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AR-NEWS Digest 504
Topics covered in this issue include:
1) (TW) Tycoon plans park for stray dogs
by Vadivu Govind
2) [UK] Anger at pressure to build 'mad cow' furnaces
by David J Knowles
3) Kibbutz Or-Haner will raise apes for labs (ISRAEL)
by erez ganor
4) (US) The next bad beef scandal? [manure and dead cats]
by allen schubert
5) (US) HIDDEN RISKS
by allen schubert
6) State of CA vs. Tom Valter Sentencing
by IGHA/HorseAid Volunteer
7) (US) Oklahoma Weekly Hunting News
by JanaWilson@aol.com
8) (US) Oklahoma's Dove Season Preview
by JanaWilson@aol.com
9) ProMED Digest - BSE/CJD issues
by Vegetarian Resource Center
10) Biocontrol at work
by Andrew Gach
11) Antibioti-resistent staph infection spread by hospitals
by Andrew Gach
12) (CN-HK) Rodent parts seen as tiger bone substitute
by Vadivu Govind
13) (HK) Flu panel may look at pig farms
by Vadivu Govind
14) Altered food worries consumers
by Vadivu Govind
15) (US) More superbugs infecting U.S. consumers
by allen schubert
16) (US) Two Injured at Bullfight Gone Awry
by allen schubert
17) Smuggled Amazon animals found dead at Lima airport
by Andrew Gach
18) The only effective way
by Andrew Gach
19) Deadly Medicine
by Andrew Gach
Date: Sun, 24 Aug 1997 15:51:41 +0800 (SST)
From: Vadivu Govind
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (TW) Tycoon plans park for stray dogs
Message-ID: <199708240751.PAA01326@eastgate.cyberway.com.sg>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>The Sunday Times
AUG 24 1997
Forget the dog house, tycoon plans park for Taiwan's
strays
ECCENTRIC Taiwanese tycoon Ke Tsu-hai has bought a huge plot of land to
house Taiwan's stray dogs and plans to use it as the backdrop for a
film, "Extraordinary Mission", the Taiwanese version of "101 Dalmatians".
To date, he has adopted more than 400 stray dogs, the China Times
Express reported. It costs NT$2 million (S$107,400) a month to feed and
clean them.
The park for the stray dogs and the film project would set him back
further by another few million, but the tycoon was not put off by the
high costs, said the newspaper.
Pointing to 10 boxes of shares piled in a corner of his room, he
revealed that he had made a lot of money on the stock market recently.
He said he was angry with the government for treating the strays like
"trash" and for exterminating them indiscriminately.
He wanted the dogs to live out their lives in his park in the Linkou
industrial area, roaming freely on its 49,500-sq-m grounds (about half
the size of Haw Par Villa) and fed by more than 10 park rangers.
The movie "Extraordinary Mission", he said, would bring the problem of
Taiwan's stray dogs international attention.
In the film, the bad guys would be the presidential guards, Taipei
mayor Chen Shui-bian and police officers, all bent on killing off the
stray dogs.
Date: Sun, 24 Aug 1997 01:48:34 -0700 (PDT)
From: David J Knowles
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [UK] Anger at pressure to build 'mad cow' furnaces
Message-ID: <1.5.4.16.19970824014858.26ff971a@dowco.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>From The Electronic Telegraph - Sunday, August 24th, 1997
Anger at pressure to build 'mad cow' furnaces
By Greg Neale and Graham Hind
COUNCILS have accused the Government of pressuring
them to approve the building of controversial incinerators in
its attempt to end the mad cow disease outbreak.
The accusations come after a senior civil servant wrote to
every chief planning officer in the country, saying extra
incinerators were urgently needed to destroy the carcasses of
hundreds of thousands of cattle slaughtered under the drive
to wipe out BSE.
In the letter - a copy of which has been passed to The
Sunday Telegraph - Dr Brian Marker, a senior official in the
minerals and waste planning division of the Department of
the Environment, says the Government "considers it
important that additional incineration capacity should be
provided urgently".
While Dr Marker's letter says that such incinerators "will not
receive special, or less demanding treatment" from pollution
control authorities, it urges councils to be "alert for
opportunities to contribute to the provision of additional
capacity".
Before the election there was a "green welly" revolt in many
shire counties - often including those with senior
Conservative figures - against proposals to build incinerators.
Since the election, a majority of councils have continued to
resist applications by would-be incinerator operators. Experts
say burning cattle remains is the best way to destroy the
prion protein, thought to be responsible for the disease.
Council officers contacted by The Telegraph said they felt
under pressure to agree incinerator plans.
Only two new incinerators have so far been approved for
trial burning to begin - at Langar, Notts, and Flagg,
Derbyshire.
Villagers in Flagg, which is in the Peak national park, are
divided over the issue. Sheenagh Mudford, a spokesman for
an action group fighting the incinerator plan, said: "We
accept that carcasses will have to be disposed of, but surely
it should be at a secure industrial site, not next door to a
village in a national park?"
© Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1997.
Date: Sun, 24 Aug 1997 14:54:38 +0300
From: erez ganor
To: "ar-news@envirolink.org"
Subject: Kibbutz Or-Haner will raise apes for labs (ISRAEL)
Message-ID: <340020FE.313A449E@netvision.net.il>
MIME-Version: 1.0
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Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
A second farm for monkeys raised for lab experienses is being build
these days in Kibbutz Or-Haner in Israel.
The American company Primatis World Wed who is dealing with animal tests
has established contact with the kibbutz and offerd to supply young
monkeys that will be raised in Israel and later distributed to labs in
other countries.
The monkeys will be raised in cages in a site of a wadi hidden from the
eyes, about 3 kilometers from the kibbutz but still on its territories.
The Israeli Vet' authority togeter with the Israeli Nature reservation
Authority approved the facility.
A minority of Kibuttz members is getting organized against the brutal
and the exploitation of these animals just for the sake of few more
Shekels in the Kibbutz account.
Moshe Dardick the secretary of Kibbutz Or-haner said the deal is not
final yet and we are still negotiating with the american company. he
doesn't understand what the whole fass about since the kibbutz is
raising calves who get slaughtered and no one cares. is that better? he
also said that the experiments are not killing the monkeys and after all
it is all for the sake of human society.
The Israeli Nature reservation Authority approved the application of the
kibbutz after they were found fullfiling the standards set by Israel and
by the International treaty.
The firts Israeli Farm was established few years ago in Moshav Mazor not
far from the Ben-Gurion International Airport, and distributes its
monkeys to destinations in Europe and America. The animals are
delivered by El-Al the Israeli National Airline, after European Airlines
refused to ship this kind of Cargo.
the Kibbutz Phone number is + 972 - 7 6802511
Fax No' +972 -7 6802602.
Please fax your protest letters to the Kibbutz secretary.
Also please send copies to the Israeli Embassies in your countries.
Thanks for your support,
Erez Ganor
The Israeli Cetacean Freedom Group
P.O.Box 3139 Roshon le-Zion 75308
Fax: +972 8 8691135
E-Mail: e_ganor@netvision.net.il
Date: Sun, 24 Aug 1997 09:13:08 -0400
From: allen schubert
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) The next bad beef scandal? [manure and dead cats]
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19970824091305.0068e3b8@clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
read what they really eat...
from US News Online:
-----------------------------------------
The next bad beef scandal?
