Brought to you by the USDA/CEAH/GIS:

The Map Kiosk provides rapid-fire production of the mostly commonly requested maps in an animal disease emergency. This application utilizes ESRI’s ArcGIS software which allows multiple users to submit map requests simultaneously via a web-based form. Emergency responders select from several predefined map templates.

The map or spreadsheet is sent by email or printed to a local printer. The Map Kiosk will handle standardized map production allowing the SET unit to concentrate on data acquistion and spatial analysis.

As you may recall NoNAISWA covered an article written by St. Louis Review written by Thomas A. Garrett for the Federal Reserve Bank.

Umm…might the current global financial situation be connected with the so called pandemic?

http://www.nonaiswa.org/?p=1067

From the trenches.

Identity Theft: FTC’s “Red Flags Rule” Summary

Updated April 22, 2009

On November 9, 2007, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a rule that may affect your veterinary practice. The “Red Flags” Rule, 16 C.F.R. § 681.2, requires “creditors” and “financial institutions” to develop written plans to prevent and detect identity theft. The rule is a section of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act (“FACT Act”) of 2003, a federal law which requires the establishment of guidelines for financial institutions and creditors regarding identity theft.

On April 29, 2009, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) publicly released the “Benefit-Cost Analysis of the National Animal Identification System,” a 442-page study that provides a comprehensive assessment of the economic benefits and costs of adopting USDA’s National Animal Identification System (NAIS).

APHIS also published this overview report of the document to provide stakeholders with a summary of the analysis’ key points. [remembering that statistics can, and will be manipulated]

This report describes the background and limitations of the study and summarizes the analysis’ benefit and cost estimates.

“As a result of NAIS, the Federal and State governments’ savings in connection with the administration of animal disease control and eradication programs are significant, but they are only part of the overall benefits”.

Costs were estimated at the producer level for all four food animal species.

Extrapolating all potential variables is not practical; therefore, the study presents comprehensive “what-if” scenarios to reflect potential benefits of adopting NAIS.

Premises registration, animal identification, and animal movement tracking offer numerous potential [for those following NAIS for sometime, here is that word "Potential"] benefits to [commercial] industry stakeholders, government animal health professionals, and consumers.

Conducting [manipulated] appropriate and statistically sound animal health surveillance requires knowing where animals are located as well as their population densities and movements.

The researchers note that the international marketplace increasingly expects animal identification and tracing systems to be the norm for exporting countries and that the United States currently lags behind its major competitors and its major markets in providing traceability.

The model determined that if the adoption rate were 70 percent and this rate resulted in saving 25 percent of the export market, the net benefit of full tracing adoption to beef producers would be $9.26 per head.

The study found that small increases in domestic beef demand, with all other factors constant, would completely pay for full animal identification and tracing in the beef industry.

This can be accomplished through a process known as regionalization (or zoning) [or compliance with the UN's Terrestrial Animal Health Code and other SPS Treaties] in which an animal subpopulation, based on geographic region, can be demonstrated to be an isolated area free of disease incidence.

It concludes that with no regionalization over a 4-year period, such an outbreak would have substantial economic impacts with about a $718 million reduction in returns to capital and management in the poultry meat production sector.

Along with movement tracking, it provides an efficient way to identify sources of—and to quickly solve—animal production problems that affect the overall value of animals throughout production and processing.

For example, a 2008/9 study demonstrated that, even with low levels of animal traceability (39 percent), a beef packer can induce [can you say coerce?] a cattle feeder to adopt quality control practices to reduce the incidence of injection-site lesions in fed cattle.

During natural disasters, there are times when having premises registration and/or animal identification information can greatly assist officials in identifying and assisting animals in distress or finding owners of displaced animals.

Because the analysis of the equine industry was hampered by a lack of available data and because this industry varies from the other livestock industries in a number of significant ways, the researchers used a slightly different approach to estimate costs and benefits.

Although premises registration is currently [here is that other frequently used word "currently"]  a free service, potential costs could be incurred [You got it!, TAX, fee license] when registering a premises related to management time, mileage, and paperwork requirements.

This approach in determining the cost incurred for premises registration was used for all species.

The cost for identification (tags and tagging) and reading the tags varies by species.

The full report explains these costs in each species section.

The researchers estimate the total annual cost for 90 percent and 100 percent participation in a full-traceability NAIS system for the cattle, swine, sheep, and poultry industries are $192.22 million and $228.27 million, respectively.

Because the beef cow/calf and dairy operations account for the majority of the cost in the cattle industry, this overview also specifically comments on them. [They swing the largest club, forcing hobby and traditional farmers into their "rules.  Follow the money trail]

Additionally, the number of animals that would be individually tagged in the cattle industry is far greater than any other species; thus, this cost contributes significantly to the overall cost of adopting NAIS across all species.

