News on Animal Diseases

Sanofi, Merck link up to create animal health giant

2010-03-09T11:19:19Z

<div><p>French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi-Aventis and US group Merck announced on Tuesday they would join forces to create the world's biggest animal health company.</p><p>The companies will own an equal share in the joint venture, which will combine Sanofi-Aventis's Merial unit with Merck's Intervet/U.S. honeybee population.</p><p>But losses due to colony collapse disorder remain high enough to keep beekeepers on edge, and longtime stresses on...

Making a buzz: French roads to help honey bees

2010-02-22T18:08:10Z

<div><p>France is to sow nectar-bearing flowers on the sides of roads in an experiment aimed at helping the honey bee, hit by an alarming worldwide decline, the ministry of sustainable development said on Tuesday. </p><p>More than 250 kilometres (155 miles) of roadside will be sown in the coming months, launching a three-year test that could be extended to the country's 12,000-kilometer (7,500-mil...

Taiwan lawmakers ban some US beef imports

2010-02-23T01:13:40Z

<div id="subtitle">Taiwan lawmakers vote to ban some US beef imports, reversing deal with Washington</div><div><p>Taiwanese lawmakers voted Tuesday to ban imports of some kinds of U.S. beef over concerns about mad cow disease, reversing an earlier deal the government had negotiated with Washington.</p><p>The legislature's move to reinstate a ban on U.S. ground beef and ...

Taiwan blocks U.S. beef imports, strains trade ties

2010-02-23T01:22:23Z

<div><p>TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan's parliament amended a food safety law on Tuesday to ban certain U.S. beef imports due to widespread fears of mad cow disease, testing trade ties with Washington, just over two months after opening the market.</p&am...

Taiwan seeks to limit fallout from US beef ban

2010-02-23T08:08:35Z

<div><p>Taiwan will send a government delegation to the United States as it seeks to limit the fallout from controversial parliamentary plans to resume a ban on some US beef imports, a top official said Wednesday.</p><p>The announcement came after the island's parliament on Tuesday agreed to amend a law on food health to ban imports of US c...

Taiwan moves to reinstate partial U.S. beef ban

2010-02-23T08:18:22Z

<div><p>TAIPEI/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Taiwan's parliament agreed to amend a food safety law to ban certain U.S. beef imports on Tuesday amid widespread fears over mad cow disease on the island, potentially straining ties with the United States.</p&g...

ND to revisit restrictions on Minn. cattle imports

2010-02-23T15:44:39Z

<div id="subtitle">ND to revisit restrictions on Minn. cattle imports put in place because of bovine tuberculosis</div><div><p>North Dakota is revisiting restrictions it placed on cattle imports from Minnesota nearly two years ago after bovine tuberculosis was detected in deer and cattle herds there, a state official said.</p><p>North Dakota's Reuters) - Villagers in the highlands of Papua New Guinea who ritualistically ate human brains but did not die of a brain disease called kuru have a genetic mutation that protects them, researchers said Wednesday.</p><p>Their study of the unusual cannibalistic practice shows evolution in real ...

Tests rule out BSE in Slovenia cow

2010-02-24T04:25:42Z

<div><p>LJUBLJANA (Reuters) - Laboratory tests ruled out mad cow disease in a 3-year-old Slovenian cow that died in September, the Slovenian Veterinary Administration said on Tuesday.</p><p>It said the tests were made in the EU's reference laboratory in Weybridge in t...

Thousands protest in Taiwan against US beef

2010-02-24T05:32:27Z

<div><p>Thousands of protesters marched through the Taiwanese capital Taipei on Saturday to protest against resuming imports of certain US beef products, over fears of the spread of mad cow disease.</p><p>Taiwan last month decided to lift a ban on US beef-on-the-bone and cow organs, sparking accus...

Thousands protest in Taiwan against US beef imports

2010-02-24T05:34:15Z

Japan blocks some Tyson beef imports after mix-up

2010-02-24T20:14:02Z

<div><p>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Tyson Foods Inc. said Sunday that Japan had blocked beef shipments from one of its plants because they did not comply with safety standards designed to guard against mad cow disease.</p><p>Tyson said it had inadvertently included in a shipme...

Japan suspends beef imports from US plant

2010-02-24T20:38:59Z

<div id="subtitle">Japan suspends beef imports from US meatpacker over mad cow fears after finding banned parts</div><div><p>Japan suspended beef shipments from an American meatpacker Saturday over its failure to remove cattle parts banned under a bilateral agreement, as officials here raised concerns about U.S. safeguards against mad cow disease.</p><p>Japanese quarantin...

New film seeks answer to mystery of vanishing bees

2010-02-24T23:38:48Z

<div><p>LONDON (Reuters) - A new documentary seeks to unravel the mystery of why billions of honey bees have been disappearing from hives across the United States, and concludes that the chief suspect is pesticides.</p><p>"Vanishing of the Bees," which has a limited theatrical release in

Bee deaths set apiculture congress abuzz

2010-02-25T06:06:01Z

<div><p>Pesticides, viruses, industrialised farming, fungus... what on Earth is killing our bees?</p><p>That's the big question being asked at Apimondia, the 41st world apiculture congress, where 10,000 beekeepers, entomologists and other actors in the honey business are gathered in this southern French city until Sunday.</p><p>Across parts of North America

Healthy deer can spread prion disease through faeces

2010-02-25T09:50:17Z

<div><p>Brain-destroying prion disease can spread among deer through faeces shed by animals which have been infected by the deadly pathogen but are not sick, a study published on Wednesday suggests.</p><p>The paper implies that the mysterious disorders known as chronic wasting disease (CWD) and scrapie -- cousins of mad-cow disease -- could be transmitted in a hitherto-overlooked way, posing a headache for farmers.</p><...

12 more swine flu cases reported in Bangladesh

2009-09-03T00:21:09Z

epa01845741 A Bangladeshi doctor examines a man for suspected swine flu in Dhaka Medical College Hospital, Dkaka, Bangladesh, 03 September 2009. The number of swine flu patients in the country stood at 259 with 12 more reported cases, while one person died so far. EPA/ABIR ABDULLAH...

CHINA-HEALTH-FLU-VACCINE

2009-09-02T23:55:42Z

TO GO WITH Health-flu-China-company-Sinovac-vaccine by Francois BougonLab technicians work at the Chinese biotech firm Sinovac in Beijing on August 24, 2009. Up-and-coming Chinese biotech firm Sinovac, already listed in the US, could get a significant boost abroad after securing government approval to produce its one-dose swine flu vaccine. China on Se...

Bovine TB creates hassles, few losses for ranchers

2010-02-25T15:18:15Z

<div id="subtitle">Bovine TB creates hassles, costs for cattle business, but disease has proven manageable</div><div><p>Bovine tuberculosis has created costly problems for the cattle industry in states where the disease has appeared, but it appears to be a manageable threat.</p><p>Nebraska and Texas are investigating positive cases of bovine tuberculosis to determine whet...