Cattle feed now contains things like manure and dead cats
Learn more about how to keep your food safe
BY MICHAEL SATCHELL AND STEPHEN J. HEDGES
It was about as exciting as things get in quiet Columbus, Neb.
Last week, just a few days after their arrival, a SWAT team of
agricultural inspectors forced the closing of the town's Hudson
Foods Co. plant, declaring that a jumbled record system and
questionable procedures made it difficult, if not impossible, to
determine how E. coli bacteria had tainted the hamburger patties
fashioned there. The bad meat, the inspectors found, came from
one of seven slaughterhouses that supplied Hudson on June 5. Just
which one wasn't immediately clear. Hudson recalled 25 million
pounds of its meat, and Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman
offered assurances that the plant would not open until "far more
stringent safety standards" had been adopted. "All evidence at
this point," he added, "indicates that we have contained the
outbreak."
Glickman's declaration may have been a tad premature. The true
extent of the Hudson hamburger contamination will remain a
mystery until inspectors know exactly which plants supplied the
beef. From there, they will have to investigate further to
determine if Hudson's suppliers also sent bad meat to other food
companies. What is indisputable, however, is that the problems at
Hudson represent only one of many threats to the nation's meat
supply.
Bargain breakfast. Agriculture experts say a slew of new and
questionable methods of fattening cattle are being employed by
farmers. To trim costs, many farmers add a variety of waste
substances to their livestock and poultry feed--and no one is
making sure they are doing so safely. Chicken manure in
particular, which costs from $15 to $45 a ton in comparison with
up to $125 a ton for alfalfa, is increasingly used as feed by
cattle farmers despite possible health risks to consumers. In
regions with large poultry operations, such as California, the
South, and the mid-Atlantic, more and more farmers are turning to
chicken manure as a cheaper alternative to grains and hay.
Lamar Carter is one such cattle farmer. Carter recently purchased
745 tons of litter scooped from the floors of local chicken
houses, stacking it 12 feet high on his farm near Dardanelle,
Ark. After allowing the protein-rich excrement to heat up for
seven to 10 days, Carter mixes it with smaller amounts of soybean
bran, and feeds this fecal slumgullion to his 800 head of cattle.
"My cows are fat as butterballs," Carter says. "If I didn't have
chicken litter, I'd have to sell half my herd. Other feed's too
expensive."
Health officials are not as enthusiastic. Chicken manure often
contains campylobacter and salmonella bacteria, which can cause
disease in humans, as well as intestinal parasites, veterinary
drug residues, and toxic heavy metals such as arsenic, lead,
cadmium, and mercury. These bacteria and toxins are passed on to
the cattle and can be cycled to humans who eat beef contaminated
by feces during slaughter. A scientific paper scheduled for
publication this fall in the journal Preventive Medicine points
to the potential dangers of recycling chicken waste to cattle.
"Feeding manure that has not been properly processed is
supercharging the cattle feces with pathogens likely to cause
disease in consumers," says Dr. Neal Barnard, head of the
Washington, D.C.--based health lobby Physicians Committee for
Responsible Medicine, an author of the article.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta
estimates there may be as many as 80 million incidences of
food-borne illness each year in the United States, and about
9,000 deaths. Salmonella accounts for 4 million cases, of which
500 to 1,000 are fatal. Campylobacter, which causes acute
gastroenteritis, afflicts between 4 million and 6 million people
annually, killing about 100. E. coli, the bacteria that was found
in the tainted Hudson Foods beef, causes up to 250 fatalities and
triggers serious illness in up to 20,000 people annually. At
least 17 people have fallen ill from eating contaminated Hudson
beef.
Agricultural refuse such as corncobs, rice hulls, fruit and
vegetable peelings, along with grain byproducts from retail
production of baked goods, cereals, and beer, have long been used
to fatten cattle. In addition, some 40 billion pounds a year of
slaughterhouse wastes like blood, bone, and viscera, as well as
the remains of millions of euthanized cats and dogs passed along
by veterinarians and animal shelters, are rendered annually into
livestock feed--in the process turning cattle and hogs, which are
natural herbivores, into unwitting carnivores.
The kitchen sink. Animal-feed manufacturers and farmers also have
begun using or trying out dehydrated food garbage, fats emptied
from restaurant fryers and grease traps, cement-kiln dust, even
newsprint and cardboard that are derived from plant cellulose.
Researchers in addition have experimented with cattle and hog
manure, and human sewage sludge. New feed additives are being
introduced so fast, says Daniel McChesney, head of animal-feed
safety for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, that the
government cannot keep pace with new regulations to cover them.
No accurate statistics exist on how many farmers feed poultry
waste to their cattle. Roger Hoestenbach, former president of the
Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO), which
sets standards for the animal-feed industry, estimates it occurs
to some degree in half to three quarters of the states.
Regulating the safety of the nation's animal feed is the FDA's
responsibility, but the agency only monitors interstate commerce.
Waste products are rarely shipped over long distances, because
transportation costs wipe out the savings from using cheaper
materials. Manure is not used by the large, commercial
livestock-feed manufacturers because they would be required to
perform expensive tests to detect pathogens and toxins. But
farmers don't have to use commercial feed; they are free to feed
their animals anything they choose, and many use poultry litter.
Distasteful as it may seem, chicken and turkey droppings can be
fed safely if handled properly. This involves correctly stacking
the manure for four to eight weeks while the naturally generated
heat raises temperatures to 160 to 170 degrees Fahrenheit, high
enough to destroy bacteria and toxins. However, farmers
rarely--if ever--check the temperatures of manure piles or test
to make sure the waste is pathogen free, according to interviews
with university extension experts, state and federal agriculture
officials, livestock feed-industry regulators, and beef growers
in large poultry producing states. Some farmers say they feed
chicken manure raw to cattle straight from the broiler house,
which virtually ensures problems. Others "go by the smell" to
judge when it is ready.
Studies of manure-feed safety, argue the authors of the
Preventive Medicine report, have been conducted largely in
controlled environments, not in the casual, unregulated
conditions on most farms. Few studies address public health
aspects, and there is an overall dearth of published information.
"Feeding manure may not be aesthetically pleasing, but it is safe
if you process it properly," says the FDA's McChesney. "If you
don't, it's like playing with matches around gasoline." Rodney
Noel, secretary of the AAFCO feed-standards group, agrees there
is a serious regulatory gap. "There should be some decent
production oversight of these types of byproducts," he says,
"particularly when there is a possibility of contamination."
Mad cows. The contents of animal feed are attracting more
attention as a result of the outbreak of so-called mad cow
disease in Great Britain and concern that similar problems could
occur here. More than a dozen Britons died after eating beef from
cattle infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). The
cattle are thought to have contracted the disease by eating
rendered brains and spinal cords of sheep infected with a
condition called scrapie. While scrapie is far less common in the
United States, on August 4 the FDA ordered a halt to feeding all
slaughterhouse wastes to U.S. cattle and sheep as a BSE safety
precaution. Seventy-five percent of the nation's 90 million
cattle had been eating feed containing slaughterhouse byproducts,
so the ban raises the possibility that more farmers and feed
manufacturers will turn to cheap additives like manure and other
questionable waste products.
The Department of Agriculture recently instituted a high-tech
regime of meat inspections to catch bacteria like E. coli, but
those procedures are still being introduced into packing plants.
