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Timely Topics
This Thursday, Nov. 7, at 7 p.m. at the Virginia Horse Center Mezzanine, the farmer-led Rockbridge Farm Bureau Federation in partnership with Virginia Cooperative Extension will hold an informational seminar on recent changes to identification requirements for livestock being sold through regional markets and/or moving out-of-state. The seminar will be led by Virginia Department of Agriculture veterinarian Dr. Dan Hadacek who practiced veterinary medicine in the Shenandoah Valley for 30 years before joining the Virginia Department of Agriculture.
A strain of H5N1 Avian Influenza continues to percolate through dairy herds across the United States but risks to the general population remain very low. A handful of dairy workers have contracted the virus which thus far has manifested itself as a mild case of conjunctivitis (pink eye) with some other flulike symptoms but there have been almost no cases of human-to-human transmission. Centers for Disease Control and USDA continue to conduct extensive testing of the dairy food supply. Dairy products prepared for market according to long-standing Federal food safety standards pose no risk of H5N1 or any other known transmissible disease.
However, H5N1 Avian Influenza is just one among several potential pathogens that pose a risk to our livestock systems. There is always some potential for an existing pathogen, that currently poses no risk to humans, to change genetically into a form that will infect humans and become transmissible between people. For these reasons, State and Federal veterinary officials lead an effort to sample and monitor livestock and livestock products entering our food system and do so with transparency to the public.
Part of this effort includes identification of livestock and a system to track them as they move from the farm into our food systems. These requirements pertain only to livestock moving from farms into livestock marketing channels where they change ownership and/ or leave the state. These traceability efforts do not apply to livestock and livestock products moving direct from the farm to the consumer within Virginia. The actual ear-tag identification requirement pertains to older cattle (over 18 months of age) and dairy-type cattle. Sheep and goats have long been required to carry an ear tag indicating their point of origin.
Plan to attend this informative session to learn more about this important aspect of our food system and on-going efforts to protect people and animals. It is helpful if you call the Rockbridge County Farm Bureau Federation at (540) 4633603 if you plan to attend this free seminar to help us plan for seating and materials. All are welcome to attend.
