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MEXICO CITY (AP) — California avocado growers are fuming this week about a U.S. decision to hand over pest inspections of Mexican orchards to the Mexican government. Because the United States also grows avocados, U.S. inspectors observe orchards and packing houses in Mexico to ensure exported avocados don’t carry pests that could hurt U.S. crops. The letter added, "We are looking for specifics as to why you have concluded that substituting APHIS inspectors with Mexican government inspectors is in our best interest." Only the states of Michoacan and Jalisco are certified to export avocados to the United States. Some packers in Mexico buy avocados from other, non-certified states, and try to pass them off as being from Michoacan.

Persons: Tom Vilsack, “ Organizations: MEXICO CITY, U.S . Department of Agriculture, U.S . Department of Agriculture’s, Plant Health, Service, Mexico's Agriculture Department, U.S, packers, The U.S . Department of Agriculture, Growers, Associated Press Locations: MEXICO, California, Mexico, U.S, United States, Michoacan, Jalisco, The, America, Caribbean

☆ As cartels take a stake in ‘green gold,’ US and Mexico rethink how avocados reach American kitchens
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-13 | by ( David Shortell | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —When two US avocado inspectors were assaulted and detained at a police roadblock in the Mexican state of Michoacán last month, it sparked a costly international crisis. ‘Green gold’Avocados, the creamy fruit with the industry nickname “green gold,” are big business. Nearly three-quarters of Mexican avocados come from Michoacán, a state along the country’s Pacific coast with a volcanic belt running through it that makes its soil ideal for farming. The office of the Michoacán state prosecutor told CNN last month that they’ve opened an investigation into the incident. In 2022, exports of Mexican avocados were similarly halted for several days after one of the US inspectors working in Michoacán received a threatening phone call.

Persons: Weeks, “, Ario de, Cristopher Rogel, ” Romain Le Cour, Alfredo Ramírez Bedolla, Mexico Ken Salazar, they’ve, ”, Le Cour, Michoacán, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, Victor Villalobos, Ken Melban, Brian, Melban, Brad Adams, ” Adams Organizations: CNN, US, US Department of Agriculture, Global, Transnational, Local, USDA, Plant Health, Service, Agriculture, ”, US State Department, AP, Climate Rights, US Forest Service Locations: Mexican, Michoacán, Mexico, Ario, Ario de Rosales, avocados, California, Michoacan

☆ Coronavirus Probably Spread Widely in Deer and Perhaps Back to People, U.S.D.A. Says
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-11 | by ( Emily Anthes | More About Emily Anthes | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Indeed, the new study confirms prior reports that some coronavirus variants, including Alpha and Gamma, continued to circulate in deer even after they became rare in people. They found multiple versions of the virus in deer, including the Alpha, Gamma, Delta and Omicron variants. Then, the scientists compared the viral samples isolated from deer with those from human patients and mapped the evolutionary relationships between them. They concluded that the virus moved from humans to deer at least 109 times and that deer-to-deer transmission often followed. Many questions remain, including precisely how people are passing the virus to deer, and the role that the animals might play in sustaining the virus in the wild.

Persons: APHIS Organizations: Alpha, Gamma, Plant Health, Service, D.C, Nature Communications, APHIS, Centers for Disease Control, University of Missouri Locations: ., Washington, North Carolina and Massachusetts

☆ US government is testing avian flu vaccines for birds, but ending the historic outbreak isn’t that simple
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Jen Christensen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Eradication and vaccinationAs of April 26, the CDC says, nearly 58.8 million poultry have been affected by avian flu since January 2022. The virus has been detected in at least 6,737 wild birds, and the number is likely to be much higher. Vaccinated birds would be protected, but with this highly infectious disease, they still could shed some virus that could infect unprotected birds. Partial protection means more birds will be spreading the virus,” Gallardo said. The US has the largest poultry industry in the world, with 294,000 poultry farms.

Oct. 7, 2021 - APHIS director Robert Gibbens declines the request, citing “optics” and the risks of COVID-19 exposure. Oct. 25, 2021 – Three APHIS inspectors find 13 violations at Envigo, seven of which are “direct" or "critical." Nov. 16-19, 2021 - APHIS inspects Envigo and finds 26 violations, 14 of which are "direct" or "critical." Feb. 16, 2022 - Miller informs her staff that Goldentyer has removed her from working on any more Envigo inspections. March 8, 2022 - APHIS employees inspect Envigo and find five violations, two of which are “direct.”May 3, 2022 - APHIS inspects Envigo and only cite the company for failing to fix the dangerous flooring.

The Justice Department’s decision to subpoena government witnesses who would normally testify voluntarily to help build the government’s criminal case was highly unusual, according to a half-dozen legal and animal welfare experts. The inspectors wanted APHIS to take a tougher stance against the company for the mistreatment of the beagles. Yet, this did not happen with any of the agency's inspections of Envigo, public records show. TENSIONS RISETensions between Gibbens and Miller escalated shortly after Envigo appealed some of the findings from the October inspection, emails show. Gibbens told Envigo APHIS would strike the citation because the company ultimately provided the requested information.

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