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EWA Alert : Commissioner Staples Establishes Goals to Better Serve Texans

INGRAM, Texas – Amid growing concerns among Texans on important issues such as faulty fuel pumps, child obesity and plant pests and diseases, Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples recently submitted a legislative appropriations request  http://www.tda.state.tx.us/agr/index/0,1911,1848_0_0_0,00.html to fund new initiatives at the Texas Department of Agriculture. The new programs are designed to provide Texans with enhanced services under four main categories:  agricultural biosecurity, consumer protection, economic development and healthy lifestyles.
 
Earlier this year, TDA worked with the Sunset Advisory Commission http://www.sunset.state.tx.us/ to identify areas within the agency that could be improved to better serve Texans. "I recognize Texans are calling for increased consumer protection and improved health and safety, and I am committed to ensuring these needs are met," Commissioner Staples said. "Funding for new and improved initiatives in these areas will assist our agency in not only protecting consumers, but in fostering a sound Texas economy."
 
The requested appropriations will fund the following program enhancements and initiatives:
 
 *   Agricultural Biosecurity – As road station inspections help safeguard Texas agriculture by providing the first line of defense against invading pests, TDA seeks funding for an increase in the number of road station and market blitz inspections, and to conduct better analysis and risk assessments to enhance quarantine enforcement.
 *   Consumer Protection – Escalating fuel costs have triggered a heightened sense of awareness among Texans who want to make sure they get the exact amount of fuel they pay for at the pump. This has led to an increase of more than double the number of consumer complaints TDA receives against retail fuel stations and has spurred a demand for more fuel pump inspections.  The agency requests funds for the implementation of a three-tiered approach to regulation that includes routine inspections/audits using risk-assessed data; a more intense focus on consumer complaint-based inspections; and blitz operations based upon trend analysis.
 *   Economic Development – Job creation is vital to the survival and prosperity of a rural community. Just as important is the ability to satisfy an area's workforce needs and intended economic impact. Utilizing state resources to focus specifically on rural economic development will provide a means for rural Texas communities to compete with neighboring states through new capital investment, workforce recruitment, education, training, rural entrepreneurship and rural internship programs.
   *   Healthy Lifestyles – With a child obesity crisis among us, there is a critical need for the creation and implementation of nutrition education programs in our schools and communities. The requested funding will provide grants to schools, day cares and after school care programs to assist them in incorporating nutrition education into other existing programs and provide rewards for best practices and good nutrition.
 
How does bluetongue virus survive through the winter?
 
EurekAlert
August 25, 2008
 
 
In 2006, Bluetongue virus - which infects livestock - reached Northern Europe for the first time. Some people thought that the outbreak would be limited to that particular year, as winter was expected to kill off the midges that host and spread the disease, bringing the threat of infection to an end. In actuality, the disease escalated in the following year, spreading to the UK. So, how did the virus survive the winter?
 
Drs Anthony Wilson, Karin Darpel and Philip Mellor of the Institute for Animal Health have discussed this puzzling question in an Unsolved Mystery article, published in the open access journal PLoS Biology, freely available to read from publication on the 26th of August.
 
The answer to this question is of great practical importance, as it will affect both national and international trade of Ruminants, the livestock susceptible to infection, and will dictate trade rules for a long time even after the infection has passed. The answer is also relevant to how we can deal with bluetongue and other unpleasant midge-transmitted diseases in the future.
 
Dr Mellor said: "Although the major mechanism of bluetongue virus spread is undoubtedly that of Culicoides midges feeding on infected ruminants, growing the virus and then transmitting it to further susceptible animals, other mechanisms may also be at work. These may assume greater importance during the midge-free season (winter), such as we in northern latitudes experience."
 
Wilson and colleagues point out that evidence to date does not support the winter survival of bluetongue virus in the eggs of Culicoides midges. An alternative hypothesis is that, in mild winters such as that of 2006-07 in northern Europe, sufficient infected midges might survive until they become active again in spring. The midges may enter livestock barns to overwinter. Two other possibilities for disease endurance during winter are that bluetongue is spread by some susceptible species of long-lived ticks and/or by simple mechanical transmission by Melophagus ovinus, a wingless parasite that lives in the fleece of sheep.
 
