What is One Health?

One Health (OH) is the concept that the health of animals, the health of people, and the viability of ecosystems are inextricably linked. The importance

of this concept is increasing as the expansion of human and animal populations, ecological changes due to human impact and climate variations, and

technological advancements facilitating global human, animal, and product movements have resulted in an increased risk of disease transmission between animals and people. An OH approach embraces the idea that a disease problem impacting the health of humans, animals, and the environment can only be solved through improved communication, cooperation, and collaboration across disciplines and institutions.

Further, OH recognizes that healthy productive livestock and pets lead to healthy people through food, economy, and companionship. While not a new idea, lately, OH has been acknowledged by national and international institutions as the most constructive approach for preventing and controlling diseases at the human, animal, and environmental interface.

The History of One Health

A German scholar from the mid 1800’s, Rudolf Virchow, who came from a farming family, was an early proponent of OH. He said, “Between animal and human medicine there is no dividing line—nor should there be. The object is different but the experience obtained constitutes the basis of all medicine.”

During the last 3 decades, approximately 75 percent of emerging infectious diseases among humans have been zoonotic diseases, which can be transmitted from animals to people. This has encouraged modern proponents of OH. In the 1980’s, epidemiologist Calvin Schwabe called for a unified human and veterinary approach to combat zoonotic diseases, providing the modern foundation for OH. The concept was advanced further when, in 2004, the Wildlife  Conservation Society hosted a symposium that brought together an international group of human and animal health experts to discuss shared diseases among human, wild animal, and domestic animal populations. This symposium introduced a set of priorities for an international and interdisciplinary approach to combat joint threats to human and animal health. In 2007, The American Veterinary Medical Association and the American Medical Association, adopted a vision supporting the concept of OH and formed the One Health Initiative task force. The task force brought together U.S. human and animal health agencies, medical doctors, and veterinarians. In addition, the National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza and its Implementation Plan resulted in several International Ministerial Conferences culminating in 2007 that involved the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), and the World Health Organization. OH has also gained ground throughout the U.S. Government, led by the President’s new initiatives for coordination and collaboration on national security and global development policy.

What is Veterinary Service’s role in OH?

Veterinary Services (VS) has a rich history of applying veterinary public health principles to protect human health. For years, VS has controlled several serious zoonotic diseases, effectively protecting the public from transmission of these diseases. Two major efforts initiated in the early to mid-1900’s involved bovine tuberculosis (TB) and brucellosis. In addition to being transmissible from contact with live animals and carcasses, both of these diseases can also be transmitted through milk. At the turn of the century, about 20 percent of all human TB cases were caused by Mycobacterium bovis, the organism responsible for bovine TB. During 1930- 1941, the United States reported approximately 29,600 human cases of brucellosis. Today, due to the cooperative effort to eliminate these diseases in cattle, both cattle and human cases have decreased dramatically. However, the need for cross-discipline cooperation to combat these and other zoonotic diseases continues.

Recently, new, emerging diseases have required collaboration between VS and other disciplines and organizations including the public health community. For example, in 2006, the on-going threat of a pandemic due to the highly pathogenic avian influenza A (H5N1) virus led to federal interagency and global coordination of prevention and response activities. In 2008, the USDA and the FAO signed a framework agreement to address important global agriculture issues such as world hunger and plant and animal diseases. There is an ongoing need for VS to lead the U.S. OH effort in animal health and to partner more effectively with other U.S. government agencies, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration, to prevent and control problems that affect animal and human health and the environment.

Why Is One Health important to VS?

VS is currently working to implement an OH-specific strategy that will better position our agency to meet the animal health needs of the future. New USDA and APHIS OH initiatives are part of this plan. Implementing the VS 2015 One Health strategy will allow VS to build on past successes in safeguarding American agriculture and adopt a new paradigm to address the complex health relationships between both domestic and wild animals and humans, and their shared environment. The benefits of an OH approach include an enhanced ability to address human and environmental health problems by predicting risk and implementing prevention strategies.

