Komputer for Alle 1998 #6/1998 CD 6 (Gul).iso/web/ffa/wwwenv~1.org/arrs/digest/news5~20.htm/text0001.txt

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In Our Food, Some Sickening Developments
By Don Oldenburg
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 20, 1997; Page C05
The Washington Post

Last week's largest recall ever for bacterially contaminated meat or
poultry should serve as a warning about the serious health risks that
can accompany many foods today -- and as a reminder of some precautions
consumers can take.
Five million prepackaged, frozen, quarter-pound hamburger patties,
distributed by Hudson Foods, are suspected of being tainted with a
potentially deadly strain of E. coli bacteria that has made at least 16
people sick in Colorado.
"This recall doesn't surprise me at all. I'm not surprised the meat was
contaminated or that people got sick in Colorado. I am surprised the
contamination was spotted," says Nicols Fox, whose recently published
book, "Spoiled: The Dangerous Truth About a Food Chain Gone Haywire"
(BasicBooks; $25) uncovers high-risk changes in how our food is
produced, processed, distributed, stored and prepared -- and their
far-reaching consequences.
"Each of those changes is opening the door to opportunistic, emerging,
food-borne pathogens," says Fox. "This latest outbreak illustrates how a
pathogen, through mass production and mass distribution, can be spread
throughout a product so completely."
Fox, who spent several years investigating why more people are getting
more severely sick from what they eat, says hamburger provides an ideal
example of a food system in which microbes can run rampant.
"Hamburger meat is all these different meats from a thousand different
cows from four different countries ground up all together," she says.
"One contaminated cow can contaminate 16 tons of meat. Let's suppose we
take that meat and distribute it all over the United States. A case of
someone getting sick might pop up in Maine, and another in Tennessee,
and in Washington, D.C. . . . It might not even be recognized as an
outbreak because the cases are so widespread."
In fact, health experts say more Americans than ever before are dying or
suffering from food-borne ailments, which range from the mild stomach
cramps, vomiting and diarrhea typically associated with run-of-the-mill
"food poisoning," to chronic liver disease and paralysis. Fox points out
that since midsummer more than 60 people in Virginia and Michigan became
sick from the E. coli-contaminated alfalfa sprouts they ate, and
Virginia Health Department officials tracked the illnesses of some 126
people to fresh basil contaminated with the Cyclospora parasite.
Fox contends that one big culprit is the increase in imported foods.
"Our food is as safe as the country and the environment that it comes
from," she says. "Trade is like a passport for pathogens. When you go to
Mexico, you know to eat only what you peel, boil or cook. But you go to
your grocery store and buy produce never thinking that [a large
percentage] of it comes from Mexico."
She says initiatives such as the new meat-inspection rules, which won't
go into effect for several years, and the first-ever salmonella vaccine
for poultry, ready to go on the market by the end of 1997, will help,
but they aren't going to prevent all that's gone wrong with our food
system. "I think we're making progress," she says. "But it's two steps
forward, one step backward."
Meanwhile, Fox has become "a reluctant vegetarian" because, she says,
"we've distorted the whole pattern of animal production to the point
where I've lost my appetite for it." For others, she advises these
safety precautions:
Keep two cutting boards -- one for meats, one for vegetables.
Cook foods to an interior temperature of 160 degrees F.
Hamburger meat shouldn't be eaten pink and cooked chicken juices should
run clear.
Rinse fresh produce that will be consumed uncooked in antibacterial
solutions, which can be purchased at health-food stores.
Disinfect kitchen and counter areas with a solution of one teaspoon of
chlorine to a quart of water.
Got a consumer problem? Report the details via e-mail to
[e-mail] or by mail to Don Oldenburg, Consummate
Consumer, The Washington Post, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20071.

⌐Copyright 1997 The Washington Post Company
Date: Wed, 20 Aug 1997 08:01:38 -0400 (EDT)
From: Jean Colison <[e-mail]>
To: Ar-news <[e-mail]>
Subject: Killing Snow Geese
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII



------------------------------------------------------------------------


Trouble on the Tundra: Snow Geese Under Gun

Massive Slaughter of Majestic Birds Proposed
By Howard Schneider
Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, August 20, 1997; Page A01
The Washington Post

