This past year brought challenges for everyone, and while it
remains to be seen how COVID-19 and its impacts will continue to affect us, many have found themselves taking on new responsibilities. This was definitely
true for the WSDA Rapid Response & Emergency Management Program, where the Washington
Food/Feed Rapid Response Team (RRT) resides.
In any year other than 2020-21, the Rapid Response Team
earns its keep by coordinating multi-jurisdictional food and animal feed outbreak
responses. For example, in the 2018-19 budget period, the team coordinated
responses to nine separate incidents including E.coli illnesses associated with raw milk, detections of listeria
and salmonella in raw pet food, and severe winter weather impacts on dairy
cattle in central Washington.
A 2019 training event led by the Rapid Response Team.
In 2020, the Rapid Response Team assisted in coordinating
with its food safety partners on 17 incident responses ranging from Listeria in canned fish, campylobacter illnesses associated with
undercooked chicken liver, and assisting with tracing efforts on a national
leafy green outbreak. These are all typical for our team, but after 2020, we
can add infectious disease response to the running list of the program’s capabilities.
Although routine response work continued, we all had to
adapt in 2020 to the needs brought on by the global pandemic, and Washington
RRT was no different.
One of the great opportunities of having a food/feed Rapid
Response Team as part of WSDA’s Emergency Management Program is that each side brings
its own extensive network of subject matter experts.
These networks overlapped in many ways when tasked with
solving, or helping others solve, the various challenges that came with sharing
COVID-19 public health guidance, obtaining and distributing personal protective
equipment, tracking federal guidance and requirements, and educating and
advising others on the state’s vaccine roll-out plan.
For example, the same emergency managers we typically work
with on radiation emergency preparedness or Incident Command System training
became involved last year in helping with the statewide COVID-19 response.
Despite different roles, we all knew how to reach each other and tap into one
another’s resource network to share best practices, learn what had already been
done, and coordinate our efforts.
Knowing who to contact in food safety programs of other
states through the national Rapid Response Team network helped expedite
COVID-19 guidance for the food processing industry. Having all of these
networks already established sped the agency’s public health response.
The Rapid Response Team was also able to help provide more
tangible solutions, such as assisting the WSDA Food Safety Program purchase
handheld radios so food safety inspectors could continue important inspections
and investigations while maintaining social distance measures and following current
statewide requirements.
Washington National Guard helping at a food pantry.
Additionally,
the program represents WSDA during all statewide responses where agricultural
and natural resources are impacted. We
call this Emergency Support Function 11, or ESF 11, and we’ve been activated for
over 13 months through the State Emergency Operations Center. Add this ESF-11 piece to the program and you
get a well-rounded balance of in the trenches work and big-picture
coordination.
The past year gave us the opportunity to work closely with
others in the agency to coordinate National Guard placement in food banks,
assist with face covering and hand sanitizer distribution to farm workers and
food processors, and share expertise in food safety and quality considerations
related to stockpiled food to supplement the state’s hunger relief network.
The work needed to deal with the COVID-19 outbreak illustrated
that programs with rapid response teams can not only be boots on the ground,
but also effective at coordinating the flow of information and act as key
facilitators for an effective public health response.
COVID-19 brought challenges, suffering, and heartache to
many, but it provided the opportunity to identify what worked well in our response, and what could be improved.
While COVID-19 changed a lot of things, the networks of
dedicated public health and emergency management professionals continued to work effectively. The interlacing prompted by the challenges of this last year have only made these networks stronger.
Although it may be tempting to gift a small child with a fuzzy
baby rabbit or chick on a glorious spring day or as an Easter gift in a basket,
giving such animals as gifts should only be done after careful consideration
for the health of the children and the well-being of the animal.
Rabbits and poultry carry a significant health risk for
children and many new owners find themselves unprepared for the reality of
raising a rabbit, hen, or rooster.
It is common for a child to
nuzzle or even kiss a baby chick. However, poultry can carry Salmonella
bacteria on or in their bodies, and some types of this bacteria can make people
very ill.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported an increase in salmonella cases
associated with the increase in backyard poultry raising in response to
COVID-19 pandemic food security issues.
Proper handwashing will go a long way to keeping yourself
and your child safe, but small children are notoriously lax about handwashing;
they put things in their mouths, have close contact with the ground, and sometimes
interact very closely with animals. All these actions put children at greater
risk of Salmonellosis, which can cause severe diarrhea, vomiting, dehydration,
and serious complications.