RFID tag cost estimates from $2.00 to $2.60 per tag were used with the lower per-unit cost applied to cost projections for larger herds with more than 500 head.

For producers who do not currently identify calves individually, it was assumed that the producers would have their animals tagged at an auction yard when selling their animals and that the auction would charge these producers for such tagging service.

Table 2 summarizes the cost for the beef cow/calf sector associated with an individual animal identification system that has full traceability.

While RFID and its associated costs were not considered for the sheep industry, cost associated with recording, reporting, and storing data still exist.

Note: See pages 114 to 115 (Tables 6.3 to 6.5) in the full report for additional cost breakdown information.

The costs for the poultry industry are the lowest in the study, due to the industry’s extremely high level of vertical integration in which birds are raised under contract for a packer.

The researchers examined the equine industry at great length.

Horses generally have longer lifespans, higher values, and more frequent movements than any of the other species in the analysis.

In USDA’s “2006 United States Animal Health Report,” eight “animal health events” were reported, five of which involved horses but affected multiple species of animals; the other three were equine-specific disease outbreaks.

Premises Registration: Nationwide equine premises registration has already proven to be beneficial in certain circumstances.

For example, Wisconsin animal health officials were able to use their premises registration database to send out mailings with West Nile virus information during the season when outbreaks commonly occur.

Racetrack Management and Racetrack Check-In: There are numerous benefits of microchips that are specific to the racehorse industry. [But high ticket chickens just are not in vogue so why bother?]

From the trenches, with more to come.

Houston we have trouble! For those observing (to say the word ‘watch’ lands you on a certain list) biological ‘events’ the last week has been ‘eventful’. It appears as though the biological event of biblical proportion which many have been expecting was possibly released world-wide, last AUGUST.  Under a research grant the USDA transferred to the Republic of Georgia weaponized African Swine Influenza.  A new paradigm manifested in the conflict between the Republic of Georgia and Russian Federation as the Swine Flu spread like wildfire, a perfect proving ground.

LINK Here

and

LINK Here

Last August the Russian Federation, the Republic of Georgia (not the US), the Pacific NW, Brazil, Tokyo, the US Army were scrambling and doing surveillance operations on the Swine Flu virus, in the Orthomyxoviruses family, which appears to now be encircling the globe.  As in the biblical plague account the pestilence also known as plagues occurred over a period of a year, with increasing intensity and diversity.

This morning, April 28th, Israel is engaged in active surveillance.

How does a virus cross the species barrier?  Here is a visual from a NH Pandemic Power Point:

The Swine Flu has been the subject of controversy for some years. In the 1970’s there was a ‘scare’ resulting in a document: The Swine Flu Affair: Decision Making on a Slippery Disease by Richard E. Neustadt and Harvey V Fineberg, M.D. The goal of the Health Department was vaccinate the entire population for Swine and Victoria A Influenza. Much of the population became disabled with Guillian-Barre Syndrome, a permanent paralytic condition. For a historical reference please visit this link:

http://biotech.law.lsu.edu/cphl/history/books/sw/swineflu_intro.pdf

You can read about the different classifications of virology at:

http://www.virology.net/garryfavweb13.html

Most genetic changes in the flu viruses—human, pig, and bird—are small and subtle point mutations in the virus’s RNA. Less common but more alarming are sudden, wholesale changes that replace entire genes and are more likely to circumvent the immune system. This process, called genetic shift, is exactly what is now occurring in North American pigs. Thus, the latest swine influenza virus is a curious hybrid: The genes that code for its coat proteins derive from classical swine influenza, but half of its internal genes have been snatched whole from avian and human viruses. The structure of the influenza virus lends itself to such radical changes. The virus is made of eight single-stranded segments of RNA that together code for 10 proteins (see illustration). If two or more different viruses infect the same host cell, they can swap segments, creating new viral types.

Enter:  Coxsackie

7 MARCH 2003 VOL 299 SCIENCE www.sciencemag.org.  A 2002 report from the Corp of Engineers on cold weather research on Swine Flu and Coxsackie: LINK

Coxsackie is a particularly interesting *novel* (created bug) that mimics or disguises itself as other diseases such as cancer or neurological diseases, making it particularly difficult to diagnose.  It is the perfect bug for those who desire to “Game In” a New Order by way of a bio-event.  The rules of engagement for gaming in a bio-event.  When combined with the Swine or Avian Flu this insidious bug takes on an extremely lethal result.  There was significant “research” done with Coxsackie in the 1990′s.