CHURCHILL, ManitobaùIt has been 6,000 years since the Keewatin ice cap
retreated from the coastal marshes around this Hudson Bay village, and
for much of that time a prolific number of plants and animals shared
what sub-Arctic Canada had to offer. Plants evolved with a type of
organic antifreeze in their cells, and each summer's thaw revealed lush
spreads of marsh grass, sedges and flowers; birds trimmed and fertilized
the lawn, and foxes ate the birds.
It was, say scientists who have studied the area intensively for 30
years, a system both finely balanced and broadly diverse, given the
climate, from dozens of species of plant life to the top local predator,
the polar bear.
Today, however, there's trouble on the tundra.
In the past three decades, an explosion in the population of snow geese
has reduced thousands of acres of once thickly vegetated salt- and
fresh-water marsh to a virtual desert, driving out other species and
threatening to overwhelm an ecosystem that would take decades to
rebound.
The deteriorating situation has been tracked in detail by a team of
scientists who have manned a field station deep in the Manitoba marsh
each summer since the late 1960s. The situation is so serious that they
want to call out the cavalry. At this point, they say, the only way to
save the tundra is to kill the geese -- lots of them.
"The population has escaped hunters' control and predators' control, and
there is no sign of it doing anything else" but increasing, said
University of Toronto botanist Robert Jefferies, who has been part of
the field research team at La Perouse Bay since 1974.
Jefferies and other members of a joint U.S.-Canada panel have
recommended killing at least half the continent's snow geese through
increased hunting in the United States, where the birds spend the
winter, and in Canada, where they return in summer to breed and rear
their young.
Under the proposal currently being studied by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service and its Canadian counterpart, hunters would be allowed to shoot
the distinctive white birds all year, as many as they want. They would
be allowed to bait migrating flocks into fields, use electronic calling
devices to lure the birds, and possibly even enter America's network of
national wildlife refuges in search of their prey.
And if hunters cannot kill enough of the birds, wildlife officials say,
there has been serious discussion of asking for help from the military,
or even introducing disease to "depopulate" a species that, resistant so
far to sickness, increased predation and other natural population
controls, has climbed from fewer that a half-million in the 1960s to
more than 3 million today.
The birds may be majestic in flight and their annual arrival anticipated
-- along Maryland's Eastern Shore, the plains of Iowa and the swamps of
Louisiana and Texas -- as one of nature's grand events. But on the
ground, in the marshes where they breed, they've become a pest, fattened
for the winter on American grain, clustering farther south to avoid
high-Arctic weather and increasing their numbers with an annual
population growth rate of 5 percent.
"They are very successful nesting birds, and they have shown the ability
to devastate environments," said Paul Schmidt, chief of migratory bird
management for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and co-chairman of
the Arctic Goose Joint Venture, a panel of scientists and regulators
established to study the snow goose. "There is a problem to be dealt
with. . . . The challenge will be to convince people . . . to appreciate
a problem that is thousands of miles away. The damage that has occurred
here is significant. [The geese] are hurting other organisms,"
particularly shore birds deprived of the habitat the geese are
destroying.
The damage is obvious to the few hundred humans who live in this area
year-round. "We're expecting the geese to land on the city square any
day," said John Bilenduke, deputy mayor of Churchill, a city that once
buzzed with military personnel stationed at a U.S. missile testing range
but now relies on polar bear tours and a grain elevator to stay afloat.
It is obvious from outer space, where satellite photos show the goose
damage as a wide, red strip around the coast of the Hudson Bay. "Any
effect you can see from orbit I would argue is a big one," said Peter
Kotanen, a University of Toronto botany professor.
Schmidt said wildlife officials plan to consult with public interest
groups and hold hearings over the next year. They hope to have measures
for dealing with the geese in place by next fall.
The practical issues are difficult enough. Unlike Canada geese, snow
geese are not a preferred game species. Many hunters don't think they
taste as good. Refuge managers said it also may be difficult for hunters
alone to control the population because the birds travel in large
flocks, quickly learn to avoid decoys and will not stay in one place
long enough to be killed in large numbers.
"I am not sure there is much we can do with it," said George O'Shea,
assistant manager of the Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge in eastern
Delaware. "They come and go as they desire. . . . If you open an area to
hunting, they will go to a private field and tear it up. . . . They
adapt and learn very quickly."
O'Shea said the flock of snow geese at Prime Hook has increased to as
many as 100,000 birds, compared to only a few thousand in the late
1970s. It is a sight so impressive that the local Chamber of Commerce
wants to start an annual snow goose festival.
There will be political hurdles as well, Schmidt said. Many migratory
bird species are declining in North America, their habitat converted to
farms and housing subdivisions. After spending money and effort building
refuges, establishing wetlands laws and encouraging conservation efforts
to preserve wildlife, Schmidt said, it will be hard to sell the idea
that a specific species should be suppressed.
Schmidt said he also expects strong opposition from those who challenge
the ability -- and the moral right -- of scientists and government
officials to set the population level for a wild species and kill off
the excess.
Biologists estimate that if 15 percent of adult snow geese are killed
each year, the overall population could be cut in half in several
seasons, with little danger of overkill or other miscalculation.
It is better to wait for a natural population crash as the geese run out
of food and acceptable habitat, responded Susan Hagood, an analyst for
the Humane Society of the United States, than to guess about how many
birds should die. After a recent tour of the goose nesting grounds
around La Perouse Bay, east of Churchill, Hagood said the humane society
will oppose the proposed goose kill.
The snow goose nesting grounds in North America include northern Quebec,
Ontario and Manitoba and parts of the Northwest Territories, "and it is
a little hard to believe that geese at their current population level
could affect that entire area," Hagood said. "Let nature take its
course. The population will continue to increase. It will probably then
crash at some point, and that will give the tundra the break it needs."
So far, however, there is no crash in sight, only the bare ground that
flocks of hungry geese leave behind. Areas along the western coast of
Hudson Bay that were once prime feeding ground for the birds are now mud
flats. Scientists estimate that as much as one-third of that traditional
habitat has been destroyed.
Compounding the problem, the snow geese move inland and change their
diet when the coastal grasses are gone, invading fresh-water marshes as
well. Land that once bloomed with gentle blue gentian and white Grass of
Parnassus flowers now has a dust bowl quality, covered with mats of a
purple weed and the skeletal twigs of dead willow bushes.
The goose's success, in and of itself, might not be cause for action.
However, the scientists involved contend that they are only surviving in
such numbers because man has given them an unfair advantage. Since the
1960s, said botanist Jefferies, the geese have been gorging on rice and
grain in the southern and southwestern United States, returning north
fatter than ever and better able to survive the northern Canadian
winter.
There is more land in cultivation now, the grain is better, and farmers,
to conserve soil, no longer plow their fields under in the fall,
Jefferies said. The result is a virtually unlimited supply of food for
the birds to eat during their months in America.
"All the evidence is that man caused the booming of that population. We
created a niche for [the snow goose] to be more competitive with other
species," said Jefferies. "If we are not effective in four or five
years, we are going to have to use our imagination."
@CAPTION: Snow geese flew over Cap Tourmente, Quebec, last October
during annual migration south. Their growing numbers threaten other
species.

⌐Copyright 1997 The Washington Post Company
Date: Wed, 20 Aug 1997 08:00:44 -0400 (EDT)
From: Jean Colison <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Food is Sickening
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>




In Our Food, Some Sickening Developments
By Don Oldenburg
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 20, 1997; Page C05
The Washington Post=20

Last week's largest recall ever for bacterially contaminated meat or=20
poultry should serve as a warning about the serious health risks that=20
can accompany many foods today -- and as a reminder of some precautions=20
consumers can take.
Five million prepackaged, frozen, quarter-pound hamburger patties,=20
distributed by Hudson Foods, are suspected of being tainted with a=20
potentially deadly strain of E. coli bacteria that has made at least 16=20
people sick in Colorado.
"This recall doesn't surprise me at all. I'm not surprised the meat was=20
contaminated or that people got sick in Colorado. I am surprised the=20
contamination was spotted," says Nicols Fox, whose recently published=20
book, "Spoiled: The Dangerous Truth About a Food Chain Gone Haywire"=20
(BasicBooks; $25) uncovers high-risk changes in how our food is=20
produced, processed, distributed, stored and prepared -- and their=20
far-reaching consequences.
"Each of those changes is opening the door to opportunistic, emerging,=20
food-borne pathogens," says Fox. "This latest outbreak illustrates how a=20
pathogen, through mass production and mass distribution, can be spread=20
throughout a product so completely."
Fox, who spent several years investigating why more people are getting=20
more severely sick from what they eat, says hamburger provides an ideal=20
example of a food system in which microbes can run rampant.
"Hamburger meat is all these different meats from a thousand different=20
cows from four different countries ground up all together," she says.=20
"One contaminated cow can contaminate 16 tons of meat. Let's suppose we=20
take that meat and distribute it all over the United States. A case of=20
someone getting sick might pop up in Maine, and another in Tennessee,=20
and in Washington, D.C. . . . It might not even be recognized as an=20
outbreak because the cases are so widespread."
In fact, health experts say more Americans than ever before are dying or=20
suffering from food-borne ailments, which range from the mild stomach=20
cramps, vomiting and diarrhea typically associated with run-of-the-mill=20
"food poisoning," to chronic liver disease and paralysis. Fox points out=20
that since midsummer more than 60 people in Virginia and Michigan became=20
sick from the E. coli-contaminated alfalfa sprouts they ate, and=20
Virginia Health Department officials tracked the illnesses of some 126=20
people to fresh basil contaminated with the Cyclospora parasite.
Fox contends that one big culprit is the increase in imported foods.=20
"Our food is as safe as the country and the environment that it comes=20
from," she says. "Trade is like a passport for pathogens. When you go to=20
Mexico, you know to eat only what you peel, boil or cook. But you go to=20
your grocery store and buy produce never thinking that [a large=20
percentage] of it comes from Mexico."
She says initiatives such as the new meat-inspection rules, which won't=20
go into effect for several years, and the first-ever salmonella vaccine=20
for poultry, ready to go on the market by the end of 1997, will help,=20
but they aren't going to prevent all that's gone wrong with our food=20
system. "I think we're making progress," she says. "But it's two steps=20
forward, one step backward."
Meanwhile, Fox has become "a reluctant vegetarian" because, she says,=20
"we've distorted the whole pattern of animal production to the point=20
where I've lost my appetite for it." For others, she advises these=20
safety precautions:
Keep two cutting boards -- one for meats, one for vegetables.
Cook foods to an interior temperature of 160 degrees F.
Hamburger meat shouldn't be eaten pink and cooked chicken juices should=20
run clear.
Rinse fresh produce that will be consumed uncooked in antibacterial=20
solutions, which can be purchased at health-food stores.
Disinfect kitchen and counter areas with a solution of one teaspoon of=20
chlorine to a quart of water.
Got a consumer problem? Report the details via e-mail to=20
[e-mail] or by mail to Don Oldenburg, Consummate=20
Consumer, The Washington Post, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20071.=20

