Animal Health News & Notes for March 9, 2001

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Brakke Consulting’s
Animal Health News & Notes for March 9, 2001
Copyright © Brakke Consulting, Inc.
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Company News Releases

>  Intervet has chosen its site in DeSoto, Kansas, for the construction of a state-of-the-art facility that will serve as the regional R&D, production and administrative center in the Mid-west of the USA. The total investment will amount to $37 million. Following its recent acquisitions of Hoechst Roussel Vet, Bio-Trends International and Bayer’s North American biologicals business, Intervet currently operates 12 locations in the US. The completion of the new integrated facility in DeSoto will significantly streamline U.S. operations by enabling the number of US core sites to be reduced to a total of three: DeSoto (Kansas), Millsboro (Delaware), and Worthington (Minnesota). (AnimalNet)

>  The FDA is amending the animal drug regulations to reflect approval of a supplemental new animal drug application (NADA) filed by Novartis Animal Health US, Inc. The supplemental NADA provides for veterinary prescription use of milbemycin oxime solution to treat ear mite infestations in cats and kittens 4 weeks of age and older and for a repeat treatment, if necessary. (AnimalNet – Federal Register)

>  Heska Corporation announced that it has obtained marketing rights to a new product for
the detection of Giardia and Cryptosporidium from Genzyme Corporation.  The agreement grants to Heska broad rights to market the product in the companion animal health market.   Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Heska plans to market this product as a single “point-of-care” test which can be used by veterinarians in their offices for the rapid and simultaneous detection of the Giardia and Cryptosporidium parasites.  The product is being designed for use with both dogs and cats, and is expected to be introduced by Heska next year following regulatory approval. (PRNewswire)

> The FDA is amending the animal drug regulations to reflect approval of an abbreviated new animal drug application (ANADA) filed by Phoenix Scientific, Inc. The ANADA provides for use of ivermectin injection for the treatment and control of various species of external and internal parasites in cattle, swine, reindeer, and American bison. (AnimalNet – Federal Register)

>  The FDA is amending the animal drug regulations to reflect approval of a supplemental abbreviated new animal drug application (ANADA) filed by Phoenix Scientific, Inc. The supplemental ANADA provides for oral use of clindamycin hydrochloride liquid for treatment of soft tissue and dental infections in cats. (AnimalNet – Federal Register)

>  Central Garden & Pet announced that its TFH/Nylabone subsidiary has received the Pet Industry Distributors Association’s (PIDA) annual “Best New Product Award” in the dog and cat category for its Nylabone Fold-Away Pet Carriers. This is the second year in a row that TFH has received this prestigious award. Last year TFH received the “Best New Product Award” in the
dog and cat category for its Canine Habitat Collapsible Doghouse. (Business Wire)

>  MyEtribute, Inc. announced the launch of MyPettribute.com, an e-Commerce business focused on the needs of people with mature pets. The company provides information and on- and off-line products and services addressing the health care and end-of-life needs of senior and geriatric companion animals. According to the CEO of MyEtribute, approximately 13% of American adults who have Internet access purchase mature pet foods or special medicines for aging pets. The company also offers a professional portal for veterinarians and veterinary technicians. This B-to-B enterprise is designed to provide proprietary and discounted products and services to veterinary practices. Professional information, discussion and direct-to-professional advertising also are offered. (Business Wire)

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  BRAKKE CONSULTING, INC.
 
Is your company planning one of the following activities in the next few weeks or months?
  – strategic planning process
  – national sales or marketing meeting
  – regional or national customer meeting

If you are, we would like to suggest that you consider utilizing the Brakke Consulting Animal Health Industry Overview for a portion of your program.  Many companies find our Overview to be a valuable tool in keeping their personnel up to date on industry happenings and trends.  The Overview has already been presented to over 250 industry people in the first two months of 2001, with several additional presentations scheduled for March and April.  For more information, please call our Dallas office at (972) 243-4033 or email us at info@brakkeconsulting.com (mailto:info@brakkeconsulting.com)

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Animal Health News

> Severe curbs on the movement of livestock in all 15 European Union states were announced in an attempt to prevent foot- and- mouth disease engulfing the whole of the Continent.  EU vets decided on a three-week shutdown of livestock markets.  Only in exceptional circumstances would animals be allowed to move between farms or to slaughterhouses. The approval of the state’s government is also necessary on such occasions. More than 300 million animals could be included in the measures. The decision came as seven more cases of foot-and-mouth disease were confirmed in Britain, bringing the total to 81.  No foot-and-mouth cases have been recorded outside the UK but the large numbers of British animals exported in the weeks before the outbreak, as well as the discovery of foot-and-mouth antibodies in slaughtered livestock abroad, have forced the EU to take precautionary action. (Emarkets – The Independent)

