How the agriculture department works to keep animals healthy. That’s coming up on This Land of Ours.
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USDA has a multi-layered approach to protecting our livestock industry from high-consequence foreign animal diseases. Dr. Julie Wallin with USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), says that’s the key role the National Animal Health Laboratory Network (NAHLN).
“That’s a network of over 60 Animal Health diagnostic laboratories. And they really are a critical first line of defense because they are the folks who will receive samples from veterinarians and be able to quickly tell if it’s a really serious disease like foot and mouth disease, or if it’s a less serious disease,” she said. “So, the NAHLN or National Animal Health Laboratory Network, adds to our nation’s preparedness for animal disease outbreaks by providing that first line of being able to detect where the disease is and where it isn’t. And allow us to quickly contain it.”
She says USDA wants to protect all livestock operations, big and small, from foreign animal diseases.
“Of course you want to protect our really huge producers because they will have a huge impact on our food supply. But it’s also about all the small producers, the livestock, the backyard livestock owners, and the people who keep chickens and pigs. It’s all one ecosystem that can be impacted by an animal disease outbreak and have really severe reverberations to our food supply and our economy.”
Listen to Sabrina Halvorson’s This Land Of Ours program here.
Sabrina Halvorson
National Correspondent / AgNet Media, Inc.
Sabrina Halvorson is an award-winning journalist, broadcaster, and public speaker who specializes in agriculture. She primarily reports on legislative issues and hosts The AgNet Weekly podcast. Sabrina is a native of California’s agriculture-rich Central Valley.