Matthew Galloway, Midwest sales manager for ag rodenticides with Liphatech Inc. “For the broiler and breeder side of the poultry industry, there are hundreds of thousands of barns all over the U.S. One contract grower often has four or five barns and there may be several thousand barns within each company. If farmers don’t get their license, they will have to hire an outside applicator. Then you run into the risk of biosecurity breaches. We can’t have applicators running through multiple farms over a week’s time, otherwise we’ll really see a massive problem.”

It’s also a major problem if rodents get out of control because farms can’t afford the added cost.

“You can put all the filters you want on the ventilation systems in your barns and be as biosecure of a facility as possible, but if rats can get in and out, they will find a way. They aren’t showering,” Formica says.

What Can You Do?

Every 15 years, pesticides are reviewed by EPA. This rodenticide review is part of a pilot project for EPA as they’re implementing their Endangered Species Act work plan. These mitigation measures seek to achieve compliance with their statutory directives at EPA, following recent court cases directing EPA.

“We will see this approach in reviewing other pesticides as well. Folks need to be prepared to provide input,” he says.

This is a proposed interim decision, Boatright explains. EPA will take comments through Feb. 13 and review them. They will then promulgate a final rule at some point in the future.

“Make your voice heard,” Liphatech’s Galloway says. “We’ve got to do everything we can. Submit comments to EPA.”

Both NPPC and AFBF are gathering feedback and information from its members and will be submitting comments to EPA by the Feb. 13 deadline.

“Weigh in and let elected officials know you value these products. The best thing you can do is call your member of Congress. We’re just coming out of three years of COVID, and there are tremendous human health issues of taking rodenticides off the market,” NPPC’s Formica says.

Read more about the rodent problem.

USDA Proposes Amendments to APHIS's Traceability Regulations

Thu, 19 Jan 2023 20:04:19 GMT

USDA published a proposed rule which would amend U.S. animal disease traceability regulations to require eartags in cattle and bison that are both visually and electronically readable — electronic identification (EID) tags.

Some changes have been made to a prior APHIS plan, including now the agency using the term EID tags instead of radio frequency identification (RFID) tags. APHIS said that is to accommodate the potential for future technologies other than RFID relative to the tags.

Industry Responds

Ethan Lane, vice president of government affairs at NCBA, broke down the timeline for the transition to EID tags in Thursday’s AgriTalk.

“We currently have the RFID tag rule that we saw at the end of the Trump administration that took a three or four year period to ramp up and transition to,” Lane says. “This EID tag will go live as soon as it is finalized, which is likely to be a year to 18 months.”

What’s at Stake

The EID system is aimed at helping the U.S. cattle industry deal with the emergency response to animal disease events, with APHIS concluding that while foot and mouth disease (FMD) and other diseases have been largely excluded from the U.S., “exclusion of every high impact disease through every pathway of introduction is likely an unachievable task.”

Kent Bacus, NCBA’s executive director of government affairs, echoes APHIS, saying FMD is one of his association’s biggest concerns.

“We haven’t had a case of FMD in the U.S. since the 1920s, and there hasn’t been FMD in North America since the 1950s,” he says. “We have a very naive herd that would be devastated by FMD, as would other hoofed livestock.”

Disease management tactics aside, Bacus says the domino affect FMD would have on the supply chain that is continuously being soddered and broken would be “catastrophic.” He points to highly-pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) and African swine fever (ASF) as examples.

The Gameplan

Under the proposed rule, APHIS would require tags to be used that are both visually and electronically readable for interstate movement of cattle and bison six months after a final rule is published in the Federal Register.

Comments on the APHIS proposed rule are due Mar. 20. There is not yet a definitive date when the plan will finally be in place.

Meet Mississippi’s Yawt Yawt, a Wild Pig’s Nightmare and Hunting Legend in the Making

Thu, 15 Dec 2022 15:28:41 GMT

Just past the stroke of Mississippi midnight, on a July evening teetering between sticky and steamy, the Yawt Yawt hunts from the domestic comforts of a soft recliner bathed in the climate-controlled crisp of sweet air. Yawt Yawt, also known as David Ellis, fixates on an iPad screen featuring the fruits of a week’s worth of his labor—a full sounder of wild pigs contentedly slop-feasting on bait beneath a circular trap. Satisfied with the haul, Ellis pushes an app button and remotely drops a 600 lb. curtain around the pigs: The wrath of Yawt Yawt has descended.

