Comments on: SeattlePi Scares Urbanites http://NoNAIS.org/2006/10/06/seattlepi-scares-urbanites/ Protect our traditional rights to farm Thu, 17 May 2012 03:24:19 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.2 by: david gowan http://NoNAIS.org/2006/10/06/seattlepi-scares-urbanites/#comment-9713 Mon, 09 Oct 2006 13:28:33 +0000 http://NoNAIS.org/2006/10/06/seattlepi-scares-urbanites/#comment-9713 Referring to Celeste,No25,I was Manager/ceo of a small County Fair ..Mendocino County,California in 2003.Well aware and experienced the house to house ''lookie see for poultry''.We were directed by Fairs and exhibitions through the Calif.Dept.Of Agriculture.. for.ALL FAIRS IN CALIFornia to Cancel the poultry shows..Can you imagine how happy our 4-h kids were at this bright idea?They did have a show with toy chickens,ducks,turkeys..showmanship,,show and tell to educate the public about Newcastle disease..Still did not solve the problem locally..There are a multitude of illegal chickens(fighting cocks)entering California daily..Tighten up the borders folks...I have sent e-mails about NAIS to all of my govt.reps..of course,no answer..Our county farm bureau has recommented the program be voluntary,NOT mandatory..David Referring to Celeste,No25,I was Manager/ceo of a small County Fair ..Mendocino County,California in 2003.Well aware and experienced the house to house ‘’lookie see for poultry'’.We were directed by Fairs and exhibitions through the Calif.Dept.Of Agriculture.. for.ALL FAIRS IN CALIFornia to Cancel the poultry shows..Can you imagine how happy our 4-h kids were at this bright idea?They did have a show with toy chickens,ducks,turkeys..showmanship,,show and tell to educate the public about Newcastle disease..Still did not solve the problem locally..There are a multitude of illegal chickens(fighting cocks)entering California daily..Tighten up the borders folks…I have sent e-mails about NAIS to all of my govt.reps..of course,no answer..Our county farm bureau has recommented the program be voluntary,NOT mandatory..David

]]> by: Celeste http://NoNAIS.org/2006/10/06/seattlepi-scares-urbanites/#comment-9673 Sun, 08 Oct 2006 16:14:04 +0000 http://NoNAIS.org/2006/10/06/seattlepi-scares-urbanites/#comment-9673 If you want a preview of what might happen with AI Google Exotic Newcastle Disease in California beginning February 2003. My cousin said they went door to door and inspected every house killing every bird in Southern California. She is a German war bride and it made her shudder the invasive tactics which were used, so reminding her of Germany during WWII. If you want a preview of what might happen with AI Google Exotic Newcastle Disease in California beginning February 2003. My cousin said they went door to door and inspected every house killing every bird in Southern California. She is a German war bride and it made her shudder the invasive tactics which were used, so reminding her of Germany during WWII.

]]> by: Joanne Rigutto http://NoNAIS.org/2006/10/06/seattlepi-scares-urbanites/#comment-9656 Sun, 08 Oct 2006 01:05:47 +0000 http://NoNAIS.org/2006/10/06/seattlepi-scares-urbanites/#comment-9656 As for animals being vaccinated and still being able to carry the virus, and more importantly be able to still shed virus, for some viruses that is the case, and for some it's not. I forget which AI is. I know one of the concerns with FMD vaccination is that the existing vaccine stops clinical symptoms, but doesn't stop an animal from shedding virus. You also can't tell a vaccinated animal from one who has been exposed to the virus but survived. They'll both titer the same. The Plumb Island Facility is working on a set of tagged vaccines for FMD that can be administered to an animal that has been exposed, and not only will give that animal immunity, but will stop the animal from shedding virus. Being a tagged vaccine, testing can determine whether the animal titers due to vaccination or to environmental exposure to the actual virus. Unfortunately, the vaccine is still in development, but is looking very promising, and will only be used as an emergency measure in the event of an outbreak. In the case of a virus like rabies, the vaccine stops the animal from coming down with the sickness, and prevents them from carrying and shedding the virus. Of course rabies is a fairly stable virus, where as AI is changing constantly. As for animals being vaccinated and still being able to carry the virus, and more importantly be able to still shed virus, for some viruses that is the case, and for some it’s not. I forget which AI is. I know one of the concerns with FMD vaccination is that the existing vaccine stops clinical symptoms, but doesn’t stop an animal from shedding virus. You also can’t tell a vaccinated animal from one who has been exposed to the virus but survived. They’ll both titer the same. The Plumb Island Facility is working on a set of tagged vaccines for FMD that can be administered to an animal that has been exposed, and not only will give that animal immunity, but will stop the animal from shedding virus. Being a tagged vaccine, testing can determine whether the animal titers due to vaccination or to environmental exposure to the actual virus. Unfortunately, the vaccine is still in development, but is looking very promising, and will only be used as an emergency measure in the event of an outbreak.
In the case of a virus like rabies, the vaccine stops the animal from coming down with the sickness, and prevents them from carrying and shedding the virus. Of course rabies is a fairly stable virus, where as AI is changing constantly.

