New Web Resource on Farm Animal Health

"Healthy Animals" is a new online compilation of Agricultural Research Service news and expert resources on the health and well-being of agricultural animals and fish. The "Healthy Animals" web site is at:

http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/np/ha

Updated quarterly, the new web site provides links to recent ARS research accomplishments involving the health of cattle, chickens, turkeys, swine, sheep, goats, horses, catfish and other aquaculture fish species, as well as related research on deer and other wildlife. The site also provides complete contact information for the more than 25 ARS research groups that conduct studies aimed at protecting and improving farm-animal health.

ARS produced the new web site to help inform veterinarians, researchers, producers, animal industry groups, news media and others interested in research. The site does not provide treatment advice for producers with sick animals or give individualized recommendations.

Web browsers may want to bookmark the site as a resource for locating experts. An index lists ARS research locations covering about 70 animal-health topics. These range from specific diseases, such as Lyme disease, to broad subjects like nutrition, parasites and vaccines.

Each quarter, one article in "Healthy Animals" will focus on a particular element of ARS animal research. The first issue highlights the four ARS national programs devoted to keeping animals healthy and productive: Animal Health, Animal Pests and Parasites, Aquaculture, and Animal Well-being and Stress Control Systems.

To receive quarterly announcements of each new issue's arrival online, contact Kathryn Barry Stelljes, ARS Information, at (510) 559-6069 or by e-mail at [email protected]. ARS is U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief research agency.

Scientific contact: Caird Rexroad, Jr., Animal Production, Product Value and Safety, Beltsville, Md., (301) 504-7050, fax (301) 504-4721, [email protected].