Five hours and a fitful bout of sleep later, with camera rolling, Ellis pulls a trailer down a turnrow separating an endless stretch of pines from the flats of a massive corn field. He pulls up to a wild pig tornado—Gadarene swine swirling within the 12’-diameter trap. Ellis grabs a .22 rifle, exits the truck, and sucks in an overpowering stench of hog musk, rotting food, urine, and feces. In the glare of headlights, 20 wild pigs chill in the beams, momentarily calmed by the blinding glow. Ellis moves methodically, peering down an iron-sight barrel, and sends a lead bullet between the eyes and into the brain of the bully pig—the boss hog.

Pig by pig, shot by shot, Ellis goes down the pecking order and dispatches the entire sounder. Minutes later, as sunrise climbs over the corn, he stacks the hogs in the trailer bed and chatters incessantly as enthusiasm explodes from his core. “Pile of pigs, baby. Piiiiiile of pigs,” Ellis whoops in deep Mississippi cadence, barely pausing for breath. “Welcome to the Yawt Yawt Show.”

Nobody does wild pigs like the Yawt Yawt . Nobody. Ellis’ hunting and trapping videos are viral cocaine for a growing YouTube and Facebook audience addicted to his wild pig content. From backwoods redneck to social media star, he is a force unleashed—part hunter, teacher, preacher, raconteur, and ringmaster. No airs, pretensions, or masquerade. “I’m just a brother from the trailer hood trying to make it to Hollywood,” explains Ellis with a wink, wide smile, and infectious laugh.

What happens when a human wrecking ball is crossed with the most buck-wild North American beast on four legs? Ask Ellis, likely the most recognized wild pig trapper in the United States.

Toss him a question, get out of the way, and prepare for a genuinely rip-roaring hunt alongside the incomparable Yawt Yawt.

Broke and Known

Across a childhood spent tailing the shadow of his father, Keith, through the woods of Clay County in northeast Mississippi, Ellis learned the nuances of hunting turkey, deer, and small game. Gobblers became his game of choice—an avian obsession that brought most all other aspects of life to a screeching halt each spring. Wild pigs, however, were an alien species during his youth—an off-the-radar creature in someone else’s county or state.

Partially raised in a rural trailer park, Ellis learned life, guns, and a big dose of hardscrabble: “We never did without, but those trailers sure had thin walls,” he recalls. “I knew when my buddy was getting a whupping in trailer #34 and I could tell you exactly how many licks he got.”

Out of high school, Ellis spent 22 years as a lineman and foreman, and handler of electrical issues that popped across Clay County. He walked the standard career path until the script flipped in March 2017, when Ellis posted several turkey hunting videos meant for a circle of 200 online Facebook friends. Instead, the public got its first glimpse of Yawt Yawt in the making and clamored for more. Much more.

“It was a total social media fluke,” he says. “I was having fun, posting with no intention. Suddenly, the videos went nuts. Out of nowhere, millions of people were watching.”

Truly. As Ellis watched the video views tally into the stratosphere, the entrepreneurial sparks flew. The crowd came for the hunting videos ; they stayed for the infectious personality of Ellis.

Yawt Yawt was born.

“I sure wasn’t rich and famous,” he says, “but I was broke and known.”

“Maybe They Reincarnate”

In a nutshell, Yawt Yawt is explained best as a turkey hen yelp expressed via a Southern accent. Ellis, 43, turned the yelp into his alter ego, hunting identity, trademark, meme, company, nom de guerre, catchphrase, and catchall.

Ellis is a master turkey hunter—a runner-and-gunner, almost always crawling toward birds and rarely calling them in. Simply, he possesses enough rollicking turkey stories for a 1,000 campfires or tailgates.