VS and OH in the Future
VS created the OH working group to develop an OH strategic plan for VS to further incorporate OH principles and activities into our agency’s framework. From our strategic plan, our OH Vision states that, “APHIS VS will provide U.S. leadership for the animal health component of One Health and, as a dedicated One Health partner, will contribute toward improving the global health of people, animals, ecosystems, and society.” To implement its vision of OH, VS identified the following five goals: 1. Align VS policy, programs, and infrastructure with VS 2015 OH vision 2. Build new collaborations and partnerships and sustain existing relationships in the OH community 3. Spearhead outreach and communication to build credibility, trust, and respect in the OH community 4. Transform the APHIS VS culture and workforce, and build new skills to support and integrate VS 2015 OH principles 5. Apply our unique competencies to support and enhance the OH community .  We will accomplish these goals through specific Strategic Plan tasks that include:

Year 1 Implementation – 2011 Priorities

Establish policies for national involvement in incidents involving zoonotic agents, including means to actively support requests for domestic OH investigations using VS personnel, resources, and expertise.

Establish policies for VS Regional and Area Offices or equivalent to support OH activities focusing on locally important, high consequence issues.

Develop VS policy and role in pre-harvest food safety.

Continue to foster productive collaborations and sustained partnerships with Federal OH partners. This includes identifying additional constituent groups to advocate OH principles and VS’ role in them.

Encourage and empower APHIS VS Area personnel to establish relationships and maintain collaborations with State, Tribal, and local OH partners.

Develop a VS OH communication plan. Determine how VS’ role in zoonotic disease surveillance contributes to broader surveillance efforts.

For more information on VS OH activities,  contact the VS One Health Coordination Office at VS.OHCO@aphis.usda.gov

Dr. Joseph Annelli

Dr. Lynn Creekmore

Dr. Thomas Gomez

Dr. Katherine Marshall

Dr. Sarah Tomlinson

From USDA   Go Here

MEDIA CONTACT: Tamara Hinton, 202.225.0184     202.225.0184    tamara.hinton@mail.house.gov

WASHINGTON – Today, Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee’s Subcommittee on Department Operations, Oversight, and Credit held a public hearing to learn more about how credit programs are working for farmers and how they should continue in the 2012 Farm Bill.

Two of the witnesses, a beginning farmer from Nebraska and an urban farmer from Ohio, explained how important it is for agricultural producers to have access to credit to both start and support their operations because of the risks inherently involved with farming. While other witnesses representing the Farm Credit System and commercial lenders described the important role they play for economic growth in rural communities.

A number of institutions provide credit to our nation’s farmers, ranchers, and rural constituents. Congress established the Farm Credit System (FCS) in the Federal Farm Loan Act of 1916 to provide a reliable source of credit to agricultural producers, certain agriculture-related businesses, and rural homeowners. The Federal Agriculture Mortgage Corporation (“Farmer Mac”) provides credit for agricultural real estate, rural housing, and rural utility loans on the secondary loan market. Both FCS and Farmer Mac are regulated by the Farm Credit Administration (FCA), which is an independent federal agency.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) provides direct and guaranteed loans to producers who cannot obtain credit from commercial lenders. Much of the loan dollars from FSA are reserved for beginning farmers and ranchers who do not have the required resources to obtain financing from FCS or commercial lenders. Additionally, local banks provide an important source of credit for rural constituents.

“Today we heard that ensuring a stable food supply is directly connected to farmers and ranchers having access to steady sources of credit. It is especially important for our nation’s beginning farmers and ranchers, who are just starting their operations. As we prepare to write the next Farm Bill, it is critical that we continue to provide a credit system that meets the needs of our agricultural producers and rural communities,“ said Chairman Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE).

“I was particularly pleased to have an urban farmer and entrepreneur, Mr. Michael Walton from Cleveland, provide my colleages a different perspective. Urban farmers are legitimate agricultural producers who happen to live and farm outside of the traditional rural environment.  They are filling an increasingly important role in the economic well being of urban areas, and provide healthy nutrition for many who would otherwise not have access to it.  They are doing this without the same resources afforded to traditional farmers such as credit. As we update the Farm Bill, I am urging my colleagues to give serious consideration to the needs of urban farmers. Access to credit can make or break rural farm operations, and urban farm operations are no different,“ said Ranking Member Marcia L. Fudge (D-OH).

Written testimony provided by the witnesses is linked below.

