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US Reports Fourth Human Case of Bird Flu Linked to Cows

US officials on Wednesday reported the country's fourth human case of bird flu linked to the current outbreak of the virus in dairy cattle.

As with previous cases, the person worked on a farm and was exposed to infected cows, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in a statement, adding that the risk to the general population remained "low."

The infection occurred in Colorado and the affected person only had eye symptoms, was given antiviral medication, and has since recovered, it said.

A first US  in the southern state of Texas was announced on April 1. Two other cases were subsequently reported in Michigan.

Numerous herds of cows are infected across several American states, an epidemic which was first detected in March.

Experts are concerned about the growing number of mammals infected with the disease, although cases in humans remain rare.

They fear that high circulation could facilitate a mutation of the virus which would allow it to pass from one human to another.

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

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.”