The Agricultural Biosecurity Blog
Imagine walking into a rabbitry one day and noticing multiple rabbits dead with nothing other than a little bit of blood on their nose. A highly contagious foreign animal disease by the name of rabbit hemorrhagic disease (RHD) is on the rise nationally, and is causing many rabbit farmers and owners to fear for their stock and pets. While it …
The United States is fortunate that foot and mouth disease (FMD)—a highly contagious, devastating viral disease of cloven-hoofed animals—has not occurred in the country since 1929. Secure Food Supply Plans, including the Secure Sheep and Wool Supply Plan, were developed to assist producers, transporters and food processors in the event of a foreign animal disease outbreak in the U.S., namely …
*Updated March, 2023. African swine fever (ASF) has the potential to destroy the U. S. pork industry by killing millions of pigs if it enters the country. A study from Iowa State University projected that if ASF spread to the United States and was not controlled within two years, the pork industry would lose $50 billion over ten years. Even …
Imagine looking forward to spending time with your horses during the summer, but finding them drooling with blistered tongues and muzzles. Unfortunately, this is what some farmers and equestrians in southwestern and midwestern areas of the United States are experiencing this summer because of an outbreak of vesicular stomatitis (VS). VS is a zoonotic disease—caused by the VS virus (VSV)—and …
When I talked about emergency preparedness with folks involved in agriculture in 2011, I was referencing the Deepwater Horizon oil well explosion, the toxic sludge flood in Hungary, and the Fukushima nuclear plant accident in Japan as example of disasters that were unanticipated. In 2019, I would have referenced the crashes of the Boeing 737-Max, the collapse of the Brumadinho …
Mosquitoes are stealthy pests, but red itchy bumps are not the only thing they leave behind. Mosquitoes can transmit viruses like the one that causes eastern equine encephalitis (EEE or Triple E). Although outbreaks of EEE are not widespread across the United States, the disease can be devastating. An Uncommon but Serious Disease Eastern equine encephalitis is an uncommon but …
Both voluntary and official quarantines are used to limit the spread of equine herpesvirus-1 (EHV-1). For a month beginning the week prior to Thanksgiving 2019, both types of movement restriction were implemented in several parts of the country. Case reports can be found on the disease outbreak alert page maintained by the Equine Disease Communication Center (EDCC). The Impacts of …
When making cookies, the best part for me was eating the raw cookie dough. However, my brother was never a fan of it. He would always tell me that he did not want to risk getting sick. I, on the other hand, did not mind taking a risk to enjoy the raw dough. Recently, I realized an important risk for …
During October 2019, Australia’s agriculture minister cancelled a Vietnamese woman’s visa after authorities found 22 pounds of undeclared food products in her luggage. The luggage contained pork, quail, squid, pâté, fruit, eggs and garlic (Griffiths, 2019). International travel and trade increases the risks of introducing a foreign/exotic disease or pest into another country. Australia had to develop an extensive eradication …
There are many reasons why people are reluctant to comply with government laws and regulations. However, a cooperative state-federal-industry program for eradicating scrapie in the United States has resulted in excellent progress towards eliminating this disease in sheep and goats. The number of animals testing positive for scrapie in the U.S. has decreased by 99 percent, since analysis of producer-submitted …
A line of separation is a biosecurity practice that involves setting up boundaries or zones on a livestock operation. The purpose of the line is to block the introduction, or limit the spread of disease-causing agents (NPPC, 2013). Compliance with procedures for crossing the line can become an issue with farm workers and visitors. The line is meant to separate …
The red maple (Acer rubrum) is one of the most common and widespread native deciduous trees of eastern and central North America. These fast growing trees are usually planted for their beautiful red leaf color in the fall season, and as a shade tree. However, the fallen leaves could be deadly for horses. Ingestion of wilted or dry leaves by …
