Tag: FDA Veterinary Priorities

NMPF, FARM Focus on New World Screwworm Prevention

Posted on by Rachel Ravencraft

Three top USDA experts led a discussion of the latest updates, detection methods and more during a one-hour live webinar on Sept. 22 exploring New World screwworm hosted by NMPF and the National Dairy FARM Program.

With the screwworm now reported to be 70 miles south of a Mexican-U.S. border state, efforts to protect cattle and prevent spread are ratcheting up. NMPF and FARM are monitoring the situation closely, creating a fact sheet for producers, available here. USDA is taking an “all hands on deck” approach to manage the malady, said Dr. Christopher Needham, deputy director of USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services (APHIS).

“We actually have boots on the ground now looking at this, doing a full investigation, as well as considering what our next steps are to protect the border at all costs,” Needham said. “The entire federal government is looking at this as a national priority, and a national approach is needed to really make sure that we’re protecting agriculture here in the United States.”

Needham spoke to more than 80 attendees of USDA’s key strategy to work across agencies to ensure an effective response. Dr. Needham provided an overview of the screwworm outbreak followed by USDA’s five-pronged plan, with ongoing efforts to increase the Sterile Insect Technique, import requirements, surveillance and trapping of screwworm.

Dr. Rosemary Sifford, deputy administrator for USDA’s APHIS, also joined the call to discuss the agency’s efforts to update the NWS Strategy Plan. USDA is currently drafting the NWS Incident Playbook, a resource that provides quick, practical access to tools and methods used to respond to NWS.

Participants also learned the proper steps for reporting suspected cases to safeguard animal health and protect livestock. Producers are encouraged to report any suspicion of NWS to their veterinarian, state vet, USDA office or extension agent.

Chief Veterinary Officer for the Food and Drug Administration, Dr. Tristan Colonius, rounded out the webinar with information on animal drugs for New World screwworm. There are currently no approved products for treating or preventing NWS. FDA is reviewing potential drugs as part of the coordinated response.

Recent reports have detected New World screwworm in cattle just 70 miles from the northern border state of Nuevo Leon. This is the closest case to the U.S. border since the outbreak began last year.

Producers should continue to enforce biosecurity measures on farms to bolster efforts in mitigating the spread.

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.