Minnesota Board of Animal Health releases annual report

Saint Paul, Minn - The Minnesota Board of Animal Health’s 2017 Annual Report concentrates on its slogan, “Healthy animals for healthy people and communities.” It was a busy year with many notable efforts to protect animal health: responding to the swine disease Senecavirus A, investigating CWD cases in deer, tracking animal movements within and across Minnesota’s borders, and planning and preparing for a foreign animal disease event. The annual report covers the 2017 fiscal year and ranges from July 2016 to June 2017.

“We’re always focused on healthy animals,” said executive director, Dr. Beth Thompson. “We keep one eye on our past and the previous diseases we’ve experienced in Minnesota, while we maintain the other on our future so that we can respond most effectively to what hasn’t happened yet.”

The last year was populated with a lot of news surrounding CWD in the state. The Board responded to infections at two different farmed cervid herds. It also completed more than 1,300 successful routine CWD surveillance tests, which is 13 percent of the 10,607 farmed deer or elk in the state.

Senecavirus A is a swine disease with clinical signs similar to foot and mouth disease, which is a dangerous foreign animal disease. Because of the similarity of the signs, it’s important to keep an eye out for cases and conduct tests and investigations to rule out FMD. There were 145 foreign animal disease investigations in Minnesota, and 130 of them were swine related.

Emergency planning exercises and meetings are an ongoing effort at the Board. An important aspect of this area of the Board’s work is building and maintaining relationships. Strong partnerships with national, state, county and local agencies helps expedite the Board’s response to an emergency.

You can read the full report by clicking this link. You’ll discover budget details, annual testing and inspection results, and a letter from the executive director.

--30--