Latest news with #biosecurity
Zawya
16 hours ago
- General
- Zawya
ADAFSA launches awareness campaign on safe slaughtering practices ahead of eid al-adha
Abu Dhabi: As Eid Al-Adha approaches, the Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority (ADAFSA) is intensifying its efforts to raise public awareness about the importance of slaughtering livestock in licensed abattoirs. The campaign aims to curb random slaughter practices and dealings with unlicensed butchers, reinforcing biosecurity measures and public health standards to prevent zoonotic diseases that can spread between humans and animals. ADAFSA emphasises that slaughtering in regulated abattoirs plays a vital role in ensuring public health. Abattoirs across Abu Dhabi offer controlled environments that minimise contamination risks, ensuring that carcasses are processed in clean and hygienic conditions and preventing the cross- contamination .Veterinary inspections before and after slaughter guarantee the safety of meat for human consumption. Qualified and legally licensed butchers oversee the process, while waste management protocols ensure the safe disposal of slaughtering by-products, aligning with biosecurity regulations. The authority highlights that veterinary inspections at abattoirs assess meat safety, identify diseases and parasitic infections, and determine cases requiring partial or full condemnation. These inspections help control zoonotic diseases,. ADAFSA also ensures that Islamic slaughtering guidelines—including proper positioning, recitation, precise cutting techniques for efficient bleeding, and full exsanguination—are adhered to, as poor bleeding due to fever or improper cutting can compromise meat quality. Each year, ADAFSA intensifies its pre-Eid Al-Adha awareness efforts, offering educational guidance to the public. The campaign encourages residents to utilise Abu Dhabi's modern abattoirs, which adhere to high safety and hygiene standards, ensuring that slaughtered meat is safe for consumption and preserving public health.
RNZ News
a day ago
- Business
- RNZ News
Fiji farmers urged to be vigilant for fall armyworm
Fall Armyworm Photo: Foundation for Arable Research The whole of Fiji has been declared a biosecurity emergency area for fall armywarm, a type of moth (and larvae). Fall armyworm ( Spodoptera frugiperda ) was detected at a maize farm in Nadi. The insect is a significant pest for crops like maize and sweetcorn. Fiji's Minister for Agriculture and Waterways, Vatimi Rayalu, visited two affected farms in Uciwai, Nadi, last month. He said fall armyworm is an enemy to Fiji's agricultural production. "It jeopardizes our food security, farmer livelihoods, and national economic growth," he said. "This threat must be dealt with through all means possible - from scientific control methods to grassroots community action." The Biosecurity Authority of Fiji, Sugar Research Institute of Fiji and the Ministry of Agriculture and Waterways have been leading the response. The response includes field surveillance, awareness sessions for farmers, and deployment of control measures where necessary. Rayalu emphasized that fighting the pest requires full participation from everyone involved in agriculture. "We are mobilizing resources and technical support, but success depends on every farmer, extension officer, and stakeholder playing their part." The ministry is urging all farmers to remain vigilant, report any signs of infestation, and adopt recommended control strategies without delay. The pest, which can munch its way through more than 350 plant species, is believed to have blown over to New Zealand from Australia after a cyclone in early 2022. After a year of battling the pest, the Ministry for Primary Industries and industry partners agreed in 2024 to close the response and shift the focus to long-term management.
ABC News
2 days ago
- Business
- ABC News
Tomato virus pivot shifts strategy, giving hope to growers
Tomato producers in South Australia impacted by a fruit virus hope to "rebuild their lives" as officials concede eradication is no longer possible. This week, the National Management Group (NMG) of biosecurity experts and industry representatives decided it was not "technically feasible" to eradicate the tomato brown rugose fruit virus (ToBRFV) from Australia after it crossed state boundaries. Perfection Fresh in the northern Adelaide Plains food bowl region was the first site to detect the highly contagious virus in August. Almost a year on, CEO Michael Simonetta still remembers "one of the worst days" of his career when he told nearly 500 employees he had no job available for them. "We pulled out 1.2 million healthy plants from our glasshouse and dumped hundred of tonnes of perfectly good, safe, edible fruit," he said. "It reached the point I couldn't watch it any longer. "I feel more for our staff at our site at Two Wells. It was heartbreaking, it was devastating, words failed me." Despite infected tomatoes being safe to eat, Perfection Fresh is one of three South Australian sites that face export restrictions to some states. The virus spread to a Victorian tomato glasshouse in January and infested seedlings were in May detected at the same site — but this time they came from a commercial nursery in New South Wales, a state with no previous links to the virus. Last week, Victorian authorities said tracing was underway to find out where the infection came from. In those two states, hundreds of jobs have been lost and growers have had to destroy thousands of affected plants. The NMG has focused on eradication but on Thursday agreed it will move to management — a strategy Mr Simonetta and other growers have long called for. "We advocated from day one that this virus needed to be managed and eradication was impossible, we thought, based on what's happening around the world," Mr Simonetta said. "The reality is growers manage viruses every day of their lives and this is no different. "The move now to management will allow all of those businesses to … get back to business and to rebuild their lives because this decimated a lot of growers." Even so, Mr Simonetta said it would be January or February before his business returned to full production. SA Primary Industries Minister Clare Scriven on Friday said if the state took a management approach when the virus was first detected, it was "almost certain" other local growers would have been blocked from exporting tomatoes interstate. "We've been very focused on ensuring that we've had market access for over 200 growers that we have here in South Australia," she said. "That would continue to be our focus as we move to what's called the management phase." Ms Scriven said the national strategy change was prompted by additional detections interstate but in South Australia, the virus has been contained to three businesses. "We've been able to manage access to a number of other jurisdictions for one of those businesses, the other two have not been able to to a large extent," she said. The NMG said current strategies to contain the spread remained in place until "an agreed national strategy for management can be developed in consultation with impacted industries".
