MEDIA SOURCE LIST ON FOOT AND MOUTH DISEASE

* Livestock infectious diseases
* History and biology of foot and mouth disease
* Economic impacts of foot and mouth disease
* Policies and economics of livestock
* Risks and prevention on dairies
* How safe is our meat supply?
* Detecting infectious diseases
* Dealing with foreign infectious animal diseases
* Cattle diseases
* Managing herd health
* How ranchers keep beef herds healthy
* Maintaining healthy dairy herds
* Livestock viruses
* Viral diseases and international health
* Protecting against infectious diseases
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UC Davis faculty from a variety of disciplines are available to discuss issues related to the recent outbreaks of foot and mouth disease in Europe. If you need information on a topic not listed, please contact Patricia Bailey, News Service, (530) 752-9843, pjbailey@ucdavis.edu, or Lynn Narlesky, School of Veterinary Medicine, (530) 752-5257, lnarlesky@ucdavis.edu.

LIVESTOCK INFECTIOUS DISEASES -- Bennie Osburn, dean of the School of Veterinary Medicine, can discuss the biology of foot and mouth disease and related infectious diseases that affect food animals. He can also discuss global food safety issues and the surveillance and reporting systems that are in place to protect California agriculture. Osburn's research has focused on viral diseases of sheep and cattle. Contact: Bennie Osburn, School of Veterinary Medicine, (530) 752-1361, biosburn@ucdavis.edu.

HISTORY AND BIOLOGY OF FOOT AND MOUTH DISEASE -- Tilahun Yilma is a veterinary professor specializing in viral diseases and director the School of Veterinary Medicine's International Laboratory of Molecular Biology for Tropical Diseases. In the 1970s he worked as a researcher at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Plum Island Animal Disease Center in New York and has done extensive research on foot and mouth disease. He can talk about the biology of the disease, why it has been so difficult to develop a useful vaccine and the global history of foot and mouth disease outbreaks. Yilma developed a genetically engineered vaccine for the devastating cattle disease rinderpest, which is now in use in Africa, and is currently doing research on potential AIDS vaccines. Contact: Tilahun Yilma, (530) 752-8306, tdyilma@ucdavis.edu.

ECONOMIC IMPACTS OF FOOT AND MOUTH DISEASE -- Lovell Jarvis is a professor of Agricultural and Resource Economics and an associate dean in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. He has been studying the market impacts of foot and mouth disease and its eradication in certain South American countries. He also has examined what the economic impact would be if foot and mouth disease should appear in California. He can discuss the history of foot and mouth disease outbreaks around the world and what a domestic outbreak would mean to California agriculture. Contact: Lovell Jarvis, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, (530) 752-0110, lsjarvis@ucdavis.edu.

POLICIES AND ECONOMICS OF LIVESTOCK -- Daniel Sumner is a professor of Agricultural and Resource Economics and director of the UC Agricultural Issues Center, headquartered at UC Davis. He can discuss policies that are in place to protect U.S. livestock from diseases such as foot and mouth disease, the economic impact and likely responses if a domestic outbreak were to occur, and the impact of outbreaks elsewhere. Contact: Daniel Sumner, UC Agricultural Issues Center, (530) 752-1668, dasumner@ucdavis.edu.

RISKS AND PREVENTION ON DAIRIES -- James Cullor is a veterinary professor and director of the Veterinary Medical Teaching and Research Center in Tulare, Calif. (Tulare County is the number one dairy-producing county in the nation.) Cullor is an authority on comparative pathology, animal health and public health. He can discuss the biology of foot and mouth disease, how it spreads, risks to California dairies and preventive measures dairy farmers can take. Media contact: James Cullor, Veterinary Medical Teaching and Research Center, (559) 688-1731, ext. 202, or cell phone (559) 280-6939, jscullor@ucdavis.edu.

HOW SAFE IS OUR MEAT SUPPLY? -- Linda Harris is a Cooperative Extension food microbiologist in the food science and technology department. She studies food safety and quality issues and can discuss why foot and mouth disease can be devastating to the livestock industry but does not pose a threat to consumers' health. Contact: Linda Harris, Food Science and Technology, (530) 754-9485, ljharris@ucdavis.edu. (She will be unavailable April 19-20, 25 and 30.)

