Minnesota Board of Animal Health releases annual report
St. Paul, Minn. - The Minnesota Board of Animal Health’s 2017 Annual Report
concentrates on its slogan, “Healthy
animals for healthy people and communities.” It was a busy year with many
notable efforts to protect animal health: responding to the swine disease
Senecavirus A, investigating CWD cases in deer, tracking animal movements
within and across Minnesota’s borders, and planning and preparing for a foreign
animal disease event. The annual report covers the 2017 fiscal year and ranges
from July 2016 to June 2017.
“We’re always focused on healthy animals,” said executive
director, Dr. Beth Thompson. “We keep one eye on our past and the previous
diseases we’ve experienced in Minnesota, while we maintain the other on our
future so that we can respond most effectively to what hasn’t happened yet.”
The last year was populated with a lot of news surrounding
CWD in the state. The Board responded to infections at two different farmed
cervid herds. It also completed more than 1,300 successful routine CWD
surveillance tests, which is 13 percent of the 10,607 farmed deer or elk in the
state.
Senecavirus A is a swine disease with clinical signs similar
to foot and mouth disease, which is a dangerous foreign animal disease. Because
of the similarity of the signs, it’s important to keep an eye out for cases and
conduct tests and investigations to rule out FMD. There were 145 foreign animal
disease investigations in Minnesota, and 130 of them were swine related.
Emergency planning exercises and meetings are an ongoing
effort at the Board. An important aspect of this area of the Board’s work is
building and maintaining relationships. Strong partnerships with national,
state, county and local agencies helps expedite the Board’s response to an
emergency.
You can read the full report by clicking this link.
You’ll discover budget details, annual testing and inspection results, and a
letter from the executive director.
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The mission of the Minnesota Board of Animal Health is to protect the health of the state’s domestic animals through education and cooperation with veterinarians, producers, owners and communities.
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