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By Category: Agriculture

North Korea: FAO says urgent vaccine and equipment needed to contain Foot-and-Mouth Disease

Around a million dollars of equipment and vaccines are urgently required to help stem outbreaks of deadly Foot-and-Mouth disease in North Korea, followed by a more prolonged and concerted effort to modernize veterinary services in the country, according to a joint FAO and OIE mission sent to North Korea.

March 24, 2011
| Filed under Asia/Pacific, Agriculture, and Public Health
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New Standards for Reducing Pathogens in Poultry

Trying to cut the risk of foodborne illnesses caused by contaminated raw poultry, the U.S. Department of Agriculture on Wednesday announced stricter standards to reduce Salmonella and Campylobacter in young chickens and turkey.The new baseline standards take effect in July.USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FS!S) estimates that two years of enforcing the tougher standards Read More »

March 17, 2011
| Filed under North America, Agriculture, and Public Health
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Biosecurity and animal-borne viruses

Just down the highway from Lorne on Victoria’s coast is CSIRO Livestock Industries’ Australian Animal Health Laboratory (AAHL) in Geelong. And within the high-level facilities of the AAHL is the world’s largest collection of pathogenic bat viruses. Some of these – Hendra, Nipah and the SARS-like coronavirus – are very nasty indeed, and no doubt Read More »

March 17, 2011
| Filed under Asia/Pacific, Agents & Toxins, and Agriculture
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NBAF awaits word from congress

Kansas State Collegian: Project coordinators for the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility are awaiting word from Congress regarding President Barack Obama's recommended $150 million budget allocation for construction of the biosafety laboratory. Ron Trewyn, vice president for research, said the allocation is sufficient for the early steps of construction. “That would certainly be enough to Read More »

March 8, 2011
| Filed under North America, Agriculture, and Biosafety
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FAO-OIE team in North Korea to help with Foot-and-Mouth disease

A team of animal health specialists from FAO and the World Organisation for Animal Health has arrived in North Korea to assist veterinary authorities there in responding to outbreaks of Foot-and-Mouth disease among pigs and cattle. They will assess the situation on the ground in order to provide guidance and technical assistance to North Korean Read More »