Another concern about gifting a chick is what becomes of the
chick as it grows. Will you be prepared for a laying hen that can live 10 or
more years, or a rooster who will let the neighborhood know when it is 5 a.m.?
Dumping birds somewhere after a child has lost interest is
illegal, unethical, and cruel.
The same concern holds true for rabbits, also often given as
a gift.
Once interest in the bunny wanes, many rabbits are dumped in
parks or other remote areas. This is a tragedy on two fronts. First, freed
domestic rabbits are not prepared for life in the wild and usually succumb to
starvation or predators. Second, surviving rabbits wreak havoc on ecosystems by
competing with native rabbit species, destroying desirable plants, and
reproducing at alarming rates.
To make matters worse, in recent years a serious rabbit
disease has been spreading more widely in the Washington and the U.S. – Rabbit
Hemorrhagic Disease, or RHD. This virus is highly contagious among the
European rabbits most commonly sold, and releasing them into the wild increases the risk of the disease spreading into native wild rabbits.
If, despite your best efforts and intentions, you are no
longer able to care for any type of pet, it should be taken to an appropriate
animal shelter and never set loose in the wild.
Bringing an animal of any kind into a household is a serious
decision. Considerations include how to feed, house, and care for the animal
for the duration of its life - which can be years – in order to keep both
people and pets safe
If you are not prepared for such a commitment, consider
sticking to a stuffed animal—there is no feeding or waste to worry about, and
you can always throw them in the washer!
If you are thinking of getting into the cottage food business,
but are worried about selling direct to customers, it might help to know that a
temporary suspension of that policy remains in effect.
Normally, cottage food operations in Washington are required
to sell direct to the consumer, and prohibited from shipping their food
products. But as with so many other person-to-person interactions, the COVID-19
pandemic made it difficult for cottage food operations to sell in this manner.
Mailing cottage food products still has some requirements. The
product must be packaged to prevent contamination while it’s in transit, and
the cottage food operation must continue to meet record-keeping requirements
required by state regulations.
Washington has nearly 400 permitted cottage food operations
statewide covering about 30 counties. King County has the most, with about 100
permitted cottage food operations. Spokane County has 20 permitted cottage food
operations.
WSDA continues to accept new Cottage Food permit applications. The permitting process requires an inspector to visit the
location where the food will be prepared, but those inspections are currently
being done remotely when possible.
Visit agr.wa.gov/cottagefood for more information on current policies and the WSDA Cottage Food program.
While millions of people only became aware of the Washington
State Department of Agriculture’s work last year thanks to the “murder hornets,”
the Asian giant hornet program is just the newest in a long history of work
that the WSDA Pest Program has engaged in to protect the state from harmful
invasive pests. For decades, the Pest Program, with cooperation and participation from the public, has protected the quality of life
for all Washingtonians by ensuring that crops and our environment remain free
from new invasive pests.
Gypsy moth
Male Asian gypsy moth trapped near Silver Lake in Cowlitz County
Since trapping started in 1974, gypsy moth has been WSDA’s
longest-running and most successful pest program. Despite new introductions of
European gypsy moths each year from where it is established in the Eastern U.S.
and occasional introductions of Asian gypsy moths through the ports, there are
still no established populations of gypsy moth in Washington. The success of
the program is owed not only to the dedication of state entomologists over
several decades, but also because of excellent tools that have been developed
to detect and control gypsy moths when they try to establish in an area.
In 2020, over 20,000 gypsy moth traps were placed throughout
the state. WSDA trappers caught only nine gypsy moths, but unluckily the last
moth caught was found to be an Asian gypsy moth. Asian gypsy moths are worse
than their European cousins because they eat a wider range of host materials
(including evergreen trees) and the females can fly, allowing them to spread
more easily.
Owing to their destructive nature and potential to spread
easily, the federal standard recommendation is to treat for even one Asian
gypsy moth. Therefore, WSDA has proposed
to treat the area near Silver Lake in Cowlitz County where the Asian gypsy
moth was detected.
How you can help: You can help by not disturbing gypsy moth traps that WSDA hangs throughout the state each summer and by allowing our traps on your property when necessary. This ensures a proper detection grid so no gypsy moths slip in undetected. If eradication is proposed in your area, learn all about it at agr.wa.gov/gypsymoth and help educate your neighbors.
Japanese beetle
Japanese beetles have a fondness for roses, but they can decimate hundreds of plant species
Japanese beetles are invasive pests that are already
established in many eastern states. The adults eat many types of plants but
have a particular fondness for roses. The larvae (aka grubs) like to overwinter
in lawns.