]]> by: Joanne Rigutto http://NoNAIS.org/2006/10/06/seattlepi-scares-urbanites/#comment-9654 Sun, 08 Oct 2006 00:44:40 +0000 http://NoNAIS.org/2006/10/06/seattlepi-scares-urbanites/#comment-9654 For control of HPAI, OIE, FAO and WHO all recomend vaccination. The bird population they recomend paying extra special attention to in regards to disease surveillance is the domestic fowl population - that is domestic ducks and geese, according to the report - A Global Strategy for the Progressive Control of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) from the FAO, OIE, and in collabortarion with WHO. I don't have the link to the report handy, but I think I found it on the OIE website. I believe that in the report, it also states that the primary route for movement of HPAI H5N1 was through the trade routes every where except in Turkey and the Russian Federation. <i>[Here's a <a href="http://www.fao.org/ag/againfo/resources/documents/empres/AI_globalstrategy.pdf#search=%22A%20Global%20Strategy%20for%20the%20Progressive%20Control%20of%20Highly%20Pathogenic%20Avian%20Influenza%22">link to the report</a>. -WJ]</i> One of the things that really worries me about AI is that in the USA, depopultion, as opposed to vaccintion, especially prophylactic vaccination, is the preferred method of disease control/containment, as illustrated by the 2004 depopulation of poultry in Gonzales County, Texas. Birds at a live bird market were thought to have tested positive for H5N2. Many birds in the area were killed and disposed of. It was later found that the test was probably a false positive for that particular strain and that what the birds actually had was a low path AI. Oops, so sorry. But your birds are still dead..... <i>[Exactly... -WJ]</i> url to the info on that - ftp://ftp.oie.int/SAM/2004/USA_A.pdf It's on page 255 - actually this is an excerpt from a much larger document and in the pdf that the link takes you to it's on page 2 of 5, but it's #255 in the entire document. For control of HPAI, OIE, FAO and WHO all recomend vaccination. The bird population they recomend paying extra special attention to in regards to disease surveillance is the domestic fowl population - that is domestic ducks and geese, according to the report - A Global Strategy for the Progressive Control of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) from the FAO, OIE, and in collabortarion with WHO.
I don’t have the link to the report handy, but I think I found it on the OIE website. I believe that in the report, it also states that the primary route for movement of HPAI H5N1 was through the trade routes every where except in Turkey and the Russian Federation.

[Here’s a link to the report. -WJ]

One of the things that really worries me about AI is that in the USA, depopultion, as opposed to vaccintion, especially prophylactic vaccination, is the preferred method of disease control/containment, as illustrated by the 2004 depopulation of poultry in Gonzales County, Texas. Birds at a live bird market were thought to have tested positive for H5N2. Many birds in the area were killed and disposed of. It was later found that the test was probably a false positive for that particular strain and that what the birds actually had was a low path AI.
Oops, so sorry. But your birds are still dead…..

[Exactly… -WJ]

url to the info on that -
ftp://ftp.oie.int/SAM/2004/USA_A.pdf
It’s on page 255 - actually this is an excerpt from a much larger document and in the pdf that the link takes you to it’s on page 2 of 5, but it’s #255 in the entire document.

]]> by: Podchef http://NoNAIS.org/2006/10/06/seattlepi-scares-urbanites/#comment-9566 Sat, 07 Oct 2006 15:16:06 +0000 http://NoNAIS.org/2006/10/06/seattlepi-scares-urbanites/#comment-9566 I might be wrong here, but I think that vaccinating chickens isn't going to stop the bird flu from being transmitted. Sure the chickens who've been inocculated will be fine, but they are still carriers of the virus. Now you really will have clucking and crapping time-bombs. You'll never know which chickens or birds are sick, and since the birds are only the carriers they can still infect cats if the felines are eating them, or anyone else through their feces. Poultry is but one avenue, yet they continue to focus on it. I don't know about you, but I generally keep my "home environments free of poultry feces". But there is a neverending parade of kittens wandering around. . . . <i>[The vaccine makes the birds immune to the disease and makes them not be carriers. The problem is they test positive because the tests don't test for the presence of the disease, the viruse, but rather test for the presence of the anti-bodies in the blood. Same issue with other species and other diseases. Better tests are needed. A better test was developed for Foot & Mouth Disease. Had it been used in England they could avoided the killing of six million healthy animals, if they had wanted. -WJ]</i> I might be wrong here, but I think that vaccinating chickens isn’t going to stop the bird flu from being transmitted.

