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The last century of food animal agriculture is a remarkable triumph of scientific research. Knowledge derived through research has resulted in the development and use of new technologies that have increased the efficiency of food production and created a huge animal production and food manufacturing industry capable of feeding the US population while also providing significant quantities of high-quality food for export to other countries. Although the US food supply is among the safest in the world, the US Center for Disease Prevention and Control estimates that 76 million people get sick, more than 300,000 are hospitalized, and 5,000 die each year from foodborne illness. Consequently, preventing foodborne illness and death remains a major public health concern. Challenges to providing a safe, abundant, and nutritious food supply are complex because all aspects of food production, from farm to fork, must be considered. Given the national and international demand and expectations for food safety as well as the formidable challenges of producing and maintaining a safe food supply, food safety research and educational programs have taken on a new urgency. Remarkable progress has been made during the last century. Wisdom from a century of animal agriculture research now includes the realization that on-farm pathogens are intricately associated with animal health and well-being, the production of highquality food, and profitability. In this review, some of the developments that have occurred over the last few decades are summarized, including types, sources, and concentrations of disease-causing pathogens encountered in food-producing animal environments and their association with food safety; current and future methods to control or reduce foodhorne pathogens on the farm; and present and future preharvest food safety research directions. Future scientific breakthroughs will no doubt have a profound impact on animal agriculture and the production of high-quality food, but we will also be faced with moral, ethical, and societal dilemmas that must be reconciled. A strong, science-based approach that addresses all the complex issues involved in continuing to improve food safety and public health is necessary to prevent foodborne illnesses. Not only must research be conducted to solve complex food safety, issues, but results of that research must also be communicated effectively to producers and consumers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the various animal vaccines and its manufacturers in the U.S. Merial, an animal health firm, has just recently received a conditional approval from the country's Department of Agriculture for its canine antigen which is a plasmid vaccine encoding human tyrosinase based on cationic lipid. The country's Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the Oxyglobin, a polymerized bovine hemoglobin, marketed by BioPure to treat anemia which kills millions of dogs every year. Overall, FDA has approved more than 700 drugs for companion animals.

States that work force, infrastructure and funding needed for veterinary research in the U.S. is insufficient, according to a number of participants in a public workshop conducted by a committee of the National Research Council. Purpose of the workshop; Problem with the incentives for animal health product companies developing animal drugs; Importance of animal health research on public health.

The article reports that the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) has released the Senior Care Guidelines for Dogs and Cats in 2005 and the American Association of Feline Practitioners (AAFP) has planned to update the Panel Reports on Feline Senior Care in 2007. The AAHA guidelines provide suggestions on the approach for healthy and unhealthy senior pets, and others. The AAFP report on feline senior care includes physiology and pharmacology of aging, health care programs for senior cats.

Reports on the implementation of an expanded BSE surveillance program in the U.S. Objective of the program to determine whether BSE is present in the cattle population. Target of the surveillance to populations of cattle at highest risk of exposure to BSE agent; Review of the program by both the international scientific panel and by the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis.