News Update
July 24, 2015
Study in Calves Offers Hope for Respiratory-Disease Treatment
As every parent knows, respiratory illnesses — complete with runny nose, sore throat and cough — are quite routine for young children and usually pass as quickly as they appear.
But one such illness, known as respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, poses a far more serious threat. Although most children will contract RSV at some point before the age of 2 and suffer no lasting effects, the disease often moves from the throat and nose into the lower respiratory tract and is the leading cause of pneumonia and bronchiolitis. In such cases, which often require hospitalization, RSV is particularly dangerous for premature infants, as well as elderly individuals or adults with compromised immune systems.
While there are no preventive vaccines or therapeutic drugs for RSV on the market right now, a recently published study of calves with RSV, conducted by the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of California, Davis, (UC–Davis) is providing valuable information needed to move a potential treatment into human clinical trials.
Results from the study, published in the August issue of the journal Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, showed that an experimental antiviral compound was effective in blocking the virus from binding with the animal’s cell membranes, thus decreasing the level of infection in the treated calves. The air spaces in the lungs of those treated animals also were less likely to fill with inflammatory cells produced by the infection than were the lungs of untreated animals, the study found.
“This study demonstrated that since bovine RSV in calves is almost identical to the human form of the disease in terms of symptoms, lung pathology and progression of the disease, treatment with an effective antiviral drug can benefit both bovine and human patients,” said Professor Laurel Gershwin, the study’s lead author and a veterinary microbiologist, who has studied bovine RSV for many years.
“It confirms that the cow is a particularly useful research model for studying RSV and demonstrates the importance of approaching medicine with the ‘one health’ perspective, which spans human and veterinary medicine,” she said.
The study was funded by Gilead Sciences, which developed the experimental antiviral drug that has since moved into clinical trials in adult human patients. It is hoped that the new therapeutic will be available soon to treat RSV in infants and children.
New Tools Would Advance Efforts
to Ensure the Safety of Imported Foods
The FDA has published a proposed rule and a draft guidance document to support a new program under the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) that will help eligible foreign entities demonstrate that imported food meets U.S. food safety requirements. Audits and certifications for eligible foreign entities under this program will be used by importers applying for expedited review through the Voluntary Qualified Importer Program (VQIP), and may also be required by FDA as a condition of granting imported food admission into the United States when certain food safety risks have been identified.
- The proposed rule would establish user fees for participation in the program created by the Accreditation of Third-Party Auditors/Certification Bodies proposed rule scheduled to become final this fall. The Accreditation of Third-Party Auditors/Certification Bodies proposed rule, as its title indicates, would establish a program through which the FDA would recognize the entities that would accredit third-party auditors (also known as certification bodies) to conduct food safety audits and issue certifications.
- The draft guidance is a set of model standards containing recommendations on the qualifications that third-party auditors/certification bodies, and their auditing agents, should have in such areas as education and experience.
According to FDA, participation in the third-party accreditation program will facilitate food safety protections, benefit trade, improve efficiency of FDA oversight of imported foods, and increase efficiency and reduce costs for importers with a high level of control over the safety and security of their supply chains.
The proposed rule to create user fees and the draft guidance document that outlines the model accreditation standards are both required by FSMA.
The landmark food safety law requires that a user fee program be established to assess fees and reimburse the FDA for its work in establishing and administering the third-party accreditation program. Participation in the program is voluntary for third-party auditors/certification bodies and the accreditation bodies that accredit them to audit food facilities. If the user fee proposed rule becomes final, both third-party auditors/certification bodies and accreditation bodies participating in the program would be assessed fees based on the average cost to the FDA of performing certain activities for the program (such as application review and monitoring).
FSMA also requires that the FDA issue model accreditation standards. To avoid unnecessary duplication of efforts and costs with standards already in place, in developing these draft model standards, the FDA looked at existing international standards and current practices of existing accreditation bodies.
The proposed rule and draft guidance are announced in the Federal Register and will be available for public comment for 75 days.
Mid-South Ruminant Conference
will be in Grapevine Aug. 20-21
The Mid-South Ruminant Nutrition Conference will be Aug. 20-21 at the Embassy Suites, in Grapevine, Texas. The conference is sponsored by the Texas Animal Nutrition Council and the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service.
Presenters include experts from the American Feed Industry Association, Perdue AgriBusiness Animal Nutrition, Cornell University, Cumberland Valley Analytical Services, Texas Tech University and the University of Georgia.
Six continuing education credits by American Registry of Professional Animal Scientists have been approved and five continuing education units by the Texas State Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners are pending for conference attendees.
The Aug. 20 agenda will begin with lunch from noon-1 p.m., followed by presentations on the implementation of the Food Safety Act, landscape of formulation platforms, high-resolution forage testing and using the Cornell Net Carbohydrate and Protein System in formulations. Presentations will be followed by a formulation round table and demonstrations.
Individual registration is $150 postmarked before Aug. 3 and $175 thereafter. The cost for membership in the Texas Animal Nutrition Council is $25. For online registration with a credit card, go to http://www.txanc.org. For more information, call 972-952-9201.
For more information, please view the Angus Journal Virtual Library calendar of upcoming events here.
UC–Davis and Acceligen to Host
Livestock Industry Conference on Genetics
On Aug. 13, 2015, the University of California, Davis, (UC–Davis) and Acceligen will host the Livestock Industry Conference on Genetics at the Granlibakken Resort in Lake Tahoe, Calif. Participants from the livestock value chain will meet to learn about new opportunities in addressing challenges confronting their industry through the application of emerging genetics technologies.
The one-day conference will feature preeminent thought leaders on genetics and animal agriculture, including representatives from the Roslin Institute, Recombinetics, J.R. Simplot, AquaBounty, Yum! Brands and Texas A&M University. The purpose of the event will be to provide an industry-specific, focused follow-up to the 10th Transgenic Animal Research Conference hosted by UC–Davis Aug. 9-13.
“The worlds of animal agriculture and genetics will have found themselves at a critical juncture,” said Mark Walton of Acceligen. “We have the ability to remedy many of the challenges facing the livestock industry today though techniques like precision breeding. However, we need to understand how these new technologies can be safely and efficiently integrated into our current practices. Convening this meeting is the first step in that process.”
For more information, please view the Angus Journal Virtual Library calendar of upcoming events here.
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