Sure the chickens who’ve been inocculated will be fine, but they are still carriers of the virus.

Now you really will have clucking and crapping time-bombs. You’ll never know which chickens or birds are sick, and since the birds are only the carriers they can still infect cats if the felines are eating them, or anyone else through their feces. Poultry is but one avenue, yet they continue to focus on it.

I don’t know about you, but I generally keep my “home environments free of poultry feces”. But there is a neverending parade of kittens wandering around. . . .

[The vaccine makes the birds immune to the disease and makes them not be carriers. The problem is they test positive because the tests don’t test for the presence of the disease, the viruse, but rather test for the presence of the anti-bodies in the blood. Same issue with other species and other diseases. Better tests are needed. A better test was developed for Foot & Mouth Disease. Had it been used in England they could avoided the killing of six million healthy animals, if they had wanted. -WJ]

]]> by: Goatster http://NoNAIS.org/2006/10/06/seattlepi-scares-urbanites/#comment-9557 Sat, 07 Oct 2006 10:59:44 +0000 http://NoNAIS.org/2006/10/06/seattlepi-scares-urbanites/#comment-9557 Could it be that cats are the culprit of "bird" flu and not the birds? Cats can carry bird flu, study says Adisti Sukma Sawitri, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta Recent studies have revealed that cats can contract the avian influenza virus and that there is no evidence that migratory birds are responsible for the spread of the disease. A study conducted by the Indonesian Environment Information Center (PILI) in Yogyakarta found that stray cats had caught the H5N1 virus through contact with infected poultry at traditional markets. "We are positive that cats can have the virus, although it is yet to be proven that they can transmit the virus to other animals or humans," PILI director Iwan Setiawan said Thursday after a discussion on the role of migratory birds in the spreading the virus. The discussion, which was held by National Geographic Indonesia, concluded that migratory birds were not to blame for the movement of bird flu. A vet from the Bogor Institute of Agriculture, I Wayan Teguh Wibawa, said separate studies had shown there was no proof anywhere in the world that migratory birds carried the virus. Studies of migratory birds in Malaysia, China and Australia that have been carried out over the past six years have shown no migrant birds in the three regions had the H5N1 virus, he said. Wayan, who is also a member of the National Commission for Bird Flu, said that the poultry trade was the most likely cause of the spread of the virus to 29 of Indonesia's 33 provinces. So far 69 people have been infected with the virus and 52 have died. "It is very important to vaccinate poultry and keep home environments free of poultry feces," he said. A recent serology test conducted on 20 chickens around the houses of victims in Bandung showed that the virus could also be transmitted by healthy chickens. PILI began last year the country's first study of the possible role of migratory birds in the spread of bird flu. The study, which is taking place in Yogyakarta and Indramayu in West Java, is still in progress. The group plans to extend the study to several other coastal regions in Java, where about 2 million birds from northern Indonesia usually come for mating season. http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailnational.asp?fileid=20061007.H06&#38;irec=5 Could it be that cats are the culprit of “bird” flu and not the birds?

Cats can carry bird flu, study says

Adisti Sukma Sawitri, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Recent studies have revealed that cats can contract the avian influenza virus and that there is no evidence that migratory birds are responsible for the spread of the disease.

A study conducted by the Indonesian Environment Information Center (PILI) in Yogyakarta found that stray cats had caught the H5N1 virus through contact with infected poultry at traditional markets.

“We are positive that cats can have the virus, although it is yet to be proven that they can transmit the virus to other animals or humans,” PILI director Iwan Setiawan said Thursday after a discussion on the role of migratory birds in the spreading the virus.

The discussion, which was held by National Geographic Indonesia, concluded that migratory birds were not to blame for the movement of bird flu.

A vet from the Bogor Institute of Agriculture, I Wayan Teguh Wibawa, said separate studies had shown there was no proof anywhere in the world that migratory birds carried the virus.

Studies of migratory birds in Malaysia, China and Australia that have been carried out over the past six years have shown no migrant birds in the three regions had the H5N1 virus, he said.

Wayan, who is also a member of the National Commission for Bird Flu, said that the poultry trade was the most likely cause of the spread of the virus to 29 of Indonesia’s 33 provinces. So far 69 people have been infected with the virus and 52 have died.

“It is very important to vaccinate poultry and keep home environments free of poultry feces,” he said.

A recent serology test conducted on 20 chickens around the houses of victims in Bandung showed that the virus could also be transmitted by healthy chickens.

