USDA looking for bird flu vaccine bids

Aug 21, 2015

Companies able to produce between 100 million and 500 million doses wanted

A spring outbreak of bird flu across the American Midwest that resulted in the loss of nearly 48 million turkeys and chickens has led the United States Department of Agriculture to develop a vaccine to help fight future outbreaks.

USDA

The vaccine would help reduce the amount of the virus produced by the chickens and turkeys. No definitive vaccine has been developed to this point, but the USDA created a prototype seed strain. Companies will be able to use the prototype or create their own vaccine that could be mass produced.

The USDA also plans to increase their workforce and have staff on hand ready to euthanize flocks quickly as a way to avoid the disease spreading from farm to farm.

Associate deputy administrator for veterinary services at the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Dr. T.J. Myers told the Associated Press that the organization wants to be prepared if another outbreak occurs and a vaccine appears to be a viable way to fight it.

The decision to use a vaccine will be heavily discussed because it could affect trade relations.

Myers said that some trade partners could see the usage of a vaccine as an admission that the problem is too large to contain and could result in trade restrictions.

The outbreak began in March and spread to 200 farms in 15 states. The estimated damage of the bird flu outbreak is more than $300 million.

Join the conversation and tell us your thoughts on a bird flu vaccine and its possible mass production. Would it be something you invest in to protect your flocks?

Video: US Soy: Pig growth is impaired by soybean meal displacement in the diet

Eric van Heugten, PhD, professor and swine extension specialist at North Carolina State University, recently spoke at the Iowa Swine Day Pre-Conference Symposium, titled Soybean Meal 360°: Expanding our horizons through discoveries and field-proven feeding strategies for improving pork production. The event was sponsored by Iowa State University and U.S. Soy.

Soybean meal offers pig producers a high-value proposition. It’s a high-quality protein source, providing essential and non-essential amino acids to the pig that are highly digestible and palatable. Studies now show that soybean meal provides higher net energy than current National Research Council (NRC) requirements. Plus, soybean meal offers health benefits such as isoflavones and antioxidants as well as benefits with respiratory diseases such as porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS).

One of several ingredients that compete with the inclusion of soybean meal in pig diets is dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS).

“With DDGS, we typically see more variable responses because of the quality differences depending on which plant it comes from,” said Dr. van Heugten. “At very high levels, we often see a reduction in performance especially with feed intake which can have negative consequences on pig performance, especially in the summer months when feed intake is already low and gaining weight is at a premium to get them to market.”

Over the last few decades, the industry has also seen the increased inclusion of crystalline amino acids in pig diets.

“We started with lysine at about 3 lbs. per ton in the diet, and then we added methionine and threonine to go to 6 to 8 lbs. per ton,” he said. “Now we have tryptophan, isoleucine and valine and can go to 12 to 15 lbs. per ton. All of these, when price competitive, are formulated into the diet and are displacing soybean meal which also removes the potential health benefits that soybean meal provides.”