Veterinarian offers practical tips for reducing carcass condemnations.

Observe, judge, act — Veterinarian offers practical tips for reducing carcass condemnations.Poultry processors and regulators have the same objectives — minimize chicken condemnations and maximize food safety. Working as a team is the best way to safeguard consumer health and maintain profitability at the processing plant. “It should not be an adversarial or confrontational relationship,” said Douglas Fulnechek, DVM, senior technical service veterinarian for Zoetis. “You both have a role to play.” Fulnechek spent 28 years with the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) before entering private industry. He shared his insights into the regulatory and practical aspects of condemnation at the 2016 “Young Chicken Gross Pathology Workshop” held recently at the Georgia Poultry Laboratory in Gainesville, Georgia. Zoetis sponsored the event. Poultry carcasses are inspected during processing for signs of disease. In some cases, these conditions may result in carcasses being condemned because they are deemed not suitable for human consumption. To ensure that’s the case, FSIS requires condemned carcasses to be denatured using a colored dye so humans will never consume them. Fulnechek said several health conditions can lead inspectors to condemn a carcass, including: Septicemia/toxemia and airsacculitis, which are the two most common condemnations. Other conditions that affect the whole carcass like tumors, ascites, keratoacanthomas and other degenerative processes. It would be difficult to find a processor who has not asked, “What gives the government the right to take my chickens?” The answer, Fulnechek explained, lies in Mugler v. Kansas, a case that the U.S. Supreme Court decided in 1887. According to the court: “All property in this country is held under the implied obligation that the owner’s use of it shall not be injurious to the community.” “Once that carcass goes into the condemned barrel — even if it was a perfect carcass — it doesn’t get to come back,” Fulnechek said. “However, decisions [to condemn carcasses] have to be supported by scientific fact. Congress laid out the rules that FSIS has to follow: ‘Such condemnations shall be achieved through uniform inspections and uniform applications.’” The word “uniform”, of course, is subject to interpretation. This is why the Poultry Products Inspection Regulations spell out condemnation requirements as clearly as possible. “I encourage the industry to look up these regulations, carefully read them and have a discussion with the veterinary supervisor in the plant, because they all have a similar theme,” Fulnechek said. This is where the human element comes into play. FSIS inspectors first make their observations, then make a judgment based on what they saw and take appropriate action, if necessary. Observation criteria Inspectors have a checklist of what they are looking for, including:1) Body condition (plumpness, muscling, keel prominence, cachexia). 2)Tissue hydration 3)Fat 4)Liver 5) Spleen 6)Cardiovascular system 7)Gastrointestinal tract Fulnechek elaborated on the checklist. “You do it this way every time,” he said. “You go through this system so that you don’t overlook something.” Questions that get asked: You talk about the body condition. Is it plump? (“Juicy” was one of the terms that my FSIS inspectors used.) Look at the muscling, the prominence of the keel. Determine if the bird has been off feed. Has it lost some muscle mass? Was it properly hydrated? Examine the color and composition of the fat. Can you see changes such as serious atrophy of the fat? continue

7 Vet Med Lessons From the Magical Creatures of Harry Potter.

With magic on my mind, I wanted to share lessons that apply to veterinary medicine that I learned from seven of the magical creatures Harry Potter encountered. Even those who aren’t as Potter-crazed as me can still benefit from these tips. 1. Hippogriffs – Some individuals take extra effort to gain their trust. Hippogriffs are half-horse, half-eagle creatures known for attacking when they are insulted. However, if their trust is gained, they will be fiercely loyal and protective. In veterinary medicine, our clients, patients, and co-workers can all be hippogriffs. Some people, and animals, require a gentle approach to win them over. For example, recently I saw a client who was not my biggest fan. Finally, during a stressful appointment, she snapped and let me have it. After allowing her to speak her mind, I calmly explained how I shared her frustration and also shared her desire to figure out how to manage her dog’s condition. By the end of the conversation, she actually apologized for her outburst and told me I had won her over by how I handled the entire situation. In explaining the issues without becoming confrontational or insulting her pride, I turned a client who intimidated me into a loyal hippogriff. 2. Blast-Ended Skrewts – Use caution when handling some creatures. Harry PotterBlast-ended skrewts are basically a designer breed that is created when two other magical creatures are cross-bred. They are noted as creatures that can burn, sting, and bite all at once. Okay, so maybe none of us work with any patients who can breathe fire and burn us, but we all have encountered animals who are dangerous to handle. The key to handling any creature, from blast-ended skrewts to tooth-fronted dogs, is to understand how best to approach them based on past experiences. If something works, record it and repeat it next time. If something doesn’t work, then make sure to write it down so that a different approach can be taken in the future. Don’t be a hero and ignore warnings from previous visits. Try not to make the same mistakes twice with your blast-ended skrewt patients. 3. Nifflers – Don’t let your search for riches become destructive. Harry PotterNifflers are rodent-like creatures that are gentle by nature but are attracted to anything sparkly and have even been known to destroy entire homes in their search for shiny objects. Unlike nifflers, most of us are not motivated by riches. If that is your sole motivation, you definitely chose the wrong profession! But like nifflers, sometimes finances can stress us out. Even if we aren’t in it for the money, we still work in a business with economic pressures: from achieving production bonuses to increasing ticket averages, or even making your student loan payments. Try not to let those financial pressures create tunnel vision. Focus on practicing medicine that makes you proud without damaging your emotional wellness. Appreciate the sparkle you come across without destroying your life as you attempt to obtain it. Don’t become a niffler. continue

Georgia signs four-year cooperation agreement with FAO.