Witness List:

Mr. Bob Frazee, President and CEO, MidAtlantic Farm Credit, on behalf of Farm Credit Council, Westminster, Maryland

Mr. Jeff Gerhart, Chairman, Bank of Newman Grove, on behalf of Independent Community Bankers of America, Newman Grove, Nebraska

Mr. Matthew H. Williams, Chairman and President, Gothenburg State Bank, on behalf of American Bankers Association, Gothenburg, Nebraska

Mr. Michael Walton, urban farmer, Owner, Tunnel Vision Hoops, South Euclid, Ohio

Mr. Justin D. Doerr, beginning farmer, Plainview, Nebraska

http://agriculture.house.gov/press/PRArticle.aspx?NewsID=1581

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that USDA is accepting grant applications to assist small, socially disadvantaged agricultural producers and cooperatives in rural areas to spur job creation. “The funding we are announcing today represents USDA’s continuing investment in providing small business owners with the assistance they need to improve their business operations, and serve their communities by creating economic opportunity for residents and training new generations of rural Americans to succeed in business,” said Vilsack. “The Obama administration is working to help these small-scale producers add profit and efficiency to their operations so they can grow, thrive and create jobs.” For fiscal year 2012, approximately $3 million in grants are available through USDA Rural Development’s Small, Socially Disadvantaged Producer Grant Program (SSDPG), which was authorized in the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (Farm Bill). It is part of the Department’s ongoing effort to expand outreach to rural residents to ensure that all communities have equal access to USDA programs and services. Funding is available to cooperatives or associations of cooperatives where at least 75 percent of the governing board or membership are small, socially disadvantaged producers. Grants can be used for product improvements, business plan development or economic development activities. The maximum grant award per applicant is $175,000. The grants assist eligible producers like the people of Winston County, Mississippi, who face many of the same problems as other rural communities across the nation: declining population, rising prices, and family farmers in need of capital, business tools, and new markets for their products. In 2010, the Winston County Self-Help Cooperative applied for and received a $200,000 Small, Socially Disadvantaged Producer Grant to continue the work they started with local producers in the community. The co-op works with a consortium of local farmers that pool their resources to receive training in business development, conservation, health, and other topics of concern. The cooperative also has a youth program, which teaches vital skills to the next generation of Winston County farmers. Applications for USDA Rural Development’s Small, Socially Disadvantaged Producer Grants are due July 24. Application materials may be obtained at the Rural Development website http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/ or by contacting the nearest USDA Rural Development State Office.

For additional information, see the April 25, 2012, Federal Register, page 24678, or click here http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2012-04-25/html/2012-9997.htm Contact: Weldon Freeman (202) 690-1384

There, in their small workshop in Newport Pagnell in Buckinghamshire, the artisans cleaned and scraped and bleached and stretched the skin until it was transformed into vellum.

The parchment was then taken to the Stationery Office.

At around the same time a brief document made the short journey from Whitehall down the Mall to Buckingham Palace.

Once the words received the royal thumbs up, an anonymous and highly discreet calligrapher was finally allowed to inscribe the text in special ink onto the vellum.

It takes three days at least for the ink to dry. And today it will be from that piece of ex-goat that the Queen will read her speech to parliament.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-18001296

Source: USDA  Read More

**********************************************

A ProMED-mail post

<http://www.promedmail.org>

ProMED-mail is a program of the

International Society for Infectious Diseases <http://www.isid.org>

Date: Wed 9 May 2012

Source: TriState Neighbor

<http://www.tristateneighbor.com/news/regional/article_cfe98430-99dd-11e1-8f2c-001a4bcf887a.html>

South Dakota cattle producers are encouraged to include anthrax vaccine in their vaccination program when they turn cattle out to summer pastures this spring [2012], said Dr Russ Daly, SDSU [South Dakota State University] Extension veterinarian, and Dr Dustin Oedekoven, South Dakota state veterinarian. “Anthrax is a disease of cattle and other ruminants that results in sudden death in affected animals. It is also a potential human pathogen,” said Daly, who also serves as the state public health veterinarian.

While the anthrax risk has been well documented in many parts of South Dakota and anthrax vaccination of cattle is routine in those areas, it is not always possible to predict where cases might occur. For this reason, Daly is encouraging South Dakota producers to use anthrax vaccine in their herds going to summer pastures.

Daly said flooding is an environmental factor that might aid in making the anthrax spores available to cattle. Cattle going onto pastures that have experienced flooding or into areas where anthrax has been documented should especially be candidates for vaccine. “Flooding disrupts the soil, washing up anthrax spores from lower soil levels.

These spores then may be deposited on grass or other forage for the cows to eat after the pasture dries up and warm temperatures occur,”he said. He said 2011 flooding might increase the risk of cattle coming in contact with anthrax this season. “The flooding experienced by many South Dakota rivers in 2011 created the possibility that anthrax spores that have been hidden for many years may now be made more available to cattle now able to graze those previously flooded areas,” Daly said.