Yet, despite Ellis’ turkey-based surge out of the viral gate as Yawt Yawt on Facebook and YouTube, he recognized a mathematical limitation: Turkey season lasts 41 days in Mississippi. Even stretched to include surrounding states, spring season covers roughly 60 days across state lines. “How could I keep finding material for social media momentum? I couldn’t afford to travel to make videos,” Ellis says. “Why not trapping?”

With 15 years of experience trapping a wide variety of game, Ellis suspected the public’s wild pig appetite was unsated, i.e., plenty of meat remained on the hog bone.

He began posting wild pig trapping videos in September 2017 and the audience engagement broke the internet and filled his message box with pleas from insatiable followers: GOT ANYMORE HOGS?

The beast hooked Yawt Yawt.

“I realized the future,” he says. “Why? Because nobody else was doing it like me on the platforms. Sure, there were videos from all kinda states where guys were catching or hunting wild pigs, but I humbly say nobody had ever seen it done the Yawt Yawt way.”

Currently, Ellis lifts the veil higher on wild pigs than any predecessor by taking viewers to a hot zone of infestation. “I show just how wild things are and how bad these pigs are getting. People are naturally curious and fascinated by a crazy wild pig world hiding in the dark.”

“People get freaked out when they realize an animal as big and dangerous as a wild pig is capable of surviving and hiding in plain sight in major, major numbers—right outside their front doors, but at the same time, they want to see big monsters,” he continues.

“I give them a front-row seat to an animal that tears up land like no other and is a survivor that’ll outlast the apocalypse. Kill one, and two more appear, because maybe they reincarnate.”

Unleash Hell

On countless boyhood hunting trips, Ellis never encountered wild pigs or signs of hog presence in the 1980s and early 1990s. Yet, a wild pig blanket was sweeping Mississippi by Ellis’ teen years. In 1999, he spotted a sounder of 37 hogs, and soon after killed his first specimen—a massive boar. “I shot it with a bow and his size was incredible. I’m talking so big that I cut his head off to take it out, because I didn’t have a four-wheeler to haul him. I was used to man-hauling deer, but he was too big to drag. I should have quartered him, but at the time, I was just blown away by his monster size.”

“At first, I was young and thought having a new animal to hunt was awesome. I started hunting wild pigs with friends and hog dogs, and we had some box traps, but we didn’t know these hogs were going to take over. We didn’t know we were looking at an animal about to unleash hell on our land. Pigs don’t move like other animals. They push out; they steamroll.”

Wild pigs have exploded in numbers across the United States, possibly exceeding 6.5 million in roughly 40 states, and their proliferation involves an outrageously high birth rate, extreme intelligence, and physical prowess. Wild pig control is one of the greatest challenges in U.S. wildlife management history.

Generally, wildlife biologists place the wild pig control bar at roughly 66% to 75%. In theory, if a given area has a wild pig population of 100,000, then 66,000 to 75,000 must be killed each year—just to keep the population at a floor of 100,000. Once a population is established, sustained wild pig control is a monumental task.

Sows produce two litters per year—six young on average, but litters can be as large as 12 piglets. Although rare, sows are biologically capable of conception as early as four months and boars are sexually mature at five months.

Breeding rate and intelligence are enough to make wild pigs a grand survivor, but dietary superpowers elevate the species to an opportunistic masterclass. The latitude in a wild pig’s ability to obtain food is remarkable, from foraging roots in the woods, to feasting in pecan orchards, to hitting freshly planted rows of corn and precision-rooting seed every 6” for 100 yards, to consuming the remains of dead mammals or functioning as a predator.

All things considered, farmland and hunting ground is a wild pig grocery store surrounded by trees. Crop fields, pasture, timber, ponds, bottoms, and irrigation sources provide food, water and cover. From a wild pig’s survivalist perspective: Why leave?

Answer: Yawt Yawt.

Waiting for the Reaper

In 2017, Ellis didn’t own a wild pig trap. Only five years later, he is the most high-profile hog trapper in the hunting industry. He deploys several traps, but primarily uses a Big Pig Trap and HogEye Camera .

A live-footage system, the HogEye provides a remote viewer with an instant release-option on the drop trap. As pigs feed and huddle in live-action, a single button drops the trap in real-time, allowing an operator to know exactly how many pigs are trapped in the moment.