What is Gaming a Biological Event?

Notice that the Corp studied this deadly combo during cold weather.  The influenza rate was plummeting drastically in the last few weeks as spring began to emerge.  A weaponized release of a bio bug would have greater results in a winter release.  Notice below that military reports of influenza as well as the population at large were beginning to fall with the onset of the spring season.  This recent report clearly shows that in the military   influenza was not swine flu, and that was emphasized.  An abrupt onset of *novel* influenza or manufactured influenza in a time period that normally sees cases of influenza dropping must be considered suspect.

Changes on the farm may be fostering the evolution of the swine flu virus—and if a dangerous new strain crosses back into humans, it could have deadly consequences.  For an overview of the jump from pig to bird to man see the following article:

LINK Here

The Fog of Epidemics (or War):  The Phoenix Rises

The following is an articulate article written in 2005 by Richard Krause of the National Health Institute in Bethesda, Maryland.

LINK Here

“I read the 1953 lecture on Influenza: the Newe Acquayantance (1) by Thomas Francis, Jr, in 1953, and I did not read it again until recently, as I was preparing this article. On reflection, I wish I had reread it during the swine flu episode in 1976. Certainly Francis’s lecture, and his conclusions and speculations about the mysteries of 1918 influenza, should temper our strategies for coping with a possible human pandemic arising, like a PHOENIX, from the current influenza epidemic in Asian chickens.”

The uncertainty that surrounds any response to a microbial outbreak, the “fog of epidemics,” is analogous to the fog of war, of which historians speak .

The Fog of War: Uncertainty
Where is the enemy?
What is his strength?
What counterattack?

The Fog of Epidemics: Uncertainty
Where is the microbe?
How many; how virulent; how communicable?
What counterattack?

Perceived Miscalculations
1975 Swine flu outbreak
Response too rapid
1981 HIV/AIDS occurrence
Response too slow

Notice the Fog of War and Epidemics merge in this *novel* and very pathogenic “game”.

The Fog of War

One can compare the above with Robert McNamara’s eleven life lesson’s during his tenure in Department of Defense:

1. Empathize with your enemy
2. Rationality will not save us
3. There’s something beyond one’s self
4. Maximize efficiency
5. Proportionality should be a guideline in war
6. Get the data
7. Belief and seeing are often both wrong
8. Be prepared to reexamine your reasoning
9. In order to do good, you may have to engage in evil
10. Never say never
11. You can’t change human nature

Gambling is the wagering of something with material value, such as an asset, on an EVENT with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional assets and/or material goods. Typically, the outcome of the wager is evident within a short period of time. Gaming typically refers to something permit by the LAW and is commonly known as gambling.

Our society has embraced fantasy and with it the people become “actors” in a fantasy play that may or may not be reality. Gamer’s can be MMORPG-Massively Multi-player Online Role Playing assuming fictional roles and interact with each other in a virtual world. Or the game may take place as RPG in which actors assume fictional roles with no way to interact aside from the game. Training of government employees and volunteers utilize table top training or gaming to prepare for various hazards.

There are three variables common to all forms of gambling:

• How much is being wagered, the initial stake (in money or material goods).
• The predictability of the event.
• The odds agreed between the two (or more) parties to the wager. The odds are arranged in favor of the house.
• The expected value, positive or negative, is a mathematical calculation using these three variables.

Studies show people who participate in like any behavior which involves variation in brain chemistry, can become a psychologically addictive and harmful behavior in some people.

Influenza Timeline

The following is a timeline of recent influenza outbreaks:

Sequencing the Human-Avian-Swine-1918 Influenza

The process has taken some time to evolve.  Here is study from Taiwan in 2004 with the influenza sequencing.

LINK Here

Are government officials READY for a pandemic?

YES!

For the tip of a biological iceberg: LINK Here

For years the infrastructure has been developed, well exercised, tested, and is now ready.  What event will be the ONE that will go live?  Only the actors at the top know that but it appears as though the timing is close as all the ducks are in a row.  Those who stand to gain from a mass population culling are ready to save the planet with their insidious drama.  As we have learned from the Fog of War though the ambiguity of their plan may well go awry from their anticipated or wagered outcome.

Are you ready for the pandemic?

Persons whose hearts are hardened are responsible for events which will unfold and they will be punished, measure for measure.  It is critical that your heart remain sensitive and repentant towards your Creator.  If you resist to be teachable then your heart may be hardened for you as in years past.  A heart once hardened effectively impairs your plague ridden decision making processes.

It is comforting to know that only the Finger of God can transfer and create Ex Nihilo Yesh Mai-Ayin, something from nothing.  So while those who think they are creating something *novel* are mere puppets in the hands of the Divine Author.