In addition, the department is hobbled by old laws, as it was in
the Hudson Foods case: It couldn't legally close the company's
Columbus plant once problems were discovered but could only
recommend the company suspend operations. Hudson complied, but
the department's inability to act unilaterally, Glickman said,
was a frustration. "One of the biggest loopholes out there is the
fact that I do not have authority to order a recall of bad
product or bad meat," he said. That may change if the
administration succeeds in pushing through a legislative fix this
fall. Consumers, meanwhile, who generally know little or nothing
about what happens to meat on its way to their table, also have
no way to learn if their beef has been fattened on chicken
droppings. And maybe they don't want to know.
With Linda Kulman
Date: Sun, 24 Aug 1997 09:16:35 -0400
From: allen schubert
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) HIDDEN RISKS
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19970824091632.006d57ac@clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
useful for listing the hidden toxins most people don't know about
from US News Online:
-----------------------------------
HIDDEN RISKS
I'll take that burger well done!
Learn more about how to keep your food safe
Food-borne illness sickens up to 80 million Americans each year.
Four common causes:
E. coli. Flourishes in cattle intestines. Meat (usually ground
beef) can be contaminated by fecal contact during slaughter. In
humans, can cause cramping and diarrhea, progressing to kidney
failure in severe cases. Prevention: Cook ground beef to an
internal temperature of 160 degrees Fahrenheit, other beef to
145-170 degrees.
Salmonella. Can be present in raw meat. Symptoms of illness
include nausea, vomiting, cramps, and fever. Prevention: Wash
cutting surfaces and hands and cook meat thoroughly as above.
Campylobacter. Found mainly in raw chicken, the bacteria can
pass to cattle that feed on chicken manure, and then to humans
if slaughter involved fecal contact. Prevention: Cook chicken to
180 degrees Fahrenheit; for beef, see above.
Toxic heavy metals. Arsenic, lead, cadmium, and mercury can
collect in cattle organs and tissues. Effects on humans who eat
tainted beef are uncertain. Prevention: Unclear. Some experts
call for removal of more heavy metals from waste before it is
used as feed or fertilizer.--L.K.
Date: Sun, 24 Aug 1997 07:11:41 -0800
From: IGHA/HorseAid Volunteer
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: State of CA vs. Tom Valter Sentencing
Message-ID:
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Valter's motion for a new trial was denied and the motion to reduce the
four felony convictions to misdemeanors was also denied. He was given 5
years felony probation and a $5,000.00 fine with a court order to maintain
humane practices in his training of horses, a violation of which would
result in his being sent
to state prison.
The civil lawsuit filed by Peggy Arnone and Katie Thompson against Mary
Anne Hogan who rescued their horse, Zooloog from Valter's torture has
been dismissed, as have all criminal charges against Ms. Hogan.
Contributions to offset the legal expenses and other costs of this rescue
effort may be sent to: American Society for Animal Protection, 29201
Heathercliff Road, Suite 118, Malibu CA 90265
Two weeks ago, Mrs. Tom Valter sent IGHA/HorseAid e-mail threating us with
a civil lawsuit unless we removed our account of this case from our Web
site, but we refused.
It must be stressed that the brave actions of one very caring animal lover
named Mary Ann Hogan resulted in the charges being filed that led to this
conviction.
More info: http://www.igha.org/news.html
Date: Sun, 24 Aug 1997 13:16:50 -0400 (EDT)
From: JanaWilson@aol.com
To: Ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) Oklahoma Weekly Hunting News
Message-ID: <970824131649_2082164271@emout03.mail.aol.com>
A/w local Oklahoma City hunting news:
Public hearings will be held across the state on proposed hunting
regulations for the 1998 season. This includes one authorizing
a 16 day deer gun season. The meetings will be held this next
week thru out Oklahoma.
Hunters who plan to take advantage of the Sept. teal season
must obtain a state duck stamp in addition to the federal stamp.
This year's Oklahoma Waterfowl Hunting Stamp features a pair
of common goldeneye standing on a snowy bank. State duck
stamps cost $4 and are available at hunting and fishing license
dealers thruout the state.
A benefit archery shoot is scheduled for sept. 7th at the Rocky
Mountain Archery Range near Stilwell in northeastern Okla.
The proceeds goto help defray medical expenses of a two
year old cancer victim Haylie Beach of Westville. Both men
and women's eventrs are planned as well as contests for
younsters.
Every year deer are missed or wounded because hunters have
not taken the time to make sure their rifles are shooting where
they aim. Two "Sight-In Days" will be held by the Oklahoma
City Gun Club. Bring ear protection and plenty of ammo.
Club members will be on hand with spotting scopes to assist
shooters.
For the Animals,
Jana, OKC
Date: Sun, 24 Aug 1997 13:40:59 -0400 (EDT)
From: JanaWilson@aol.com
To: Ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) Oklahoma's Dove Season Preview
Message-ID: <970824134049_-66534914@emout18.mail.aol.com>
A/w Oklahoma City hunting news:
The Oklahoma dove season could be over before it starts if
the cool weather holds. Since the dove season begins on
1 Sept., it usually heralds the arrival of the first serious cool
front since sometime in March. Brisk weather may be enjoyable
for football fans but doves head south on the first north wind.
Oklahoma has had several cool fronts this August. If they had
occured a bit later it would have been too much for the doves.
Although the season continues thru October, if the weather
turns cold doves will be so scarce that most hunters will simply
not bother. Migrants from the north never take up the slack.
However, the Oklahoma Wildlife Dept encourages everyone,
especially beginners, to take advantage of one of the easiest hunts
available in the state. And if any birds are still here, both residents
and non-residents can even hunt Sept. 6th thru the 7th without
a license. "Free Hunting" has been authorized that weekend
by the Wildlife Commission. (There is a daily bag limit of 15.)
According to Mr. Alan Peoples, assistant Chief of Game, "Unlike
some other types of hunting, dove hunting is an easy sport to
get started in. Dove hunting is offered on many public hunting
areas, and many private landowners allow courteous hunters to
hunt doves on their property, so finding a place to go isn't that
difficult."
A 12-guage or 20-gauge shotgun with improved cylinder of modified
choke and ammo with No. 8 or 9 shot are usually recommended.
Hunting tactics are fairly basic as well, although they do vary by
area of the state.
Out in the western part of the state water is often in limited supply
during dove season. Cattle tanks, windmills, small ponds and
even puddles can produce fast action when birds come in to
water in the morning and the evening. Active feed fields shouldn't
be overlooked either. Active is the keyword, since dove feeding
and flight patterns tend to shift radically thru out the season.
Prehunt scouting is the only way to pin down what fields the birds
are using. And don't forget the recently picked agricultural fields.
Crops such as wheat, corn, sorghum, millet and rye are important
food sources where the birds can be found. Weedy areas
containing sunflowers, croton, ragweed and pigweed are also
excellent bets.
For the Animals,
Jana, OKC
Date: Sun, 24 Aug 1997 15:51:15 -0400
From: Vegetarian Resource Center
To: AR-News@envirolink.org, Veg-News@envirolink.org
Subject: ProMED Digest - BSE/CJD issues
Message-ID: <3.0.3.32.19970824155115.007300a4@pop.tiac.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Date: Sun, 24 Aug 1997 10:06:13 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Gary Greenberg, MD"
Subject: OEM: New controversy on CJD / BSE in UK
---------- Forwarded message ----------
ProMED Digest Saturday, 23 August 1997 Volume 97 : Number 212
In this issue:
PRO/AH/EDR> Anthrax, human - Zimbabwe (Mashonaland)
PRO/AH/EDR> Influenza, bird-to-man, first case?
