One Health Certified < link > is expected to help U.S. poultry and livestock producers demonstrate their commitment to responsible antibiotic management without compromising the health and welfare of their animals. The USDA process verified program < link > establishes verified animal-production practices in five core areas: disease prevention, veterinary care, … [Read more...]
Salmonella is helpful to poultry intestinal health
The consumer pressure to reduce or eliminate antibiotic use in poultry has resulted in an increase in intestinal disease, writes Charles L. Hofacre, DVM. In a recent US survey, veterinarians reported a significant increase in the number of broiler flocks that are experiencing intestinal disease associated with a higher incidence of coccidiosis. At the same time, the public … [Read more...]
Poultry Health Today, editors’ picks
The editors of the Zoetis-sponsored publication picked the following topics as news you may have missed: IB called ‘eye of the storm’ for chicken health Medication shortage top issue for US turkey industry 'Old bug' with new name easily mistaken for E. coli peritonitis Source: Poultry Health Today, July 18, 2017. … [Read more...]
Poultry farm biosecurity improving since the 2015 HPAI outbreak
More than 42 million commercial poultry, mostly layers, died in the 2015 outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in the U.S. The catastrophe pointed to biosecurity gaps that needed remediation to reduce the risk of future outbreaks. Iowa State University’s Yuko Sato, DVM, MS, DACPV, surveyed the industry to see if behaviors and processes have changed. The results … [Read more...]
Shortage of approved medications for turkeys continues
A shortage of effective, FDA-approved medications is still the top health issue for the U.S. turkey industry, according to a survey conducted by Steven Clark, DVM. “And it has remained No. 1 since the survey began 16 years ago,” he said. Source: Poultry Health Today, April 25, 2017. The ability to control and prevent animal disease and/or treat those that are sick is … [Read more...]
Backyard flocks are big risk for spreading Gumboro in U.S. chickens
Infectious bursal disease (IBD), commonly known as Gumboro, is an immunosuppressive disease in chickens caused by infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV). A wide range of IBDV pathotypes exist in nature. They have been generally classified into subclinical IBDV (variant), classic virulent IBDV and very virulent IBDV (vvIBDV) groups. Although vvIBDV does not exist in some … [Read more...]
Common VFD form format part of FDA final guidelines
FDA has issued final guidelines for veterinary feed directive (VFD) forms veterinarians will issue when authorizing the use of a medicated feed additive containing an antibiotic deemed medically important. The document provides examples that illustrate how a common VFD format might appear and how some of the information on the VFD may be pre-populated by an animal health … [Read more...]
All U.S. poultry is ‘antibiotic-free’
All poultry meat that enters the U.S. food supply is, by definition, antibiotic-free or, more specifically, it is free of antibiotic residues by the time it reaches consumers — regardless of how the birds were raised. “There is absolutely no nutritional difference in meat from poultry raised without antibiotics compared to poultry that receive antibiotics,” says Mike Lacy, PhD, … [Read more...]
Selfies and other images not proof of VCPR
Videos or photos cannot be used as a way to document the VCPR needed to obtain a veterinary feed directive, according to William T. Flynn, DVM, MS, deputy director for science policy, FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine. Source: Poultry Health Today, August 31, 2016. One key element of the federal VCPR definition requires veterinarians to have sufficient knowledge of the … [Read more...]