=A9Copyright 1997 The Washington Post Company
    Food is Sickening
Date: Wed, 20 Aug 1997 08:01:38 -0400 (EDT)
From: Jean Colison <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Killing Snow Geese
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>



------------------------------------------------------------------------


Trouble on the Tundra: Snow Geese Under Gun

Massive Slaughter of Majestic Birds Proposed
By Howard Schneider
Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, August 20, 1997; Page A01
The Washington Post=20

CHURCHILL, Manitoba=97It has been 6,000 years since the Keewatin ice cap=20
retreated from the coastal marshes around this Hudson Bay village, and=20
for much of that time a prolific number of plants and animals shared=20
what sub-Arctic Canada had to offer. Plants evolved with a type of=20
organic antifreeze in their cells, and each summer's thaw revealed lush=20
spreads of marsh grass, sedges and flowers; birds trimmed and fertilized=20
the lawn, and foxes ate the birds.
It was, say scientists who have studied the area intensively for 30=20
years, a system both finely balanced and broadly diverse, given the=20
climate, from dozens of species of plant life to the top local predator,=20
the polar bear.
Today, however, there's trouble on the tundra.
In the past three decades, an explosion in the population of snow geese=20
has reduced thousands of acres of once thickly vegetated salt- and=20
fresh-water marsh to a virtual desert, driving out other species and=20
threatening to overwhelm an ecosystem that would take decades to=20
rebound.
The deteriorating situation has been tracked in detail by a team of=20
scientists who have manned a field station deep in the Manitoba marsh=20
each summer since the late 1960s. The situation is so serious that they=20
want to call out the cavalry. At this point, they say, the only way to=20
save the tundra is to kill the geese -- lots of them.
"The population has escaped hunters' control and predators' control, and=20
there is no sign of it doing anything else" but increasing, said=20
University of Toronto botanist Robert Jefferies, who has been part of=20
the field research team at La Perouse Bay since 1974.
Jefferies and other members of a joint U.S.-Canada panel have=20
recommended killing at least half the continent's snow geese through=20
increased hunting in the United States, where the birds spend the=20
winter, and in Canada, where they return in summer to breed and rear=20
their young.
Under the proposal currently being studied by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife=20
Service and its Canadian counterpart, hunters would be allowed to shoot=20
the distinctive white birds all year, as many as they want. They would=20
be allowed to bait migrating flocks into fields, use electronic calling=20
devices to lure the birds, and possibly even enter America's network of=20
national wildlife refuges in search of their prey.
And if hunters cannot kill enough of the birds, wildlife officials say,=20
there has been serious discussion of asking for help from the military,=20
or even introducing disease to "depopulate" a species that, resistant so=20
far to sickness, increased predation and other natural population=20
controls, has climbed from fewer that a half-million in the 1960s to=20
more than 3 million today.
The birds may be majestic in flight and their annual arrival anticipated=20
-- along Maryland's Eastern Shore, the plains of Iowa and the swamps of=20
Louisiana and Texas -- as one of nature's grand events. But on the=20
ground, in the marshes where they breed, they've become a pest, fattened=20
for the winter on American grain, clustering farther south to avoid=20
high-Arctic weather and increasing their numbers with an annual=20
population growth rate of 5 percent.
"They are very successful nesting birds, and they have shown the ability=20
to devastate environments," said Paul Schmidt, chief of migratory bird=20
management for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and co-chairman of=20
the Arctic Goose Joint Venture, a panel of scientists and regulators=20
established to study the snow goose. "There is a problem to be dealt=20
with. . . . The challenge will be to convince people . . . to appreciate=20
a problem that is thousands of miles away. The damage that has occurred=20
here is significant. [The geese] are hurting other organisms,"=20
particularly shore birds deprived of the habitat the geese are=20
destroying.
The damage is obvious to the few hundred humans who live in this area=20
year-round. "We're expecting the geese to land on the city square any=20
day," said John Bilenduke, deputy mayor of Churchill, a city that once=20
buzzed with military personnel stationed at a U.S. missile testing range=20
but now relies on polar bear tours and a grain elevator to stay afloat.
It is obvious from outer space, where satellite photos show the goose=20
damage as a wide, red strip around the coast of the Hudson Bay. "Any=20
effect you can see from orbit I would argue is a big one," said Peter=20
Kotanen, a University of Toronto botany professor.
Schmidt said wildlife officials plan to consult with public interest=20
groups and hold hearings over the next year. They hope to have measures=20
for dealing with the geese in place by next fall.
The practical issues are difficult enough. Unlike Canada geese, snow=20
geese are not a preferred game species. Many hunters don't think they=20
taste as good. Refuge managers said it also may be difficult for hunters=20
alone to control the population because the birds travel in large=20
flocks, quickly learn to avoid decoys and will not stay in one place=20
long enough to be killed in large numbers.
"I am not sure there is much we can do with it," said George O'Shea,=20
assistant manager of the Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge in eastern=20
Delaware. "They come and go as they desire. . . . If you open an area to=20
hunting, they will go to a private field and tear it up. . . . They=20
adapt and learn very quickly."
O'Shea said the flock of snow geese at Prime Hook has increased to as=20
many as 100,000 birds, compared to only a few thousand in the late=20
1970s. It is a sight so impressive that the local Chamber of Commerce=20
wants to start an annual snow goose festival.
There will be political hurdles as well, Schmidt said. Many migratory=20
bird species are declining in North America, their habitat converted to=20
farms and housing subdivisions. After spending money and effort building=20
refuges, establishing wetlands laws and encouraging conservation efforts=20
to preserve wildlife, Schmidt said, it will be hard to sell the idea=20
that a specific species should be suppressed.
Schmidt said he also expects strong opposition from those who challenge=20
the ability -- and the moral right -- of scientists and government=20
officials to set the population level for a wild species and kill off=20
the excess.
Biologists estimate that if 15 percent of adult snow geese are killed=20
each year, the overall population could be cut in half in several=20
seasons, with little danger of overkill or other miscalculation.
It is better to wait for a natural population crash as the geese run out=20
of food and acceptable habitat, responded Susan Hagood, an analyst for=20
the Humane Society of the United States, than to guess about how many=20
birds should die. After a recent tour of the goose nesting grounds=20
around La Perouse Bay, east of Churchill, Hagood said the humane society=20
will oppose the proposed goose kill.
The snow goose nesting grounds in North America include northern Quebec,=20
Ontario and Manitoba and parts of the Northwest Territories, "and it is=20
a little hard to believe that geese at their current population level=20
could affect that entire area," Hagood said. "Let nature take its=20
course. The population will continue to increase. It will probably then=20
crash at some point, and that will give the tundra the break it needs."
So far, however, there is no crash in sight, only the bare ground that=20
flocks of hungry geese leave behind. Areas along the western coast of=20
Hudson Bay that were once prime feeding ground for the birds are now mud=20
flats. Scientists estimate that as much as one-third of that traditional=20
habitat has been destroyed.
Compounding the problem, the snow geese move inland and change their=20
diet when the coastal grasses are gone, invading fresh-water marshes as=20
well. Land that once bloomed with gentle blue gentian and white Grass of=20
Parnassus flowers now has a dust bowl quality, covered with mats of a=20
purple weed and the skeletal twigs of dead willow bushes.
The goose's success, in and of itself, might not be cause for action.=20
However, the scientists involved contend that they are only surviving in=20
such numbers because man has given them an unfair advantage. Since the=20
1960s, said botanist Jefferies, the geese have been gorging on rice and=20
grain in the southern and southwestern United States, returning north=20
fatter than ever and better able to survive the northern Canadian=20
winter.
There is more land in cultivation now, the grain is better, and farmers,=20
to conserve soil, no longer plow their fields under in the fall,=20
Jefferies said. The result is a virtually unlimited supply of food for=20
the birds to eat during their months in America.
"All the evidence is that man caused the booming of that population. We=20
created a niche for [the snow goose] to be more competitive with other=20
species," said Jefferies. "If we are not effective in four or five=20
years, we are going to have to use our imagination."
@CAPTION: Snow geese flew over Cap Tourmente, Quebec, last October=20
during annual migration south. Their growing numbers threaten other=20
species.=20