PRO/AH> Lyme's disease - Canada (Saskatchewan)
PRO/AH> Rabies, fox - USA (Buffalo)
PRO/AH> Vibrio poisoning, shellfish - USA
PRO/AH/EDR> Influenza, bird-to-man, first case? (03)
PRO/EDR> Typhoid - Dominican Republic (03)
PRO/ALL> ProMED-mail award to outstanding contributors
PRO/AH> CJD (new var.), vegetarian - UK
See the end of the digest for information on how to retrieve back issues.
...
From: ProMED-mail@usa.healthnet.org
Date: Sat, 23 Aug 1997 23:06:23 -0400
Subject: PRO/AH> CJD (new var.), vegetarian - UK
CJD (NEW VAR.), VEGETARIAN - UK
********************************
A ProMEd-mail posting
[1]
Date: Thu, 21 Aug 1997 20:30:50 -0700
Via: Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy
From: "Hans G. Andersson"
Subject: New nvCJD victim - Vegetarian
Here's latest nvCJD news from British press:
A YOUNG woman who has been vegetarian for the past 12 years has the new
strain of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease which scientists have linked to "mad
cow" disease.
The case is highly unusual because the first clinical case of BSE was
recorded in cattle only in 1986 - a year after Clare X, now aged 24,
stopped eating meat. ( Vet. Colin Whitaker's first BSE case was reported
in April 1985. Nathanson, Wilesmith et al. reports suspected cases of BSE
from N Yorkshire, Kent, W Sussex, Hampshire, Somerset, Cornwall, Devon and
Dyfed in 1985. Source: Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy BSE): "Causes and
Consequences of a Common Source Epidemic", American Journal of
Epidemiology, Vol 145, No 11, June 1, 1997)
Her father said last night that he was told of the diagnosis a week and a
half ago by Professor John Collinge, professor of neuro-genetics at
Imperial College, London, and at St Mary's Hospital, Paddington, where he
heads a specialist unit investigating CJD.
Her father said: "My daughter is still alive, but Professor Collinge told
me there was no doubt about the diagnosis, which was done by a biopsy of
the tonsils. There seems little doubt that she must have caught CJD from
mechanically recovered meat eaten before 1985. When we told doctors she
had been a vegetarian since 1985 there were a few raised eyebrows. They
were very very surprised. Clare was a very strict vegetarian, though she
did eat cheese and drink milk. She would not even eat biscuits if the
packet showed that they contained gelatine or animal fat, for example. We
used to joke that she was a bit of a pain about it."
Professor Collinge was abroad and not available for comment last night,
but Robert Will, head of the CJD Surveillance Unit in Edinburgh, said that
it was not impossible that people could have been exposed to BSE in meat
products before 1985. "Although the first clinical case of BSE in cattle
was not diagnosed until 1986, cattle incubating the disease could have
been entering the food chain before then," he said.
Another possibility was that Miss X might unwittingly have eaten food that
contained animal fat or mechanically recovered meat derived from cattle
spinal cord or brain. "We simply do not know all the kinds of food such
material might have gone into," Dr Will said.
An even more intriguing possibility suggested by the case is that the new
strain of CJD might not, after all, have been caused by BSE, but Dr Will
said he did not think that likely. Most scientists agree that
circumstantial evidence of a link is very strong.
Mr X said that Clare, who worked in the pet department of a garden centre
near her home in Tonbridge, Kent, and was engaged to be married, first
showed symptoms of the disease early last year. "She was a healthy seven
stone [Appoximately, 20 lbs if my memory serves me right. Mod. pc] and
then we noticed she began losing weight," Mr X said. "Clare looked as
though she was becoming depressed. She cried all the time and we realised
she had lost a stone in weight.
"She was diagnosed as suffering from depression and was on
anti-depressants for ten weeks, but they made no difference. Clare was
then given electro-convulsive therapy at a pyschiatric clinic and her
weight dropped to little over five stone."
Brain specialists at the Kent and Sussex Hospital in Tunbridge Wells first
suspected that Miss X had CJD earlier this year. She is now in an advanced
stage of the disease and needs 24-hour home nursing.
Source: The Times, August 22, 1997
- ---
Hans G. Andersson, NYC -- hasse@sprynet.com
Editor, Ebola section of OUTBREAK
http://www.outbreak.org/
***
[2]
Date: Fri, 22 Aug 1997 13:50:02 +0100
Via: Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy
From: Oz
Subject: Re: New nvCJD victim - Vegetarian
In message <1.5.4.32.19970824030023.0072a78c@mail.massey.ac.nz>, Rachel
Shepherd writes
>Interesting. Presumably she also came into contact with pet food and
animal- based fertilisers. Hmmmmm.
Fair comment. Indeed in many old-fashioned pet shops smaller quantities
were sold from 25kg bags loose using a small scoop to hand-fill small
paper bags. It is most unlikely that masks would be worn.
However it's hard to believe that a serious vegetarian such as the young
lady has been described as would work in such a place, or handle such
products.
Whilst the fairly strong circumstantial evidence is that nv-CJD is from
BSE, it is as well to bear in mind that it is still yet unproven.
- --
Hotz de Baar
England
***
[3]
Date: Fri, 22 Aug 1997 14:36:05 +0200
Via: Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy
From: Roland Heynkes
Subject: Re: New nvCJD victim - Vegetarian
This is really bad news because it demonstrates, that even very careful
consumers seem to have been without any chance to avoid a lethal BSE
infection.
The first cases have been observed by a field veterinarian in 1985.
Therefore there must have been infective cattle many years before.
>"When we told doctors she had been a vegetarian since 1985 there were a
few raised eyebrows. They were very very surprised.<
I was surprised too at the first moment. But there is no scientific reason
to be surprised.
(1.) It is in practice impossible to avoid products with animal origin.
You can hardly find drugs or cosmetics without tallow or gelatine. Also in
food, ingredients of cattle, sheep or pig origin are ubiquitous. It is
impossible to produce gelatine free of infectivity from BSE affected
cattle and british raw material has been used until 1996. Nobody can say,
if tallow, produced from BSE cattle is really free of infectivity. Who
knows how tallow is produced exactly. And is there really a substancial
difference between the infectivities of meat and milk? For both there is
only one report of successful transmission in the scientific literature.
(2.) According to the prion theory the incubation time is largely
determined by the dosis at the earliest uptake of infectious agent. After
the first few human prion proteins have been converted by cattle prions,
the reaction goes on at least one order of magnitude faster with human
prions which convert human prion protein. Once this process has been
started, further infections with foreign prions needs to be very heavily
to further increase the speed of the process substancially.
Therefore for those who became infected before 1985, it is not really
relevant, if they became vegetarians later on.
> An even more intriguing possibility suggested by the case is that the
new strain of CJD might not, after all, have been caused by BSE,
but Dr Will said he did not think that likely. Most scientists agree
that circumstantial evidence of a link is very strong.<
This is correct, but it is also possible that the so called new variant of
CJD is not really new and occured from time to time long before BSE became
a problem. Brown,P.; Rodgers-Johnson,P.; Cathala,F.; Gibbs,C.J. Jr. and
Gajdusek,D.C. reported already 1984 in "Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease of long
duration: clinicopathological characteristics, transmissibility, and
differential diagnosis. - Annals of Neurology 1984 Sep; 16(3): 295-304",
that 33 of 357 histopathologically verified cases belonged to a special
type of CJD with very long clinical course (often several years instead of
only a few months), younger age at onset (average, 48 years), and lower
frequencies of myoclonus (79%) and periodic electroencephalographic
activity (45%). I doubt that all this cases have been shown not to belong
to the group of nvCJD.