>  Former Soviet Kyrgyzstan has been hit by an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease.  130 head of cattle had been infected in two rural districts containing around 70,000 cattle in total. Kyrgyzstan is an exporter of meat, hide and livestock. The disease has never been detected in Kyrgyzstan’s Naryn region before. (Reuters)

>  Recent heavy rains and cool weather are encouraging record numbers of black flies or buffalo gnats to emerge from streams in central and eastern Texas.  Though individually tiny, in mass numbers the buffalo gnat has the power to drain the pockets of Texas livestock producers of hundreds of thousands of dollars when its larvae hatches and it emerges from rivers and streams in large numbers. While each fly takes only a minuscule serving of blood, thousands of servings add up, irritating animals and causing them to go off feed. Livestock, poultry and pet owners may have to resort to using pesticides this year. The infestation could last as late as the end of May, depending on the weather. (AgWeb)

>  Low feed prices and improved genetics are bringing new meaning to the term “fat hog.”  Farmers are sending their hogs to market at weights that set records.  The result is a short-term gain in profits for hog farmers as they collect payments on a few extra pounds that are relatively inexpensive to put on the hog.  Recent Agriculture Department reports indicate the hog numbers are increasing and that pork production will be 2% higher in 2001 than in 2000. As a result, prices paid to hog producers are expected to average little more than $40 per hundred pounds in 2001, compared with nearly $45 in 2000. (Emarkets – Knight Ridder/Tribune)

>  Scientists at USDA’s Agricultural Research Service reported that sodium chlorate, fed in low doses to cattle and hogs before slaughter selectively kills both Salmonella and E. coli 0157:H7 pathogens. The researchers developed an animal model that shows feeding sodium chlorate reduces these harmful bacteria in the animal intestinal tract. Gut and lymph tissues in meat animals are major reservoirs for Salmonella and E. coli 0157:H7. Further work is needed before a feeding program could be developed for beef or swine. (DirectAg)

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Agribusiness News

>  The EPA will no longer approve genetically engineered food for use as animal feed unless it’s safe for human consumption, too. EPA officials acknowledged that approving products only for animals was a mistake. It was the latest repercussion from last year’s recall of taco shells, corn chips, and other food products that contain StarLink corn. Both the biotechnology industry and its critics welcomed the move.  (Emarkets – Knight Ridder/Tribune)

>  Morningstar Farms corn dogs, a product of the Kellogg Co., tested positive for StarLink corn, according to the environmental group Greenpeace. The frozen product was made in early October with corn from the 1999 harvest.  Kellogg notified the FDA of Greenpeace’s finding but
has not recalled the corn dogs, stating that it’s too preliminary. Kellogg’s is sending the product to an independent lab for testing. (AP)

>  The USDA reduced its projection for 2000/01 U.S. corn exports to 50.80 million metric tonnes, down from 52.07 million tonnes last month, amid the continuing StarLink bio-corn controversy.  Projected U.S. corn exports are reduced because some importers, especially Japan, are expected to minimize purchases of varieties of corn not approved for some, or all, uses.  Japan briefly halted purchases of U.S. corn last autumn because of the contamination. The US government has said it would spend about $20 million to purchase American corn seed suspected of being contaminated with StarLink, a bioengineered corn variety banned from human food. (Reuters)

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Brakke Consulting Viewpoint
 
Are we running out of steam or just catching our breath after a good deal of activity the first two months of the year?  If you’re like me, you’re having trouble handling the followup contacts from all the various meetings you’ve attended the past few months.

The reading we get is that the US market is off to a good start in 2001.  The European market has the dark clouds of BSE and now foot and mouth disease outbreaks hanging over it.  The new management teams in several of the leading companies are having a positive impact.  If cattle and hog prices remain strong through the second and third quarter and avoid additional bad news, it will be a good year.

Pricing and inventory load-in discipline in the marketplace would be a welcome change in strategy that is greatly needed in our industry to close out 2001.  How will your firm participate in changing this trend?

[Ron Brakke]
 
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