Tag: dairy cattle health

NMPF Awarded USDA Grants to Advance Dairy Industry Disease Preparedness

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

USDA APHIS’ National Animal Disease Preparedness and Response Program (NADPRP) awarded NMPF funding May 16 to support two projects advancing dairy cattle disease preparedness, timely support as the dairy industry evolves in response to H5N1 in dairy cattle.

The first award will expand on USDA funding NMPF received in 2021 to build the National Dairy Farmers Assuring Responsible Management (FARM) Biosecurity Program. FARM Biosecurity provides dairy farmers with the tools to protect the health of their herds and employees from everyday and foreign animal diseases.

Biosecurity resources developed from the initial 2021 USDA funding are currently being used to respond to the H5N1 dairy cattle outbreak. This new funding will expand educational resources and training opportunities for producers, cooperatives, state animal health officials and FARM Program evaluators; update the Secure Milk Supply Plan guidance and further develop the capabilities of the FARM Biosecurity database.

The second award will bring together stakeholders including dairy cooperatives, milk haulers, milk testing labs, state and federal animal health officials and National Animal Health Laboratory Network (NAHLN) lab directors to conduct a gap analysis and create a report outlining current capabilities and guidance for industry and policymakers to implement a foot-and-mouth disease diagnostic assay using bulk tank milk samples to provide herd-level disease surveillance in the event of an outbreak.

“USDA funding for continued enhancement of biosecurity on dairy farms for emerging and foreign animal diseases arrives at a time when the dairy industry is already using USDA-funded resources to address the challenges of H5N1,” Gregg Doud, president and CEO of NMPF, said. “This ongoing collaboration between USDA and NMPF is building resiliency for the U.S. dairy industry now and for the future.”

The grants are funded by the 2018 Farm Bill as part of an overall strategy to help prevent animal pests and diseases from entering the United States and reduce the spread and impact of potential disease incursions through advance planning and preparedness.

NMPF will apply the grant funding to advance biosecurity and diagnostic testing capabilities to support animal health on dairy farms by partnering with stakeholders and experts, including dairy farmers, veterinarians, dairy cooperatives and processors, NAHLN laboratories, Preventalytics LLC, and state and federal animal health officials.

NMPF Comments on FDA Veterinary Priorities and Antimicrobial Use Duration

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

NMPF submitted comments Jan. 19 to the FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine on their Environmental Scan.

The scan’s purpose is to identify major trends, including emerging issues and ongoing challenges, in the veterinary center’s internal and external environments to support, inform, and improve short-term and long-term strategic planning. The center asked six wide ranging questions about priorities, legal authority, communications, and One Health, an effort to improve health outcomes among all species.

NMPF’s comments reviewed the nearly 40-year U.S. dairy industry commitment to One Health through residue avoidance and the FARM animal care program. Comments to specific questions included support for broader FDA authority through the FEED Act to regulate feed additives with non-nutritive benefits, including environmental benefit claims, production claims, and claims about effects on the animal well-being and pre-harvest food safety. The comments also supported FDA’s efforts to streamline development and approval of other novel technologies to address animal health, antimicrobial use, and environmental issues.

The veterinary medicine comments followed joint comments NMPF submitted Jan. 5 with the American Association of Bovine Practitioners (AABP), the Academy of Veterinary Consultants (AVC), and the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) on the draft FDA Guidance for Industry (GFI) #273 Defining Durations of Use for Approved Medically Important Antimicrobial Drugs Fed to Food-Producing Animals. In reviewing GFI #273, the groups identified several substantive concerns.

The group also referenced the agency back to extensive evidence-based comments previously submitted to earlier requests by the agency for public comments on this topic — specifically, the joint comments from AABP, AVC, NMPF and NCBA in 2017 and 2021, to include a request for information document with more than 80 scientific references.

NMPF’s Jonker Addresses Dairy Sustainability at Two International Forums

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

Dr. Jamie Jonker, NMPF Chief Science Officer, spoke at the inaugural Agriculture Working Group of G20, International Symposium on Sustainable Livestock Transformation, held July 17-18 in Anand, India. In his role as Chair of the International Dairy Federation Science Program Coordinating Committee, Jonker used examples from U.S. dairy to discuss the role of animal health, genetics and nutrition on dairy farm economic, environmental and social sustainability. Maintaining healthy animals and reducing disease incidence increases milk sales while reducing greenhouse gas intensity and antimicrobial use.

On July 24, Dr. Jonker joined antimicrobial resistance (AMR) experts from around the world at the virtual GLG-UN Food Systems Summit event Country Progress and Political Action on AMR in Agrifood Systems: Building Towards the UNGA High-Level Meeting on AMR in 2024. As a member of the Global Leaders Group on AMR, he stressed the importance of the One Health approach which considers animal health, human health and the environment. This approach addresses the need for additional innovation to support additional biosecurity and animal health interventions which maintain animal health and reduce the need for antimicrobial use.

Protecting Trade from a Foreign Animal Disease Focus of USDA Meeting

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

Karen Jordan, DVM and chair of NMPF’s Animal Health and Wellbeing Committee, and Dr. Jamie Jonker, NMPF’s chief science officer, met with USDA APHIS Administrator Kevin Shae and other USDA animal health leadership Dec. 6 to discuss animal-health issues for U.S. dairy farmers, focusing on trade and biosecurity.

Jonker spoke about the importance of USDA advocacy for science-based World Organization for Animal Health and Codex Alimentarius standards allowing the safe trade of dairy products, noting that U.S. dairy exports will be nearly 20% of domestic production and $10 billion in 2022. He thanked USDA for the initial funding for the federal-state-industry partnership that developed the Secure Milk Supply Plan. He also reported on the progress being made to advance and integrate Everyday and Enhanced/Secure Milk Supply biosecurity into the National Dairy FARM Program due to the NADPRP cooperative agreement.

Jordan requested acceleration of development of a milk bulk tank Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) test which could be used to augment the Secure Milk Supply Plan to assist in maintaining continuity of business for dairy farmers should an FMD outbreak occur in the United States. USDA also handles health certification for dairy export certificates, which are vital to maintain and expand trade.

Jordan also reported on the progress of the NMPF-led multi-stakeholder task force with dairy farmers, veterinarians, and state and federal animal and public health officials to address the transmission of Bovine Tuberculosis from cattle to humans and humans to cattle. She also stressed the overall importance of USDA cattle health programs for dairy farmers, including revising and updating the National Tuberculosis Eradication Program standards to meet contemporary challenges of disease eradication, including disease transmission, lower disease incidence, and changing production systems.

Jonker expressed hope that USDA would publish the long-delayed update to the National Tuberculosis Eradication Program standards soon. He also discussed the importance emerging animal health and safety issues including the Asian longhorn tick and black vultures, which are a threat to dairy cattle on pasture, and long-term issues like animal identification and disease traceability to dairy farmers.