Exciting News! The University of Maine Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory (formerly the Animal Health Laboratory) is preparing to move to our new building at the University of Maine Cooperative Extension Diagnostic and Research Laboratory. Our new facility is located at 17 Godfrey Drive, Orono and will also house the Pest Management Unit and Aquatic Animal Health […]
Read more
Live poultry, such as chickens, ducks, geese, and turkeys, often carry germs such as Salmonella. After you touch a bird, or anything in the area where birds live and roam, wash your hands so you don’t get sick! Read more at the CDC’s Keeping Backyard Poultry web page.
Read more
The United States Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is releasing the epidemiology report for affected HPAI and LPAI poultry cases this spring. This kind of analysis helps to identify how the disease spread and how to help prevent it in the future. APHIS has made great strides in HPAI emergency […]
Read more
“H7 avian influenza has been identified in Georgia; you can find the link to the News Release here. Please refer to the USDA-VS newsroom link, Tennessee (TN), Alabama (AL) and Kentucky (KY) Department of Agriculture websites for updates on the AI status in their respective states. While the case has been identified in a state that […]
Read more
Avian influenza continues to be present in the US at low prevalence, and updates on the US and the international situation can be found at these sites: Avian Influenza — USDA Reinforcing control efforts amid outbreak of avian influenza in China — OIE World Organisation for Animal Health The most recent isolation was from a […]
Read more
Curious about why bird diseases may show up in a seasonal pattern? See Citizen Science Reveals Annual Bird Migrations Across Continents, courtesy eBird and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, which helps illustrate how avian influenza may show up in the US in spring and fall. Wild birds are great travelers, and Avian Influenza virus may spread […]
Read more
March 5, 2017, Washington — The United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has confirmed the presence of highly pathogenic H7 avian influenza (HPAI) of North American wild bird lineage in a commercial chicken breeder flock in Lincoln County, Tennessee. This is the first confirmed case of HPAI in […]
Read more
There are no US outbreaks of AI at the moment, but the situation in Europe and Asia is troublesome. The world Organization for Animal Health (OIE) keeps a running tally of where/when highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI; H5 and H7 serotypes) occurs. As of now, they list 12 European/Northern Asian countries with current (November 2016) […]
Read more
Maintaining horse pastures is the focus of a half-day seminar for horse owners and caretakers on Saturday, Sept. 17, 9 a.m.–noon at the University of Maine J.F. Witter Teaching and Research Center, 160 University Farm Road, Old Town. Topics include improving the nutritional quality of horse pastures, innovative grazing strategies, weed control, managing heavy-use areas, […]
Read more
Basic practices appropriate for small-scale livestock producers and 4-H project leaders will be the focus of a Livestock 101 Field Day from 11:45 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. Saturday, April 2, at the University of Maine J. Franklin Witter Teaching & Research Center, 160 University Farm Road, Old Town. The free public program will demonstrate hands-on […]
Read more