Thursday, May 19, 2011

Equine herpes scuttles High River rodeo

Concerns of a highly infectious strain of horse herpes have forced facility operators in High River to cancel a children’s rodeo.

Officials with the High River Agricultural Society announced the decision to close its doors for 21 days, which affects both the Little Britches Rodeo and the 4H Beef Show and Sale.

The society called the move to cease operations for 21 days “a precautionary measure,” in light of a recent North American outbreak of equine herpes virus, or EHV-1.

“This decision has not been made lightly but with the consultation of all stakeholders, board members, our general manager and veterinarians,” the society said in a statement posted on its website.

“We are looking out for the welfare of everyone concerned.” More

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Alberta at forefront of prion studies

Advanced Education and Technology Minister Greg Weadick will be lauding the praises of Alberta and its commitment to prion research today at the PRION 2011 research congress in Montreal.

The discovery of a case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in Alberta in 2003 was devastating for the province's cattle producers.

"When BSE hit we had no prion research happening in Alberta at all," Weadick said in a telephone interview from Montreal.

The province responded on many fronts including making a commitment to prion research. Prions are misfolded proteins that are considered to cause BSE and chronic wasting disease in animals and similar conditions in humans.

The Alberta Prion Research Institute, now part of Alberta Innovates - Bio Solutions, was established and $35 million was committed to study prion disease over seven years. New research infrastructure has been created, including the Centre for Prions and Protein Folding Disease at the University of Alberta. More

Man faces cruelty charges after animals seized at ranch

A Drumheller-area rancher is facing numerous charges following a major investigation into animal cruelty on a sprawling East Coulee property.

John Barry Graham, 54, has been charged under the Criminal Code with causing damage or injury to animals.

He also faces two Animal Protection Act charges of causing animals to be in distress. More

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Beef producers keep close eye on TB in Michigan

The Ontario Cattlemen’s Association is monitoring the April discovery of bovine tuberculosis in two beef herds in Michigan.

“At this point we’ve had no calls or concerns but we will be watching it,” says LeaAnne Hodgins, the association’s communications manager.

Lance Males, a New Liskeard veterinarian and president of the Ontario Association of Bovine Practitioners, says his organization hasn’t received notification from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency that Ontario herds are at risk. “They would notify us if there’s a concern,” says Males.

According to the agency’s website, there were no findings of the disease in Canada as of March 31. The last outbreak in Ontario was in a dairy cattle herd in Peterborough County in 2002. More

Friday, May 6, 2011

Mass animal slaughters overused: study

Foot-and-mouth not as infectious as thought

 By Margaret Munro, Postmedia News

A dreaded animal disease that can, and has, brought countries to their knees is not always the microbial villain it is portrayed to be, according to new research.

The foot-and-mouth virus that triggered a national disaster in the United Kingdom in 2001 turns out to be about half as infectious as thought, says a study to be published Friday. More