Influenza Patterns Similar to Normal

An Associate Professor in the Department of Veterinary Pathology with the Western College of Veterinary Medicine reports patterns of seasonal flu this past fall and winter have been similar to what is usually seen. This year the pattern of influenza has been very close to normal where we see two peaks, one in the fall and winter in humans around November-December and again after the holidays when people get together and we start to see some carryover into pigs at the same time.

 

Dr. Susan Detmer, an Associate Professor in the Department of Veterinary Pathology with the University of Saskatchewan's Western College of Veterinary Medicine, says flu activity in humans is starting to decline after that first peak and the same is happening with pigs.

 

 

You can look up on line, the human activity and the number of influenza like reporting and the number of strains that they're seeing is actually around the normal amount for this fall. It was not and increase above the normal amount that is reported through the health care system.

 

As far as pigs go, I'm still seeing the same number. I'm not seeing any more overall submissions to test and then the same with isolations. For me to get 24 viruses in three months is normal for a fall and that's what I had this fall as well.

 

I actually had 26 instead of 24 so it's not a discernable increase. The major concern is the type of viruses because some of them are more likely to cross between pigs and people and one of those is the pandemic H1N1 strain.

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.