Page 278 of articles about health

Animal Health and the Veterinary Laboratories Agency (VLA) will merge on 1 April 2011 to create the Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency (AHVLA). Both agencies work to combat animal diseases, and bringing together their services, expertise and scientific capability will create a stronger organisation capable of providing a range of vital services to the livestock farming industry and related sectors.

Abnormal lesions on fifteen pigs' feet were found on the truck by routine inspection before they entered into the auction market of Tainan City. The local animal disease control competent authority traced back to the farm of origin to carry out the clinical investigation. The result showed that 15 pigs on farm had the same clinical lesions. Thirty pigs, the 15 pigs on the truck and the 15 pigs on the index farm, were destroyed on 21 March 2011.

According to USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), China is once again accepting live hogs exported from the United States. China had suspended those imports two years ago, when H1N1 influenza virus was sickening people, along with pork products.

China vows to strengthen its regulation of food quality to eliminate concerns over food safety and to adopt a system to assess the efficiency of the quality supervision and inspections undertaken by local governments.

The World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) has reported a new outbreaks of foot and mouth disease (FMD) in China on 29 March.

On 19 March 2011, Bulgaria reported a new outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in beef cattle grazing in the municipality of Sredets, situated in the region of Burgas, west of the municipality of Malko Tarnovo where the last outbreak was reported on 31 January 2011.

The three new sources have been diagnosed after detecting clinical symptoms compatible with the disease in cows. The diagnostic was confirmed later by the National Reference Laboratory. After the confirmation, fallowing was initiated on the affected farms and the animals were slaughtered and buried. The total number of animals affected was 339 cows and 11 pigs.

China's Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) said on Monday that the government would launch a one-year crackdown on illegal additives in pig feed which have proven to be toxic to humans.

Meat from the offspring of cloned animals could find its way onto the EU market, with no-one being any the wiser, after member state representatives refused the Parliament's demand to label clone-derived products. The two sides met until late Monday night to discuss updating novel food rules, but were unable to reach agreement on clone-derived food and nanotechnology.

Declaring that the nation’s worst foot-and-mouth outbreak was over, the government announced a new measure to tighten its oversight of the livestock industry, requiring farmers to apply for permits to operate cattle and pig farms starting next year.

Dr. Yordan Voinov will visit Sredetz municipality where 23.03.2011 in the village of Granichar during a routine check of the veterinary team of the Bulgarian Food Safety Agency a new outbreak of FMD has been detected. Experts with the agency have taken 7 samples, 6 of which turned positive.

Around a million dollars of equipment and vaccines are urgently required to help stem outbreaks of deadly Foot-and-Mouth disease (FMD) in North Korea, followed by a more prolonged and concerted effort to modernize veterinary services in the country.