=A9Copyright 1997 The Washington Post Company
    Killing Snow Geese
Date: Wed, 20 Aug 1997 07:48:26 -0700 (PDT)
From: Mike Markarian <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail], [e-mail],
        [e-mail]
Subject: Proposed Hound Hunting of Bears on WV Refuge
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

ACTION  ALERT

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has published a "draft hunting
management plan" for the brand new Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge
in West Virginia.   They are planning to allow the use of dogs to hunt
black bears in the new refuge.

Comments are due by 8/22 which is only a couple days away.

Refuge Manager, Canaan Valley NWR
PO Box 1278
Elkins, WV 26241

304  637-7312  or  636-6586

[e-mail]

You may wish to tell them that:

* The hound hunting of bears is an unsporting and inhumane practice that has
recently been banned in Colorado, Oregon, Washington, and Massachusetts.
Allowing this practice in a new refuge would turn back the clock on wildlife
management.

* Hound chases can last up to 20 miles, causing a nuisance to other refuge
visitors, causing a danger to motorists, and causing threats to other
wildlife and the habitat.

* Creating a new "refuge" should mean that the bears would be safe from
trophy hunting. Allowing the sport hunting of bears -- especially the
high-tech search-and-destroy mission with radio-collared dogs -- will be
detrimental to other refuge visitors who want the bears to be protected.

Date: Wed, 20 Aug 1997 11:52:08 -0400
From: Wyandotte Animal Group <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Manistee County, MI ends pound release
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

The subject tells about all I know.  The County Commissioners voted
yesterday.  We expected the vote to be 4-3 in our favor after what we were
told when lobbying the officials.  Surprisingly, when the vote came down
yesterday, it was 7-0, in our favor.

The animals are safe from Class-B dealers in one more Michigan county.







Jason Alley
Wyandotte Animal Group
[e-mail]

Date: Wed, 20 Aug 1997 12:13:27 -0700
From: Sean Thomas <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: [Fwd: Re: [Fwd: [Fwd: [Fwd: [Fwd: Re: Animal Action : Canada's Primates in Peril]]]]]
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: message/rfc822
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Content-Disposition: inline

Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Date: Wed, 20 Aug 1997 12:08:22 -0700
From: Sean Thomas <[e-mail]>
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Organization: Animal Action
X-Mailer: Mozilla 3.01C-SYMPA  (Win95; U)
MIME-Version: 1.0
To: ar-news@envirolinkcom
Subject: Re: [Fwd: [Fwd: [Fwd: [Fwd: Re: Animal Action : Canada's Primates in Peril]]]]
References: <[e-mail]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
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> ANIMAL ACTION NEEDS YOUR SUPPORT
>
> PLEASE ADD YOUR GROUP'S NAME IN SUPPORT OF OUR EFFORTS TO HAVE ALL
OF
> HEALTH CANADA'S 750 MONKEYS RETIRED FROM RESEARCH AND PLACED AT
THE
> PRIMARILY PRIMATES SANCTUARY.
>
HEALTH CANADA NOW HAS THE OPPORTUNITY TO END THE USE OF PRIMATES
AT ITS
RESEARCH CENTRES, NOW IS THE TIME FOR CANADIAN ANIMAL RIGHTS
ACTIVISTS
TO DEMAND THAT THEY DO SO.
>
> If this cause seems worthy to your organization then please respond with a statemnt of support
and your name will be added to our list of
supporters, please indicate as well if you would like to receive more
background information on the history of the primate breeding program in
Canada, and if you would like to receive our campaign package which
includes this information as well as posters and leaflets for
distribution by your group.
>
> Thank you for your time.
> Sean Thomas
> Co-Director, Animal Action
>
>     ---------------------------------------------------------------
>

>
> Dear Friend of Animals:
>
>    A colony of 800 monkeys is doomed to laboratory hell unless we take
> immediate and decisive action.  Health Canada has launched an inquiry
> into the fate of its captive primate colony a group of 800 long tailed
> macaques imprisoned in Ottawa since 1983 as test subjects for lead,
> mercury, dioxin, pesticides, vaccines, AIDS and other misguided,
> agonizing vivisection. The inquiry, says Health Canada, will determine
> if the colony should be either maintained as is or, and this is the mostlikely scenario, sold in part
or entirely to private industry.
>
>   PRIVATE INDUSTRY MUST NOT GET ITS HANDS ON THE MONKEYS, NOR CAN
HEALTH CANADA BE PERMITTED TO MAINTAIN THIS COLONY FOR ITS OWN
PURPOSES.
>
>     In either scenario, these animals are doomed to suffer to be
> poisoned, maimed, killed whatever atrocities will make a buck for
> somebody. If you privatize the colony, there will be a reduction in
> animal welfare; the only concern will be the bottom line"(Dr. Warren
> Foster, Acting Division Chief, Environmental and Occupational
> Toxicology, Health Canada; Dr. Foster has directed a departmental study of the disease
endometriosis in which the primates are on a daily dioxin regime.) Private industry and Health
Canada answer to no one in how they abuse and will abuse the monkeys:
>
>   THEY CAN, HAVE AND WILL DO WHAT THEY WANT TO THE ANIMALS, NO
> MATTER HOW PAINFUL, NO MATTER HOW PROFOUNDLY USELESS.
>
>   Which is why we are appealing to thousands of individuals and groups
> across Canada to join Animal Action in our campaign to protect the
> primates from any more human abuse.  Please, write to those listed below: insist that Health
Canada's Primate Colony be retired to group settings and sanctuaries, and that no more
experiments be performed upon them. And if you co-ordinate a group, we hope you'll consider
using your newsletter and any other means to mobilize your membership to act, as well.
>
>     Write/phone/fax/Email:
>     Royal Society of Canada,
>     225 Metcalfe St., Suite 308, Ottawa, Ont. K2P1P9.
>     Fax [phone].
>
>   The Society has been appointed to review the colony's fate and is
> seeking public input to influence their recommendations.
>
>   The Honourable Allan Rock, T.C., M. P. , Minister, Health Canada,
>   Brooke Claxton Bldg.,
>   Postal Locator 0916A, Ottawa, Ont. K1A 0K9 (no stamp necessary in
>  Canada)
>   Phone [phone]
>   Fax[phone]
>   www.hwc.ca
>
>   Animal Action, meanwhile, is undertaking a campaign of direct action
> here in Ottawa to generate public pressure on Health Canada through
> media blitzes and grassroots awareness activity.  Combined with your
> action, we have a chance to liberate the monkeys.
>
>   Thank You for your support.
>   Sean Thomas
>   Co-Director, Animal Action