- ---
Roland Heynkes
***
[4]
Date: Thu, 21 Aug 1997 22:23:44 -0400
Via: Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy
From: "Robert A. LaBudde"
Subject: More bizarre news on BSE
Excerpted from FSNET (D. Powell, Univ. Guelph):
BRITAIN-CHARCOAL COWS
Aug. 21/97
AP
LONDON -- A north England utility is, according to this story, filtering
some of its water supply through the bones of sacred cows that have been
burned into charcoal and horrified vegetarians are turning off their taps.
Yorkshire Water PLC is cited as saying it uses only bones imported from
India, where cows are considered sacred and allowed to live out their
natural lives. Their old, brittle bones make perfect raw material for
charcoal filters. Using cattle from Western societies that slaughter them
young for beef would not work so well because "their bones, like a human
baby's, are still relatively soft," Yorkshire Water was cited as saying in
a statement.
Yorkshire Water added that, "we can't undertake to supply water which
meets individual dietary needs or individual religious, ethical or medical
needs." The company assures that because all bones are imported, there is
no way any of Britain's mad cows -- believed to cause a rare but fatal
human brain ailment -- could end up as water filter.
A spokesman for the Vegetarian Society, which campaigns against the use of
animal products, was quoted as saying, "Vegetarians throughout Yorkshire
will be sickened by this move. It is impossible for the consumer to choose
their water supply. Therefore, we are left in the frightening situation
where we can no longer trust what comes out of our taps."
Yorkshire Water spokesman Norman Hurst refused to answer questions.
- ---
Robert A. LaBudde
"Robert A. LaBudde"
..........................................mhj/pc
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Date: Sun, 24 Aug 1997 16:18:39 -0700
From: Andrew Gach
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Biocontrol at work
Message-ID: <3400C14F.4BAC@worldnet.att.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
Weevils go 'haywire' in biocontrol project
Copyright © 1997 Nando.net
Copyright © 1997 Reuter Information Service
WASHINGTON (August 21, 1997 6:40 p.m. EDT) - A weevil introduced in
North America to control rampaging European thistles has gone haywire
and started preying on native plants, scientists reported on Thursday.
They said the case illustrated the dangers of using living organisms to
control pests, and recommended that U.S. authorities be more careful
about what they let into the country.
European milk thistle and other, similar, species had long been the bane
of farmers and ranchers.
"It is just a hideous weed," said Don Strong, a professor of biology at
the University of California at Davis. "It renders rangeland and
agricultural land unusable because these thistles are so spiky and
noxious that cattle can't eat them. They are very aggressive colonizers
of open ground."
So in the late 1960s, experts came up with what seemed like a good idea
-- introduce something from the thistles' native land that eats them.
Enter the weevil Rhinocyllus conicus.
But the weevil liked all kinds of thistles, and started eating native
North American species, Svata Louda at the University of Nebraska and
colleagues at the University of Tennessee reported in the journal
Science.
"Weevils significantly reduced the seed production of native thistle
flowerheads," they wrote.
Writing a commentary on the findings, Strong called the weevil scheme "a
biocontrol project gone haywire."
He said the weevil really did prefer the European thistles. "But it
builds up populations on those and it goes over and clobbers the
natives," he said in a telephone interview. "The fear is that it is
evolving to specialize on the natives."
Strong and Louda's team both said the case taught a serious lesson about
the dangers of importing alien species.
Scientists will have to check more closely on what the controllers
really eat, how far they will spread and other possible ecological
effects, they said.
"The potential risks to both biodiversity and ecological stability are
high when a mistake occurs," Louda wrote.
Strong noted that public concerns about such issues were much stronger
elsewhere.
"Europe and Australia and New Zealand are way ahead of us on this," he
said.
"I think it's time for an open public discussion on biological control.
We've got funky regulations in the United States and a poorly developed
apparatus for contemplation of what organisms we
introduce for biological control."
Free markets made this difficult, Strong added. "But this is an issue
about free markets that we have to address."
By MAGGIE FOX, Reuters
Date: Sun, 24 Aug 1997 16:25:22 -0700
From: Andrew Gach
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Antibioti-resistent staph infection spread by hospitals
Message-ID: <3400C2E2.4ECC@worldnet.att.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
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Antibiotic-resistant staph bacteria shows up in U.S.
The Associated Press
ATLANTA (August 21, 1997 9:22 p.m. EDT) -- A staph germ that has
resisted medicine's drug of last resort has shown up for the first time
in the United States, the government said Thursday.
"The timer is going off," said Dr. William Jarvis, a medical
epidemiologist with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "We
were concerned it would emerge here, it has emerged here
and we are concerned we're going to see it popping up in more places."
A strain of staphylococcus aureus bacteria found in a Michigan man in
July showed an intermediate level of resistance to vancomycin -- one
step from immunity to the drug, the CDC said. The CDC and the Michigan
department of health would not identify the man or say where he lives.
The patient, who suffered kidney failure, had been taking vancomycin for
half a year for a recurring infection from an abdominal catheter used
for kidney dialysis. He now is being treated with a combination of
drugs, including vancomycin, Jarvis said.
The Michigan discovery came three months after a similar resistant
strain was found in Japan.
In May, the CDC reported that a 4-month-old Japanese infant developed
staph after heart surgery. That strain of staph also showed an
intermediate resistance to vancomycin, and the baby was treated
with other drugs.
Jarvis said the new strain is rare and should not deter people from
seeking hospital care.
"The majority of people aren't going to be in danger of getting this,"
Jarvis said.
Nonetheless, U.S. hospitals were alerted to watch for the strain here.
"Now that you have two in such a short time, there will be heightened
concern," said Richard Schwalbe, director of clinical microbiology at
the University of Maryland.
Staph bacteria are the No. 1 cause of hospital infections. They are
blamed for about 13 percent of the nation's 2 million hospital
infections each year, according to the CDC. Overall, the 2 million
infections kill 60,000 to 80,000 people.
The bacteria can collect on clothing, blankets, walls and medical
equipment. Hospital workers can pass them on by hand, and they can cling
to tubes inserted into the body.
To combat their spread, many hospitals across the country have
restricted use of their most potent antibiotics and isolated their
sickest patients.
Dr. Robert Haley, chief of epidemiology at the University of Texas
Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, said there's no reason hospitals
can't eradicate resistant staph.
"These are unique, special strains that can be eradicated," said Haley,
former chief of the CDC's hospital infections branch. "There needs to be
aggressive surveillance in hospitals. Once you see it,
don't let it stay and spread around the hospital until you can't get rid
of it."
For patients, the rise of drug-resistant germs means that the medicine
they get for their infection may not make them better, forcing doctors
to switch to one or more of the 100 antibiotics now on the market.
However, many fear the time is growing near when there will be no
alternative antibiotic to turn to.
Penicillin was a wonder drug that killed staph when it became available
in 1947. Within a decade, some strains grew resistant, a development
attributed to overuse of antibiotics and the failure of
some patients to take their medicine properly.
Then came methicillin in the 1960s, then vancomycin, which was so potent
it was regarded as the "silver bullet" against staph.
