The Kentucky State Veterinarians Office has received information confirming the diagnosis of vesicular stomatitis affecting a single horse in De Baca County New Mexico. With this information, KDA has redefined the VS Embargoed areas...more. (Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
For more information contact:
Bill Clary
(502) 564-1137
LEXINGTON, Ky. — State officials have issued a quarantine for 20 Kentucky counties regulating the transportation outside those counties of articles that could harbor the emerald ash borer.
“It’s important that we act quickly and aggressively to contain the spread of this pest inKentucky,” Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer said. “Kentucky is the nation’s third-largest producer of hardwood lumber. This industry is responsible for thousands of jobs and generates millions of dollars of economic activity in Kentucky. I will do whatever I can within the law to safeguard Kentucky’s wood industry.”
State Entomologist John Obrycki issued the quarantine on Monday with the advice and consent of Commissioner Farmer and M. Scott Smith, dean of the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, as required by state law.
The quarantine prohibits “regulated articles” from being moved outside a quarantined area without a certificate or limited permit except under certain conditions. A regulated article may be moved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture or the Kentucky Department of Agriculture for experimental or scientific purposes; may be moved in an enclosed vehicle or completely covered to prevent access by the emerald ash borer (through Sept. 30); may be moved directly through the quarantined area without stopping except for traffic conditions and refueling; may be moved if it is stored, packed or handled at locations that do not pose a risk of infestation; and may be moved if it has not been combined or commingled with other articles.
“Regulated articles” are defined as the emerald ash borer, hardwood firewood, ash nursery stock, green ash lumber, other ash material, and any other materials that present a threat of artificial spread of the emerald ash borer.
The counties under quarantine are Boone, Bourbon, Campbell, Carroll, Fayette, Franklin,Gallatin, Grant, Harrison, Henry, Jefferson, Jessamine, Kenton, Oldham, Owen, Pendleton, Scott, Shelby, Trimble and Woodford. The quarantined area includes the seven counties where the emerald ash borer has been identified – Campbell, Fayette, Franklin, Jefferson, Jessamine, Kenton and Shelby – plus counties close to an infestation site and counties with a high density of ash trees.
Persons may obtain a certificate to move regulated articles to any destination in Kentucky when, in the judgment of an inspector, the articles have not been exposed to the emerald ash borer, appear to be free of the emerald ash borer, have been treated to destroy the emerald ash borer, or have been grown, produced, manufactured, stored or handled in such a manner that their movement does not present a risk of spreading the emerald ash borer. Persons may obtain limited permits to move regulated articles to specific destinations in Kentucky if the regulated articles are apparently free of emerald ash borer; have been grown, produced, manufactured, stored or handled in a manner that prevents the articles from presenting a risk of spreading the emerald ash borer; or are to be moved under conditions that will not result in the spread of the emerald ash borer because the insect will be destroyed by the articles’ handling, utilization, processing or treatment.
Persons who intend to move any regulated articles shall apply for inspection at least 48 hours before the services are needed. An inspector may stop and inspect, destroy, seize, stop sale or treat any regulated articles or may order them returned to the point of origin at the owner’s expense.
The emerald ash borer (EAB) is an exotic beetle native to the Far East. It was first discovered in North America in June 2002 in southeast Michigan. EAB has been identified in 12 states and two Canadian provinces. It can kill an ash tree within two to three years of infestation.
Ash trees are widely used in urban landscapes and are ecologically valuable for their ability to fill gaps and provide shade for the forest floor. Ash wood is used in a wide variety of applications, including baseball bats.
To report a possible infestation, call the EAB Hotline, 1-866-322-4512, or the Kentucky state entomologist’s office at (859) 257-5838. For the latest on emerald ash borer in Kentucky, go tohttp://pest.ca.uky.edu/EXT/EAB/welcome.html. For more information about the emerald ash borer, go to www.emeraldashborer.info.
Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
For more information contact:
Bill Clary
(502) 564-1137
FRANKFORT, Ky. — State Veterinarian Robert C. Stout has imposed restrictions on certain livestock entering Kentucky from Nebraska and Texas as a result of outbreaks of tuberculosis in cattle in those states.
Kentucky also has prohibited entry of livestock from one south Texas county because a horse there has been diagnosed with vesicular stomatitis.
“The very best way to manage these diseases is to keep them from getting into Kentucky’s livestock in the first place,” Dr. Stout said. “Kentucky’s livestock industry generates about $3 billion a year in cash receipts to farmers every year. We will do everything we can under the law to protect this vital sector of Kentucky agriculture.”
The new rules on livestock from Nebraska and Texas require a negative tuberculosis test within 60 days of entry into Kentucky or movement from an accredited herd for cattle 18 months old or older and goats and camelids six months old or older.
Nebraska officials have confirmed tuberculosis in two cattle in the north-central part of the state. The state has quarantined 32 herds with about 15,000 adult cattle. The National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa, has confirmed a diagnosis of tuberculosis in a dairy cattle herd in west Texas.
The Texas Animal Health Commission announced on Friday that vesicular stomatitis in 2009 was found in a horse in Starr County in far south Texas. Kentucky state regulations prohibit the entry of all livestock, wild and exotic animals into the Commonwealth from the VS-infected county. Regulations require livestock, wild and exotic animals from the rest of Texas to be tested and found negative for VS within 10 days of entering Kentucky, have an entry permit from the state veterinarian’s office, and have a Certificate of Veterinary Inspection showing that the animals have been examined within five days of entering Kentucky.
Vesicular stomatitis is a viral disease that occurs sporadically in the U.S., usually in southwestern states. It can affect horses, cattle and swine, and occasionally sheep, goats and deer. It causes blisters to form in the animal’s mouth, on teats or along the hooves, resulting in excessive salivation, lameness or oozing sores.
The last outbreak of VS in the United States was in Wyoming in 2006. The disease spread through several western states in 2005.
For more information or for updates, go to the Kentucky Department of Agriculture’s Web site, www.kyagr.com, and click on Animal Health or call the Office of the State Veterinarian at (502) 564-3956.
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Visit KDA's Office of the State Veterinarian here.
Find out more about tuberculosis in cattle here.
Find out more about vesicular stomatitis here.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, June 8, 2009
For more information contact:
Bill Clary
(502) 564-1137
FRANKFORT, Ky. — The Kentucky Department of Agriculture has asked the Louisville Zoo to move the train that overturned on June 1 into storage under Department supervision within the next two weeks.
Department officials also are continuing to take statements from witnesses to the train accident. The investigation will continue over the next several weeks.
“We have learned all that we are going to learn about the accident at the scene,” said Chad Halsey, chief amusement ride inspector in the Kentucky Department of Agriculture’s Division of Regulation and Inspection. “The next step is to get the machine into a controlled environment where we can more thoroughly analyze the components. We will look at the electronics, the mechanicals, the hydraulics – every aspect of the machine. And we will go wherever the evidence leads to determine exactly what happened and why.”
The Department will issue a final report once its investigation is complete. The ride remains under a stop operation order issued by the Department following the accident.
Riders, witnesses and others who may have information pertinent to the Department’s investigation may contact the Department at (502) 573-0282 and ask for the amusement ride inspection program.
The Kentucky Department of Agriculture is required by state law to inspect all amusement rides that operate within the Commonwealth once a year before the ride is opened for the season. Inspectors also respond to public complaints and are authorized to perform random inspections. If an inspector finds an issue with a ride that would prevent it from operating safely, that issue must be addressed before the ride passes inspection. If an inspector finds an issue with a ride that does not affect the ride’s safe operation, the ride may pass inspection and that issue may be addressed at a later time.
The train in the June 1 accident was inspected on Jan. 22 and was found to be operating normally. The inspector noted items to be corrected that did not affect the safe operation of the ride.
The Department will have no further statement on the accident till further notice as the investigation is ongoing.