Date: Wed, 20 Aug 1997 08:43:53 -0700 (PDT)
From: Mike Markarian <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail], [e-mail],
        [e-mail], [e-mail]
Subject: (Hegins, Pa.) Less than 2 Weeks to Nation's Cruelest Event
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

ATTN: Labor Day Assignment Editors

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, August 20, 1997

CONTACT: Heidi Prescott or Mike Markarian, [phone]


LESS THAN 2 WEEKS TO NATION'S CRUELEST EVENT
Labor Day Event Abuses Animals and Children


Less than two weeks remain until the Hegins pigeon shoot, the nation's most
gruesome and most notorious organized act of animal cruelty, scheduled for
Labor Day, September 1, in Hegins, Pennsylvania. Each year in Hegins,
contestants kill and cripple about 5,000 live birds in the name of fun. The
event has become a nationwide target of animal advocates and a nationwide
embarrassment to Pennsylvania, yet Governor Tom Ridge has repeatedly refused
to intervene.

Investigators from The Fund for Animals documented last year that
approximately 77 percent of the birds released were not killed immediately,
but wounded. Children known as "trapper boys" collect crippled birds,
ripping off their heads, stomping on them, or throwing them into barrels to
suffocate -- in front of their cheering parents, Ku Klux Klan members, and
drunk spectators. Last year, one man even bit the head off a live bird in
front of a cheering crowd.

Animal advocates are working to ban live pigeon shoots in the Pennsylvania
Legislature, but Republican lawmakers have stalled a vote on the issue.
Celebrities such as actor Alec Baldwin and Philadelphia 76ers president Pat
Croce have asked Governor Ridge to put his support behind legislation to ban
pigeon shoots, but the Governor refuses to intervene. Pennsylvania humane
officers have also filed a lawsuit to halt the pigeon shoot, and a hearing
will be held next week.

The Fund for Animals will organize a massive bird rescue effort this Labor
Day with veterinarians and wildlife rehabilitators on hand to treat wounded
birds. Last year, volunteers rescued hundreds of birds from the pigeon shoot
and transported them to rehabilitation facilities.

Says Heidi Prescott, National Director of The Fund for Animals, "Parents
across the nation are voicing their concerns about children being exposed to
violence on television. When will Pennsylvania halt the violence in their
own backyard? This Labor Day, thousands of innocent animals will suffer, and
many Pennsylvania children will be taught that violence is fun."

# # #

http://www.fund.org

Date: Wed, 20 Aug 1997 09:27:23 -0700 (PDT)
From: "Christine M. Wolf" <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Reptile Smugglers Arrested
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"


>From the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service:


>     News Brief:
>     Arrest of Two Japanese Wildlife Smugglers
>
>     Orlando, Florida
>
>     On Wednesday evening, August 13, 1997, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
>     Special Agents arrested two Japanese nationals, Kei Tomono, age 26, of
>     Chiba City, Japan and Masakazu Iseya, age 41, of Hasuda City, Saitama,
>     Japan at the Orlando International Airport, Florida when they claimed
>     their bags containing live snakes and turtles which had been smuggled
>     into the United States from Japan.
>
>     Earlier in the day, U.S. Customs Service officials in San Francisco,
>     CA notified the Fish and Wildlife Service that Tomono, a suspected
>     animal smuggler, and a traveling companion, Masakazu Iseya were
>     scheduled to land mid-afternoon in San Francisco.  When the aircraft
>     arrived in San Francisco, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S.
>     Customs Service officials searched the bags belonging to the two men.
>     The search reveled eight live snakes concealed in Tomono's bag and two
>     live turtles concealed in Iseya's bag.  Both men failed to notify U.S.
>     Customs Service or the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that they were
>     importing the snakes and turtles.
>
>     Tomono and Iseya were allowed to board a domestic flight from San
>     Francisco to Orlando, FL.  With the assistance of the U.S. Customs
>     Service and the Orlando Police Department, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
>     Service Special Agents took the men into custody after they claimed
>     their bags containing live animals.
>
>     On the morning of August 15, 1997, Tomono and Iseya appeared before
>     United States Magistrate James G. Glazebrook for their initial
>     appearance.  Magistrate Glazebrook set bail for Tomono at $100,000 but
>     suspended it pending review by a Federal judge.  Iseya's bail was set
>     at $25,000.
>
>     On August 7, 1997, a Federal Grand Jury in Orlando, FL indicted Tomono
>     for smuggling turtles into the United States in the spring of 1996.
>     In the three count Indictment, Tomono was charged with smuggling Fly
>     River turtles (Carettochelys insculpta) and snake neck turtles
>     (Chelondina siebenrocki) from Japan to the United States.  Both
>     species of turtles are protected in their native countries.  In
>     addition, Tomono was charged with importing turtles with a carapace
>     length less than four inches, a violation of a public health
>     regulation, and with violating the Lacey Act, a Federal wildlife law
>     which makes it illegal to sell and purchase wildlife knowing that it
>     has been transported in violation of law.
>
>     The criminal complaint issued August 14, 1997 against both Mr. Tomono
>     and Mr. Iseya charges them with knowingly importing eight live snakes
>     and two live turtles without first declaring the animals to the U.S.
>     Customs Service or U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, as required by law.
>     In addition, one of the smuggled turtles had a carapace length of less
>     than four inches.  The snakes have tentatively been identified as
>     mandarin rat snakes (Elaphe mandarina) and black-banded trinket snakes
>     (Elaphe porphyracea), and the turtles as side neck turtles
>     (Acanthochelys spixii).
>
>     If convicted, Tomono faces a maximum penalty of five years in jail and
>     a fine of $250,000 on each count, while Iseya faces an undetermined
>     sentence at this time.
>
>     -----
>
>     Bruce J. Weissgold, CITES Policy Specialist
>     Office of Management Authority
>     U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
>     4401 N. Fairfax Drive, Rm. 430
>     Arlington, VA 22203
>     Tel: [phone]
>     Fax: [phone]
>     E-mail: [e-mail]
>
>
>
******************************************************************
Christine Wolf, Director of Government Affairs
  The Fund for Animalsphone: 301-585-2591
   World Buildingfax:   301-585-2595
 8121 Georgia Ave., Suite 301e-mail: [e-mail]
  Silver Spring, MD 20910web page: www.fund.org

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change
the world; indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."  (Margaret Mead)

Date: Wed, 20 Aug 1997 09:45:16 -0700 (PDT)
From: Mike Markarian <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail], [e-mail],
        [e-mail]
Subject: Re: Proposed Hound Hunting of Bears on WV Refuge
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

The fax # for the refuge is 304-636-7824.

