Avian influenza is confirmed in several European, Middle Eastern and Asian countries. The H5N8 strain has been detected in the majority of those countries and the situation is constantly evolving. Japan and Korea are dealing with the H5N6 strain of the virus.

Poultry producers around the world are being asked to increase their biosecurity efforts to reduce the risk of disease spread. Many countries are also increasing their surveillance efforts to detect the disease sooner. The Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations recommends countries share test results to help determine how avian influenza moves around the globe.

No cases have been detected in the U.S. The last U.S. identification of highly pathogenic avian influenza was in August of this year when a wild mallard was detected in Alaska.

Remember, the United States Department of Agriculture has plenty of resources to help you set up a strong biosecurity plan and put it into practice.

Here is the latest news coverage from a few foreign countries:

Japan

Europe

The USDA released the October 2016 monthly report for the National Scrapie Eradication Program. To date, no positive classical scrapie cases have been reported in sheep or goats. Also, there were no new infected or source flocks during October. The most recent case of scrapie occurred in April 2016.

To report a sheep or goat with clinical signs of scrapie, please contact either the USDA APHIS VS St. Paul office at 651-234-5680 or the Board of Animal Health at 651-201-6809.

Check out the APHIS VS Scrapie Website and www.eradicatescrapie.org for details on the disease. PDF Monthly Report

The Board of Animal Health is requesting information from large animal veterinarians and livestock producers regarding shortage areas for food animal veterinarians. This will help provide nominations to the USDA's Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program in 2017. If you have information, please contact Dr. Linda Glaser at 651-201-6828.

Request for proposals are due to the USDA in early February 2017. Learn more about the Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program here.

Members of the Minnesota highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) response team attended a review and planning meeting on Wednesday, December 14 at the Minnesota Poultry Testing Laboratory in Willmar. The team consists of state and federal employees working in areas related to animal health.

The Board's incident commander, Dr. Greg Suskovic, worked with government agencies and poultry industry partners to review how Minnesota will respond if HPAI is detected. It was also a chance to see some new tools available to poultry producers, like the University of Minnesota's Poultry Disease Planning Tool.

Planning meetings, like this, are an important part of emergency preparedness and the more often the Board meets with staff and partners, the more prepared it will be if and when a disease emerges.