From his home in Mathiston, Miss., Ellis mainly traps in Clay, Oktibbeha, and Webster counties, essentially a one-hour radius. When working a hunting club or farm, he targets a complete sounder—the entire herd. However, the task is filled with nuance, especially when dealing with multiple sounders within the same vicinity.

“Bait-and-wait does not work if you want to catch big numbers,” Ellis says. “To catch close to 100%, pre-bait for about five days. Feed them every night with plenty of corn and don’t let them go hungry. The pigs will get so satisfied, they’ll eventually lay down. They’ll get to the point where they lay on the corn, mouths moving sideways, eating grain at leisure.”

As the general trapping area becomes saturated by the smell of corn and hog presence—bigger crowds arrive. Whether 9 p.m., midnight, or deeper in the night, Ellis obsessively checks the camera feed. Television doesn’t hold his attention—but hogs do. “I can’t describe how much I’ve learned from watching the camera for five years straight. Sometimes I’ll get up at 3 a.m., tune in to the camera, and learn, watch, and wait. I want to know who is the bully setting the tone and which group to wait on.”

“Sometimes there’s more going on than one sounder—maybe multiple sounders. If the particular sounders won’t come together, I have to learn that fast. Let’s say one sounder comes in at 10 p.m. and the other comes in at 2 a.m. every day. I always let the first sounder eat and leave peacefully. Eventually, I’ll catch the 2 a.m. group first, reset the trap, and catch the 9 p.m. sounder that night. My most is seven drops in a chain—50 hogs.”

“Scouting is crucial. It’s hard to get 20 hogs in a round trap because as the pigs come in, other pigs root them out. Sometimes I have to make a choice—push the button and catch 18, and try to shoot the other two. Then again, there are some nights when they huddle like a football team and I’ll catch every single one.”

Once the trap drops, the pigs have a tiny window—several hours—of potential escape over the top. Before sun rises, the reaper will arrive. Enter Yawt Yawt.

20 Million

Pulling a trailer via truck or side-by-side just before daylight, Ellis’s infectious zeal is impossible to hide as he rumbles toward his trap wearing a wide smile, decked in standard hog-trapping attire: t-shirt, blue jeans, Yawt Yawt ball cap, LITE boots, pocketknife, and .22 rifle. (He keeps a .22 mag rifle in the truck for any wild pig getaways, stragglers, or chance encounters.)

Late arrival to the trapping site risks pig parkour. “When hogs can see land on the other side of the trap, things can get wild. Hogs don’t jump—except when they need to. The whole life of a wild hog has been to seek shelter at daylight, and they’ll start jumping for the top of the trap. The big ones can sure get out, even at a height of 7’. They get those front legs over the top, scramble up, roll out, and they’re gone.”

Every trapping effort brings a unique haul, from 350 lb. boars to tiny piglets. Ellis stops recording during shooting to keep down the gore level and placate the lords of social media. After killing the hogs, lifting the trap, and loading the carcasses, Ellis’s accompanying Yawt Yawt videos are gobbled by 450,000 Facebook followers and 120,000 YouTube subscribers. The viewer comments on typical videos break all demographic barriers and reveal a crosspollinated audience of blue and white collar, male and female, old and young, domestic and foreign, and farm and city.

And what of the meat? Ellis distributes the fare to his community. “I give away about 85% to anyone in need. Sometimes people criticize that and talk about diseased meat, but that is not the case. Those same people knocking me for giving away a hog don’t seem to have any trouble with a veteran eating out of a dumpster.”

It’s not unusual for Ellis to receive provision requests and he goes the extra mile to respond. In late fall, out of season for trapping when pigs are sated with acorns and unwilling to congregate around corn in big numbers, Ellis runs low on wild pig meat. “One time my phone rang with someone needing meet for a family in trouble. I had no wild pork to give, so I went to the store, bought $273 in meat, and delivered it. I didn’t know anything about the family, but they had little kids, and whatever they were going through couldn’t be blamed on the children.”

Beyond wild pigs, turkey, and trapping, Ellis uses the Yawt Yawt platform as a ministry, and he runs a madhouse schedule filled with speaking events at outdoor shows and churches, hunts across the country, social media presence, and most pressing—family priorities.