At 07:48 AM 8/20/97 -0700, Mike Markarian wrote:
>ACTION  ALERT
>
>The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has published a "draft hunting
>management plan" for the brand new Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge
>in West Virginia.   They are planning to allow the use of dogs to hunt
>black bears in the new refuge.
>
>Comments are due by 8/22 which is only a couple days away.
>
>Refuge Manager, Canaan Valley NWR
>PO Box 1278
>Elkins, WV 26241
>
>304  637-7312  or  636-6586
>
>[e-mail]
>
>You may wish to tell them that:
>
>* The hound hunting of bears is an unsporting and inhumane practice that has
>recently been banned in Colorado, Oregon, Washington, and Massachusetts.
>Allowing this practice in a new refuge would turn back the clock on wildlife
>management.
>
>* Hound chases can last up to 20 miles, causing a nuisance to other refuge
>visitors, causing a danger to motorists, and causing threats to other
>wildlife and the habitat.
>
>* Creating a new "refuge" should mean that the bears would be safe from
>trophy hunting. Allowing the sport hunting of bears -- especially the
>high-tech search-and-destroy mission with radio-collared dogs -- will be
>detrimental to other refuge visitors who want the bears to be protected.
>
>

Date: Wed, 20 Aug 1997 13:32:48 -0400 (EDT)
From: Jean Colison <[e-mail]>
To: Ar-news <[e-mail]>
Subject: Food causes sickness
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII




In Our Food, Some Sickening Developments
By Don Oldenburg
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 20, 1997; Page C05
The Washington Post

Last week's largest recall ever for bacterially contaminated meat or
poultry should serve as a warning about the serious health risks that
can accompany many foods today -- and as a reminder of some precautions
consumers can take.
Five million prepackaged, frozen, quarter-pound hamburger patties,
distributed by Hudson Foods, are suspected of being tainted with a
potentially deadly strain of E. coli bacteria that has made at least 16
people sick in Colorado.
"This recall doesn't surprise me at all. I'm not surprised the meat was
contaminated or that people got sick in Colorado. I am surprised the
contamination was spotted," says Nicols Fox, whose recently published
book, "Spoiled: The Dangerous Truth About a Food Chain Gone Haywire"
(BasicBooks; $25) uncovers high-risk changes in how our food is
produced, processed, distributed, stored and prepared -- and their
far-reaching consequences.
"Each of those changes is opening the door to opportunistic, emerging,
food-borne pathogens," says Fox. "This latest outbreak illustrates how a
pathogen, through mass production and mass distribution, can be spread
throughout a product so completely."
Fox, who spent several years investigating why more people are getting
more severely sick from what they eat, says hamburger provides an ideal
example of a food system in which microbes can run rampant.
"Hamburger meat is all these different meats from a thousand different
cows from four different countries ground up all together," she says.
"One contaminated cow can contaminate 16 tons of meat. Let's suppose we
take that meat and distribute it all over the United States. A case of
someone getting sick might pop up in Maine, and another in Tennessee,
and in Washington, D.C. . . . It might not even be recognized as an
outbreak because the cases are so widespread."
In fact, health experts say more Americans than ever before are dying or
suffering from food-borne ailments, which range from the mild stomach
cramps, vomiting and diarrhea typically associated with run-of-the-mill
"food poisoning," to chronic liver disease and paralysis. Fox points out
that since midsummer more than 60 people in Virginia and Michigan became
sick from the E. coli-contaminated alfalfa sprouts they ate, and
Virginia Health Department officials tracked the illnesses of some 126
people to fresh basil contaminated with the Cyclospora parasite.
Fox contends that one big culprit is the increase in imported foods.
"Our food is as safe as the country and the environment that it comes
from," she says. "Trade is like a passport for pathogens. When you go to
Mexico, you know to eat only what you peel, boil or cook. But you go to
your grocery store and buy produce never thinking that [a large
percentage] of it comes from Mexico."
She says initiatives such as the new meat-inspection rules, which won't
go into effect for several years, and the first-ever salmonella vaccine
for poultry, ready to go on the market by the end of 1997, will help,
but they aren't going to prevent all that's gone wrong with our food
system. "I think we're making progress," she says. "But it's two steps
forward, one step backward."
Meanwhile, Fox has become "a reluctant vegetarian" because, she says,
"we've distorted the whole pattern of animal production to the point
where I've lost my appetite for it." For others, she advises these
safety precautions:
Keep two cutting boards -- one for meats, one for vegetables.
Cook foods to an interior temperature of 160 degrees F.
Hamburger meat shouldn't be eaten pink and cooked chicken juices should
run clear.
Rinse fresh produce that will be consumed uncooked in antibacterial
solutions, which can be purchased at health-food stores.
Disinfect kitchen and counter areas with a solution of one teaspoon of
chlorine to a quart of water.

Got a consumer problem? Report the details via e-mail to
[e-mail] or by mail to Don Oldenburg, Consummate
Consumer, The Washington Post, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20071.

⌐Copyright 1997 The Washington Post Company
Date: Wed, 20 Aug 1997 13:33:43 -0400 (EDT)
From: Jean Colison <[e-mail]>
To: Ar-news <[e-mail]>
Subject: Killing Snow Geese
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII



------------------------------------------------------------------------


Trouble on the Tundra: Snow Geese Under Gun

Massive Slaughter of Majestic Birds Proposed
By Howard Schneider
Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, August 20, 1997; Page A01
The Washington Post

