Biosecurity trends at Colorado State University, managing risks in animal health and food security11/4/2014 Graduate student tackles biosecurity planning for small ranchesIn agriculture, biosecurity is a form of risk management for infectious diseases. The goal is to stop the spread of infectious diseases among livestock and crops. Biosecurity may be a buzzword in society today because of human infectious disease outbreaks like H1N1 and Ebola, but it also encompasses food security. Colorado State University graduate student Sarah Wynkoop talked with Dixie about her thesis project on biosecurity for small ranches and what can be done right now for these food producers to create a more secure food supply. The ranch horse versatility team follows specific check-in procedureDisease outbreaks require updated biosecurity protocolsWhile Ebola is the top virus in the news, horse owners had a brush with a viral outbreak this summer. Vesicular stomatitis, spread to horses by flies, caused blister-like sores around the mouth and nose as well as seeping lesions around the coronary band on the hooves.
The outbreak was so fast and severe that Colorado’s state veterinarian quarantined horses to their home barns and asked equine event managers to cancel all activities to try to stop the epidemic. Some events were cancelled and barns and owners complied with the quarantine, but others continued with their plans completely ignoring the danger of exposure. Antibiotics were not an appropriate or effective treatment for the disease. Horses that did fall ill suffered lesions within 24-48 hours after an elevated temperature. Severity of the cases ranged from sores around the mouth that affected the horse’s ability to eat and drink, lameness due to coronary band lesions, sloughing of the tongue’s surface, and it can take several months for horses to fully recover. According to the Colorado Department of Agriculture’s website as of mid-October, 326 premises tested positive for VS, and 65 were still under quarantine. Fourteen counties were affected by the outbreak including Larimer and Weld. On October 27 and 29, Dr. Josie Traub-Dargatz from Colorado State University’s veterinary teaching hospital shared her work solving biosecurity issues during disease outbreaks at equine facilities with students in the equine disease management class. “If you have a relatively mobile horse population, you’re probably going to get a contagious disease in some of your horses, sometime, and the key is to be on top of it,” Dr. Traub-Dargatz said. “Determine the cause, take action as though it’s a bad thing, and if two days later it’s not a bad thing, great. But if two days later, it’s a really bad thing and you didn’t do anything, then it’s spread more on your farm.” Dr. Traub-Dargatz explained that biosecurity needed to be evaluated before an outbreak. In some cases, diseases were spread by design flaws in facilities, on the wheels of a vehicle driven into contaminated pens, or on the clothing or footwear of personnel. “Have a day-to-day protocol that reduces the risk, hand washing being the main one,” Dr. Traub-Dargatz said. “But when there’s a problem, implementing this higher level of hygiene early and appropriately is really important.” For some owners, the vesicular stomatitis outbreak was the first time they considered biosecurity and the safety of their horses. Erin Munroe, a member of CSU’s ranch horse versatility team, said that it was the first time she’d run into a problem like this. “I had never thought about it, honestly, until something like this happens,” Munroe said. “As I was working with horses here, I started thinking maybe I should change my clothes and my boots before I visit my horse since there were some possible cases.” Since the quarantine was lifted and students started using CSU’s equine facility for team practices, they’ve had to follow new procedures each time they brought their horses on the property. A member of the team checked each horse and rider into the logbook, the horse’s temperature was taken and recorded, and the team’s coaches visually inspect each horse’s nose, mouth, and coronary bands along the hooves. However, not every equine facility in Colorado or in neighboring states followed their own rules. Dyllan Freeberg, a member of CSU’s rodeo team, said that while up-to-date health paperwork was required it wasn’t always checked. “For all the college rodeos this fall, they required two-day or newer health certificates before you could come on grounds,” Freeberg said. “But they only physically checked our certs out at one rodeo. The other four, we could have had stolen horses. I guess they put the responsibility on the coaches from your home school.” In 2012 a biosecurity tool kit for equine events was written to help event managers reduce the risk of infectious disease outbreaks at their event. The second part of the tool kit established a protocol for what to do if a disease was discovered at the event and how to handle it. “It’s about having a plan,” Dr. Traub-Dargatz said. “So that when it happens we’re not developing the plan, we already have one.” The U.S. Department of Agriculture produced a brochure on biosecurity for horse owners. Dr. Traub-Dargatz said there also were tools available online for horse owners to self-assess their level of understanding of decision points in disease management. “Biosecurity isn’t something the equine industry is as tuned into as let’s say the swine industry, or some of the other livestock commodities,” Dr. Traub-Dargatz said. “To some people it’s a very new concept.”
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A cow in corral may just be isolated from the rest of the herd because of a different vaccination schedule, early signs of illness, or a variety of other reasons. If you think there is neglect or abuse, filing a report allows the Bureau of Animal Protection and law enforcement to investigate. Photo by Dixie Crowe. The Colorado Department of Agriculture contains an investigative unit called the Bureau of Animal Protection.
Their job is to investigate allegations of animal cruelty and neglect in livestock around the state in a support role for law enforcement agencies. It may be easy to assume that an underweight animal is neglected when you drive by a property, but a BAP investigator is trained to look beyond the condition of the animal when performing an investigation. For example, he or she will also look at the property where the animal is housed. Is there enough natural forage or has the pasture been grazed to the ground? Is there a clean water source available? Has something stopped the animal from getting to feed and water such as a coil of barbed wire or other impediment? They can also gain access to the property, interview the owner, and get law enforcement involved if necessary. Last year, an inspector shared a neglect case with my class. The horse seemed to be starving. However, the other horse that shared his pasture was healthy and fit. After a thorough investigation, it turned out the emaciated horse had eaten Russian knapweed, a plant that was a neurologic poison. It had caused muscle paralysis making it difficult for the horse to eat or drink. Some horses that eat this plant die from starvation, dehydration or even from pneumonia from dunking their muzzle deep into water and inhaling it. With the steep rise in the price of hay due to drought in the west over the last several years, the BPA has resources for hay and well as a link to the Colorado Horsecare Foodbank, a 501c(3) non-profit, on their website. They also offer short courses on animal abuse and neglect to law enforcement and interested members of the community. Don’t hesitate to report a case of neglect or abuse. The BPA has frequently asked question section on their website to help you make the report and understand the process once the report is filed. A BPA officer may be the first one on scene or called in after a law enforcement visit to the property. Once a case is active, the BPA officer and law enforcement won’t be able to give you information about the status of the investigation. However, that is a sign that the investigation is in progress and some type of action is underway which may include assistance to the owner or seizure of the animal. A small group of Colorado State University students who rioted at parties out of control this fall tarnished the reputation of their peers and the school with the community.
Fortunately this behavior is not the norm; it’s a behavioral aberration that has been condemned by the student body government, the university and the student body. Animal and equine science students took advantage of the annual fall cleanup event that pairs student groups with senior citizens in the community to represent the positive contribution that students make in the community. The north Fort Collins neighbor needed the apples from her 60-year old tree cleaned up off the sidewalks and the backyard, as well as leaves raked, her garden beds weeded and prepped for winter, and some hanging limbs from the apple tree trimmed back. Students cheerfully accomplished all the duties and after the homeowner looked over their work she said the students were her angels and she couldn’t have done any of the work they did. While CSU picks up bags of leaves collected from houses during the cleanup, they wouldn’t pick up the bags of rotting apples. So the students loaded the bags into a pickup truck to dispose of for the homeowner whose eyes wetted with tears as she hugged the students and their faculty advisor. |