WSDA issued a pest alert last fall after Japanese beetle was
found in a surprising location – Grandview. While Japanese beetle has been
trapped and detected at airports for years (where they sometimes hitch rides on
planes) it was unusual to detect the pest so far from an airport. WSDA will be
conducting intensive trapping in the area in 2021 and conducting outreach in
the area to notify residents and encourage reporting of Japanese beetle
sightings.
How you can help: Learn how to identify Japanese beetle and report it to WSDA's Pest Program at pestprogram@agr.wa.gov or to the Washington Invasive Species Council.
Forest pest survey –
no news is good news
One of the project s the Pest Program conducts is a forest
pest survey, looking for certain pests of agricultural concern that are not yet
known to be in the state. This year the program looked for several pests,
including such pests as summer fruit tortrix, oak splendour beetle, and spotted
lanternfly. Thankfully, none of the pests were detected this year.
Sapp
Dickerson hanging trap and lure in host tree.
How you can help: If you see an unusual plant, insect, or other animal that you think might be invasive, snap a photo and report it to the Washington Invasive Species Council.
Apple maggot
Apple maggot tunneling through apple
Apple maggot is a pest that is a serious threat to
Washington’s apple industry. The pest was first found in Western Washington in
the 1980s and rapidly spread throughout the I-5 corridor. Luckily, much of
Washington’s main apple-growing regions remain pest free.
WSDA conducts trapping in pest-free areas as well as in
apple maggot quarantine areas that have commercial orchards. When our trappers
detect apple maggot adults or larvae, they alert the county pest boards and the
boards take action to address the issue. This collaborative approach has
prevented apple maggots from ever having been detected in Washington grown
commercial apples.
An unusual number of apple maggots were detected in Okanogan
County in 2020, in part due to a new approach the program took to collect host
fruit (including fruit from hawthorn bushes) in areas where adult apple maggot
flies were trapped. The season netted a total of 471 apple maggot adult flies
and 385 larvae/pupae (from collected fruit) in Okanogan County. Members of the
Apple Maggot Working Group – which includes WSDA, apple industry
representatives, county pest boards, and university researchers – are currently
reviewing the trapping results and are considering a recommendation to
quarantine all or part of the remaining pest-free area of Okanogan County.
How you can help: Leave your apples at home if you live in the quarantine area. Learn about the apple maggot quarantine, which prohibits the movement of homegrown fruit from quarantined areas (including all of Western Washington and some areas in Eastern Washington) into the pest-free areas of Washington.
Last but not least - Asian giant hornets
2020 was the first year that we monitored for Asian giant hornets, after confirming the first detection in the country in December 2019. We had to rapidly develop plans for trapping, tracking, and eradication in the spring in collaboration with the U.S Department of Agriculture.
Asian giant hornets garnered national attention when they were dubbed "murder hornets" by the media in May of 2020. Suddenly, the eyes of the world were on our staff and our work. But the notoriety also had a benefit - millions of people were educated about Asian giant hornets and thousands stepped up to help by either reporting suspected sightings or placing traps on their property and submitting their catches for 17 weeks or more.
Thanks to the combined efforts of WSDA and citizen scientist trapping, we were able to trap, tag, and track an Asian giant hornet back to its nest last October - finding and eradicating the first-ever Asian giant hornet nest in the United States. Of the 31 specimens that were reported or trapped, half were detected by the public. We literally could not have done it without you.
WSDA's pest program recently released a video summarizing the program's work in 2020 and is currently meeting with national and international partners to plan trapping for 2021. While the plans are still in development, we do know that citizen scientist trapping and reporting will continue to play a significant role in the work to prevent Asian giant hornets from establishing in the U.S.
How you can help: Continue to report suspected Asian giant hornet sightings in Washington state using our online reporting form or by emailing hornets@agr.wa.gov or calling 1-800-443-6684. If you live in Washington - especially Whatcom, Skagit, Island, or San Juan counties - consider participating in citizen scientist trapping starting in July. You can also join our Asian Giant Hornet Watch Facebook Group to stay up-to-date on Asian giant hornet happenings in the Pacific Northwest.
Our work continues - together
WSDA’s Pest Program monitors for over 130 pests each year,
and that list only continues to grow with the addition of new invasive pests
such as the Asian giant hornet. The work is always a collaborative effort
between WSDA and the community. While we set and monitor traps, the public
plays an important role in reporting new suspected pests, allowing traps to be
placed on their property, and in some cases responding to pest detections. This
collaboration between state and local organizations and private citizens has
helped to keep pests in check in the state for decades, which protects not only
our crops but the environment and even human health.
