Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) update
 |
|
Dr. Kristy Shaw, Assistant State Veterinarian |
Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) continues to occur throughout the United States with new detections every week. Since the beginning of the outbreak, Ohio has had 23 detections of HPAI in 15 counties. The most recent detections have been in western Ohio in Darke county. The ODA website is kept up to date with information on these detections, how to submit samples to the lab, ODA and USDA's response during this outbreak, and biosecurity resources.
ODA works closely with our USDA APHIS VS counterparts as well as the Ohio Poultry Association on HPAI response. Ohio producers are encouraged to be alert and practice enhanced biosecurity. The Defend the Flock Program with USDA has great information on biosecurity for backyard producers. If you have poultry that are showing clinical signs of sickness including lethargy, sudden death, and decreased water consumption – please call ODA immediately. We will walk you through what to do and how we can help.
If you suspect HPAI in your backyard flock, please call the Division of Animal Health at 614-728-6220.
If you have questions about sick wild birds, please call the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) at 1-800-WILDLIFE.
Dr. Dennis Summers, State Veterinarian |
|
 |
Ohio has only had one HPAI affected dairy herd (April 2024). As part of the federal order (that came out in late April 2024), ODA's Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (ADDL) has tested thousands of milk samples from dozens of counties across Ohio. There continues to be weekly milk testing submissions to the lab as part of the Dairy Herd Status Program. This simple USDA-based testing program allows dairy producers to move lactating cattle across stateliness without individual tests. Additionally, this program provides financial assistance to producers for disease prevention strategies, veterinary costs, and biosecurity. For more information, see Dairy Herd Status Program | Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
As part of the USDA’s National Milk Testing Strategy, Ohio will begin statewide milk testing with processors, assisting with samples collection and submission for milking silos. Ohio plans to begin testing the week of January 20, 2025. ODA’s Dairy Division is partnering with Animal Health to coordinate this statewide testing strategy. The State Veterinarian will be notified of contributing herds from a HPAI detected silo sample.
Additional Dairy cattle resources can be found on our website.
Animal Disease Traceability Outreach
 |
|
Dr. Ellen Yoakam, Field Veterinarian |
ODA/USDA staff are working to provide outreach and education about Animal Disease Traceability, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) devices, technology, and regulations. Our team is glad to help answer questions, demonstrate the RFID tags and readers and distribute a limited number of free RFID tags (for cattle).
We plan to be at these upcoming events:
- OSU Marysville Producer Outreach meeting: January 30th, Marysville
- Country Roads Veterinary Services Dairy Producer Meeting Feb. 19th, Shiloh
- Midwest Veterinary Conference: February 20-22nd, Downtown Columbus
- North East Ohio Dairy Conference/ Killbuck Valley : February 26th, Wooster ATI
For more information on Animal Disease Traceability and RFID tags, please visit our website.
If you know of a group or meeting that would benefit from this outreach or a presentation on ADT/RFID please reach out to Angela.Rospert@agri.ohio.gov.
Special Edition! Fairs and Exhibitions Newsletter
In December 2024, a special edition "Fairs and Exhibitions" newsletter was sent out by the Division of Animal Health. It can be viewed on the ODA website here. Included in this newsletter are:
- Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), including a document with 27 common questions we received over the past 6 months.
- Where to acquire RFID tags for cattle and swine
- Plans for the 2025 Fair season and outreach by the ODA team
- Pullorum Testing in Poultry
- Ringworm in Livestock Species
Please take a look at this newsletter and ODA's website. The resources on both of them contain a lot of good information for producers, exhibitors, veterinarians, extension educators, and fairboard members.
*This newsletter was also distributed out to Extension educators, FFA advisors, commodity and producer organizations, Ohio accredited and fair veterinarians, and OFMA.
|
Commercial Dog Breeding Program Update
Dr. Melissa Simmerman, CDB Veterinarian
|
The commercial dog breeding (CDB) industry continues to grow in Ohio with ODA licensing a total of 533 high volume dog breeders (HVDB), 546 Dog Brokers, and 48 Pet Stores that sell dogs, and registering 364 animal rescues for dogs in 2024. The Division of Animal Health also continues to vigorously regulate this industry, completing at least annual inspections of each licensed HVDB, Dog Broker, and pet store in 2024. The Ohio Revised Code does not give ODA authority to inspect dog rescues, regardless of whether they are registered with the department. It has been over a decade since ODA was first given authority to license and regulate the CDB industry. The growth, development, and overall improvements of this program show Ohio’s animal stewards are on the leading edge of innovation and animal welfare initiatives.
Ohio breeders must follow strict housing, environmental, cleaning and disinfection, exercise and socialization, enrichment, feeding, veterinary care, recordkeeping and identification, and many more regulations. Licensed HVDBs are the only dog owners in Ohio who are required to have annual physical examinations performed by a veterinarian on all dogs, pre-breeding physical examinations performed by a veterinarian before any and all breedings, brucellosis testing, have their dogs seen by a veterinarian whenever an issue or abnormality arises, and must follow the treatment the veterinarian prescribes. Additionally, ODA Animal Health Inspectors and veterinarians visit these facilities at least annually to ensure compliance with all the requirements.
In addition to regulating, ODA also provides outreach and education to the industry. This comes in the form of attending industry meetings, symposiums, and trade shows, as well as conducting meetings to help ensure understanding of and compliance with the regulations. It also includes meeting with veterinary practitioners who serve dogs in these facilities.
If you are a veterinarian who has been contacted to provide such services and are hesitant or not sure where to start, this may be an opportunity to be directly involved in contributing to the health and welfare of this significant and important population of dogs. It’s as easy as regulatory medicine 101 and ODA would be happy to answer any questions you may have to help you serve all your clients’ needs. If you’d like to know more, please contact the CDB Program at ODA at 614-728-6220.
Genetic testing- Captive Cervid Producers
Dr. Liane Davila-Martin, CWD Epidemiologist
As part of a cooperative agreement funded by USDA, ODA-Animal Health was approved to continue our Genetic Improvement Project for another year. The goal is to provide the opportunity for whitetail deer farmers to participate in genetic testing of their deer herd.
To be eligible to participate in this project, as a WTD farmer you must:
- Be a Whitetail Deer Farmers of Ohio (WDFO) member
- Be enrolled in the Herd Certification Program at ODA and have a current, up to date license
- Have a breeding farm (hunting preserves and monitored herds are not eligible to participate in this project)
- Agree to share your information with WDFO and ODA.
To participate, please follow these steps:
- Request # of genetic test kits to Dr. Liane Davila-Martin via email or phone.
- Fill out a new form providing the official ID information for all animals you wish to test – NOTE: if you enrolled previously, you still must fill out a NEW form.
- Once you have collected samples, ship them to NADR for testing.
- Once you have received your results from NADR, send a copy to Dr. Davila-Martin.
Note: There are currently no indemnity funds available for selective culling based on genetic tests.
Genetic test kits and materials will be provided – please contact directly Dr. Liane Davila-Martin to receive these.
Contact info:
Dr. Liane Davila-Martin, DVM, MPH
8995 E Main St, Reynoldsburg, OH 43068
Liane.Davila-Martin@agri.ohio.gov
Work Cell: (614) 593-9952
Front Desk: (614) 728-6220
Staff in Action
The Ohio ODA and USDA team on a Dairy Farm tour in Western Ohio
|