DETECTING INFECTIOUS DISEASES -- Alex Ardans is a veterinarian and director of the California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory System, which is headquartered at UC Davis. The state laboratory system performs necropsies -- animal autopsies -- on livestock, poultry and horses from farms throughout California to determine the cause of death and identify potential disease outbreaks. Ardans can discuss infectious diseases of livestock and how the state laboratory functions to detect disease outbreaks and protect California's food supply. Contact: Alex Ardans, California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory System, (530) 752- 8709, aaardans@ucdavis.edu.

DEALING WITH FOREIGN INFECTIOUS ANIMAL DISEASES -- Robert Moeller is an associate professor of veterinary medicine and a veterinary pathologist with the California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory System in Tulare, Calif. The laboratory system performs necropsies -- animal autopsies -- on livestock, poultry and horses to determine the cause of death and screen for outbreaks of disease. Moeller was an U.S. army veterinarian for 21 years, during which he trained more than 75 military veterinarians to serve as foreign animal disease diagnosticians. He can talk about the surveillance systems that are in place for protecting the nation against foot and mouth disease. Contact: Robert Moeller, California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory System, Tulare, (559)-688-7543, rbmoeller@ucdavis.edu.

CATTLE DISEASES -- Bradford Smith is a veterinarian specializing in large-animal medicine and director of the UC Davis Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital. He can talk about infectious diseases of cattle and how veterinary students are trained to detect and diagnose diseases like foot and mouth disease. Contact: Bradford Smith, Vet. Med. Teaching Hospital, (530) 752-2957, bpsmith@ucdavis.edu. (He will be unavailable March 19, 22, 26 , 30 and April 2.)

MANAGING HERD HEALTH -- John Maas is a Cooperative Extension veterinarian in the School of Veterinary Medicine, specializing in beef cattle. He can discuss the biology of foot and mouth disease, management practices that help maintain healthy cattle herds, and diagnostic procedures to detect infectious diseases in cattle. Contact: John Maas, Veterinary Extension, (530) 752-3990, jmaas@ucdavis.edu. (He will be unavailable March 19, March 23-25, March 27 and April 30.)

HOW RANCHERS KEEP BEEF HERDS HEALTHY -- James Oltjen is a Cooperative Extension livestock specialist in the UC Davis animal science department. He can discuss management practices that ranchers should use to protect their herds against a variety of health problems, including foot and mouth disease. He provides educational programs for beef cattle producers through a "Beef Quality Assurance Program." Contact: James Oltjen, Animal Science, (530) 752-5650, jwoltjen@ucdavis.edu.

MAINTAINING HEALTHY DAIRY HERDS -- John Kirk is a Cooperative Extension veterinarian at the School of Veterinary Medicine's Veterinary Medical Teaching and Research Center in Tulare, Calif. Dr. Kirk works directly with dairy farmers in the heart of the nation's largest dairy-producing state. He can discuss the biology of foot and mouth disease and management practices that will help protect dairy herds against this and other infectious diseases. Contact: John Kirk, Veterinary Medical Teaching and Research Center, (559) 688-1731, ext. 224, jkirk@vmtrc.ucdavis.edu.

LIVESTOCK VIRUSES -- James MacLachlan is a professor and chair of the School of Veterinary Medicine's pathology, microbiology and immunology department. He can discuss viral diseases, including foot and mouth disease, which affect livestock and horses. He can also talk about the international issues related to livestock diseases. Contact: James MacLachlan, School of Veterinary Medicine, (530) 752- 1163, njmaclachlan@ucdavis.edu.

VIRAL DISEASES AND INTERNATIONAL HEALTH -- Frederick Murphy is a virologist and dean emeritus of the School of Veterinary Medicine. He can discuss international health issues and how viral diseases spread in humans and in animals. He formerly was director of the National Center for Infectious Diseases of the Centers for Disease Control and was the first person to capture an image of the Ebola virus with an electron microscope. Contact: Frederick Murphy, School of Veterinary Medicine, (530) 754-6175, famurphy@ucdavis.edu.

PROTECTING AGAINST INFECTIOUS DISEASES -- Donald Klingborg is director of Veterinary Extension for the School of Veterinary Medicine. Formerly a practicing veterinarian, Klingborg can discuss infectious diseases of cows, how farmers can protect their herds against disease and what surveillance programs are used in California to detect livestock diseases. Contact: Donald Klingborg, (530) 752-1524, djklingborg@ucdavis.edu.