Veterinary Public Health E-Bulletin

NEWS

LATEST OUTBREAKS – VPH AFRICA (Egypt): Avian Influenza March 10, 2011. The Ministry of Health of Egypt has announced four new confirmed cases of human infection with avian influenza A (H5N1) virus and the death of a previously announced case. Of the 129 cases confirmed to date in Egypt, 43 have been fatal [...][...] ASIA (India): Avian Influenza March 8, 2011. The outbreak of HPAI that started in February in the State Poultry Farm, Agartala, Tripura reported a new one in March [...] ASIA (Israel): Avian Influenza March 7, 2011. An outbreak of HPAI has been reported in a turkey farm in Jehuda and Samaria region of Israel [...] ASIA (Japan): Avian Influenza March 11, 2011. Continuing outbreaks of HPAI have been reported by the Animal Health Division, Ministry of Agriculture, Tokyo, Japan among farm birds in different regions [...] ASIA (Vietnam): Avian Influenza March 8, 2011. Two new outbreaks of HPAI have been reported in two different regions, one is reported in a farm and the other in a village [...] ASIA (India): Anthrax March 10, 2011. The Health Department has sounded an alert on the consumption and handling of meat as the tests conducted on carcasses of wild boars found on the premises of the Kerala Police Academy have confirmed anthrax [...] EUROPE (Romania): Avian Influenza (LPAI) March 9, 2011. Low Pathogenic avian influenza virus belonging to the serotype H5N3 was isolated from 20 isolated geese brought for avian influenza research at Babes-Bolyai University [...] EUROPE (Sweden): Lassa Fever March 8, 2011. A Swedish woman is being treated at the intensive care unit of Linköping University hospital in eastern Sweden after being diagnosed with Lassa fever. The woman was infected in West Africa [...] To view reported cases of animal diseases visit the EMPRES-i website. EMPRES-i is a global animal health information system of the FAO's EMPRES programme that focuses on the user need to easily find and collect in one place all the information available for animal health and transboundary animal diseases. EMPRES-i compiles, stores and verifies animal diseases outbreaks data (including zoonoses) from numerous sources (e.g. FAO representatives, FAO reports, OIE reports, official government, European Commission, FAO reference centres and laboratories) for early warning and risk analysis. LATEST NEWS – FOOD SAFETY Foodborne Illness Does Not Come Cheap A new study has put the economic cost of the major foodborne infections in New Zealand (Campylobacter, Salmonella, Listeria, E. coli, Yersinia, norovirus) in 2009 at NZ$162 million (about US$120 million), almost twice the figure calculated five years ago [...] OTHER NEWS New Arrangements for Veterinary Drug Control in China March 14, 2011. During 21st and 22nd February 2011, the Bureau of Veterinary of the Ministry of Agriculture held a national meeting on veterinary drug control in Xiamen, Fujian, that emphasised the need for effective regulation of the veterinary drug sector this year, the first year of the Twelfth Five-Year Plan period [...] Avian Flu Resurgence Raises Concern in Asia, Middle East: World Bank March 10, 2011. Since January, the H5N1 avian flu virus has re-emerged and caused deaths across Asia and in Egypt. The surge in new infections in commercial poultry flocks and among wild birds are reminding governments and communities of the potential threat of H5N1 to national and global health, financial systems, and the livelihoods of poor farmers and families [...] Action to tackle bovine tuberculosis in Wales should progress without delay March 9, 2011. Wales’ Rural Affairs Minister Elin Jones has laid the Badger (Control Area) (Wales) Order 2011, which authorises the destruction of badgers in a specific area of West Wales known as the Intensive Action Area as part of the Welsh Assembly Government’s programme to eradicate bovine tuberculosis [...] Unravelling How Prion Proteins Move Along Axons in the Brain February 18, 2011. Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have identified the motors that move non-infectious prion proteins (PrPC) that may help researchers understand the spread of infectious prions within and between neurons to reach the brain, and aid in development of therapies to halt the transport [...] New Research Focuses on Prion Diseases March 14, 2011. New research by Chongsuk Ryou, researcher at the UK Sanders-Brown Centre on Aging and professor of microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics in the UK College of Medicine, is expected to shed light on possible treatments for prion diseases [...] OIE global conference on wildlife “Animal Health and Biodiversity – Preparing for the future" February 24, 2011. The 400 participants from over 100 countries participated in this unique international forum that was a holistic approach to understand the complex interplay between animal health, public health and the environment while ensuring the protection of world biodiversity [...] ONE HEALTH NEWS One Health and Our Food Supply [...] One Health Commission A One Health Initiative Task Force was convened by the American Veterinary Medical Association in 2007 to study the feasibility of an initiative that would facilitate interdisciplinary collaboration to implement One Health principles. The Task Force Report led to establishment of a One Health Joint Steering Committee and a One Health Commission [...] One Health Newsletter [...] One Health Research for Animals and Humans March 10, 2011. Foundation for Biomedical Research’s (FBR) newest TV spot, “Emma’s Story, " is now airing on national networks features a young Labrador Retriever named Emma that received ground-breaking surgery to cure her of lameness by veterinarian, Dr. James L. Cook, the director of University of Missouri-Columbia’s Comparative Orthopaedic Laboratory. It shows viewers how animal research helps animals and humans too [...] ANNOUNCEMENTS ISID-Neglected Tropical Diseases meeting 2011 - Call for Abstracts and registrations Registrations and Abstract Submissions (deadline, April 15) are now open for the ISID-Neglected Tropical Diseases Meeting (ISID-NTD) that will take place in Boston this July 8-10 [...] IV International Giardia and Cryptosporidium Conference 2012 Organisers have announced the IV International Giardia and Cryptosporidium conference that would be held at Wellington, New Zealand from 30th January to 3rd February 2012 [...] Towards Global Health Equity: Opportunities and Threats 2012 - Call for Abstracts The 13th Triennial World Congress on Public Health would be held at Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from April 21-29, 2012. Abstract Submission Deadline is Friday, October 21, 2011, Midnight Pacific [...] 15th International Congress on Infectious Diseases 2012 Bangkok has been selected by the International Society for Infectious Diseases (ISID) as the venue for the 15th International Congress on Infectious Diseases in June 13-16, 2012. The deadline for the submission of abstracts would be February 12, 2012 [...] AGA e-newsletter To receive regular updates by email on all issues relating FAO's work on animal production and health, subscribe to the AGA e-newsletter. It contains information on upcoming events, publications, programme activities, articles and press releases [Click here to subscribe]

