Health

USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service conducts regular testing to monitor the disease risks posed by feral swine. Of primary concern is the possibility that feral swine populations may carry classical swine fever (CSF), also known as hog cholera....More

  President Barack Obama recommended Monday that no additional funding be allocated for construction of a new biosecurity lab in Kansas to replace the Plum Island facility, and said the Department of Homeland Security will reassess the project's viability, according to a report in Monday’s edition of the Long Island (NY) Press....More

  Completing the task of PRRS elimination sounds like a great New Year’s resolution. However, like most resolutions, that wish will not be fulfilled. But our objective should be to make progress toward improving control of this costly and menacing virus in finishing pigs....More

Several Midwestern states have been conducting porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) eradication projects....More

Rickets and osteomalacia (Table 1) are disease names associated with metabolic bone disease in growing and adult animals, respectively. The causes of metabolic bone diseases are usually related to deficiencies or imbalances in phosphorus, calcium and/or vitamin D deficiency. Calcium and phosphorus are essential nutrients that are tightly regulated in the blood because of critical metabolic roles they play. Both are needed for normal mineralization of bone matrix which provides for normal bone density and strength. Bone is the reservoir for calcium and phosphorus, and acts as a buffer to assure calcium and phosphorus are adequate in blood...More