PILI began last year the country’s first study of the possible role of migratory birds in the spread of bird flu. The study, which is taking place in Yogyakarta and Indramayu in West Java, is still in progress. The group plans to extend the study to several other coastal regions in Java, where about 2 million birds from northern Indonesia usually come for mating season.

http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailnational.asp?fileid=20061007.H06&irec=5

]]> by: berecca http://NoNAIS.org/2006/10/06/seattlepi-scares-urbanites/#comment-9544 Fri, 06 Oct 2006 22:15:57 +0000 http://NoNAIS.org/2006/10/06/seattlepi-scares-urbanites/#comment-9544 Unrelated but related, I heard the e-coli outbreak in spinach is probably due to the unsanitary machine blades used to harvest (they can get e-coli or other microbes into the stem tissues, where you can't wash them away). The old school method of hand-picking with regularly sterilized knives was deemed too expensive. Unrelated but related, I heard the e-coli outbreak in spinach is probably due to the unsanitary machine blades used to harvest (they can get e-coli or other microbes into the stem tissues, where you can’t wash them away). The old school method of hand-picking with regularly sterilized knives was deemed too expensive.

]]> by: V is for Victory http://NoNAIS.org/2006/10/06/seattlepi-scares-urbanites/#comment-9543 Fri, 06 Oct 2006 21:44:59 +0000 http://NoNAIS.org/2006/10/06/seattlepi-scares-urbanites/#comment-9543 I sent this e-mail to Mr. Paulson. His response follows. ************************* This is the most irresponsible piece of reporting I've seen lately. Why don't you checkout the whole issue here instead of just jotting down a fear-mongering headline? Is selling another paper worth your reputation as a so-called "reporter"? Did you ever consider the Ag dept. has other axes to grind? The best biosecurity is to NOT let government officials trample all over your land after they've been to hundreds of other farms. Did you think to ask why people don't want to register their birds? I'll point you in the right direction on this one: look up the Henshaw incident in Virginia. Another great source of information on why people won't register can be found at NoNAIS.org ************************ This is his response ************************ Dear V, Thanks for contacting me. I was not aware of the controversy surrounding this issue. I'm not an ag writer. I cover this as a public health issue. But I will certainly look more closely into NAIS and the concerns about it in the future. Best Tom I sent this e-mail to Mr. Paulson. His response follows.
*************************
This is the most irresponsible piece of reporting I’ve seen lately. Why don’t you checkout the whole issue here instead of just jotting down a fear-mongering headline? Is selling another paper worth your reputation as a so-called “reporter”? Did you ever consider the Ag dept. has other axes to grind? The best biosecurity is to NOT let government officials trample all over your land after they’ve been to hundreds of other farms. Did you think to ask why people don’t want to register their birds? I’ll point you in the right direction on this one: look up the Henshaw incident in Virginia. Another great source of information on why people won’t register can be found at NoNAIS.org

************************
This is his response
************************

Dear V,
Thanks for contacting me. I was not aware of the controversy surrounding this issue. I’m not an ag writer. I cover this as a public health issue. But I will certainly look more closely into NAIS and the concerns about it in the future.
Best
Tom

]]> by: donna http://NoNAIS.org/2006/10/06/seattlepi-scares-urbanites/#comment-9542 Fri, 06 Oct 2006 21:44:45 +0000 http://NoNAIS.org/2006/10/06/seattlepi-scares-urbanites/#comment-9542 Should have also noted that here in North Dakota we awoke yesterday October 5, to a radio announcement from the State Vet asking that farmers immediately report any sick birds in their flocks. Coordinated fear mongering? Should have also noted that here in North Dakota we awoke yesterday October 5, to a radio announcement from the State Vet asking that farmers immediately report any sick birds in their flocks.

Coordinated fear mongering?

]]> by: donna http://NoNAIS.org/2006/10/06/seattlepi-scares-urbanites/#comment-9541 Fri, 06 Oct 2006 21:40:19 +0000 http://NoNAIS.org/2006/10/06/seattlepi-scares-urbanites/#comment-9541 This sort of disinformation is USDA propaganda. Googled the following after the 'terror threat' to New England. Look at the number of articles listed that have to do with disease and privately owned livestock. They spin and spin and spin their ugly webs. <a href="http://news.surfwax.com/gov/archives/Animal_and_Plant_Health_Inspection_Service.html" rel="nofollow">govarticlesarchive</a> This sort of disinformation is USDA propaganda. Googled the following after the ‘terror threat’ to New England.

Look at the number of articles listed that have to do with disease and privately owned livestock. They spin and spin and spin their ugly webs.

govarticlesarchive

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