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Brakke Consulting’s
Animal Health News & Notes for December 30, 2004
Copyright © Brakke Consulting, Inc.
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ANNOUNCING AnimalHealthJobs.com
AN EXCITING NEW SERVICE FROM BRAKKE CONSULTING!
see below for details
IN THE NEWS:
other news:
Animal Planet
CEVA
Genetic Solutions
Hartville Group
Iams
PetMedExpress
Pets911
Phibro
VetCentric
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AnimalHealthJobs.com
The job site dedicated to the Animal Health Industry
Brakke Consulting is pleased to announce the launch of AnimalHealthJobs.com, a website that provides a single location on the web for animal health professionals and employers to find one another in an efficient, convenient manner.
We believe this central site for the Animal Health Industry offers tremendous benefits to companies in acquiring the right people – efficiently and effectively. The site is free to jobseekers, and offers a variety of flexible options to employers who are actively searching for the right candidates to fill their open positions.
INTRODUCTORY OFFER: FREE JOB POSTINGS!
To introduce this new service to the industry, we are waiving the $375 fee to post a job at AnimalHealthJobs.com until February 15, 2005. Through this time, your company can post available positions at AnimalHealthJobs at NO CHARGE.
JOBSEEKERS: OVER 70 JOBS ALREADY POSTED – COME CHECK IT OUT!
We invite you to follow the link below and visit the site to see for yourself how AnimalHealthJobs can streamline your recruiting or job search efforts.
www.animalhealthjobs.com
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COMPANY NEWS RELEASES
> Iams announced the launch of Select Bites, a new chunk-and-gravy meal option available for canines and felines. Iams Select Bites include essential nutrients such as amino acids, calcium, fatty acids, magnesium, potassium, sodium and vitamin E, and are enriched with fish oils to provide fatty acids. Iams Select Bites, available in stores in January 2005, will come in an array of flavor and packaging options. (company press release)
> Phibro Animal Health announced the appointment of Keith Collins as president of its animal health division, effective January 1. Collins has nearly 30 years of experience in the animal health industry, and joined Phibro earlier this year to guide its business and production development strategies. (Feedstuffs)
> VetCentric, Inc. announced that Roger A. Jones joined the company as President and CEO. He will be responsible for the overall business of the company and will become a member of the Board of Directors. Prior to joining VetCentric, Jones served in executive management positions for more than 20 years in the health-care and insurance sectors. (company press release)
> Animal Planet announced it has partnered with Pets911.com to launch Pet Connection, an Internet portal that connects thousands of animal welfare organizations into one network. The free site allows visitors to report missing or found pets, view adoptable pets, and other information. (Pet Age)
> The Hartville Group announced it has reached an agreement with PetMedExpress allowing Hartville to market its new Healthy Bark & Purr pet insurance to PetMedExpress customers via its 1800PetMeds website. (Pet Age)
> TURKEY CEVA Group announced the acquisition of Dogu Ilac Veteriner Ünrunleri (DIF), the leader in the veterinary market in Turkey. With turnover of over 15 million euros, mainly in the ruminants market segment, DIF gives the CEVA Group a strong position in a strategic market. The two companies have been partners since the creation of CEVA Sante Animale, and DIF is the leading distributor of CEVA products in Turkey. The CEVA Group has also developed other distribution partnerships on the country’s poultry market. Financial terms were not disclosed. (company press release)
> AUSTRALIA The Cooperative Research Centre for Cattle and Beef Quality, Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) and CSIRO announced they have licensed a new genetic marker to Genetic Solutions, which has been combined in a new multi-marker test. The new DNA test for marbling is based on a receptor for vitamin A, which has long been known to affect marbling scores. This test also includes another previously licensed marker and is commercially available as GeneSTAR Feedlot. This three-gene test further enhances the ability of cattle producers and lot feeders to predict the genetic merit of their animals. (AnimalNet – Press release)
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ANIMAL HEALTH NEWS
> VIETNAM – AVIAN INFLUENZA Vietnam announced that avian influenza has been found in seven communes in six southern provinces in the Mekong Delta in December, and more than 10,600 poultry culled in an attempt to prevent it spreading. (AnimalNet – Reuters)
> KOREA – AVIAN INFLUENZA The Korean Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry announced that outbreak of avian influenza occurred at a duck farm in southwestern Korea; authorities ordered all 9,000 ducks at the farm culled, and banned transportation of chickens and ducks in the affected area. The disease was caused by the H2N2 strain of low pathogenic avian influenza virus. A case of avian influenza H9N2 was also reported in a layer flock in northeastern South Korea in early December. (Kyodo News)
> BRAZIL – FMD Samples from 28 Brazilian cattle are being tested for suspected infection by foot-and-mouth disease in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul. Government agents have taken blood samples, and testing will take place immediately. The cattle are reportedly on an isolated farm in Paranhos, on the border with Paraguay, but Mato Grosso do Sul is a major beef-raising state, accounting for some 40% of beef exports, or about $1 billion a year. (Meating Place)
