Press Release: Animal Identification

[livestock-id]

Livestock-ID, just made a press release, and are accepting sign-ups for their new newsletter. The newsletter will have more direct content and resources on animal identification, and will be available to subscribers only. Sign up is free.

Read the Press Release and Newsletter details on the blog.
http://livestock-id.blogspot.com/2011/03/press-release-free-animal-id-resources.html

 

[horsein]

Livestock ID why do you keep pushing the ADT or once upon a day NAIS program? The one thing we came to the conclusion is that due to all these signed trade agreements with foreign nations who are also members of the UN it comes down to the USDA who really now reports to the UN counterpart to open the borders for livestock. Your state vets now report to the OIE. No longer do we have a USA list of diseases, that was changed a few years back to include all disease listed by the OIE.


This whole ADT or NAIS is a givin to open up the borders to help destroy our healthy herds with foreign diseases, so buyer beware. You want FMD or any other FAD on USA soil then signup for tags, sign up for a government issued premises id and you had better make sure your animals are tracked.

All our hardwork to eradicate disease here in the USA will be for nothing if you think ADT or NAIS will be the answer. Its about opening the borders for livestock. Trade, money what ever you want to call it. Look at what has happened between Mexico and the USA, we are now seeing a rise in human disease that we have lowered the numbers on.

 

[mrj]

It would be interesting to see which diseases affecting humans have risen with more trade with Mexico.......and their connection to animal health or diseases. What do you mean? And where are the animals coming from? Aren't there quarantines on live animals from disease prone foreign countries?

mrj

 

[Mike]

It would be interesting to see which diseases affecting humans have risen with more trade with Mexico

TB

INTRODUCTION
During 1994--1998, approximately 3.9 million legal immigrants entered the United States. Of those immigrants, 16.5% were from Mexico, the leading country of birth for all legal immigrants, and 5% were from seven countries in Central America (1). Additionally, an estimated 2.7 million persons from Mexico and Central America live in the United States without documentation of citizenship or visas (2). Persons from these countries contribute substantially to U.S. tuberculosis (TB) morbidity.

TB disease among foreign-born persons living in the United States is increasing. In 1999, 43% (7,553) of the 17,531 TB cases reported in the United States were among foreign-born persons, compared with 24% (6,262) of the 25,701 cases reported in 1990. In 1999, Mexico was the country of origin for 23% (1,753) of all foreign-born persons with TB. Of TB cases among Mexican-born persons, three fourths were reported from the four U.S. states bordering Mexico: California, 820 cases; Texas, 364 cases; Arizona, 67 cases; and New Mexico, 17 cases (3). In 1999, TB cases among Mexican-born persons represented approximately 25% of all reported TB in the four border states. Incidence of TB was higher for the majority of border counties than the national TB rate.

TB is brought into the United States from Mexico and Central America in three ways: a) persons with active TB disease move northward across the border; b) persons with latent TB infection experience active disease after arrival in the United States; or c) U.S. residents touring Mexico, including immigrants, acquire TB disease after returning to the United States (4--7). After a person with TB enters the United States, further transmission might occur, which contributes to TB morbidity in the United States directly from source patients and indirectly from their contacts.

Converging factors contribute to elevated TB incidence and complicate TB control efforts along the U.S.-Mexico border. Mexico's higher TB rate of approximately 27 cases/100,000 population, compared with that of the United States, and the migratory flow across the border result in elevated TB incidence in the geographic areas most affected by cross-border immigration. Low socioeconomic status, crowded living conditions, and limited access to health care increase the risk for TB transmission on both sides of the border. Frequent bilateral border crossings and movement within the United States contribute to delays in TB diagnosis and impede treatment completion. Language and sociocultural differences also contribute to delays in seeking care and influence adherence to treatment (8,9). Coordinating TB case management across an international border is complicated, and among certain TB patients, outcomes are compromised.

 

[mrj]

Thanks for that information Mike, but wasn't the subject of the thread ANIMAL diseases? Getting into the human disease aspect was confusing in an animal health thread. I thought you had found a disease that crosses species barriers. Can TB do that? I know it occurs both in humans and in cattle, but is it the same, and can it cross both ways?

Still, it is interesting to learn of yet another reason for totally closing that border to illegal immigrants. I'm not sure how I would rate that as compared with the fact that many of the illegals are natives of countries where extremist Islam terrorists are trained. TB probably would rank behind the terrorists because TB can be controlled or cured in some cases.

mrj

 

[Mike]

In 1882, Robert Koch identified the bacillus (Mycobacterium tuberculosis) that caused human tuberculosis. He showed that it could be transmitted to animals. Koch believed that the organisms in humans and cattle were the same, but Theobald Smith, a veterinarian from Harvard, demonstrated that they were different organisms. 11 Most species of mycobacteria can be transmitted across animal species, but not all infections cross species with the same efficiency. The three main types identified were human, bovine, and avian. Horses, mules, sheep, and goats are resistant to all three types, but swine are susceptible to all three (most get avian). Cattle are susceptible to all three but only slightly to human and avian strains. Dogs can get human, cats can get bovine, but chickens get only avian. Immunocompetent humans are resistant to M. bovis, but severe or recurrent exposure in milkers, cattle workers, and milk drinkers can cause disease. 12

Lister, Bang, and McFadyeann presented data at a conference in 1901 showing the relationship between bovine tuberculosis, infected milk, and human disease. At that time, hundreds of children per year died of tuberculous meningitis or miliary tuberculosis from contaminated milk. Others had scrofula or arthritis. Unpasteurized milk of tuberculous cows was the source of more than 90% of infections in children. 11,12 These findings led to campaigns in several countries to eradicate bovine tuberculosis.