During the summer, producers should take the time to check all cattle frequently, Oedekoven said. “Cattle producers need to promptly investigate any unexpected deaths on pasture, whether in cows, bulls, or calves,” Oedekoven said. “With anthrax and many other diseases, treatments and preventive measures are available, and prompt action can help prevent excessive losses.” If a producer suspects anthrax, Oedekoven said, the case should be reported immediately to local veterinarians or to the state veterinarian at 605-773-3321. “Local veterinarians are excellent sources of information for cattle producers regarding anthrax,” Oedekoven said.

For more information on anthrax, contact the South Dakota Animal Industry Board, SDSU Veterinary Extension and livestock field specialists. View the Links section of iGrow Beef at <http://igrow.org/livestock/beef/> to access the SDSU Veterinary Extension website and the South Dakota Animal Industry Board’s anthrax pamphlet.–

Communicated by:

ProMED-mail <promed@promedmail.org>

Under heavy pressure from farm groups, the Obama administration said Thursday it would drop an unpopular plan to prevent children from doing hazardous work on farms owned by anyone other than their parents.

The Labor Department said it is withdrawing proposed rules that would ban children younger than 16 from using most power-driven farm equipment, including tractors. The rules also would prevent those younger than 18 from working in feed lots, grain bins and stockyards.

While labor officials said their goal was to reduce the fatality rate for child farm workers, the proposal had become a popular political target for Republicans who called it an impractical, heavy-handed regulation that ignored the reality of small farms.

“It’s good the Labor Department rethought the ridiculous regulations it was going to stick on farmers and their families,” said Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa. “To even propose such regulations defies common sense, and shows a real lack of understanding as to how the family farm works.”

The surprise move comes just two months after the Labor Department modified the rule in a bid to satisfy opponents. The agency made it clear it would exempt children who worked on farms owned or operated by their parents, even if the ownership was part of a complex partnership or corporate agreement.

That didn’t appease farm groups that complained it would upset traditions in which many children work on farms owned by uncles, grandparents and other relatives to reduce costs and learn how a farm operates. The Labor Department said Thursday it was responding to thousands of comments that expressed concern about the impact of the changes on small family-owned farms.

“The Obama administration is firmly committed to promoting family farmers and respecting the rural way of life, especially the role that parents and other family members play in passing those traditions down through the generations,” the agency said in a statement.

Instead, the agency said it would work with rural stakeholders, including the American Farm Bureau Federation, the National Farmers Union and 4-H to develop an educational program to reduce accidents to young workers.

Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., a grain farmer known to till his fields on weekends away from Washington, had come out strongly against the proposed rule. The Democrat continued to criticize the Obama administration rule even after it was tempered earlier this year, saying the Labor Department “clearly didn’t get the whole message” from Montana’s farmers and ranchers.

Tester, who is in a tough race for re-election, on Thursday praised the decision to withdraw the rule and said he would fight “any measure that threatens that heritage and our rural way of life.”

The infection came to light through the bulk milk testing that is done every 4 weeks. It is the 1st case of Q fever since December 2011, when the bacterium reappeared on a farm in Vinkel [province North Brabant], which had already been infected. It is a farm with 440 goats. The animals showed no clinical signs; the lambing period has just ended.

The VWA [Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority] reports that the farm is known to have met the vaccination requirements. The VWA is examining the possible cause [sic] of infection.

The last [previous] case of Q fever infection on a farm which had not been infected earlier took place in April 2011. The total number of Q fever infected goat/sheep farms [in the Netherlands] is 99. [Of these farms], 58 have by now been declared free of the disease.

Infected farms are required to undertake extra hygiene measures. No animal should be transported to slaughter. There is a prohibition upon the use of such farm’s manure for 150 days. Visits to the farm are allowed only to professionals due to their specified responsibilities.

Other visits are not allowed for 90 days after infection.

Since the large outbreak of Q fever, all dairy goats and dairy sheep in the Netherlands are compulsorily vaccinated against _Coxiella burnetii_. This year’s [2012] vaccination campaign started in early April 2012. All animals must be vaccinated before 1 Aug 2012. In addition, farms with a public function [which are not dairy farms], such as petting zoos, must be similarly vaccinated.

Q fever is transmissible to humans. Hundreds have been sickened by the bacteria. According to RIVM [The Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment], 35 people infected by Q fever are known to have died in the Netherlands. According to unofficial figures, the number of illnesses and deaths in humans is higher.

[For the location of Elim, see map at

<http://www.maplandia.com/netherlands/drenthe/elim/>.