All told, he estimates his reach nears 20 million people per month. “God has given me an opportunity I won’t waste to let 20 million people hear the name of Jesus in some way every time I make a video or speak. Whether it’s job loss, divorce, or being broke that people are going through, I’ve been right there and lower. I’m just a guy who tells where he’s been, where he’s at now, and where he’s going, and how God has helped me.”

Caught by the Yawt

Mississippi is home to approximately 500,000 wild pigs—extreme job security for Ellis. Even with toxic baits on the horizon, he puts little faith in potential population checks. “In the future, I don’t see anything slowing down these hogs. I hear about new baits, but we’ve been baiting rats forever and never slowed them down.”

“I didn’t grow up with this animal, but I admit I have developed a deep respect for a creature with such a will to live. When this world comes to the end of times, the hogs will still be here.”

An American original with few peers, Ellis churns out in-the-vein entertainment in pursuit of an extraordinary mammal, yet his lust for life trumps the captivating footage. Again, tune in for the pigs, stay for the Yawt Yawt .

“The Lord has blessed me and I get to do something I love that is worthwhile. It’s a great feeling to know I helped a landowner,” he says. “These hogs just keep coming and I’ll be waiting.”

Indeed. Caught by the Yawt.

To read more stories from Chris Bennett (cbennett@farmjournal.com 662-592-1106) see:

Young Farmer uses YouTube and Video Games to Buy $1.8M Land

Cottonmouth Farmer: The Insane Tale of a Buck-Wild Scheme to Corner the Snake Venom Market

Tractorcade: How an Epic Convoy and Legendary Farmer Army Shook Washington, D.C.

Bagging the Tomato King: The Insane Hunt for Agriculture’s Wildest Con Man

While America Slept, China Stole the Farm

Bizarre Mystery of Mummified Coon Dog Solved After 40 Years

The Arrowhead whisperer: Stunning Indian Artifact Collection Found on Farmland

Where’s the Beef: Con Artist Turns Texas Cattle Industry Into $100M Playground

Fleecing the Farm: How a Fake Crop Fueled a Bizarre $25 Million Ag Scam

Skeleton In the Walls: Mysterious Arkansas Farmhouse Hides Civil War History

US Farming Loses the King of Combines

Ghost in the House: A Forgotten American Farming Tragedy

Rat Hunting with the Dogs of War, Farming’s Greatest Show on Legs

Evil Grain: The Wild Tale of History’s Biggest Crop Insurance Scam

Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Reported in Illinois, Iowa and Kansas

Mon, 14 Mar 2022 19:18:53 GMT

Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) has now been confirmed in Iowa, Kansas and Illinois. USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has confirmed the presence of HPAI in a backyard mixed species poultry flock in Franklin County, Kan., a non-commercial backyard flock (non-poultry) in Mclean County, Ill., and a commercial flock of layer chickens in Taylor County, Iowa.

“While this additional case of HPAI is not unexpected, we have prepared for this and are working closely with USDA and livestock producers to control and eradicate this disease from our state,” said Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig in a release. “This is a difficult time for poultry producers. We will continue to support them and emphasize the need for strict biosecurity on farms and around poultry to help prevent the spread of this disease.”

APHIS is working closely with state animal health officials on joint incident responses. State officials quarantined the affected premises, and birds on the properties will be depopulated to prevent the spread of the disease. Birds from the flocks will not enter the food system.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the recent HPAI detections do not present an immediate public health concern. No human cases of these avian influenza viruses have been detected in the U.S., USDA reports. As a reminder, the proper handling and cooking of all poultry and eggs to an internal temperature of 165 ˚F is recommended as a general food safety precaution.

As part of existing avian influenza response plans, federal and state partners are working jointly on additional surveillance and testing in areas around the affected flocks. The U.S. has the strongest AI surveillance program in the world, and USDA is working with its partners to actively look for the disease in commercial poultry operations, live bird markets and in migratory wild bird populations.

USDA encourages anyone involved with poultry production from the small backyard to the large commercial producer to review their biosecurity activities to assure the health of their birds. APHIS has materials about biosecurity, including videos, checklists and a toolkit available here .

