How Do US Agencies Stop Animal Diseases Entering the Country?

This week, we featured an article from Rachel Lane on the measures that APHIS – the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) – takes to ensure animal diseases are not imported into the US.

One of the biggest dangers is Foot and Mouth disease, which last caused major outbreaks in the US in the 1920s. Other focuses include Brucellosis and Bovine TB.

Live cattle and the beef products from different countries are tested at the borders before being allowed to enter the country, said Jack Shere, acting deputy administrator of APHIS Veterinary Services.

“Early detection is the key to prevent a major outbreak,” he said – click here to read more. 

In disease news this week, a suspected case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) was announced in France.

The outbreak, in a cow of the Salers breed, is still being confirmed at a European-level laboratory – read more.  

Elsewhere, the UK’s latest figures on Bovine TB show that more than 28,000 cattle were slaughtered in England last year after testing positive for the disease. They also show more than 3,950 herds that had previously been clear of the disease were affected by it.

The National Farmers’ Union (NFU) said this reinforced the need to step up the fight against the disease, and called for the Government’s 25-year TB eradication strategy to be implemented in full as quickly as possible - read more.