CHURCHILL, ManitobaùIt has been 6,000 years since the Keewatin ice cap
retreated from the coastal marshes around this Hudson Bay village, and
for much of that time a prolific number of plants and animals shared
what sub-Arctic Canada had to offer. Plants evolved with a type of
organic antifreeze in their cells, and each summer's thaw revealed lush
spreads of marsh grass, sedges and flowers; birds trimmed and fertilized
the lawn, and foxes ate the birds.
It was, say scientists who have studied the area intensively for 30
years, a system both finely balanced and broadly diverse, given the
climate, from dozens of species of plant life to the top local predator,
the polar bear.
Today, however, there's trouble on the tundra.
In the past three decades, an explosion in the population of snow geese
has reduced thousands of acres of once thickly vegetated salt- and
fresh-water marsh to a virtual desert, driving out other species and
threatening to overwhelm an ecosystem that would take decades to
rebound.
The deteriorating situation has been tracked in detail by a team of
scientists who have manned a field station deep in the Manitoba marsh
each summer since the late 1960s. The situation is so serious that they
want to call out the cavalry. At this point, they say, the only way to
save the tundra is to kill the geese -- lots of them.
"The population has escaped hunters' control and predators' control, and
there is no sign of it doing anything else" but increasing, said
University of Toronto botanist Robert Jefferies, who has been part of
the field research team at La Perouse Bay since 1974.
Jefferies and other members of a joint U.S.-Canada panel have
recommended killing at least half the continent's snow geese through
increased hunting in the United States, where the birds spend the
winter, and in Canada, where they return in summer to breed and rear
their young.
Under the proposal currently being studied by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service and its Canadian counterpart, hunters would be allowed to shoot
the distinctive white birds all year, as many as they want. They would
be allowed to bait migrating flocks into fields, use electronic calling
devices to lure the birds, and possibly even enter America's network of
national wildlife refuges in search of their prey.
And if hunters cannot kill enough of the birds, wildlife officials say,
there has been serious discussion of asking for help from the military,
or even introducing disease to "depopulate" a species that, resistant so
far to sickness, increased predation and other natural population
controls, has climbed from fewer that a half-million in the 1960s to
more than 3 million today.
The birds may be majestic in flight and their annual arrival anticipated
-- along Maryland's Eastern Shore, the plains of Iowa and the swamps of
Louisiana and Texas -- as one of nature's grand events. But on the
ground, in the marshes where they breed, they've become a pest, fattened
for the winter on American grain, clustering farther south to avoid
high-Arctic weather and increasing their numbers with an annual
population growth rate of 5 percent.
"They are very successful nesting birds, and they have shown the ability
to devastate environments," said Paul Schmidt, chief of migratory bird
management for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and co-chairman of
the Arctic Goose Joint Venture, a panel of scientists and regulators
established to study the snow goose. "There is a problem to be dealt
with. . . . The challenge will be to convince people . . . to appreciate
a problem that is thousands of miles away. The damage that has occurred
here is significant. [The geese] are hurting other organisms,"
particularly shore birds deprived of the habitat the geese are
destroying.
The damage is obvious to the few hundred humans who live in this area
year-round. "We're expecting the geese to land on the city square any
day," said John Bilenduke, deputy mayor of Churchill, a city that once
buzzed with military personnel stationed at a U.S. missile testing range
but now relies on polar bear tours and a grain elevator to stay afloat.
It is obvious from outer space, where satellite photos show the goose
damage as a wide, red strip around the coast of the Hudson Bay. "Any
effect you can see from orbit I would argue is a big one," said Peter
Kotanen, a University of Toronto botany professor.
Schmidt said wildlife officials plan to consult with public interest
groups and hold hearings over the next year. They hope to have measures
for dealing with the geese in place by next fall.
The practical issues are difficult enough. Unlike Canada geese, snow
geese are not a preferred game species. Many hunters don't think they
taste as good. Refuge managers said it also may be difficult for hunters
alone to control the population because the birds travel in large
flocks, quickly learn to avoid decoys and will not stay in one place
long enough to be killed in large numbers.
"I am not sure there is much we can do with it," said George O'Shea,
assistant manager of the Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge in eastern
Delaware. "They come and go as they desire. . . . If you open an area to
hunting, they will go to a private field and tear it up. . . . They
adapt and learn very quickly."
O'Shea said the flock of snow geese at Prime Hook has increased to as
many as 100,000 birds, compared to only a few thousand in the late
1970s. It is a sight so impressive that the local Chamber of Commerce
wants to start an annual snow goose festival.
There will be political hurdles as well, Schmidt said. Many migratory
bird species are declining in North America, their habitat converted to
farms and housing subdivisions. After spending money and effort building
refuges, establishing wetlands laws and encouraging conservation efforts
to preserve wildlife, Schmidt said, it will be hard to sell the idea
that a specific species should be suppressed.
Schmidt said he also expects strong opposition from those who challenge
the ability -- and the moral right -- of scientists and government
officials to set the population level for a wild species and kill off
the excess.
Biologists estimate that if 15 percent of adult snow geese are killed
each year, the overall population could be cut in half in several
seasons, with little danger of overkill or other miscalculation.
It is better to wait for a natural population crash as the geese run out
of food and acceptable habitat, responded Susan Hagood, an analyst for
the Humane Society of the United States, than to guess about how many
birds should die. After a recent tour of the goose nesting grounds
around La Perouse Bay, east of Churchill, Hagood said the humane society
will oppose the proposed goose kill.
The snow goose nesting grounds in North America include northern Quebec,
Ontario and Manitoba and parts of the Northwest Territories, "and it is
a little hard to believe that geese at their current population level
could affect that entire area," Hagood said. "Let nature take its
course. The population will continue to increase. It will probably then
crash at some point, and that will give the tundra the break it needs."
So far, however, there is no crash in sight, only the bare ground that
flocks of hungry geese leave behind. Areas along the western coast of
Hudson Bay that were once prime feeding ground for the birds are now mud
flats. Scientists estimate that as much as one-third of that traditional
habitat has been destroyed.
Compounding the problem, the snow geese move inland and change their
diet when the coastal grasses are gone, invading fresh-water marshes as
well. Land that once bloomed with gentle blue gentian and white Grass of
Parnassus flowers now has a dust bowl quality, covered with mats of a
purple weed and the skeletal twigs of dead willow bushes.
The goose's success, in and of itself, might not be cause for action.
However, the scientists involved contend that they are only surviving in
such numbers because man has given them an unfair advantage. Since the
1960s, said botanist Jefferies, the geese have been gorging on rice and
grain in the southern and southwestern United States, returning north
fatter than ever and better able to survive the northern Canadian
winter.
There is more land in cultivation now, the grain is better, and farmers,
to conserve soil, no longer plow their fields under in the fall,
Jefferies said. The result is a virtually unlimited supply of food for
the birds to eat during their months in America.
"All the evidence is that man caused the booming of that population. We
created a niche for [the snow goose] to be more competitive with other
species," said Jefferies. "If we are not effective in four or five
years, we are going to have to use our imagination."

@CAPTION: Snow geese flew over Cap Tourmente, Quebec, last October
during annual migration south. Their growing numbers threaten other
species.

⌐Copyright 1997 The Washington Post Company
Date: Wed, 20 Aug 1997 12:13:27 -0700
From: Sean Thomas <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: [Fwd: Re: [Fwd: [Fwd: [Fwd: [Fwd: Re: Animal Action : Canada's Primate
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>

This attachment was sent as file (File name not found)
It was saved in file 13280000 ATTCHMNT A

Note: One or more attachments were saved to your personal
      storage ("A" disk). Most programs and documents sent
      from a PC will need to be downloaded to a PC to be
      usable; select the BINARY option of your file
      transfer program.

      If you know the attachment was plain text, but it is
      now unreadable, it may need translation from ASCII
      to EBCDIC. If it was saved as "README TXT A", the
      command would be "A2ETEXT README TXT A".
Date: Wed, 20 Aug 1997 10:44:33 -0700
From: "ida" <[e-mail]>
To: <[e-mail]>
Subject: Organizers needed!
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

IDA needs people who can ORGANIZE an action at certain locations in the
month of September:

Approximate dates:
Fargo, ND Sept. 19-20
Columbus, OH Sept. 11-14
Roanoke, VA Sept. 24-28
Killington, VT Sept. 25&26
Milwaukee, WI Sept. 15-16

Please contact lauren [by e-mail or [phone] X29] if you are
interested in ORGANIZING something in any of these cities.

Thanks.


Date: Wed, 20 Aug 1997 13:32:48 -0400 (EDT)
From: Jean Colison <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Food causes sickness
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>




In Our Food, Some Sickening Developments
By Don Oldenburg
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 20, 1997; Page C05
The Washington Post=20

