Response to animal feed contamination quick, coordinated

Randy Treadwell
Rapid Response Team Manager

When we think of farm animals in Washington, what comes to mind may be dairy cows, pigs, chickens and the like. But many animals are “farm raised” - for instance, Washington is the seventh biggest producer of mink for fur in the U.S. While mink production has been declining, the value of pelts nationwide was $116 million in 2016. 

So when WSDA received word last summer that about 15,000 commercially farmed mink had died within a matter of days in Washington and Oregon, our Rapid Response Team (RRT) sprang into action to find out why. 

It turned out, upon investigation, the mink were eating feed made from “spent hens” – that is, poultry that was no longer productive for laying eggs and so were being processed into animal feed. The feed that was causing the affected mink to get sick was traced to a manufacturer in Washington State. 

RRT partnered with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) district office in Seattle to work with this feed-production facility. As a result, the business voluntarily recalled products containing ground spent-hen meat that was suspected of containing contaminant responsible for the illnesses. 

Collaboration is key

Samples of the suspect feed were tested at WSDA’s Food Safety and Consumer Services Laboratory and turned up positive for the presence of salmonella. In addition, samples tested by the USDA National Veterinary Services Laboratory were positive for botulism toxin, confirming our suspicion of what had caused the mink to get sick and die. 

Animal feed from a Washington facility made from ground
"spent hens" was suspected of causing the mink to get sick and die. 

Throughout the response, RRT coordinated with several partners. WSDA Animal Service Division and FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine were involved on issues of animal health for potential consumers of the affected feed. Environmental health agencies had a role in the safe disposal of diseased mink carcasses and other waste. 

In acknowledgement of the quick and thorough response work on this incident, the FDA presented WSDA with a Group Recognition Award. 

These kind of wide-ranging response mobilizations require lots of cross-program collaboration and therefore tap many agency staff. I thank the following folks for their work to make this an effective response effort.

Feed Safety Program
  Angela Gantuah
  Catherine Marrier
  Ali Kashani
  Stormy Townsend
Rapid Response Program
  Caleb James
  Susie Bautista
Safety Program
  Robert Ambriz
FSCS Lab
  Yong Liu
  Jim ke
  Mychal Hendrickson
Communications
  Mike Louisell
Animal Services Division
  Lyndon Badcoe
  Minden Buswell
  Amber Itle
  Lynn Briscoe

In summary: The FDA recently recognized WSDA for the collaborated response prompted by a large die-off of farm-raised mink last summer. Our Rapid Response Team led the effort to find the source that made the animals sick.