State vet worried about combination of avian influenza and foot-and-mouth disease
October 05, 2015 |09:24 AM
BISMARCK, N.D. — The recent experience with avian influenza has made her more concerned about the possibility of importing foot-and-mouth disease into the United States, Susan Keller, the North Dakota state veterinarian and the incoming head of the National Assembly of State Animal Health Officials, said here Saturday.
Susan Keller
Noting that she had been responsible for dealing with highly pathogenic avian influenza when it appeared in North Dakota, Keller said, “Are we ready to deal with foot-and-mouth disease? What if we had it in the same month [as avian influenza]. The answer is no.”
Keller made the statements in an address at the annual convention of the Independent Beef Association of North Dakota, an affiliate of the U.S. Cattlemen’s Association.
She noted that the North Dakota Board of Animal Health has filed comments opposing the Agriculture Department’s proposal to import beef from sections of Argentina and Brazil.
Keller said she is dissatisfied with the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service process of determining that meat from certain areas of Argentina and Brazil is safe. She noted there have been food-and-mouth disease outbreaks in Argentina several times since 2000 and that the disease is also endemic in wildlife there.
The last case of foot-and-mouth disease in the United States was in 1929, Keller noted.
Noting that she had been responsible for dealing with highly pathogenic avian influenza when it appeared in North Dakota, Keller said, “Are we ready to deal with foot-and-mouth disease? What if we had it in the same month [as avian influenza]. The answer is no.”
Keller made the statements in an address at the annual convention of the Independent Beef Association of North Dakota, an affiliate of the U.S. Cattlemen’s Association.
She noted that the North Dakota Board of Animal Health has filed comments opposing the Agriculture Department’s proposal to import beef from sections of Argentina and Brazil.
Keller said she is dissatisfied with the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service process of determining that meat from certain areas of Argentina and Brazil is safe. She noted there have been food-and-mouth disease outbreaks in Argentina several times since 2000 and that the disease is also endemic in wildlife there.
The last case of foot-and-mouth disease in the United States was in 1929, Keller noted.
