EU Dining on USA EEE Infected Equines?

October 10, 2008

Two Texas Horses Test Positive for EEE;
Horses Need Protection Against Mosquito-Borne Diseases

Texas has joined at least five other states this year in reporting cases of Eastern Equine Encephalitis infection in horses. In Houston County, in the southeast corner of the state, a horse with clinical illness has tested positive for the disease, and in the north central Texas, in Denton County, a vaccinated horse also tested positive and exhibited clinical signs of disease. EEE, which can be transmitted to humans by infected mosquitoes, also has been reported this year in horses in Georgia, Florida, Maine, Tennessee, and New Hampshire­and in Ontario, Canada.

"Infected horses are a `sentinel´ or warning that infected mosquitoes are in the area, and measures should be taken to protect humans against exposure to the dangerous pests," said Dr. Andy Schwartz, state epidemiologist for the Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC), the state´s livestock and poultry health regulatory agency. "Protect yourself and your horses with a mosquito spray containing DEET, get rid of stagnant water, and avoid being outside at night, when mosquitoes are more active."

"Horses with mosquito-borne encephalitic viruses, such as EEE, Western Equine Encephalitis (WEE) or West Nile Virus (WNV), may stagger, appear confused, and act erratically. Owners should contact their veterinarian immediately, if their equine animals exhibit clinical signs of these diseases. About half of infected animals may be saved, with the appropriate supportive care," said Dr. Schwartz. Although EEE, WEE and WNV are not regulatory diseases, they are reportable to the TAHC and to the Texas Department of State Health Services, due to their potential to cause human disease.

"Vaccines are readily available to protect equine animals against mosquito-borne encephalitic diseases, but they must be given according to the manufacturer´ s" directions, and it takes at least a week to 10 days after vaccination for protective antibodies to develop. Booster shots also must be given as needed. Heed your veterinarian´ s advice," he said. "As good as vaccines are at protecting against infection, there are rare times when a vaccinated animal will still contract disease. That is no reason to avoid vaccinating your animals."

Dr. Schwartz noted that, in 2002, when West Nile Virus was first detected in Texas, 1,699 equine animals were stricken with infection. West Nile vaccine has helped cut those case numbers from 716 in 2003 to only two cases in 2008. "Vaccinating against mosquito-borne diseases has to be a part of routine equine health care," he said. "Don´t stop, just because case numbers drop."

UN Reports Says Meat-Industry Biggest Polluter

UN Study Reports Meat Production Biggest Enviromental Polluter

And is also a major source of land and water degradation

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=20772&Cr=global&Cr1=warming

In the report, senior U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization official Henning Steinfeld reports that the meat industry is “one of the most significant contributors to today’s most serious environmental problems" and that "urgent action is required to remedy the situation."

"Livestocks Long-Shadow," Environmental Issues & Options" by Sr. UN Food & Agricultural Organizations' (FAO) Henning Steinfield

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MadCow USA: The Cover-Up Continues

I AM NOT A FOOD ANIMAL-
QUIT LOOKIN AT ME THAT WAY!








BSE ATYPICAL USA blog, August 20, 2008
Straight to the Source


Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Mad Cow Disease typical and atypical strains, was there a cover-up ?

MAD COW DISEASE, WHO STARTED IT, when and where did it start first ?

WAS/IS there a cover-up attempt ?

WILL the next administration here in the USA hold any sort of Congressional hearings or have a BSE Inquiry of sorts into the Bush Administrations handling of BSE in the USA (any and all strains of TSE) ?

OR, will it be the same old O.I.E. B.S.E. M.R.R. nonsense of 'don't look, don't find, mentality $$$

Greetings,

I am puzzled by several things. IF I remember correctly, the last two mad cows _documented_ in the U.S.A., this was before the surveillance and testing for BSE was shut down to almost nothing, for obvious reasons i.e. the findings back to back of the two atypical BSE cases, but I am puzzled by the fact that no detailed pathology of _both_ the Texas and the Alabama cow have been released, that I am aware of?

I am also puzzled by the fact that no more attention has been given to the fact of several statements and facts that in fact have come about, to simply go ignored? kind of reminded me of the infamous sporadic CJD in farmers and their wives with BSE herds.

But Confucius is confused again. my questions, who really started mad cow disease and or when and where did it really start? IT seems to me that this is not a questions that has been answered. ONE could look at the U.K. BSE epidemic as the point of origin, but if you go back, typical and atypical TSE in the bovine seems to have started way back. It could go all the way back to the U.S.

HAS the continuous rendering U.K. first theory (continuous rendering technology shipped to U.K. some 5 years and used there first before the U.S.A. started using) been proven, as the key to the start, or just an enhancement of sorts i.e. low temps, minus the oils, and was it true that the U.S. did NOT start using it before the U.K. ? and does it really matter ? could the TSE agent have survived and spread regardless ??? seems from the latest study on the TSE agent surviving the Biodiesel Production process, seems then it would not matter.


Click title above to go to MadCow Homepage;
http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_14254.cfm