Additionally, there is evidence from Australia that bluetongue virus can survive in midges and in a small proportion of infected cattle for three to four months, which would be long enough for winter to come and go without killing the virus.
 
Closer to home, the recent outbreaks of bluetongue in northern Europe have provided evidence for a different overwinter route-transplacental infections; the virus spreading from an infected pregnant animal to its fetus, a phenomenon also demonstrated by experiment. This phenomenon might be particularly important in cattle, where the long gestation period of nine months (four for sheep) means that the virus can grow and survive within a fetus, at just the right temperature, throughout the coldest of winters. There is also circumstantial evidence that cattle could become infected orally if they eat the afterbirth of an infected offspring from another cow.
 
As Dr. Mellor summarizes, "Experiments have revealed a toolbox of possible mechanisms, with the potential to interact with and complement one another."
 
[ Citation:Wilson A, Darpel K, Mellor PS (2008) Where does bluetongue virus sleep in the winter? PLoS Biol 6(8): e210.
doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0060210
 http://biology.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1371/journal.pbio.0060210]
 
 
Source:  http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-08/plos-hdb082108.php
USDA ANNOUNCES PROPOSED RULE FOR REQUIREMENTS OF THE DISPOSITION OF DOWNER CATTLE
 
WASHINGTON, DC - August 27, 2008 - The U.S. Department of Agriculture
(USDA) today announced a proposed rule to amend the Federal meat inspection regulations to initiate a complete ban on the slaughter of cattle that become non-ambulatory after initial inspection by Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) inspection program personnel.
 
This proposed rule follows the May 20 announcement by Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer to remove the provision that states that FSIS inspection program will determine the disposition of cattle that become non-ambulatory disabled after they have passed ante-mortem, before slaughter, inspection on a case-by-case basis. Under the proposed rule, all cattle that are non-ambulatory disabled at any time prior to slaughter, including those that become non-ambulatory disabled after passing ante-mortem inspection, will be condemned and properly disposed of.
 
"To maintain consumer confidence in the food supply, eliminate further misunderstanding of the rule and, ultimately, to make a positive impact on the humane handling of cattle, I believe it is sound policy to simplify this matter by initiating a complete ban on the slaughter of downer cattle," said Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer.
 
On July 13, 2007, FSIS published the final rule, "Prohibition of the Use of Specified Risk Materials for Human Food and Requirements for the Disposition of Non-Ambulatory Disabled Cattle; Prohibition of the Use of Certain Stunning Devices Used To Immobilize Cattle During Slaughter,"
(SRM final rule). The SRM final rule allowed a case-by-case reinspection of cattle to address the rare situations where an animal that is deemed by FSIS as fit for human food at ante-mortem inspection subsequently suffers an acute injury.
 
Under the proposed rule, cattle that become non-ambulatory disabled from an acute injury after ante-mortem inspection will no longer be eligible to proceed to slaughter as "U.S. Suspects." Instead, FSIS inspectors will tag these cattle as "U.S. condemned" and prohibit these animals from proceeding to slaughter. Establishments will be required to notify FSIS personnel when cattle become disabled after passing ante-mortem inspection.
 
Of the nearly 34 million cattle that were slaughtered in 2007, less than 1,000 cattle that were re-inspected were actually approved by the veterinarian for slaughter. This represents less than 0.003 percent of cattle slaughtered annually.
 
Comments on this proposed rule must be received on or before September 29th, 2008. Comments can be sent to Docket Clerk, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food Safety and Inspection Service, Room 2534 South Agriculture Building, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, D.C.
20250; e-mailed to fsis.regulationscomments@fsis.usda.gov
 
or submitted through the Federal eRulemaking Portal at  www.regulations.gov<http://www.regulations.gov/>
 
 All submissions received by mail or electronic mail must reference the Food Safety and Inspection Service and include the docket number FSIS-2008-0022.
 
For further technical information on the proposed rule, contact Dr.
Daniel Engeljohn, Deputy Assistant Administrator, Office of Policy and Program Development, at (202) 205-0495 or by fax at (202) 720-2025.

Contact Information
phone: 830-367-7761