U.S. agriculture department’s foreign animal disease committee to meet

U.S. agriculture departmentÆs foreign animal disease committee to meet    The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will host a meeting of the Secretary’s Advisory Committee on Foreign Animal and Poultry Diseases at Riverdale, Md., on Feb. 4.
   The committee advises the Department of Agriculture on actions needed to prevent the introduction of foreign livestock and poultry diseases into the United States. The committee also advises the agency on contingency planning and on maintaining a state of preparedness to deal with these diseases, if introduced.
   A new subcommittee was also created to address issues related to the detection of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or “mad cow” disease, in the United States.
   For more information about the meeting, contact Joseph Annelli at (301) 734-8073.