"There's going to be a lot of throwing up of arms with doctors saying
now we have to live with this," Haley said. "That is not true. We must
fight it vigorously. We are also going to have to be much more stingy
with our use of vancomycin."
Pharmaceutical companies are working to develop new antibiotics.
An experimental new antibiotic called Synercid, made by Rhone-Poulenc,
killed the strain found in the Japanese infant. In lab tests, it was
effective on the strain of staph in the Michigan man, but tests
showed his bacteria were not resistant to other antibiotics.
Synercid has not been approved yet for general use in the United States.
--By TARA MEYER, Associated Press
Date: Mon, 25 Aug 1997 10:48:55 +0800 (SST)
From: Vadivu Govind
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (CN-HK) Rodent parts seen as tiger bone substitute
Message-ID: <199708250248.KAA01327@eastgate.cyberway.com.sg>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>South China Morning Post
Internet Edition
Monday August 25 1997
Rodent parts seen as tiger bone substitute
FIONA HOLLAND
An international conference is to be told how rodent parts can be used
instead of tiger bone in traditional Chinese medicine.
The conference, which organisers hope will become an annual event, will
focus on substitutes for tiger bone, used to cure rheumatism.
Organisers said the rodent was found in Tibet, but details would only
be disclosed at the December conference.
The symposium will also be looking at substitutes for musk. Extracted
from musk deer, it is used to treat seizures and fever, and is also a
key ingredient in perfume.
The species, which occurs in China, the Indian sub-continent and
Russia, numbers more than 700,000. Experts estimate that the demand for
musk on the mainland runs at up to 200,000 deer a year.
"These things are being harvested at a shocking rate, so we are very
worried. It is a crisis situation," said Judy Mills, director of TRAFFIC
East Asia, the World Wide Fund for Nature trade management programme.
"Musk is probably a far more important medicine than either tiger bone
or rhino horn. There are at least 300 patented Chinese medicines
containing musk."
Annual demand for musk in China is between 500 and and 1,000 kilograms.
But farmed musk deer - up to 2,000 are in captivity in China - produce
only 10 kilograms of musk a year.
Scientists from the mainland's Ministry of Public Health and Chinese
Academy of Medical Sciences will attend the symposium, jointly organised
by TRAFFIC East Asia and the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Date: Mon, 25 Aug 1997 10:49:53 +0800 (SST)
From: Vadivu Govind
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (HK) Flu panel may look at pig farms
Message-ID: <199708250249.KAA03776@eastgate.cyberway.com.sg>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>Hong Kong Standard
25 Aug 97
Flu panel may look at pig farms
By Ceri Williams
THE inquiry into the influenza strain that may have killed a three-year-old
boy could be extended to pig farms in a bid to trace the source of the
infection.
Government officials say they expect to know by Wednesday the results of
samples taken from about eight chicken farms for the H5N1 strain.
Dr Thomas Sit Hon-chung, senior veterinary officer of the Agriculture and
Fisheries Department, said they may also check pig farms, depending on their
results.
``We will only be checking the pig farms if it becomes necessary when we see
the results of the samples from the chicken farms.''
The move comes after it was revealed that the investigation has also been
extended to the mainland where the virus is suspected to have originated.
The owners of local farms hit by the strain in April had brought their
chickens from farms in Guangdong that were hit by an H5N1 flu outbreak in
February and March.
Director of Health Margaret Chan Fung Fu-chun said last week pigs had served
as intermediate host of flu viruses in the past, which allowed avian viruses
to jump to humans.
``So we need to do more investigations even on pig farms, to see whether the
pigs have been infected with H5N1.''
Medics say cross-species infections are known in Hong Kong with
Streptococcus meningitis suis (swine) bacteria found in pigs' noses causing
possible death in people.
The bacteria in pigs can cause inflammation of the brain membrane if inhaled
by humans and the condition can be fatal if untreated
Date: Mon, 25 Aug 1997 10:51:17 +0800 (SST)
From: Vadivu Govind
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Altered food worries consumers
Message-ID: <199708250251.KAA08699@eastgate.cyberway.com.sg>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>Hong Kong Standard
25 Aug 97
Altered food worries consumers
THE prospect of a salad made from non-squashy tomatoes and genetically
manipulated sweetcorn, followed by a glass of milk from the udder of a
turbo-cow, sends a shudder down the spine of many consumers.
There is a wide range of controversial issues concerning genetic engineering
of plants and animals. While enthusiasts look forward optimistically to a
biotechnologically designed future, many
opponents are afraid, warning against research run amok and incalculable
risks to health.
After a great deal of argument the European Union's new food directive came
into force in mid-May this year. However, the new food labelling
requirements, though intended to provide the consumer
with more information, did not satisfy consumer and environmental
organisations on account of various gaps in definition.
Unlike genetic engineering in pharmaceuticals research, the scepticism about
genetically treated foodstuffs and plants remains considerable. Critics
complain that too little is known about the risks resulting from the new
processes and that foodstuffs whose ingredients are no longer identifiable
could be dangerous.
The use of micro-organisms and bioengineering methods in food processing are
nothing new. It has been customary for centuries. Everyday products like
bread, cheese, yoghurt and fruit juice are made with the help of natural
micro-organisms such as bacteria and fungi. Production can be further
boosted by genetic intervention. Food additives and enzymes are also
manufactured from genetically manipulated micro-organisms.
Intervening in the genetic make-up produces fruits which stay fresh for
longer or plants resistant to herbicides. Some see this as the way to solve
the problem of feeding growing population numbers.
A team of research scientists in Tuebingen, southern Germany, for instance,
recently succeeded in modifying the molecular structure of a food plant,
Arabidopsis thaliana, to enable it to withstand heat and stress better, and
thus produce a yield even in hot regions.
``Even though the amount of energy consumed in manufacturing protective
proteins represents a certain disadvantage for the plant, this was made up
for by its increases stress resistance,'' said Professor Friedrich Schoeffl.
Even so, many of the questions raised by opponents of genetic engineering
remain unanswered.
``Despite 3,000 experiments worldwide to grow genetically crossed food
plants in the open, it is stillnot clear to what extent genes providing
resistance to antibiotics and herbicides can migrate from the modified
plants into the eco-system,'' warns Heinrich Sandermann, director of the
Institute of
Biochemical Plant Pathology at the Research Centre for Environment and
Health in Oberschleissheim. ``Other risks are the accidental crossing of
cultivated and wild plants, possibly turning cultivated plants into wild
ones, and the increased production of toxic substances. Things look somewhat
different in the animal world. Although goats, sheep and cows are well on
the way to
becoming suppliers of raw materials for the pharmaceuticals industry, for
example as a type of bio-reactor supplying medicines along with their milk,
they are not much in demand at present as suppliers of genetically
manipulated meat.
For the time being, the EU has slammed a moratorium on the turbo-cow, and
experiments to develop giant pigs failed largely on account of the cruelty
to animals involved. - DPA Features
Date: Sun, 24 Aug 1997 23:13:59 -0400
From: allen schubert
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) More superbugs infecting U.S. consumers
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19970824231357.006e1c0c@clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
from Mercury Center web page:
-----------------------------------------------
Posted at 6:31 p.m. PDT Sunday, August 24, 1997
More superbugs infecting U.S. consumers
WASHINGTON, (Reuters) - Consumers who cannot
stomach the thought of a pink hamburger after last
week's record recall of meat should take a closer
look at the fruit, salads and other fresh foods on
the dining table.
