How to detect foot and mouth disease with simple environmental sampling.

How to detect foot and mouth disease with simple environmental sampling. Simple sampling method eases identification of foot and mouth disease outbreaks.

Sampling the environment is an effective way to detect foot and mouth disease, according to a paper published in Applied and Environmental Microbiology, a journal of the American Society for Microbiology. 

 The sampling method, swabbing environmental surfaces where livestock are kept, can be easily performed and can detect viral genetic material that can persist in the environment well beyond the time when livestock cease manifesting clinical signs of disease.

 Unlike taking clinical samples, those taking samples need not be able to recognize clinical signs of foot and mouth disease. Thus, smallholder farmers in developing countries could take the samples in lieu of veterinarians. 

 Foot and mouth disease is caused by a member of the genus, Aphthovirus. It causes blisters in the mouths and on the feet of cattle, goats, pigs, and other cloven-hoofed mammals. The virus contains a single strand of RNA that encodes its genome.

 Humans are not susceptible to foot and mouth, and the disease generally doesn't kill animals. However, it can greatly reduce milk and meat production, creating a hardship for smallholder farmers. 

 Foot and mouth disease can also have a major impact on a national economy. 

In foot and mouth disease-free countries, an incursion of foot and mouth disease can cause significant losses due to imposed grade restrictions and subsequent control measures required to eradicate the disease.

NEWCASTLE DISEASE RESURFACES IN ROMANIA.

Romanian broiler flock tests positive for Newcastle disease one week after veterinary officials deemed the Newcastle situation resolved .One week after Romanian animal health officials reported that the Newcastle disease situation has been resolved in the country, the virus was confirmed in a broiler farm there. Romania’s National Sanitary Veterinary and Food Safety Authority reported to the World Organsiation for Animal Health (OIE) that a broiler farm of 70,000 chickens in Prahova County had been infected. More than 13,300 32-week-old chickens were affected by Newcastle disease, with 4,455 fatal cases. According to the OIE, the birds were vaccinated against Newcastle disease on March 3, March 17 and April 3, but the organization added that the probably procedure of vaccination has not been respected. Control measures applied included disinfection, quarantine, stamping out, surveillance, zoning and control of wildlife reservoirs. The OIE stated it will submit weekly follow-up reports on the Newcastle disease situation until it is resolved. Read more @wattag.net

NEWCASTLE DISEASE OUTBREAK

The National Sanitary Veterinary and Food Safety Authority of Romania reported to the OIE on April 4 that the Newcastle disease situation in the country has been resolved. There was only one confirmed case in Romania, as a layer flock of 1,582 hens in Bucov, Prahova, Romania, was infected in November 2015. A total of 510 hens died, while the remaining 1,070 birds were destroyed. Movement control, zoning, screening and surveillance activities followed. The property was disinfected, animal products were destroyed and all carcasses, by-products and waste was properly disposed and source of infection was never determined. During the first two months of 2014, The Botswana Ministry of Agriculture notified the OIE of five cases of Newcastle disease, all of which occurred in the eastern half of the country. Three of those cases were in backyard poultry flocks. In total, 42,315 birds were susceptible, 3,966 were confirmed to have the disease, and 1,049 birds died. Contact with wild birds was believed to have been a cause for some of the infections. On March 30, the Ministry of Agriculture determined the Botswana Newcastle disease outbreak to be resolved, and notified the OIE on April 5. It has also been reported in Bulgaria, Bulgaria is just one of several countries that are dealing with Newcastle disease. The OIE states that, Israel has had seven outbreaks of the disease in recent months, affecting as many as 19,400 birds. The Philippines is also struggling with Newcastle disease, as the country’s Department of Agriculture is urging poultry owners to vaccinate their flocks amid the deaths of 41,000 birds. source;WattAgNet.com