Unlike smallpox, bovine tuberculosis (1) often does not produce acute illness; (2) has a carrier stage; (3) has multiple non-human reservoirs; (4) has no vaccine; (5) has no centralized global surveillance or eradication programs; and (6) control measures have significant economic consequences. Prevention and control are costly and labor intensive: testing of herds with branding and slaughter of reactive animals, disinfecting stock areas after eradication of reactors (especially manure), educating stock handlers to test all new stock before integration in the herd, pasteurizing milk, keeping cattle from potentially contaminated streams and grazing areas, and limiting exposure during shipping, in stockyards, and at shows (cattle tested three months post-exposure). 12 These factors have presented major historical and present day obstacles to eradication of bovine tuberculosis.

 

[mrj]

OK, I'll concede a statistical POSSIBILITY of disease transmission.

However, there are FAR more immediately harmful reasons to STOP illegal immigration and send back those who already are here!

First, the drug trade. Our media glamorizing the actors and wealthy brats who habitually get caught with drugs, flaunt the laws, and keep on with their habits makes it pretty difficult to show kids they will be harmed by using illegal recreational drugs, doesn't it?

Then, there is the fact of costs to local, county, and state governments and medical facilities, schools, and more from the burden of so many people who do not pay for their use of those sysems.

Granted, we may need some of the workers. Why not develop a guest worker program where they can leave their families in Mexico, or certainly not be able to gain citizenship ahead of those who follow the rules of emmigration, yet earn some money by working here for a specific period of time before returning. Even seasonal workers in harvesting veggie and fruit crops, etc. would give them a boost back in Mexico.

We just cannot endure the law breaking, for many reasons, animal disease control rather far from a major one, IMO.

mrj

 

[flounder]

Thanks for that information Mike, but wasn't the subject of the thread ANIMAL diseases? Getting into the human disease aspect was confusing in an animal health thread. I thought you had found a disease that crosses species barriers. Can TB do that? I know it occurs both in humans and in cattle, but is it the same, and can it cross both ways?

Still, it is interesting to learn of yet another reason for totally closing that border to illegal immigrants. I'm not sure how I would rate that as compared with the fact that many of the illegals are natives of countries where extremist Islam terrorists are trained. TB probably would rank behind the terrorists because TB can be controlled or cured in some cases.

mrj

Bovine TB, caused by M. bovis, can be transmitted from livestock to humans and other animals. No other TB organism has as great a host range as bovine TB, which can infect all warm blooded vertebrates. M. avium can affect all species of birds, as well as hogs and cattle. M. tuberculosis primarily affects humans but can also be transmitted to hogs, cattle, and dogs.

Bovine TB has affected animal and human health since antiquity.



http://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_health/animal_diseases/tuberculosis/






Lancet (1991) 338: 1253-5.

Mycobacterium bovis infection in human beings in contact with elk (Cervus elaphus) in Alberta, Canada.

A Fanning, S Edwards

Human infection with Mycobacterium bovis is rare in developed countries because of milk pasteurisation and the slaughter of infected cattle. An epizootic of M bovis infection in domesticated elk (Cervus elaphus) in Alberta, Canada, which started in April, 1990, prompted us to seek human contacts of elk herds. There were 446 identified contacts, in 394 of whom tuberculin skin tests were done. Of 81 contacts who were skin-test positive, 50 had been in contact with culture-positive animals. 6 of 106 subjects tested a second time became tuberculin positive. 1 case of active M bovis infection was diagnosed by sputum culture. The mode of transmission of M bovis from these farm animals to man is likely to be aerosolisation of infected particles. Because of the apparent susceptibility of farmed Cervidae (deer) to M bovis infection, and the evidence of spread to man, control measures to prevent human infection should be developed.