Plagues of any sort as you saw above clearly indicate a strategy of a general laying siege to a city or population.  Wild beasts will rob you of ownership of your own land to an existence of a insecure stranger.  Greed and deceit that were enjoyed in countries will now succumb to their immoral fruit.  Animals of the wild and human form will not fear “man” as they were created to do as humans sink into their animistic nature.  As plagues continue (which has been promised) the plagues will rob you of your possession’s your sense of superiority and reduce you to lowly submission.  The plagues will also cause you and your loved ones physical suffering.

As the gods of this world are abolished so too is their coinage.  Be prepared for this eventuality.

Pestilence causes awareness of the distinctions between good and evil.  At the opening ceremony of Plum Island bio weapons facility a USDA scientist stated,

Our plans for the future must include an ever-abundant supply of food if we want our people to be strong and our nation to endure.” Science will make the difference in the battle between Good and Evil. The crown jewel of this blossoming, futuristic agricultural empire will be Plum Island.”  Simply put science will not determine the outcome of the battle between Good and Evil, that alone, only God can do.

We will witness some unusual mixing of substances and that which is not to be mingled.  Do not fear, but be comforted that you are witnessing what has never been upon this earth nor will be again.  Much as a mother in labor the outcome if one fears God, is blessed and rewarded.  For those who believe in God and His Son, Jesus, will find themselves in a protective abode.

While the lingering prediction foretold by the pundits may appear troubling it is actually a blessing in disguise.  If all the pestilence and plagues hit at one time humans would universally not be able to absorb such a creation cognitively, emotionally, and practically.  Suddenness breeds crises that one is not able to endure.  This psychological upheaval can be endured when the crises gradually increase.

Understand that the upswing in “volunteerism” is dangerous, very dangerous.  Our country is flirting with a policy of slavery once again.  Slavery is dehumanizing and is a stain on the human soul.  Gods people are to be strangers with our own customs, Set Apart, and model citizens.  But we have a *change* and we will soon see murderous racial laws and sweeping legislation legalizing slavery in the name of volunteerism.  You will be asked to volunteer your talents, your body and your information for the “good of the society”.  Human beings are created in the image of God and slavery stands, “directly opposite to the path of creation and is the antithesis of God’s purpose for humanity,” says R’ Aviner, who further states, “Enslavement constitutes a perversion of creation and the enslavement removes his fundamental image of God and his ability to be free“.  Subjugation turns a human being from subject to object, from chief to chattel.”  The legal foundations for this have already been achieved.  In Washington State a farmer who does not agree to have his asetts inspected, tested, vaccinated, and electronically identified is considered a menace to society and the property is quarantined and depopulated (killed or culled).  We will see this policy expand as pestilence hits our land.  You discover conflict within yourself as compliance goes against your moral and ethical standards.

While the tidal wave of plagues comes upon the earth the evildoers will be punished for ruining the world, and those who repent and find refuge in God will gain access to redress for the harm done to them.  That is true hope and change.  “In Egypt He wrought miracles for you and your eyes saw it.”  The great trials (ha-massoth) which thine eyes saw, what is the force of ha-massoth?  It implies that the plagues weakened (me-massoth) the bodies of the Egyptians.  What is the meaning of the signs?  The plagues became engraven on their bodies, and the wonders deceived them.  [Midrash Rabbah Devarim VII:6]  It goes back to the duties of the heart to stand firm against what is coming against us with courage, and not allowing the plagues or their mark to be engraven on our bodies.

Take courage as we face these days head on, living in reality.  Resist escaping into the fantasy world that has been created to enslave us.  Look up, because we are sure to see some great and marvelous times.

LSU Law Center’s

Medical and Public Health Law Site

Historic Public Health Books / Public Health Law Project / Vaccine Law

The Swine Flu Affair: Decision-Making on a Slippery Disease
Richard E. Neustadt and Harvey V Fineberg, DHEW, 1978

This was later revised and published as, Richard E. and Fineberg, Harvey V. Neustadt,

The Epidemic that Never Was, Vintage Books (1983)

(These are PDF files ranging from 1 – 3 megs) (full file for printing – 30 megs)

FOREWORD 1
1. THE NEW FLU 5
2. SENCER DECIDES 10
3. COOPER ENDORSES 17
4. FORD ANNOUNCES 24
5. ORGANIZING 31
6. FIELD TRIALS 37
7. LIABILITY 48
8. LEGISLATION 57
9. STARTING AND STOPPING 63
10. CALIFANO COMES IN 72
11. LEGACIES 77
12. REFLECTIONS 86

TECHNICAL AFTERWORD 104

APPENDICES 117

A. “Cast of Characters”
B. Terms and Organizations 121
C. Detailed Chronology 123
D. Selected Documents 146
E. Useful Questions 167

READINGS 171
NOTES 173
AUTHORS 179
INDEX 180

And if you believe this one doesn’t have side-effects….I have a bridge in the desert for sale.