The deadly E.coli:0157 bacteria blamed for the
recall of 25 million pounds of hamburger from
Hudson Foods Inc.is one of a growing number of
superbugs infecting consumers, food experts said.
Salmonella, cyclospora, hepatitis A and other
foodborne diseases are occurring more frequently as
food imports have exploded. Consumer groups claim
that foodborne illnesses make some 33 million
Americans sick each year, killing about 9,000.
So far, 18 people have become ill from eating
E.coli-infected hamburgers produced by Hudson's
Columbus, Nebraska, processing plant.
Agriculture Department investigators took a break
over the weekend from their probe into how the beef
patties may have been contaminated after handing
plant managers a list of questions late Friday,
department officials said Sunday.
Meanwhile, Hudson announced that the Columbus plant
has lost the fast-food business of top customer
Burger King Corp., calling it a ``serious
disappointment.''
The hamburger recall has been front page news for
days, but the outbreak caused by the tainted beef
has been small compared to a rash of recent
foodborne illnesses.
Last spring, some 200 students and teachers in
Michigan became sick from hepatitis A after tainted
frozen strawberries from Mexico were used in the
federal school lunch program. In May, the United
States suspended imports of raspberrries from
Guatemala after an outbreak of cyclospora, a tiny
parasite that survives even chlorine rinses.
Although USDA, food experts and consumer groups
agree the American food supply is the safest in the
world, they also said consumers need to be more
careful preparing and cooking food. Some consumer
groups insist a new federal agency is needed to
safeguard the nation's food supply because of the
complicated jurisdiction shared by the USDA and the
Food and Drug Administration.
``Rare hamburgers are definitely out,'' Caroline
Smith DeWaal of the Center for Science in the
Public Interest said, adding that last year there
was a ``bumper crop'' of foodborne illnesses in the
United States.
U.S. food imports of fruits, vegetables and meats
have doubled in the past five years as the number
of FDA food inspections have fallen sharply due to
budget cuts. A recent government audit found the
USDA was unable to keep up with inspections of
fresh produce imported annually from Mexico as a
result of the NAFTA trade agreement.
Of foodborne illnesses, scientists agree the worst
appears to be E.coli:0157, a strain of the bacteria
first identified in 1982. It causes bloody
diarrhea, severe cramps, dehydration, and in some
cases, kidney failure.
Four children died of the bacteria in 1993 after
eating tainted hamburgers at the Jack in the Box
restaurant chain.
But the same strain of E.coli has also been found
in unpasteurized milk that came in contact with
animal feces, and in fresh produce that was
fertilized with animal manure.
``Irradiation and better technology are the
answer,'' Frances Smith of Consumer Alert said.
``It's a needle in the haystack problem ... I don't
think if you brought in twice the number of
inspectors you would be able to find all the
E.coli.''
But other experts said the rising numbers of
illnesses simply reflect improved surveillance
systems, a better understanding of bacteria and
more thorough reporting of cases to health
agencies.
Date: Sun, 24 Aug 1997 23:41:51 -0400
From: allen schubert
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) Two Injured at Bullfight Gone Awry
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19970824234149.006e3e60@clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
from AP Wire page:
-------------------------------------
08/24/1997 23:35 EST
Two Injured at Bullfight Gone Awry
LOWELL, Mass. (AP) -- A 1,400-pound bull broke free from a trailer at a
bullfight on Sunday, ran a quarter mile through busy streets, knocked
over a motorcyclist and gored a police officer before it was shot dead by
authorities.
A bystander helped rescue the injured officer by pulling his car between
him and the bull, Lowell police spokesman Patrick Cook said. The officer
was in good condition Sunday night after having an operation at Lowell
General Hospital, a nursing supervisor said.
Another person was injured by another bull at the event, an annual
Portuguese festival attended by several hundred people. Police later shut
down the festival in this city of about 103,000 people, 22 miles
northwest of Boston.
The trouble began at 2:30 p.m. when the bull broke free from a trailer at
the compound of the Holy Ghost Society, which holds the annual fights
under a rodeo permit, Cook said. Unlike their Spanish counterparts,
Portuguese bullfighters do not kill the animals.
Officer Kenneth Shaw, who was patrolling the festival, chased the bull
through a parking lot, down a side street and across busy Route 38, which
is lined with fast food restaurants.
Robert Sutton, a gas station attendant, said he saw the bull run by on
Route 38.
``It was a black bull just trotting up the street. There were about 25
people trying to catch it,'' he said.
Shaw fired several shots at the bull, which knocked over a motorcyclist,
Cook said.
Cornered in a vacant lot, the bull then turned on Shaw and gored him
through the thigh and knee, flipping him through the air.
At that moment, bystander Paul Bizzeria pulled his car between Shaw and
the bull, Cook said. Shaw's partner, Barbara Malec, helped Shaw while the
bull charged the car. Two other officers arrived and shot the bull.
Two hours later, as the bullfights continued at the compound, a bull
handler was injured by another bull and taken to the hospital. There was
no word on the handler's condition.
Date: Sun, 24 Aug 1997 20:41:57 -0700
From: Andrew Gach
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Smuggled Amazon animals found dead at Lima airport
Message-ID: <3400FF05.2037@worldnet.att.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Peru uncovers Amazon animals set for smuggling
Reuter Information Service
LIMA (August 24, 1997 6:28 p.m. EDT) - Peru's environmental police on
Sunday discovered hundreds of rare Amazon jungle animals stuffed into
boxes, ready to be smuggled to the United States.
Nearly half of the 787 animals -- including iguanas, chameleons,
alligators, tortoises, colored frogs, anaconda and boa constrictor
snakes -- were found dead from suffocation in a storage hold opposite
Lima's international airport.
The traffickers, taking advantage of a burgeoning illegal trade in
exotic Amazon species, had brought the animals from the northern jungle
city of Iquitos before drugging them and leaving them in
boxes with Chilean airline Lan Chile.
"The destination was the U.S. aquarium company Tower Group, and the
cargo was intended to arrive at Los Angeles in the United States,"
ecological police official Helar Yomona said.
Peru outlaws the shipping abroad of any jungle species, which bring high
prices on the international market. According to the ecological police,
anacondas sell for about $25,000, while boas range from $10,000 to
$12,000, and other jungle species command $500 to $1,000.
"What is happening is that with all the publicity around the films
'Jurassic Park' and 'Anaconda', there is high demand for reptiles
abroad, so their price has gone up," ecological police official
Manuel Arellano said.
"The sad thing is that there is an 80 percent probability that these
species die far from their natural habitat," he said.
The animals rescued alive on Sunday were taken to a Lima zoo. Police
were trying to find the smugglers.
Date: Sun, 24 Aug 1997 20:51:19 -0700
From: Andrew Gach
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: The only effective way
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Mouse is engineered to assist MD research
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
ST. LOUIS (August 24, 1997 2:34 p.m. EDT) -- Washington University
scientists have engineered a mouse that will enable intensified study of
Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
The development could lead to better treatments and quicker
understanding of the mechanisms of the disease, the researchers say. The
study was reported in today's issue of the journal Cell. Among
the authors were Joshua Sanes and Dr. R. Mark Grady, both of the
university's School of Medicine.
Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a muscle disease, mostly strikes boys. It
usually kills them before age 20 after gradually weakening their
muscles, including those needed to breathe.
"This is another step toward the answer for children with Duchenne
muscular dystrophy," said Debbie King, program services coordinator with
the St. Louis office of the Muscular Dystrophy Association. "Anyone
hearing about this would certainly be more hopeful. It's hope that keeps
all of our families going right now."