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
CFIA fines B.C. ostrich farm and says cull will occur, rejecting U.S. intervention
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency says it has fined a British Columbia ostrich farm $20,000 for failing to co-operate with anti-avian flu measures, rebuffing interventions in the case by United States health officials. It said the farmers who are resisting a cull order have not substantiated claims of scientific research on the birds, and that the agency's planning for a cull of the birds goes on as protesters gather in an "apparent attempt" to block the killings. Friday's statement about Universal Ostrich Farms in Edgewood, B.C., represents a rejection of the proposals of U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who wrote to the CFIA's president last week and called for the birds to be saved for joint research. Dr. Mehmet Oz, who is the administrator for the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, also said the birds should be saved and offered to relocate them to his ranch in Florida. The agency said in its statement that it had issued two violation notices to the farm for failing to report illnesses and deaths among the flock last year, and failing to follow quarantine orders. "The farm also failed to undertake appropriate biosecurity risk mitigation measures such as limiting wild bird access to the ostriches, controlling water flow from the quarantine zone to other parts of the farm, or improving fencing," it said. "These actions significantly increase the risk of disease transmission and reflect a disregard for regulatory compliance and animal health standards." Katie Pasitney, whose parents own the farm, said in a brief interview that she was unsure whether the fines were a new move by the CFIA but "nothing surprises me at this point." Dozens of protesters have gathered at the farm for weeks. Their numbers were bolstered on Friday by the arrival of a convoy of at least a dozen vehicles, social media livestreams showed. Sixty-nine ostriches died in December and January during an avian flu outbreak. The farm owners have said that the surviving 400 or so birds have developed herd immunity and are a valuable resource for scientists. "CFIA has not received any evidence of scientific research being done at the infected premises," the agency said. "Research documentation was not provided during the review of their request for exemption from the disposal order based on unique genetics or during the judicial review process. Further, the current physical facilities at their location are not suitable for controlled research activities or trials." The farmers lost an attempt to halt the cull via judicial review when a Federal Court judge ruled on May 13 that the operation could proceed. An appeal against that ruling was lodged this week, but the farmers have not secured a stay of the cull order. "Following the May 13 court ruling, the farm owners and supporters have been at the farm in an apparent attempt to prevent the CFIA from carrying out its operations at the infected premises," the CFIA said Friday. "This has delayed a timely and appropriate response to the (avian flu) infected premises, resulting in ongoing health risks to animals and humans." It said given that the flock had "multiple laboratory-confirmed cases of H5N1" and that there were ongoing serious risks for animal and human health, and trade, the CFIA "continues planning for humane depopulation with veterinary oversight at the infected premises." This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 30, 2025. Canadian Press Staff, The Canadian Press
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
B.C. ostrich farm facing $20,000 fine over failure to quarantine, cull birds: CFIA
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) says that an ostrich farm is facing a $20,000 fine over failure to quarantine and cull its birds. In a statement released May 30, the agency said Universal Ostrich Farm has failed to follow federal regulations, including not reporting the initial cases of illness and death at their farm, and failing to adhere to quarantine orders. "Universal Ostrich Farm was issued two notices of violations with penalty, totaling $20,000," the statement says, though it does not say when the fines were issued. The in-depth statement provides more details about the CFIA's inspection of the farm dating back to December 2024 and comes as U.S. officials, including health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Dr. Mehmet Oz, have weighed in on the case, urging Canadian officials not to kill the birds. Many of the details in the statement, however, were already shared during a two-day court case undertaken after Universal Ostrich received an injunction staving off the order. This includes the fact that the CFIA learned that ostriches were dying through an anonymous tip, and that the farm did not quarantine its birds during the avian flu outbreak, which killed 69 of the approximately 450 birds on the farm, allowing wild animals and people to freely mingle with infected animals. "The farm also failed to undertake appropriate biosecurity risk mitigation measures such as limiting wild bird access to the ostriches, controlling water flow from the quarantine zone to other parts of the farm, or improving fencing. These actions significantly increase the risk of disease transmission and reflect a disregard for regulatory compliance and animal health standards," the CFIA's statement reads. The statement also says the farm has failed to substantiate its claims that the ostriches are being used for scientific research, stating that the "CFIA has not received any evidence of scientific research being done at the infected premises." The farm has repeatedly claimed that its birds are unique and can be used to develop antibodies to avian flu and COVID-19 but the CFIA says the farm was unable to back up those claims and that "further, the current physical facilities at their location are not suitable for controlled research activities or trials." Universal Ostrich has filed an appeal of the earlier court ruling allowing the cull to move ahead, though that appeal has not yet been accepted. The CFIA says the cull will move ahead, as is necessary to protect public health and Canada's economic agreements with other countries.
