Hector H. Hernandez’s Post

#sustainability #foodmanagement To prevent the worst outcomes for this virus, we must revisit its primary source: the incubator of intensive poultry farms.

H5N1 bird flu outbreak detected in Laos The Lao Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry’s Department of Livestock and Fisheries recently reported an H5N1 bird flu outbreak in a Vientiane market. The Lao centre for animal disease research said, of the 65 poultry samples it received from Danxang market in Saythani district, 30 were tested positive with H5N1. An additional 11 samples were then collected for further clarification, with the H5N1 virus found in five samples and H9N2 in five others. The Department of Agriculture and Forestry of Vientiane directed the livestock sector to join hands with competent agencies to investigate to determine the sources of infection, collect information and isolate the location, destroy infected poultry or zone off high risk areas, and instruct farmers to curb the spread of the disease. #birdflu #avianflu #avianinfluenza #birds #poultry #diseasecontrol #epidemiology #Vientiane #Laos

🐠🛡️ Did you know? Fish that are resistant to diseases not only survive better themselves but also help lower the infection rate in other fish! 🌟 Discover more about this fascinating topic and learn how disease-resistant fish are changing the game in aquaculture. Dive into the full article here: https://lnkd.in/e-DfzFv5 📖 Don't miss out on the chance to enhance your knowledge and contribute to healthier fish populations! #Aquaculture #FishHealth #DiseaseResistance #LearnMore #TakeActionNow

🐠🛡️ Did you know? Fish that are resistant to diseases not only survive better themselves but also help lower the infection rate in other fish! 🌟 Discover more about this fascinating topic and learn how disease-resistant fish are changing the game in aquaculture. Dive into the full article here: https://lnkd.in/eHGhcQ8F 📖 Don't miss out on the chance to enhance your knowledge and contribute to healthier fish populations! #Aquaculture #FishHealth #DiseaseResistance #LearnMore #TakeActionNow

So, during routine field monitoring of the forage grasses held in the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) #forage #genebank, we saw some mosaic and yellowing symptoms on our #Urochloa grasses. Our analysis indicated Alfalfa Mosaic Virus and Southern Bean Mosaic Virus to be the culprits and that a number of accessions were affected. But hold on a minute, these viruses are only known to infect dicots, mainly legumes, this must be a mistake! So, we directly inoculated some grasses with the two viruses, and we got mosaic and chlorotic lesion symptoms which were associated with the presence of the viruses… Further, we demonstrated seed transmission in the grasses by assaying seedlings of 136 accessions. As we conclude, this presents a new challenge to the conservation, distribution, and sustainable production of our forage germplasm, not to mention a threat to other crops as they can act as a reservoir for the viruses. Happy to be proven wrong…. https://lnkd.in/dGgdzETw

Nilgai, a non-native antelope species roaming Southern Texas and Northeastern Mexico, were found to appear not to be susceptible to infection following exposure to Babesia bovis, one of two species of protozoa responsible for the disease known as cattle fever. This research significantly contributes to nationwide efforts to better understand the role of wildlife in the epidemiology of bovine babesiosis. This virulent tick-borne disease, with an up to 90% mortality rate in cattle, has plagued the U.S. cattle industry in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Nilgai are a particular wildlife species of concern because of their capacity to spread ticks over a large range. The study yielded no clinical signs of infection in nilgai groups after inoculation. The implication for management is that nilgai will not move infected ticks around the landscape. Continue reading about the critical research at tx.ag/NilgaiTicks -- Texas A&M AgriLife Research | Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service | Texas A&M College of Agriculture and Life Sciences | Texas A&M Department of Rangeland, Wildlife and Fisheries Management