http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PII0140-6736(91)92113-G/abstract


http://www.thelancet.com/




Dispatches

Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection as a Zoonotic Disease: Transmission between Humans and Elephants Kathleen Michalak,* Connie Austin,† Sandy Diesel,* J. Maichle Bacon,* Phil Zimmerman,‡ and Joel N. Maslow§ *McHenry County Department of Health, Woodstock, Illinois, USA; †Illinois Department of Public Health, Springfield, Illinois, USA; ‡University of Illinois, College of Medicine at Rockford, Rockford, Illinois, USA; and §Boston University School of Medicine and the VA Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Between 1994 and 1996, three elephants from an exotic animal farm in Illinois died of pulmonary disease due to Mycobacterium tuberculosis. In October 1996, a fourth living elephant was culture-positive for M. tuberculosis. Twenty-two handlers at the farm were screened for tuberculosis (TB); eleven had positive reactions to intradermal injection with purified protein derivative. One had smear-negative, culture-positive active TB. DNA fingerprint comparison by IS6110 and TBN12 typing showed that the isolates from the four elephants and the handler with active TB were the same strain. This investigation indicates transmission of M. tuberculosis between humans and elephants.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis and M. bovis, related organisms of the M. tuberculosis complex, infect a wide variety of mammalian species. M. bovis is pathogenic for many animal species, especially bovidae, cervidae, and occasionally carnivores. Human disease with M. bovis is well described and historically was a common cause of tuberculosis (TB) transmitted by infected dairy products. As a result of milk pasteurization and TB eradication programs in most industrialized countries, zoonotic transmission of M. bovis through domestic livestock is now rare. In contrast, a similar eradication program has not been conducted for wild or exotic animals, which therefore remain an uncommon source for M. bovis exposure. Zoonotic transmission of M. bovis has been reported from seals, rhinoceros, and elk (1-4).

M. tuberculosis, the most common species to cause TB, classically causes disease in humans. Animal infection with M. tuberculosis, while uncommon, has been described among species (e.g., birds, elephants, and other mammals) with prolonged and close contact with humans (5-10). Transmission of M. tuberculosis between animals and humans has not been reported. This paper describes M. tuberculosis transmission from elephants to humans.



http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/eid/vol4no2/michalak.htm




http://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_health/animal_diseases/tuberculosis/



Mycobacterium tuberculosis is the cause of most of the cases of tuberculosis in humans. Worldwide, more humans die as a result of tuberculosis each year than from any other infectious disease.4 At present, more than a third of the world's population is infected with tubercle bacilli and more people are dying as a result of tuberculosis than ever in history. Ninety-five percent of the tuberculosis cases are reported in developing countries, and it has been estimated that the disease results in the deaths of 2 to 3 million people each year.


snip...

Contact with infected animals is another source of M bovis infection for humans and is a recognized hazard for abattoir workers, veterinarians, and livestock handlers.5- 7,11,15-17 Among such workers who developed the disease, aerosol transmission was considered the most likely route of infection, but there are many occasions on which infection had been spread via cuts and abrasions (eg, butcher's wart).16 Although many of the primary nonaerosol sources of M bovis infection in humans have been removed in industrialized countries, there has been an increase in the number of cases of pulmonary infection with M bovis, which may be due to several factors: the lung is the usual site of postprimary M bovis infection, regardless of the site of the primary lesion; cases of pulmonary M bovis infection may be the result of reactivation of previously quiescent (ie, nonclinical) primary lesions; and infection may be the result of human-tohuman aerosol transmission.16 Finally, aerosol transmission of M tuberculosis from humans to animals has been reported.18,19 The disease has been reported in elephants, nonhuman primates, and several other species.18-22,b The reemergence of M bovis infection in captive and free-ranging wild animals, with subsequent transmission of infection to domestic animals, is of concern to livestock producers and regulatory officials in the United States and in several other countries of the world.23-26 In Michigan, the detection of tuberculosis in deer and other wild animals and the transmission of M bovis infection to beef and dairy herds have threatened the export of breeding stock and semen to other states and to countries outside the United States.26 When an outbreak of tuberculosis in cattle is reported within a state, federal disease control officials remove the state's accredited-free status, causing economic hardships for the state's livestock industries. With the effects of tuberculosis on animal health and zoonotic implications, eradication and control of disease caused by the bacteria that compose the M tuberculosis complex are high priorities. Despite efforts to control tuberculosis since its recognition in antiquity, the disease continues to be a problem in both human and animal populations.


18. Michalak K, Austin C, Diesel S, et al. Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection as a zoonotic disease: transmission between humans and elephants. Emerg Infect Dis 1998;4:2883–2887.

19. Michel AL, Huchzermeyer HFAK. The zoonotic importance of Mycobacterium tuberculosis: transmission from human to monkey. J S Afr Vet Assoc 1998;69:64–65.

20. Morris PJ, Thoen CO, Legendre AM. Pulmonary tuberculosis in an African lion (Panthera leo). J Zoo Wildl Med 1996;27:392–396.

21. Mikota SK, Peddie L, Peddie J, et al. Epidemiology and diagnosis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in captive Asian elephants (Elephas maximus). J Zoo Wildl Med 2001;32:1–16. 22. Oh P, Granich R, Scott J, et al. Human exposure following Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection in multiple animal species in a metropolitan zoo. Emerg Infect Dis 2002;8:1290–1293.




http://www.avma.org/avmacollections/zu/javma_224_5_685.pdf




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