Continuous improvement of Georgia’s agriculture, food safety, veterinary services and plant protection – and its response to climate change, biodiversity and other environmental issues – are the priorities set out in a new agreement with FAO signed here today. Georgian Minister of Agriculture Levan Davitashvili signed the “FAO Country Programming Framework for Georgia 2016-2020,” together with Raimund Jehle, Regional Strategic Programmes Coordinator for FAO in Europe and Central Asia and FAO Representative in Georgia. The four-year agreement aims at institutional, regional and sectoral development of agriculture and related subsectors. “The Country Programming Framework makes available FAO expertise and innovative international best practices in agriculture to support Georgia in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals,” Jehle said. “The agreement contributes continue

Edibles for Pets.

Cannabis business owners may see pet care products as a wide-open market to increase sales, but regulations and uncertainty make it a hazardous opportunity.Americans spend more than $60 billion annually on their pets. As cannabis becomes more widely accepted as medicine, it’s natural that some people have begun to consider the market for cannabis-based medicines for pets. A wide variety of products targeted toward pets have already been introduced, from treats containing CBD to whole-plant tinctures. Due to the huge pet care industry and potential for increasing revenue, dispensary owners might be tempted to stock these products. However, the potential legal implications, coupled with a lack of understanding of pets’ needs, make this a risky investment. For thousands of years, cannabis has been used to treat illness in humans and animals. In Ancient Greece, a poultice made from cannabis was used to treat a variety of ailments in horses. As recently as 1920, a tincture made from cannabis was used to alleviate the pain associated with colic in horses. This treatment was administered with the full support of the American Veterinary Association. However, when marijuana was officially outlawed, these treatments lost support from the AVA. continue

Pill Expands In Stomach to Stay For Weeks Delivering Medication.

Pill Expands In Stomach to Stay For Weeks Delivering Medication.Many drugs require precise ingestion regimens that optimize the effect of the medication, but getting patients to follow the schedule is often easier said than done. Additionally, some drugs may work better if only they could be delivered continuously in small doses, over a period of days or weeks. At MIT and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston researchers have created a capsule that expands in the stomach and delivers its drug payload in a controlled manner over an extended period of time. It consists of a flexible hub and six drug-loaded legs that are bunched together and stuffed inside a dissolvable pill. When the pill reaches the stomach, the legs of the device open up and prevent it from leaving the stomach. This lets the slow-release mechanism within the legs to deliver the medication over a long time. After a few weeks, the hub eventually dissolves, letting each leg go and having each small piece now able to pass further down the GI tract. more

USB Stick Measures HIV Levels Within Half Hour.

Researchers at Imperial College London and DNA Electronics, a company with offices in London, UK and Carlsbad, CA, developed a computer USB stick that takes a drop of blood and measures the amount of HIV particles. The chip produces results within 30 minutes, while the average in a test of nearly 1000 samples was only 21 minutes. According to the company, the accuracy is good enough for it to be used to monitor viral loads in patients taking anti-retroviral drugs to see whether the therapy’s effect is holding up. The chip amplifies HIV-1 RNA and uses an assay that changes the sample’s acidity if the target RNA is present to generate an electrical signal. This signal travels down the USB stick and to the computer where an application registers it as having detected the virus. From the study abstract in journal Scientific Reports: Screening of 991 clinical samples (164 on the chip) yielded a sensitivity of 95% (in vitro) and 88.8% (on-chip) at >1000 RNA copies/reaction across a broad spectrum of HIV-1 viral clades. Median time to detection was 20.8 minutes in samples with >1000 copies RNA. The sensitivity, specificity and reproducibility are close to that required to produce a point-of-care device which would be of benefit in resource poor regions, and could be performed on an USB stick or similar low power device.more

Protecting grains with insect proof bags.

A campaign supported by USAid will popularize the use of the gunny bags, which are fitted with plastic linings to control pests without the use of chemicals.The bags apply simple technology, starving insects of oxygen, so they suffocate. This eliminates both the insects and mold by depleting oxygen levels and producing carbon dioxide within the storage unit. In 2014 USAid tested 2,000 bags and trials confirmed effectiveness in entirely eliminating wastage,the hermetic bags can control all pests, including the large stock borer. In Kenya,the insect-proof bags launched this week will stop the loss of about five million bags of maize annually mostly to a notorious pest nicknamed 'Osama' continue