EVENTS

1. March 21-25, 2011. 5th Pan Commonwealth Veterinary Conference at Accra, Ghana [...] 2. April 18-19, 2011. The 2011 International Conference on Bio containment Facilities at San Antonio, Texas [...] 3. April 19-21, 2011. Food Safety Summit: Food Safety Solutions Today and Tomorrow at Washington DC Convention Centre, Washington [...] 4. May 17-20, 2011. International Conference on Animal Health Surveillance at Lyon, France [...] 5. June 12-15, 2011. International Symposium on Emerging and Re-emerging Pig Diseases at Barcelona, Spain [...] 6. June 20-22, 2011. Safe Pork Conference 2011 at Maastricht, The Netherlands [...] 7. July 10-13, 2011. 4th Biennial Australian Animal Studies Group Conference 2011 – “Animals, People – a Shared Environment” at Brisbane, Qld Australia [...] 8. August 21- 25, 2011. 23rd. International Conference of the World Association for the Advancement of Veterinary Parasitology would be held in Buenos Aires, Argentina [...] 9. August 31-September 01, 2011. International Symposium on EID and Zoonoses at Shanghai [...] 10. September 07-09, 2011. Global Conference on Rabies Control: Towards Sustainable Prevention at the Source at Seoul [...] 11. September 07-09, 2011. 1st International Congress on Pathogens at the Human-Animal Interface (ICOPHAI): Impact, Limitations, and Needs in Developing Countries at Addis Ababa, Ethiopia [...] 12. October 10-14, 2011. 30th World Veterinary Congress 2011 “Caring for Animals: Healthy Communities” at Cape Town, South Africa [...] 13. October 27, 2011. 27th meeting of the task force on zoonoses data collection at Rome [...] 14. October 27-29, 2011. The Second Chinese Veterinary Conference 2011 2011 at Xiamen, Fujian Province [...]

PUBLICATIONS

1. Prevalence of Epistasis in the Evolution of Influenza A Surface Proteins [...] 2. Wild Bird Migration across the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau: A Transmission Route for Highly Pathogenic H5N1 [...] 3. Risk Factors of Streptococcus suis Infection in Vietnam. A Case-Control Study [...] 4. Decreased CSF Transferrin in sCJD: A Potential Pre-Mortem Diagnostic Test for Prion Disorders [...] 5. EFSA and ECDC review scientific evidence on possible links between TSEs in animals and humans [...] 6. Impact of Antibiotic Use in Adult Dairy Cows on Antimicrobial Resistance of Veterinary and Human Pathogens: A Comprehensive Review [...] 7. Prevalence and Antimicrobial Resistance Profile of Campylobacter Spp. Isolated from Conventional and Antimicrobial-Free Swine Production Systems from Different U.S. Regions [...] 8. Genetic Characterization and Antimicrobial Susceptibility of Campylobacter Spp. Isolated from Domestic and Imported Chicken Meats and Humans in Korea [...] 9. Establishing a Milk-borne Disease Outbreak Profile: Potential Food Defence Implications [...] 10. The WVA veterinary schools and faculties database [...] 11. International Veterinary Information Service [...]

TRAINING

September 11-23, 2011. Course on Animal Welfare, Ethics and Law 2011: St. Catharine’s College, Cambridge, UK [...] October 10-14, 2011. International summer school: Munich, Germany “Does Size Matter? Ethical, societal, legal and biological aspects of large animals as biomedical models” Interested graduates, Ph.D.-students, post-docs are encouraged to apply along with an abstract of max. 400 words and a CV latest by 14 April [...]

EMPLOYMENT

1. WHO – Advisor, Veterinary Public Health, Lima, Peru – Closing date: March 28, 2011 [...] 2. FAO – Food Safety and Quality Officer, Harare, Zimbabwe - Closing date: April 2, 2011 [...] 3. FAO – Food Safety Officer (EMPRES Information), Rome, Italy - Closing date: April 14, 2011 [...] 4. FAO – Food Safety Officer (EMPRES), Rome, Italy - Closing date: April 14, 2011 [...] 5. Instituto G. Caporale Teramo - Animal Welfare expert at the Human-Animal relationship and Animal Welfare Unit. Closing date: April 20, 2011 [...]