The MDA sponsors the annual telethon hosted by Jerry Lewis. This year's
telethon is set for Aug. 31 and Sept. 1.
Put simply, Duchenne results from a gene defect that acts as the
blueprint for one of the building blocks of healthy muscle fibers. That
building block is a protein known as dystrophin.
The St. Louis researchers worked with two kinds of mice. One naturally
lacked the gene for dystrophin. From the other kind of mouse, they
removed the gene responsible for a different muscle protein, called
utrophin.
They bred the two kinds of mice to create a mouse that was deficient in
both proteins. This mouse exhibited the same symptoms as a human with
Duchenne.
*** "The only effective way to develop new therapies is to test them in
an experimental animal with symptoms of the disease," Sanes said in a
statement made public by the university. *** [emphasis mine - AG]
The MDA supported the research along with the National Institute of
Neurological Disorders and Stroke.
By WILLIAM ALLEN, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
===================================================
Apparently, certain Washington U. researchers never heard of clinical
research.
Andy
Date: Sun, 24 Aug 1997 20:57:52 -0700
From: Andrew Gach
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Deadly Medicine
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Liposuction deaths show danger of quest for eternal youth
The Associated Press
Experts provide advice about liposuction
LOS ANGELES (August 24, 1997 1:52 p.m. EDT) -- Judy Fernandez wanted the
looks she had before she gave birth to three sons, and cosmetic surgery
seemed to offer an acceptable trade-off: 12 hours of surgery costing
$20,000 -- for a renewed face and body.
She was 47 and in good health, and her sister-in-law, Marilyn Larsen,
says her motives were obvious: "As a society, we really are encouraged
to stay young, to look 40 at 60."
But Fernandez never woke up from the liposuction and cosmetic procedures
at "A New You Plastic Surgery Medical Group" in Irvine. She died March
17 from what the Medical Board of California called an overdose of
anesthesia, fluid overload and a fatal dilution of the blood.
The case is one of three liposuction deaths currently under
investigation in California -- just the tip of the iceberg, experts say,
in a burgeoning, unmonitored field driven by a quest for perpetual
youth.
The risks of cosmetic surgery are increasing as it becomes more
accessible to the middle class, experts say. With more doctors in a
variety of specialties offering the procedures, some are pushing
the margins of safety -- often in private, outpatient surgical suites
hidden from scrutiny.
It was in just such a setting that Rosemarie Mondeck, 39, of San Diego,
died June 21, 1994, from cardiac arrest after tummy liposuction at a La
Jolla dermatologist's office.
Deputy Attorney General Steven Zeigen said Dr. Nina Su, working without
an anesthesiologist, administered too much epinephrine, a drug used to
control local bleeding.
"Once Mondeck started to crash, (Su) didn't know what she was doing,"
Zeigen said. The board temporarily suspended Su's license on April 24
pending results of a disciplinary hearing.
Says her attorney, Richard K. Turner of Sacramento: "I don't think she
did anything wrong."
Tammaria Cotton, a 43-year-old municipal court clerk from Los Angeles,
suffered massive blood loss and died of cardiac arrest June 22, 1996,
hours after obstetrician-gynecologist Dr. Patrick Chavis removed fat
from her stomach, bottom and thighs.
At one point, he left her to recover at his Lynwood office with only a
nurse and a worried husband nearby.
At the state board's request, a judge on June 19 temporarily suspended
Chavis' license pending a disciplinary hearing. Chavis' attorney Robert
D. Walker contends the state's case is based on
incomplete records.
On its face, tumescent liposuction is simple: a doctor injects a
combination of saline solution, a local anesthetic like lidocaine, and
epinephrine to reduce bleeding, until the area becomes taut. Then, the
surgeon makes a small incision and inserts a tubelike device called a
cannula to suction out fat.
The procedure seemed so routine to Mrs. Cotton, who'd heard about it
from her beautician and church friends, that she didn't even tell her
husband until the night before her surgery.
"It was just liposuction!" cried Jimmy Cotton, a police officer, as his
wife died in a hospital emergency room.
No organizations track such incidents. But Dr. Richard Ruffalo, past
chairman of the department of anesthesia at Hoag Memorial Hospital in
Newport Beach, says "For every case in which a death occurs, there's at
least 15 to 20 cases where severe injury has occurred."
Dr. Frederick M. Grazer, a Newport Beach plastic surgeon, says money is
the root problem, especially as doctors' fees are limited by managed
care.
"Many doctors who were never interested in plastic surgery ... take a
weekend course and become interested in things they can bill upfront
without insurance," Grazer said. "They have increased the envelope to
see how much they can inject in a patient and how much they can take
without killing them."
Under the proper conditions, liposuction -- now the No. 1 cosmetic
operation in the country -- is safe, says Grazer, past president of both
the California Society of Plastic Surgeons and American Society for
Aesthetic Plastic Surgery. By various estimates, anywhere from 100,000
to 300,000 are performed annually in the United States.
Grazer is waging a campaign to alert colleagues to potential overdoses
from too much lidocaine injected into patients also receiving
intravenous anesthesia. Overloading these patients with fluids can
create pulmonary edema, a flooding of the lungs.
Grazer related the story of an East Coast doctor whose patient died at
home hours after liposuction. Grazer explained that the lidocaine
overdose was delayed because levels in the blood peak eight to
10 hours after surgery.
In response to Fernandez's death, the state has at least temporarily
revoked the medical licenses of Dr. William Earle Matory Jr., an
experienced plastic surgeon, and Dr. Robert Ken Hoo, an
anesthesiologist nine months out of residency.
The state says Matory injected 14 to 15 liters of anesthetic-laced
fluids and suctioned nearly 10 liters of fat. Meanwhile, Hoo
administered nearly 19 liters of intravenous fluids. The 5-foot-3
woman walked in at 150 pounds. She died at 183, swollen from forehead to
toes.
Her surgery -- done by a surgeon whose lawyers cite a flawless 21-year
record and an anesthesiologist whose lawyers say was taking his cues
from the surgeon -- has shaken the community of cosmetic surgeons.
The irony is that Fernandez, of La Habra, did everything right.
She found a reputable, board-certified plastic surgeon. She used an
accredited outpatient surgical center. She discussed the procedures with
the surgeon for a year and saw good results with her
mother's facial surgery.
So what went wrong?
Some doctors say removing 10 liters of fat was excessive.
Dr. Ronald Iverson of Pleasanton, Calif., president of the American
Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons, says he never removes
more than 8 liters.
"There really isn't any paper, any book or any set of guidelines ... out
there that tell you what is proper," said Dr. Guillermo Castillo of
Champaign, Ill., president of the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery.
Although Iverson and other plastic surgeons keep blood replacement
nearby to counter blood loss, there was none in the Fernandez case, the
Medical Board found.
And, Matory performed very complex surgery outside a hospital, which
Grazer and several colleagues found to be "showing very poor judgment."
But it should be noted that no surgery is risk-free. Matory performed an
ambitious combination of full-body liposuction, a minifacelift,
brow-lift and laser skin resurfacing of the face, neck and chest.
"The public can't expect absolute protection and perfection because when
you operate on the human body, whether you're doing a gallbladder or a
facelift, you're injuring the body's tissue,"
Grazer warns.
-- By JANE E. ALLEN, AP Science Writer
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