1. Santa Teresa Cattle Crossing Adds New Screwworm Safeguards
Cattle movement is expected to increase gradually as additional crossing locations reopen.
By Tony St. James
RFDTV.com
October 1, 2026
SANTA TERESA, N.M. (RFD News) - Mexican feeder cattle are beginning to move through Santa Teresa under added safeguards designed to reduce New World screwworm risk. Texas Cattle Feeders Association Chairman Laphe LaRoe says he watched roughly 400 to 500 head cross during the first movement he observed.
LaRoe, also Director of Operations with Smith Cattle Company in Amarillo, says cattle are first inspected by Mexican officials for wounds, blemishes and proper identification. The identification system allows animals to be traced back to the ranch of origin.
At the U.S. port, USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service teams inspect the cattle again. LaRoe says every animal receives a hands-on inspection before entering the United States.
The cattle he observed generally weighed between 500 and 800 pounds. LaRoe expects reopening volume to increase gradually as additional crossing locations resume operations.
Full text: https://www.rfdtv.com/santa-teresa-cattle-crossing-adds-new-screwworm-safeguards
2. TAHC Establishes New World Screwworm Requirements for Animals Moving from Affected States [TX]
Texas Animal Health Commission
News Release
October 1, 2026
AUSTIN, TX - The Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC) executive director issued entry requirements for all livestock, exotic livestock, fowl, and exotic fowl from New World screwworm (NWS) affected states outside of Texas. These additional movement requirements are placed to prevent potential introduction or spread of NWS to new areas of the state.
The executive director order applies to a state where NWS has been detected and a NWS infested zone, quarantine area, or control area remains active. In addition to all existing and applicable Texas entry requirements, the following scenarios require specific protocols prior to animal movement into the state:
Originating within a NWS Infested Zone
Originating outside a NWS Infested Zone
Movement to a Texas slaughter establishment from a NWS Infested Zone
Direct movement from out-of-state premises of origin to a Texas slaughter establishment
Indirect movement through a livestock market to a Texas slaughter establishment
Texas-origin animals returning to Texas from an out-of-state NWS Infested Zone
The requirements for each scenario are listed in the executive director order issued today and found on the TAHC website. Additional NWS movement requirements for susceptible animals entering Texas from NWS-affected U.S. states pair with existing safeguards to protect Texas animal agriculture.
This order is issued pursuant to Texas Agriculture Code, Chapters 161 - 168, and applicable regulations found in Title 4, Part 2, Chapters 31 - 60 of the Texas Administrative Code. The order is effective immediately and will remain in effect until modified.
Source: https://www.tahc.texas.gov/news/2026/2026-10-01_EDO_NWSAffectedStates.pdf
3. State confirms 6th deer with Chronic Wasting Disease in Oklahoma
By Kimberly Querry-Thompson
OKCFox.com
October 1, 2026
TEXAS COUNTY, Okla. (KOKH) - As hunters prepare for deer season, state leaders are warning them about Chronic Wasting Disease.
On Wednesday, the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation announced that a white-tailed deer located about two miles south of Optima has tested positive for Chronic Wasting Disease.
The 3.5-year-old buck was extremely emaciated and had lost all fear of people.
"We will be working through our response plan, and our ultimate goal is to ensure healthy and well-managed deer with as little impact to either the resource or our constituents as possible," said Joey McAllister, Wildlife Programs Supervisor with ODWC.
Department leaders say they will create a Selective Surveillance Area where the deer was located.
Full text: https://okcfox.com/news/local/state-confirms-6th-deer-with-chronic-wasting-disease-in-oklahoma
4. Wisconsin Gelding Contracts Strangles
EDCC Health Watach
TheHorse.com
October 1, 2026
On Sept. 22, a 20-year-old Quarter Horse cross gelding at a private facility in Outagamie County, Wisconsin, tested positive for strangles. He developed clinical signs on Sept. 18, including nasal discharge and a mandibular lymph node abscess. He is recovering, and four horses have been exposed.
Full text: https://thehorse.com/1147432/wisconsin-gelding-contracts-strangles/
5. Common Bile Acid Drug Passes First Safety Test in Sheep, With Caveats
By Bioengineer
October 1, 2026
Mefepronic acid, a choleretic compound long used in horses, cattle, goats, pigs and dogs to stimulate bile flow and support digestive function, has never been formally evaluated for safety in sheep. That gap matters because veterinarians have increasingly reached for the drug off-label in flocks, deploying it alongside anthelmintics in cases of fasciolosis and combining it with propylene glycol to treat pregnancy toxaemia and fatty liver syndrome. A new study published in Veterinary Medicine and Science now offers the first systematic look at what the drug does to the blood chemistry of healthy sheep, and the headline finding is broadly reassuring: at the standard extra-label dose, the compound produced no visible adverse effects and left the key markers of liver and kidney function essentially undisturbed. Yet the data also revealed transient shifts in oxidative stress and cardiac biomarkers that the authors say warrant caution in vulnerable animals.
The research team, based at Selcuk University's Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, worked with ten male Akkaraman sheep aged eight to twelve months and weighing between 45 and 55 kilograms. The animals were housed under identical conditions with food and water available ad libitum, and the experimental protocol received approval from the university's ethics committee. Each sheep received mefepronic acid by intramuscular injection into the gluteal muscles at 10 milligrams per kilogram once daily for three days, matching the dose and duration commonly used off-label in the field. Blood samples were drawn before the first injection and again at 24, 48 and 72 hours, allowing the researchers to track each animal against its own baseline in a repeated-measures, self-controlled design.
Full text: https://bioengineer.org/common-bile-acid-drug-passes-first-safety-test-in-sheep-with-caveats/
6. Greg Ibach nominated to be USDA trade under secretary
As Luke Lindberg moves to WFP, Ibach is Trump's pick for trade and foreign ag affairs under secretary
Feedstuffs
September 30, 2026
President Donald Trump this week nominated Greg Ibach to serve as the under secretary for trade and foreign agricultural affairs at the U.S. Department of Agriculture following the appointment of Luke Lindberg, who has held the position for the past year, to serve as executive director of the U.N. World Food Program (WFP).
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins congratulated Lindberg on his WFP appointment and welcomed Ibach's nomination to serve as the next trade and foreign agricultural affairs under secretary, overseeing USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service, the McGovern-Dole Food for Education and Food for Progress programs and the U.S. Codex Office.
"Luke Lindberg has been a tremendous friend and partner in our mission to deliver for America's farmers and ranchers. With his help, the Trump Administration had cut the agricultural trade deficit by 51%, helped deliver $177 billion in U.S. agricultural exports, expanded markets through 20 new trade agreements and frameworks and secured billions of dollars in new agricultural purchase commitments around the world," Rollins said.
Full text: https://www.feedstuffs.com/policy/greg-ibach-nominated-to-be-usda-trade-under-secretary
7. From the Milking Parlor to the UN: Free Dairy Training Program Wins Global One Health Recognition
Vet Candy
September 30, 2026
A bilingual online course built by UC Davis and Ohio State to help dairy workers spot sick cows sooner was one of the projects picked from roughly 340 worldwide applicants for recognition by the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization.
On any dairy, the people most likely to notice a sick cow first aren't always veterinarians. They're the milkers, feeders, and herd managers who see every animal, every day. Whether they catch a problem early, and how they respond, can shape an animal's recovery, a farm's bottom line, and even how antibiotics are used.
A free training program designed for exactly those workers has now earned recognition on the world stage. The Early and Accurate Disease Detection in Dairy Cattle program, developed by the UC Davis Weill School of Veterinary Medicine and The Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine, has been recognized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.