Page 14 of articles about influenza

The American Association of Swine Veterinarians will release a document with recommendations on the Pandemic H1N1 disease and the risk it poses to the U.S. swine herd, according to Rodney “Butch” Baker, DVM, AASV president.

Affected animals will be managed using the same veterinary management and biosecurity practices employed for other swine influenza viruses. This includes limiting opportunities for virus to spread to susceptible animals. Canada’s slaughter system contains multiple inspection points to ensure that only healthy animals enter the food supply.

The strain of influenza, A/H1N1, that is currently pandemic in humans has been shown to be infectious to pigs and to spread rapidly in a trial pig population.

There remain many questions about this disease. In this respect, the OIE has made a call for enhanced surveillance among swine populations and enhanced on-farm biosecurity measures – including the protection of pigs from exposure to potentially infected people – and has stressed the importance of a strong cooperation between veterinary services and public health authorities.

The second quarter of 2009 ended with both pork production and hog and pork prices below a year ago, which strongly suggests lower product demand. Lower production and lower prices are expected to persist for the balance of this year.

The decision affects Ontario pork products produced before May 15 and after July 18, 2009, and means that Russia no longer has any H1N1-related restrictions on Canadian products.

Argentina's government declared on Friday a nationwide animal health emergency following the discovery of the new H1N1 flu virus in at least one pig herd.

The purpose of this document is to provide provisional guidance to the Member States on the appropriate measures to implement under different epidemiological scenarios promoting a harmonised approach for dealing with the situation as regards: a) surveillance/monitoring for the influenza pandemic (H1N1) 2009 virus in the pig Populations, b) the possible measures to be put in place if the pandemic (H1N1) 2009 enters EU pig farm(s).

Pork has been many Koreans' favorite source of protein for many years but its consumption has declined sharply over the past few months since the outbreak of the H1N1 influenza A.

While May was expected to be the month in which U.S. pork exports were most affected by A-H1N1 influenza, the impact has not been as negative as some analysts had predicted, according to an analysis of USDA statistics by the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF).

The infected farm, an industrial-type holding with full production cycle applying biosecurity measures, is located in Cañuelas (Buenos Aires).

The U.S. Department of Agriculture today announced that it will make the master seed virus (MSV) for the novel H1N1 flu available to interested veterinary biologics manufacturers.

Some analysts have predicted that the U.S. pork industry could lose up to $400 million in the next few months, given lower market prices; others estimate that from 25% to 33% of U.S. hog producers may be adversely effected.