What PED taught us about handling future disease outbreaks.

What PED taught us about handling future disease outbreaks. The porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) outbreak that devastated many US hog farms over the past 4 years served as a wake-up call for the pork industry to be more vigilant against foreign animal diseases.

 “We know what to do in the case of foreign animal diseases, like foot-and-mouth disease, classical swine fever and African swine fever,” Dustin Oedekoven, DVM, South Dakota state veterinarian, said. He thinks the industry also has a “fairly clear direction” about how to handle future investigations and where to submit diagnostic samples.

 A gap that became evident with the PEDV outbreak is we weren’t working in a coordinated manner to control the spread of the disease. As a result, it spread very rapidly because the swine industry was very naïve to the virus.

 Veterinarians worked with producers to identify the critical problems. Samples were submitted to diagnostic labs for routine workup.  When the expected diseases weren’t found, the labs initiated additional diagnostic tests and were able to identify PEDV.

 Other diagnostic labs worked collaboratively to develop a rapid test to identify the virus. However, a break in communications caused a gap in timely response to the disease.

PEDV and other pathogens survive in feed for weeks.

PEDV and other pathogens survive in feed for weeks.In 2013-2014, infection of pig farms with porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) was a frequent event, even on farms using the highest level of biosecurity. Investigations into the occurrence showed one common denominator across many of these farms which was feed outage in a specific subpopulation of animals, requiring an emergency feed delivery to a specific bin onsite. The pigs consuming the feed from the emergency delivery were the first to become infected. Samples from inside the suspect feed bins were collected and sent to a diagnostic lab for testing. The results showed the feed did contain live PEDV, an outcome that had not been confirmed before.

Learn the best PRRS strategy for your herd.

Every year, porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) infects an estimated 25% to 45% of sow herds in the US, according to Clayton Johnson, DVM, Carthage Veterinary Clinic, Carthage, Illinois. No other hog disease today exerts a larger economic toll on hog farms than PRRS. On farms that break with PRRS, producers should decide if they are going to control the virus and keep antibiotics available for secondary bacterial infections, or if they are going to eliminate it. “Elimination is very difficult,” he said. “And inappropriate attempts to do elimination may actually hinder PRRS management by creating naïve animals that won’t stay naïve. They will propagate the disease at a greater level than an immune animal.” A herd’s “break rate” for PRRS can help determine if a herd is a candidate for elimination. The break rate should be less than once every 3 years to consider elimination, Johnson said. If it is very regular, the herd probably needs additional biosecurity work or technology to minimize outbreaks.

Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome control in Asia.

Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome control in Asia. Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS) continues to be one of the most economically devastating viral diseases affecting pig farms in major swine producing countries in Asia. Recent data from Japan showed a reduction of 53.7g per day on ADG and an increase of 2.2% in post-weaning mortalities in PRRS positive farms as compared to the production performance of PRRS negative farms. However, although many farms are infected, the clinical impact of PRRS infection varies. Different factors lead to such variability in the clinical presentation including the strain infecting the herd, the type of production (single site farrow-to-finish vs multi-site systems), the season (weather), the presence of co-infections prior to PRRS introduction, the pig density in the immediate locality of the farm and the way the farm manages their replacement breeders. Effective control programs focus on addressing the predisposing factors through management changes and on ensuring herd immunity is well established. Different approaches have been done to stabilise herd immunity to PRRS including exposing the sow herd to infected animals or live virus and doing whole herd vaccination. However, although vaccination is increasingly used in Asia to reduce the impact of PRRS, the results have been variable. Many factors may have contributed to the differences in efficacy of vaccines, but the major difference is PRRS vaccine strain used in the final formulation and its ability to provide effective cross protection against the predominant field PRRS strains.

Wildlife at risk around the globe because of threat of canine distemper.

Wildlife at risk around the globe because of threat of canine distemper and scientists say vaccinating endangered carnivores of increasing importance.Experts from around the world focused on the threat that canine distemper virus poses to the conservation of increasingly fragmented populations of threatened carnivores. The canine distemper has been known for many years as a problem affecting domestic dogs, the virus has been appearing in new areas and causing disease and mortality in a wide range of wildlife species, including tigers and lions. In fact, many experts agree that the virus should not be called “canine distemper” virus at all, given the diversity of species it infects. The previous attempts to manage the risk of infectious disease to wild carnivore conservation have mostly focused on vaccination of domestic dogs. While this approach benefits the dogs themselves (and in the case of rabies, can be crucial to protecting local people), it often fails to prevent infections in threatened species that share their environment. This seems to be due to the presence of abundant, small-bodied wild carnivores that act as an alternative reservoir of infection. Wildlife at risk around the globe because of threat of canine distemper.

Parasitic eye infection poses significant threat to UK dogs and may have implications for other UK animal, human populations.

Parasitic eye infection poses significant threat to UK dogs and may have implications for other UK animal, human populations.A parasitic worm that is becoming increasingly common in Europe poses a significant threat to UK dogs, warn experts in a new report. A research team, led by John Graham-Brown at the University of Liverpool, describe three cases in UK dogs with recent history of travel to mainland Europe. They call for vigilance when examining travelled dogs and warn that other animals -- and people -- should also be considered at risk of infection when travelling to areas where the parasite is endemic. Thelazia callipaeda is a parasitic worm capable of infecting a range of mammalian host species including dogs, cats and human beings. The worm is found in a species of fruit fly known to be present in the UK. The researchers believe the introduction of this species is a potential risk. Adult worms live in the eyes and associated tissues. Infected animals show a variety of symptoms, from mild conjunctivitis to severe corneal ulceration which, if untreated, can lead to blindness.

Curcumin offers potential therapy for cancers caused by HPV.

Curcumin offers potential therapy for #cancers caused by HPV. Curcumin, an antioxidant found in the curry spice turmeric, has been found to slow or limit the activity of the HPV virus, which causes oral and cervical cancers. Turmeric -- the familiar yellow spice common in Indian and Asian cooking -- may play a therapeutic role in oral cancers associated with human papillomavirus, according to new research published in ecancermedicalscience. One of the herb's key active ingredients -- an antioxidant called curcumin -- appears to have a quelling effect on the activity of human papillomavirus (HPV). HPV is a virus that promotes the development of cervical and oral cancer. There is no cure, but curcumin may offer a means of future control. The research indicates that curcumin turns down the expression of HPV in infected oral #cancer cells by downregulating the levels of cellular transcription factors AP-1 and NF-kB. These findings could suggest a new therapeutic role for curcumin in cancer control. #cancer