Iowa Ag Secretary Bill Northey is seeking a half-a-million-dollar budget boost, to create an animal disease prevention unit. After the “bird flu” outbreak in 2015, Northey made the same proposal to hire new staff and buy new equipment, but legislators and the governor didn’t approve it, so he’s asking again.
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The 2015 bird flu outbreak was the largest animal health disease in U.S. history and resulted in the deaths of 31-and-a-half-million chickens and turkeys in Iowa. Northey says his agency was “stretched” by the crisis and the extra money would give him the authority to prepare for another animal health emergency. Commodity groups like the Iowa Turkey Federation support Northey’s request.
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Foot-and-mouth disease is highly-contagious and deadly, but it was eradicated from the United States in 1929. Animal health officials worry the virus could be imported into the U.S. from areas where the disease is still common. Beyond cattle and pigs, sheep and other animals with “cloven” or divided hoofs can be infected with foot-and-mouth disease.
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