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

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

Cattle futures drop after cruelty video

April 21, 2011

  

U.S. cattle futures slumped Wednesday after an animal-welfare group released a grisly video depicting dairy calves on a Texas ranch being killed with a hammer and pickaxe.

The owner of the E6 Cattle ranch described the incident as a one-time event involving four new employees who had since been fired, and said training and other action had been taken to prevent any recurrence. More

'Mad cow' case may have Saudi link

Canadian health officials have confirmed the country's second-ever case of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, the rare human form of the so-called "mad cow disease" usually caused by eating infected beef.

The head of the federal agency that monitors the disease says the man, an Ontario resident, is believed to have been infected in Saudi Arabia, and that the chance he was infected by eating Canadian beef is "just about zero." More

Embattled rural zoo granted interim permit by province

Third -party study will assess animal health at GuZoo

 

By Sherri Zickefoose, Calgary Herald April 2, 2011

 

 

The province has given a conditional 60-day permit to a controversial Three Hills zoo under investigation for animal-welfare concerns.
The Alberta SPCA and Fish and Wildlife are again investigating the GuZoo Animal Farm after photos were posted online on the weekend claiming to show animals living in unhealthy conditions.
In the next two months, the province says it plans to bring in an independent third party to assess zoo animal health, and meet with a zoo advisory committee to look into discrepancies between legal enforcement for zoo and non-zoo animals. More

19 new cases of chronic wasting disease found in hunter-killed deer in Alberta

EDMONTON - Nineteen new cases of chronic wasting disease were identified among more than 5,000 hunter-killed deer tested in Alberta since Sept. 1, 2010. The new cases involve 17 mule deer and two-white tailed deer. More

Discovery Channel host dissects BSE-causing prions

By Greg Sawisky

Unlocking the mystery behind BSE and chronic wasting disease could one day lead to a cure for Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and ALS an audience at Red Deer College heard Friday. More

Published: April 04, 2011 6:55 AM