A recent EU presentation on Q fever in the Netherlands, discussed during the SCoFCAH (Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal

Health) meeting in Brussels on 8-9 Mar 2012, including useful references, is available at <http://tinyurl.com/7hf8zru>. -

By Nchimunya Muganya, 18 April 2012

• Livestock Is Among Other Important Sectors of the Economy which Government Has Been Increasing Its Investments to Enhance Its Growth.

When struggling sheep farmers were told to diversify in the 1980s, Norman Taylor, 69, and his brother, David, 70, electrified some fences on their Central Southland farms and bought angora goats. Other farmers got into deer, but that required high fences so goats seemed the easier option.

Norman farmed 1300 sheep at South Hillend, north of Winton, but when he retired to a five-hectare lifestyle block in Forest Hill, near Browns, he took the goats with him.

He and his wife, Pam, have 136 angora goats for meat and fibre – 10 bucks, 67 mixed-aged does, 18 doe kids and 41 mixed-aged wethers.

Norman shears all the goats himself because no sheep shearer will take the small job on. Curly sharp horns made bucks tricky to shear and Norman has been caught a few times.

Freshly shorn goats need shelter because they have few fat reserves and grease in their skin to ward off cold conditions.

Shelter in summer is just as important because the noses and ears of angora goats were sun-sensitive, he said.

During mating season, the bucks were kept in the back paddock, as far away from the passing public, because they reeked, Norman said.

Around March, bucks spray themselves with their own urine, turning their white leg fibre ginger. The pungent perfume attracts the on-heat does.

Norman lets his goats mate in March and with a 151-day gestation period kidding begins in September.

He finds it difficult sending the goats to the meatworks.

“It’s a bit personal for me.”

The goats are trucked to Silver Fern Farms Waitane, near Gore, when killing-space is available.

He said he got about $3.70/kg for the meat but farmers were not paid for the pelt. “Cunningly, they just pay for the carcass.”

The best way to cook the lean meat was slow roasting, he said.

Goats and sheep made good paddock-fellows because goats ate the top of the grass and sheep ate the bottom, Norman said.

David Taylor, Norman’s older brother, has 200 angora goats and 800 sheep on his 74-hectare farm in South Hillend.

“But I’m about to pull the pin on sheep.”

He didn’t mind lambing but found the follow on with sheep, like tailing and dagging, tiresome.

He lets his goats mate a little later than Norman so the kids arrive when lambing is out of the way.

He intended to sell most of his farmland, probably to a neighbouring dairy farm, and would keep his house and enough land for the goats.

Like his brother, he found it hard to kill any of the herd.

“See that old biddy, she’s a 1998 model,” David said. “I find it very hard to knock them on the head. That’s the hardest day’s work I ever do.”

GOT THE GOAT

Gravy from goats Goat exports were worth $6.8 million (excluding goat dairy products) for the year ended September 2011 – $400,000 from fibre, $600,000 from skins, and $5.8 million from bone-in meat.

From the 100,000 goats slaughtered at meatworks in New Zealand that year, 1200 tonnes of meat was produced and 798 tonne was exported. In 2010, 95,281 goats were farmed in New Zealand.

About two-thirds were on commercial sheep and beef farms. Source: Beef + Lamb compendium of farm facts – March 2012.

A hairy history Mohair is the fibre grown by angora goats. The angora goat flock was sent from Turkey to South Africa in the 1800s, which started the mohair industry.

Angora goats were introduced to New Zealand in the 1920s, now producing 45 tonnes of mohair.

During the mid-1980s the New Zealand goat industry boomed. Big investors seeking tax incentives pushed mohair production in New Zealand to a 500 tonne peak but the industry declined after the 1987 sharemarket crash.

Southland goat farmer David Taylor said “Queen St farmers,” the big city investors, partnered with Southland farmers, injecting money into goat farming for tax write-offs and pushing doe prices beyond $1000. “It just went loco. That’s what killed it.”

Goat go-to guy Mohair marketer John Woodward buys fibre and exports it from his Pukekohe warehouse in Auckland. He handles about 29 tonnes of mohair annually, dealing with 90 New Zealand farmers, 10 from the South Island.

Angora goats are shorn twice a year. A fleece shorn from a five-month-old kid weighs about 112 kilograms and fetches about $30/kg.

The coarser second shear weighs about 2.3kg and fetches about $22/kg.

Further shears weigh about 4kg and fetch about $14/kg.

- © Fairfax NZ News

http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/farming/6757343/Men-who-stare-at-goats