> EU – BSE CASES IN 2004 Statistics show that the European Union had a total of 767 cases between January and November 2004 with the UK reporting 325 cases, Spain 114, Portugal 75, France 50, and Germany 41. Belgium had 10 cases, Poland nine, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Italy reported seven cases each, the Netherlands five cases, and Slovenia two cases each. (Wattnet Meatnews)
> US – CANADIAN BORDER OPENING The USDA announced that March 7, 2005, will mark the end of the 19-month-old ban on the importation of live Canadian cattle into the US. Under the rule, to be published in the Federal Register on Jan. 4, Canada is recognized as the first minimal-risk region due to its “effective BSE prevention and detection measures.” Beginning in March, cattle under 30 months of age may be imported to the US provided they are clearly branded with a large “CN,” denoting Canada; are shipped by sealed conveyance to only one feedlot; and are then sent directly to slaughter at a USDA-certified plant. (Meating Place)
> CANADA – POSSIBLE BSE On the heels of USDA’s announcement of a relaxation of the ban on live cattle from Canada comes news that a downer animal in Canada has tested positive several times for BSE. Definitive test results will not be available for three to five days. No part of the animal entered the human food or animal feed systems. USDA officials said yesterday, when asked if a new case of BSE in Canada would scuttle the new rule allowing the import of live animals under 30 months of age, that such a case would not necessarily affect the rule. (Meating Place)
> JAPAN – AVIAN INFLUENZA TEST Clinical diagnostic maker Eiken Chemical Co. and the National Institute of Infectious Diseases jointly launched a reagent that is able to detect avian influenza virus infection in birds or humans in about 30 minutes, compared with more than several hours with existing methods. (AnimalNet – Knight-Ridder Tribune)
> US – BEEF INSPECTION The National Joint Council of Food Inspection Locals, which represents meat and poultry inspectors in federally regulated plants nationwide, told the USDA in a letter earlier this month that specified risk materials were being allowed into the production chain. SRMs include the brains, skulls, spinal cords and lower intestines of cattle older than 30 months. The report claims that the inspectors found heads and carcasses of some cows on slaughter and processing lines that were not always correctly marked as being older than 30 months. (Drovers Alert)
> US – CLONED CAT The first cloned-to-order pet sold in the US is Little Nicky, a 9-week-old kitten delivered to a Texan saddened by the loss of a cat she had owned for 17 years. The story says that the kitten, which cost $50,000, was cloned from a cat, Nicky, who died last year and whose owner banked the DNA that was used for the clone. (AnimalNet – AP)
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BRAKKE CONSULTING INC.
2005 INDUSTRY OVERVIEW
TO BE PRESENTED AT NAVC AND WVC
Brakke Consulting will once again be presenting our annual overview of the Animal Health Industry at the 2005 North American Veterinary Conference and also at the Western Veterinary Conference. There will be a single presentation at each of the conferences.
The Overview will be presented at the NAVC on Monday, January 10 from 1:00 – 3:00 pm.
The Overview will be presented at the WVC on Tuesday, February 22 from 9:30 – 11:30 am.
Registration fees are $325 for early registration for the first attendee from a company, and $300 for additional attendees. Early registration for the NAVC Overview has ended; early registration ends February 9th for the WVC Overview.
To register, please visit our website at www.brakkeconsulting.com or call Jane Morgan at
972-243-4033.
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BRAKKE CONSULTING VIEWPOINT
We want to thank all of our readers and clients for your support in 2004. We believe that 2004 will be remembered as a recovery year in revenue and profit growth for the industry. The revenue growth has been driven by both the companion and food animal segments. It also appears to be the year when companies began to expand from their core product segments into product areas they have avoided in the past. We think this is good for the industry, and in the end will result stronger companies serving the animal health industry
Like many of our clients, Brakke Consulting has experienced nice growth in 2004, thanks to our clients who utilize our various consulting services. The recent launching of our new web-based recruiting service has been an important growth activity for our firm during the year. In the first two weeks since launching www.animalhealthjobs.com, we have experienced over 4,000 visits to the site, there are now over 70 open positions posted on the site and we add resumes to our database of qualified, experienced candidates daily. If your company’s human resources department is unaware of this new interactive web site for posting open positions and reviewing resumes in the animal health industry, please forward this information to them. We developed this new web- based service to assist our clients with the recruitment of qualified candidates for your company in a cost efficient manner.
We want to wish each of you the best of health and prosperity in the new year.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
Ron Brakke
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Brakke Consulting, Inc.
2735 Villa Creek, Suite 140
Dallas, TX 75234 USA
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