News & Perspective

(CIDRAP News) – Three federal agencies have signed a cooperative agreement with the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA) to improve integration of state-federal responses to food and agricultural emergencies.

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) along with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) signed the agreement on Sep 23.

(CIDRAP News) – State Public Health Veterinarian Mira Leslie, DVM, MPH, hopes to greatly expand Washington's disease surveillance network Oct 1 when she speaks at a statewide veterinary meeting.

(CIDRAP News) – Twenty-nine states and tribal projects will receive $11.64 million in federal grants to develop livestock identification and tracking systems, Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman has announced.

(CIDRAP News) – Rift Valley fever (RVF), a mosquito-borne disease that can kill humans and animals, is starting to grab the attention of American scientists because it could cause devastating outbreaks in the United States.

(CIDRAP News) – A substance that was smeared on dairy cows near Seattle, killing three and sickening seven others, was a chromium compound, but the episode did not endanger consumers, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said late yesterday.

(CIDRAP News) – The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) last week announced it would spend $18.8 million to begin a three-stage process for setting up a national animal identification system to help contain animal disease outbreaks.

Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman said the goal of the effort is a system to identify farms and other sites exposed to foreign animal diseases.

(CIDRAP News) – The University of Minnesota and Texas A&M University will receive a total of $33 million to set up centers to research food contamination threats and foreign animal diseases, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced today.

(CIDRAP News) – Animal disease outbreaks and concerns, including avian influenza and bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), are currently reducing global meat and animal exports by about one third, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said today.

(CIDRAP News) – Dr. Garry L. McKee is leaving his post as administrator of the US Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) to take a position at the FSIS Technical Service Center in Omaha, Neb., USDA officials announced yesterday.