1. CWD detected in new feedground [WY]
Wyoming Game and Fish Department
May 4, 2026
CHEYENNE - The Wyoming Game and Fish Department has confirmed the presence of chronic wasting disease on the Muddy Creek feedground.
Muddy Creek feedground is within Elk Hunt Area 98, which first detected CWD in 2021. This is the fifth feedground in the state to have confirmed positive for CWD among elk.
Game and Fish personnel have continued to conduct extensive surveillance for sick and dead elk in feedground areas, collecting CWD samples whenever possible, both before and after the initial CWD detection at the Scab Creek feedground. This CWD sample was obtained during a grid search for elk skulls with viable brain material at Muddy Creek feedground, carried out after the feeding season concluded.
Full text: https://wgfd.wyo.gov/news-events/cwd-detected-new-feedground
2. DNREC to host community meeting on Chronic Wasting Disease [DE]
By Tessah Good
WBOC.com
May 4, 2026
LAUREL, Del.- The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control says it will host its first community meeting regarding the recent detection of Chronic Wasting Disease in Delaware's white-tailed deer.
The meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Wednesday, May 13, at the Baldcypress Nature Center at Trap Pond State Park in Laurel.
DNREC recently announced the state's first positive test for Chronic Wasting Disease, following the detection in a hunter-harvested deer sampled in Delaware as part of routine surveillance efforts. The disease was confirmed by the United States Department of Agriculture's National Veterinary Services Laboratory.
3. Veterinarians Favor Limiting Number of Calves in Pens
By Rebecca Schweitzer-Benner
Lancaster Farming
May 2, 2026
Despite a large majority of U.S. and Canadian dairy calves being housed in solo pens, talk of group housing benefits is becoming recurrent.
Two animal welfare researchers asked veterinarians, common advisers for many dairies, for their input on the topic. The researchers published a synthesis of the responses in Dairy Science.
"We were really interested in kind of better looking into some of the people-related factors that impact why and how people are making decisions around calf housing and its implementation," said Beth Ventura of Michigan State University.
4. New resources on endemic and exotic vectors of animals
Center for Food Security & Public Health - IA State Univ. CVM
May 1, 2026
The Center for Food Security & Public Health (CFSPH) at the Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine is pleased to share newly developed educational resources focused on vectors and vector-borne diseases of animals. These materials are designed to support veterinary personnel, animal and public health professionals, producers, and animal owners in recognizing vectors of concern, understanding the importance of accurate identification, and implementing effective prevention and control measures. Through funding from USDA NADPRP, this project reviewed existing resources and gathered insightful feedback from a nationwide survey in the Fall of 2024 to compile endemic vectors and highlight some exotic vectors of concern to U.S. domestic animals.
These resources provide practical and easy to understand information, including:
Identification tips for ticks, mosquitoes, flies, and more
"How to" handout on preparing specimens for laboratory submission
Integrated pest management (IPM) considerations for animal settings
Reference table of vector-borne diseases of animals
We encourage you to share these resources broadly within your networks and use them to support ongoing surveillance, preparedness, and training efforts. The pdf guidebook is a printable/downloadable version of the online content and can be accessed in the top right menu of the website. All materials are freely available at Vectors and Vector-Borne Diseases of Animals : https://www.cfsph.iastate.edu/vectors/
5. USDA accepting applications for 2026 Australia trade mission
Agribusiness trip to Melbourne scheduled to start Aug. 30 at same time as Fine Food Australia trade show.
USDA
Feedstuffs
May 4, 2026
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is accepting applications through May 18 for an Agribusiness Trade Mission to Melbourne, Australia, scheduled for Aug. 30-Sept. 3.
The mission, led by USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service, aims to expand export opportunities for U.S. producers in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands. The trip takes place at the same time as the USDA-endorsed Fine Food Australia trade show, giving participants even more access to buyers in the region.
"With stable economic growth and proven demand for high-quality U.S. food in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands, now is the time for U.S. agribusinesses to build on the growing momentum in this region and bring that prosperity back home to the people and communities we serve," said USDA Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs Luke Lindberg.
USDA anticipates strong opportunities for many specific U.S. exports in the region, including:
Pork and beef products
Dairy products
6. WSU seeks to curb deadly pneumonia threatening bighorn sheep recovery [WA - edited]
WAS Insider
By Devin Rokyta, College of Veterinary Medicine
May 5, 2026
Washington State University is partnering with state wildlife agencies in Washington, Idaho, and Oregon, along with small ruminant owners, to help protect iconic bighorn sheep populations from a deadly respiratory disease linked to domestic sheep and goats.
This spring, a team of veterinarians, researchers, and students from the WSU College of Veterinary Medicine's Field Disease Investigation Unit and the Veterinary Teaching Hospital's large animal mobile service will begin connecting with small flock owners near bighorn sheep habitat to offer free ongoing disease surveillance. The program, which is completely voluntary, focuses on identifying and, ideally, removing animals infected with Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae (M. ovi), a bacterium strongly associated with deadly pneumonia outbreaks in bighorns that have devastated populations across the West.
"Domestic sheep and goats can carry it without ever showing disease, but it can be fatal to bighorn sheep," said Dr. Craig McConnel, a veterinarian and director of WSU's Veterinary Medicine Extension. "That's why identifying it on properties adjacent to bighorn habitat is so important, both for understanding risk and guiding management decisions."
Sampling will initially focus on the Snake River drainage, including Asotin County and neighboring areas extending into eastern Oregon's Wallowa region.