By Severson, Dan
While U.S. poultry producers enjoyed one of the most profitable years on record in 2014, averaging margins of 13 percent before interest and tax, concerns are mounting within the industry as Avian influenza (AI) continues to spread worldwide, including to a number of states in the U.S.
Though the current outbreak of AI in commercial flocks is unique to poultry producers, pork producers who have suffered problems related to porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) virus, and cattle raisers who have confronted a number of animal disease problems including Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), hoof and mouth disease and Texas cattle fever, are reminders of how deadly pathogens can become a game spoiler if producers let their guard down or fail to respond to a potential animal health crisis.
In the very least, animal health issues should remain a real concern for agricultural producers as research indicates certain credible biosecurity threats could be near the top of the list of potential vulnerabilities to national and International security, especially given the current global climate of terrorists threats and problems related to domestic insurgency.
Source:udel.edu