1. First case of CWD reported in Wayne County. Here's what you need to know [TN - edited]
By: Alicia Patton
WKRN.com
December 18, 2025
WAYNE COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) - A county in Middle Tennessee has reported its first case of chronic wasting disease, according to the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency.
On Thursday, Dec. 18, the TWRA announced that a deer carcass in Wayne County had tested positive for the disease.
Despite the positive test result of CWD, the TWRA said there will be no changes to deer hunting season dates and regulations. However, hunters can now earn additional bucks though the agency's Earn-a-Buck program by harvesting antlerless deer in Wayne County and submitting them for testing.
Full text: https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/first-case-of-cwd-reported-in-wayne-county/
2. OSU Agriculture Launches Animal Excellence Initiative to Improve Livestock Health [OK]
From the creation of the Beef Center of Excellence to improvements at the Oklahoma State University Swine Research and Education Center, OSU is serious about moving the needle in programs impacting animal health.
By Oklahoma State University
PorkBusiness.com
December 17, 2025
Oklahoma State University is building on its long-standing tradition of leadership in animal agriculture with the launch of the OSU Agriculture Animal Excellence initiative, a comprehensive effort to elevate teaching, research and Extension programs that impact animal health.
OSU Creates Beef Center of Excellence
At the heart of this initiative is the creation of the Beef Center of Excellence, a cross-disciplinary hub designed to unite experts across the beef supply chain.
The Beef Center of Excellence will drive innovation through cutting-edge research, advanced Extension services and collaborative partnerships aimed at improving profitability and sustainability for beef producers today and in the future, said Robert Hodgen, president and CEO of King Ranch Inc. and a member of the Beef Center of Excellence advisory board.
"Creating the Beef Center of Excellence is a way to put a stake in the ground and say that Oklahoma State is going to be great at thinking about the broader cattle and beef industry," Hodgen said. "By having this, we can attract even more great students from around the world, who want to focus on making a great-tasting product that's nutritious for the consumer and grown in a sustainable manner."
3. USDA and Texas Animal Health Commission collaborate on screwworm prevention plan
By Drew Powell
ABC7amarillo.com
December 17, 2025
Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service hosted a risk and protection seminar for crops and livestock in the Texas Panhandle and parts of Lubbock on Wednesday. Ag Producers and ranchers who attended the program earned 8 CEUs.
They are also concerned about something that is posing as a potential threat in the months ahead to their cattle and to their profits.
"So as a cattle producer, I think it does benefit us as it brings us up to speed with the screwworm," said Jeff Lewter, livestock producer. "It helps us be prepared for in the event it comes to our area, which so far, it's not here in the United States, but if it does, come over to the United States, we need to be prepared for that."
Full text: https://tinyurl.com/mm2dyse2
4. NIFA awards $3.8M to address food animal veterinary shortages
AVMA News
December 17, 2025
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) recently announced 22 grants totaling $3.8 million had been awarded to help remedy the growing shortage of food animal veterinarians, especially in rural communities.
The AVMA was instrumental in pushing Congress to create and fund the program, which was authorized by the 2014 Farm Bill. The first grants were announced in 2016.
The funding is part of an ongoing effort by federal and state governments and a host of stakeholders to address a critical and worsening shortage of food animal veterinarians. As of fiscal year 2025, the USDA has designated a record 243 veterinary shortage areas across 46 states, primarily in rural and livestock-producing regions.
The latest crop of Veterinary Services Grant Program recipients include universities and private practices trying to expand much-needed food animal veterinary services that are in short supply.
Of the 86,251 veterinarians working in clinical practice in 2024, just 3.4% (3,424) worked in food animal practice, 5.2% (5,282) in mixed practice, and 3.9% (3,979) in equine practice, according to AVMA data.
NIFA's Veterinary Services Grant Program (VSGP) is one of several initiatives to increase the numbers of veterinarians working in these important areas and also retain the current workforce. VSGP supports rural food animal veterinary clinics and education and training for veterinarians, veterinary students, and veterinary technicians.
Full text: https://www.avma.org/news/nifa-awards-38m-address-food-animal-veterinary-shortages
5. Grant boosts K-State biosecurity center's animal disease training
Through September 2027, NABC and its partners will deliver tabletop exercises for extension professionals in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska.
Kansas State University
National Hog Farmer
December 18, 2025
Kansas State University's National Agricultural Biosecurity Center is expanding its role on the front lines of animal disease preparedness with a new USDA grant that will immerse extension professionals in realistic outbreak planning across the central U.S.
With $211,248 in new support from USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, the National Agricultural Biosecurity Center will lead a project called Region 7 Tabletops and Functional Workbooks for Extension Professionals. The effort is part of the National Animal Disease Preparedness and Response Program, a Farm Bill initiative that is investing $15.3 million in 68 projects to strengthen animal health infrastructure, biosecurity, emergency planning, training and traceability nationwide.
From October 2025 through September 2027, NABC and its partners will design and deliver tabletop exercises - guided simulations that walk participants through potential foreign or emerging animal disease events - for extension professionals in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska. Extension agents, state officials and other stakeholders will work through evolving scenarios, practicing how to coordinate response actions, communicate risk and make time-sensitive decisions that protect livestock and the broader agricultural economy.
6. Spanish police search laboratory in African swine fever probe [edited]
By Reuters
December 18, 20255
MADRID, Dec 18 (Reuters) - Spanish police searched a state-funded laboratory near Barcelona on Thursday as part of an investigation into the origin of the African swine fever outbreak in the same area, regional police said.
The court-ordered move follows concerns raised this month that the outbreak detected in wild boars could have been caused by a laboratory leak. Genome sequencing showed the strain is similar to that used in research and vaccine development and different from other cases in Europe.
Police said the search at the Centre for Research in Animal Health (Cresa) was ordered by a local investigating judge and forms part of preliminary proceedings that have been declared secret.
The centre did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Cresa has told the news verification website Maldita.es it had found no evidence of being the source of the outbreak.