RABIES AND DOG IMPORTATION.

Dog breeders and pet lovers and owners have been warned continuously of dangers associated with dog importation.The breeders are supposed to ensure the dogs get the necessary vaccinations before they are sold and shipped off, but some mischievous breeders/puppy mill merchants dont vaccinate these pets thus exposing the pet lovers to a risk.The pets that are shipped branding certificates are often times discovered to be fake, thus strict documentation laws must be ensured and vaccination records verified to ensure safety. There has been cases of shipping off animals to other countries which were incubating various pathogens, a recent case is the rabid dog shipped to the US from Egypt (as reported by STAT http://www.statnews.com/2015/12/17/rabies-dog-cdc/) The rabid dog was transported into the country in May by an animal rescue organization. It was later discovered the dog’s rabies vaccination certificate was a fake, CDC officials said .It’s the fourth time — that officials know of — in the last 11 years that a rabid dog has been imported to the United States. Ten people who had substantial contact with the animal were advised to get post-exposure rabies treatment and eight more involved in its importation opted to get vaccinated as a precaution, CDC and state health department officials wrote in a report on the incident published in this week’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, a journal operated by the CDC.‘There’s no shortage of adoptable dogs in the US’ Dr. Nicky Cohen said the CDC issued guidelines last year to spell out what is needed, from a rabies control standpoint, to import companion animals to the United States. Chief among them: an authentic rabies vaccination certificate. It also pointed out some red flags to look for on rabies vaccination certificates to spot fakes — things like multiple dogs in a shipment having identical certificates or evidence that a dog’s name has been whited out. “It’s pretty basic,” Cohen admitted. “There have been four incidences where rabid dogs have been imported. But we do know that more dogs than just these four have been imported with falsified records. This was issued in response to the recognition of imported dogs with falsified vaccination records.”The dog from Egypt was part of a shipment of eight dogs and 27 cats. It was the only animal in the shipment that was infected.

JAPAN BANS POULTRY IMPORTS FROM FRANCE.

Japan, the largest importer of French foie gras, bans poultry imports after bird flu outbreak in Dordogne;China, South Korea, Thailand, Egypt, Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia have banned French poultry imports and several other countries are considering doing so, according to Loïc Evain of the French agriculture ministry. Containment and protection measures are in force within a six-mile radius of the three farms affected near the village of Biras, between Périgueux and Brantôme. Entire flocks have been culled. About 1,000 geese and 14,000 ducks were electrocuted earlier this week in special trucks so the dead birds can be removed with minimum contamination. The farms are still being disinfected. story credit; Telegraph

Avian influenza ;Tracking.

The Rivers state government of Nigeria has confirmed the bird flu virus in a poultry farm in the state.The birds have been culled,farm decontaminated and quarantined.The farms in the vicinity of the affected farm have been advised to enhance bio-security protocol. Avian influenza virus has been detected in a back yard poultry in Idaho state in the U.S..The surveillance conducted revealed several cases of H5N8 in wild ducks,H5N2 also confirmed in 3 falcons from a private,non commercial flock in Canyon county,this has been linked to contact with wild waterfowl and a small backyard poultry in the area has also tested for H5N2. A new outbreak of avian influenza has been detected in Washington state,all poultry owners have been advised to prevent contact of their birds with migratory birds.The bird flu virus found in chickens,geese,ducks was confirmed to be H5N2, hence bio-security has been enhanced in that area. Egypt has reported 20 new H5N1 cases in 2015 and 5 deaths.The avian influenza situation in the country has led to thee constitution of a high-level supreme national committee on bird flu. The health ministry of Egypt has supplied 250,000 Tamiflu bottles to hospitals and health care units to treat patients who have contacted the H5N1. The ministry also provided masks for control of flu.The deaths recorded are in people who had close contact with poultry such as; those living in the poultry area, those processing and those in live bird markets. It is very important to practice good hygiene of hand washing with soap/ sanitize hands when you handle poultry/poultry products. The power to stop bird flu is in your hands. STOP THE BIRD FLU VIRUS! BE PROACTIVE!