The world’s love of meat is linked to the terrifying strain of avian influenza that’s killed millions of birds, thousands of wild animals, and has even spread to humans. Although wild birds have carried low pathogenic forms of the virus for centuries, the cramped, often dirty conditions common in modern farming have likely created the perfect conditions for it to mutate into dangerous variants. Professor Peter Collignon, an infectious diseases expert at Australian National University, has concerns about industrial farming methods used to fill supermarket shelves and fast food restaurants with cheap chicken, eggs, pork, beef and dairy. He argues the widespread use of antibiotics to prophylactically prevent disease indicates there’s something wrong with these systems. “You need to give antibiotics to animals if they're sick. But if you're having to do it routinely and feed it to 1000 animals at a time, there’s a problem with your farming practice,” he said. Farming facts- 1) Modern-bred meat chickens can reach slaughter weight at just 36 days. Despite their large size, they’re still immature and often make a cheeping sound like tiny chicks. 2) It's hard to breathe inside modern chicken sheds because of ammonia from the waste. 3) In the US, cattle can be fed waste from chickens.

🚨Terrifying!🚨 Up to a fifth of US milk may now contain traces of bird flu 🚨First case of the virus being transmitted to humans 🚨Tens of millions of poultry slaughtered since 2020 to contain H5 strain of avian influenza. The next pandemic is a disaster waiting to happen, and it will likely be driven by animal agriculture. Here's just a few ways that animal agriculture makes this more likely: 🚨Over-use of anti-biotics in animal ag leads to antibiotic resistant bacteria 🚨Factory farming provides perfect breeding grounds for diseases with many animals crammed together in unhygeinic conditions 🚨 Animal ag's huge use of land (particularly grazed ruminants like cattle) drives deforestation and expansion into wild habitats leading to interactions between wild and farmed animals which encourages transition diseases. It's never been more urgent to shift to lower meat production/consumption. #food #meat #plantbased #lessandbettermeat #climatechange #climatecrisis #biglivestock #defundbiglivestock

'Avian' Flu Outbreak Spreading to Cattle Herds in the Us. But Canada? Still not actively testing. The so-called 'avian' flu (so-called, because it has appeared predominantly in flocks of domesticated chickens and ducks raised for protein consumption), is now spreading to various cattle herds in the US. So far, it has been detected in 34 herds, in 9 States. And some scientists are stating that this is a gross underestimation of the total. H5N1 is actively tracked in Canada, but the focus in solely on chicken and duck farms. And even then, it is usually the farmer that has the responsibility of noticing any early signs, and taking well-documented bio-security measures if they discover any infected birds, all the way up to euthanasia. However, when it comes to cattle, again the responsibility is being left to individual ranchers and farmers. But without a standard protocol, or funding to offset the cost of tests, farmers and ranchers are unlikely to initiate aggressive testing of their herds. This is another unfortunate example of our Federal Government being slow to move, assign responsibility and move quickly to aggressively test cattle, and support farmers and ranchers through what could be a devastating time. #canadianfarms #avianflu #H5N1 #cattle #farmers #ranchers

🚨 Exciting Research Update! 🚨 Vietnam’s rising demand for meat from livestock, including pigs and farmed wildlife, highlights the importance of understanding zoonotic reservoirs for hepatitis E virus (HEV). Our new study published in One Health journal aimed to identify and characterize circulating zoonotic HEV in domestic pigs and wild boar. Here’s what we found: 🔍 Study Highlights: -Sample Size: 415 pigs and 102 wild boars -HEV RNA Positivity: 10% overall, with wild boars at 25% and domestic pigs at 7% -Regional Differences: Southern Vietnam had a higher positivity rate (20%) compared to central Vietnam (7%) -Sample Types: Rectal swabs had the highest positivity rate (15%) -Genotypes: HEV-3a was predominant (85%), followed by HEV-4b (9%) and HEV-3f (6%) These findings underscore the significant prevalence of HEV in wild boars, emphasizing their role as crucial zoonotic reservoirs alongside domestic pigs. Regular epidemiological studies are vital to prevent spillover events and protect public health. Please read https://lnkd.in/eGt2TfE3