In addition to practicing good biosecurity, all bird owners should prevent contact between their birds and wild birds and report sick birds or unusual bird deaths to state and federal officials, either through their state veterinarian or through APHIS’ toll-free number at 1-866-536-7593. APHIS urges producers to consider bringing birds indoors when possible to further prevent exposures. The Animal Health Protection Act authorizes APHIS to provide indemnity payments to producers for birds and eggs that must be depopulated during a disease response. APHIS also provides compensation for disposal activities and virus elimination activities. Additional information on biosecurity for backyard flocks can be found at http://healthybirds.aphis.usda.gov .

Monitoring Helps Stem Spread of Avian Flu, K-State Expert Says

Mon, 21 Feb 2022 16:28:43 GMT

Reports of avian influenza in bird flocks on the east coast and more recently in Indiana are important reminders for small and large poultry producers to remain vigilant on biosecurity practices, said a Kansas State University poultry specialist.

Scott Beyer said the U.S. poultry industry is always on the lookout for highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) and other diseases that could affect birds. Recent news reports are a sign that surveillance efforts to identify and stem the spread of the disease work.

“If it’s present, we will find it,” he said, “because we are constantly looking for it.”

Avian influenza is a highly contagious viral disease that affects food-producing birds, including chickens, turkeys, pheasant, ducks, quail, guinea fowl and more. It is commonly spread by such waterfowl as ducks, geese and shorebirds.

The virus can spread between birds through contact with an infected bird, or by ingesting infected food or water. According to the Kansas Department of Agriculture’s Division of Animal Health, it is “extremely rare” for humans or mammals to contract avian influenza from an infected bird.

Because of extensive routine testing, Beyer said food products – eggs and chicken in particular -- are not at high risk. “We want to make sure that it’s not even close to being a risk for the food supply.”

The last major outbreak in the United States occurred in 2015, dramatically affecting the egg industry. Beyer noted that 50 million birds were eliminated during efforts to control that outbreak.

Within the past month, “we’ve had small flocks in Virginia and wild birds in North Carolina that have tested positive (for avian influenza),” Beyer said. “Now, it seems like we may have some concerns with broilers and turkeys in Indiana through Kentucky.”

With spring arriving, birds will soon move south along major flyways located along the east and west coasts of the United States, or one of the two in the central part of the country.

“Birds go north and south, and when they do, they go into roosting, wintering and breeding grounds,” Beyer said. “Birds from other countries on the other side of the Earth sometimes mix with birds at the top, and they migrate down. They can pick the virus up there, and bring it down with them. It’s an age-old challenge; it’s been going on forever. We always have to deal with it.”

Beyer said health officials’ policy on avian influenza “is that we don’t tolerate it; we eliminate it.”

That translates into immediate action in which flocks are euthanized within a radius of where a positive test was found. That has proven reliable to keep the disease from affecting a much broader area.

“Now is a great time to put biosecurity plans in place,” Beyer said. “At Kansas State University (which maintains a poultry teaching and research unit), we started weeks ago when we saw the first east coast infections. Our biosecurity plan means staying away from other flocks, not trading animals, keeping your feet clean when you go into facilities, and more.”

Backyard bird owners and farmers with small flocks should also have a plan to keep their birds safe. Beyer suggests watching the waterfowl that visit farm ponds or other water sources – “mallard ducks in particular” – and avoid walking into animal facilities if you’ve walked around the pond.

He also suggests keeping feed areas cleaned up, so that you’re not attracting wild birds; and limiting the amount of time that you allow your small flock to be fed.

He urges caution if flock owners plan to attend local swaps, or bird auctions.

“This time of year, people have extra birds they want to sell,” Beyer said. “If they’re bringing them to the swap, there should be a testing program. Don’t bring birds to the swap if they’re showing any symptoms of sickness.”

Beyer said newborn chicks are generally not considered high risk for avian influenza.

Avian influenza is considered a reportable disease, which means once detected, it must be reported to federal, state or local health officials. Producers who suspect a problem should contact their veterinarian, local extension office or state veterinarian.

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