New Ebolavirus Vaccine Protects Against Lethal Infection in Animal Models

ScienceDaily (Apr. 21, 2009) – A new experimental Ebola vaccine is one step closer to realization, having proven its ability to protect against lethal infections in animal models.

Ebolaviruses (EBOVs), the cause of severe hemorrhagic fever in humans and nonhuman primates, are transmitted through direct contact of bodily fluids with infected individuals resulting in death up to 90% of the time. Due to its high pathogenicity and its ability to spread by aerosol droplets, EBOV and its sister virus, Marburgvirus, are classified as category A bioterrorism threats. Currently, no licensed vaccines or antivirals are available against EBOV.

In a previous study the researchers developed a replication-deficient, biologically contained EBOV, EbolaδVP30, vaccine candidate which lacks the essential VP30 gene. In this study they demonstrated its safety in STAT-1 knockout-mice and evaluated its protective efficacy in mice and guinea pigs. Results showed that mice receiving two inoculations with EbolaδVP30 were protected against lethal infection with a mouse-adapted EBOV and viral levels in the blood of vaccinated mice were noticeably lower that those in nonvaccinated mice. Additionally, guinea pigs immunized twice with EbolaδVP30 were also protected against lethal infection with a guinea pig adapted EBOV.

“Our study demonstrates the potential of the EbolaδVP30 virus as a new vaccine platform,” say the researchers. “As with other EBOV vaccine candidates, our vaccine would be of value to health care personnel, laboratory workers, and military personnel, as well as those at risk during outbreaks.”
——————————————————————————–

Journal reference:

Halfmann et al. Replication-Deficient Ebolavirus as a Vaccine Candidate. Journal of Virology, 2009; 83 (8): 3810 DOI: 10.1128/JVI.00074-09
Adapted from materials provided by American Society for Microbiology.

The production, processing, distribution, retail, packaging and labelling of food are governed by a complexity of laws, regulations, codes of practice and guidance. Various international, regional and national regulatory instruments and standards exist that relate specifically to food safety and quality.

At the international level, the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC), an intergovernmental body created in 1963 by FAO and WHO, develops food standards, guidelines and related texts such as codes of practice under the Joint FAO/WHO Food Standards Programme. Its principle objective is to protect the health of consumers and ensure fair trade practices in the food trade, and to promote coordination of food standards work undertaken by governmental and non-governmental bodies.

The Codex Alimentarius is a collection of international food standards that have been adopted by the CAC. Codex Standards cover all the main foods, whether processed, semi-processed or raw, as well as materials used in the further processing of food products, as required. Codex Standards include provisions for the safety and quality of food and cover food additives, pesticide and veterinary drug residues, contaminants, labelling and presentation, as well as methods of sampling and risk analysis.

In international trade food safety and quality have become increasingly important. The Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade negotiations established the World Trade Organization (WTO), and brought agriculture and food products under global trading rules for the first time. Codex Standards are the benchmark international food standards under the WTO’s Agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) and the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), which provide the regulatory framework for countries involved in the trade of food and agricultural products.

FAO’s Food Quality and Standards Service supports governments and food enterprises in meeting the requirements of international regulations and standards, and assists with their integration into national food control systems and associated legislation.

Since the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) came into force over a decade ago, the importance of risk analysis has increased. For many years FAO and WHO have worked together to increase the awareness of risk analysis principles, both as a tool for national food safety authorities and also in the provision of scientific advice and evaluations.

Risk analysis offers a framework that national food safety authorities can use to make significant gains in food safety. Encompassing three major components (risk assessment, risk management and risk communication), risk analysis provides a systematic and disciplined approach for making food safety decisions. It is used to develop an estimate of the risks to human health and safety, to identify and implement appropriate measures to control the risks, and to communicate with stakeholders about the risks and measures applied.

Risk analysis can support and improve the development of standards (it is an integral part of Codex’s decision-making process), as well as address food safety issues that result from emerging hazards or breakdowns in food control systems. It provides food safety regulators with the information and evidence they need for effective decision-making, contributing to better food safety outcomes and improvements in public health.

FAO and WHO work together to develop material to assist food safety regulators’ understanding and use of risk analysis in national food safety frameworks, and to provide training tools for capacity building in food safety risk analysis.