Last week's largest recall ever for bacterially contaminated meat or=20
poultry should serve as a warning about the serious health risks that=20
can accompany many foods today -- and as a reminder of some precautions=20
consumers can take.
Five million prepackaged, frozen, quarter-pound hamburger patties,=20
distributed by Hudson Foods, are suspected of being tainted with a=20
potentially deadly strain of E. coli bacteria that has made at least 16=20
people sick in Colorado.
"This recall doesn't surprise me at all. I'm not surprised the meat was=20
contaminated or that people got sick in Colorado. I am surprised the=20
contamination was spotted," says Nicols Fox, whose recently published=20
book, "Spoiled: The Dangerous Truth About a Food Chain Gone Haywire"=20
(BasicBooks; $25) uncovers high-risk changes in how our food is=20
produced, processed, distributed, stored and prepared -- and their=20
far-reaching consequences.
"Each of those changes is opening the door to opportunistic, emerging,=20
food-borne pathogens," says Fox. "This latest outbreak illustrates how a=20
pathogen, through mass production and mass distribution, can be spread=20
throughout a product so completely."
Fox, who spent several years investigating why more people are getting=20
more severely sick from what they eat, says hamburger provides an ideal=20
example of a food system in which microbes can run rampant.
"Hamburger meat is all these different meats from a thousand different=20
cows from four different countries ground up all together," she says.=20
"One contaminated cow can contaminate 16 tons of meat. Let's suppose we=20
take that meat and distribute it all over the United States. A case of=20
someone getting sick might pop up in Maine, and another in Tennessee,=20
and in Washington, D.C. . . . It might not even be recognized as an=20
outbreak because the cases are so widespread."
In fact, health experts say more Americans than ever before are dying or=20
suffering from food-borne ailments, which range from the mild stomach=20
cramps, vomiting and diarrhea typically associated with run-of-the-mill=20
"food poisoning," to chronic liver disease and paralysis. Fox points out=20
that since midsummer more than 60 people in Virginia and Michigan became=20
sick from the E. coli-contaminated alfalfa sprouts they ate, and=20
Virginia Health Department officials tracked the illnesses of some 126=20
people to fresh basil contaminated with the Cyclospora parasite.
Fox contends that one big culprit is the increase in imported foods.=20
"Our food is as safe as the country and the environment that it comes=20
from," she says. "Trade is like a passport for pathogens. When you go to=20
Mexico, you know to eat only what you peel, boil or cook. But you go to=20
your grocery store and buy produce never thinking that [a large=20
percentage] of it comes from Mexico."
She says initiatives such as the new meat-inspection rules, which won't=20
go into effect for several years, and the first-ever salmonella vaccine=20
for poultry, ready to go on the market by the end of 1997, will help,=20
but they aren't going to prevent all that's gone wrong with our food=20
system. "I think we're making progress," she says. "But it's two steps=20
forward, one step backward."
Meanwhile, Fox has become "a reluctant vegetarian" because, she says,=20
"we've distorted the whole pattern of animal production to the point=20
where I've lost my appetite for it." For others, she advises these=20
safety precautions:
Keep two cutting boards -- one for meats, one for vegetables.
Cook foods to an interior temperature of 160 degrees F.
Hamburger meat shouldn't be eaten pink and cooked chicken juices should=20
run clear.
Rinse fresh produce that will be consumed uncooked in antibacterial=20
solutions, which can be purchased at health-food stores.
Disinfect kitchen and counter areas with a solution of one teaspoon of=20
chlorine to a quart of water.

Got a consumer problem? Report the details via e-mail to=20
[e-mail] or by mail to Don Oldenburg, Consummate=20
Consumer, The Washington Post, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20071.=20

=A9Copyright 1997 The Washington Post Company
    Food causes sickness
Date: Wed, 20 Aug 1997 13:33:43 -0400 (EDT)
From: Jean Colison <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Killing Snow Geese
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>



------------------------------------------------------------------------


Trouble on the Tundra: Snow Geese Under Gun

Massive Slaughter of Majestic Birds Proposed
By Howard Schneider
Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, August 20, 1997; Page A01
The Washington Post=20

CHURCHILL, Manitoba=97It has been 6,000 years since the Keewatin ice cap=20
retreated from the coastal marshes around this Hudson Bay village, and=20
for much of that time a prolific number of plants and animals shared=20
what sub-Arctic Canada had to offer. Plants evolved with a type of=20
organic antifreeze in their cells, and each summer's thaw revealed lush=20
spreads of marsh grass, sedges and flowers; birds trimmed and fertilized=20
the lawn, and foxes ate the birds.
It was, say scientists who have studied the area intensively for 30=20
years, a system both finely balanced and broadly diverse, given the=20
climate, from dozens of species of plant life to the top local predator,=20
the polar bear.
Today, however, there's trouble on the tundra.
In the past three decades, an explosion in the population of snow geese=20
has reduced thousands of acres of once thickly vegetated salt- and=20
fresh-water marsh to a virtual desert, driving out other species and=20
threatening to overwhelm an ecosystem that would take decades to=20
rebound.
The deteriorating situation has been tracked in detail by a team of=20
scientists who have manned a field station deep in the Manitoba marsh=20
each summer since the late 1960s. The situation is so serious that they=20
want to call out the cavalry. At this point, they say, the only way to=20
save the tundra is to kill the geese -- lots of them.
"The population has escaped hunters' control and predators' control, and=20
there is no sign of it doing anything else" but increasing, said=20
University of Toronto botanist Robert Jefferies, who has been part of=20
the field research team at La Perouse Bay since 1974.
Jefferies and other members of a joint U.S.-Canada panel have=20
recommended killing at least half the continent's snow geese through=20
increased hunting in the United States, where the birds spend the=20
winter, and in Canada, where they return in summer to breed and rear=20
their young.
Under the proposal currently being studied by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife=20
Service and its Canadian counterpart, hunters would be allowed to shoot=20
the distinctive white birds all year, as many as they want. They would=20
be allowed to bait migrating flocks into fields, use electronic calling=20
devices to lure the birds, and possibly even enter America's network of=20
national wildlife refuges in search of their prey.
And if hunters cannot kill enough of the birds, wildlife officials say,=20
there has been serious discussion of asking for help from the military,=20
or even introducing disease to "depopulate" a species that, resistant so=20
far to sickness, increased predation and other natural population=20
controls, has climbed from fewer that a half-million in the 1960s to=20
more than 3 million today.
The birds may be majestic in flight and their annual arrival anticipated=20
-- along Maryland's Eastern Shore, the plains of Iowa and the swamps of=20
Louisiana and Texas -- as one of nature's grand events. But on the=20
ground, in the marshes where they breed, they've become a pest, fattened=20
for the winter on American grain, clustering farther south to avoid=20
high-Arctic weather and increasing their numbers with an annual=20
population growth rate of 5 percent.
"They are very successful nesting birds, and they have shown the ability=20
to devastate environments," said Paul Schmidt, chief of migratory bird=20
management for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and co-chairman of=20
the Arctic Goose Joint Venture, a panel of scientists and regulators=20
established to study the snow goose. "There is a problem to be dealt=20
with. . . . The challenge will be to convince people . . . to appreciate=20
a problem that is thousands of miles away. The damage that has occurred=20
here is significant. [The geese] are hurting other organisms,"=20
particularly shore birds deprived of the habitat the geese are=20
destroying.
The damage is obvious to the few hundred humans who live in this area=20
year-round. "We're expecting the geese to land on the city square any=20
day," said John Bilenduke, deputy mayor of Churchill, a city that once=20
buzzed with military personnel stationed at a U.S. missile testing range=20
but now relies on polar bear tours and a grain elevator to stay afloat.
It is obvious from outer space, where satellite photos show the goose=20
damage as a wide, red strip around the coast of the Hudson Bay. "Any=20
effect you can see from orbit I would argue is a big one," said Peter=20
Kotanen, a University of Toronto botany professor.
Schmidt said wildlife officials plan to consult with public interest=20
groups and hold hearings over the next year. They hope to have measures=20
for dealing with the geese in place by next fall.
The practical issues are difficult enough. Unlike Canada geese, snow=20
geese are not a preferred game species. Many hunters don't think they=20
taste as good. Refuge managers said it also may be difficult for hunters=20
alone to control the population because the birds travel in large=20
flocks, quickly learn to avoid decoys and will not stay in one place=20
long enough to be killed in large numbers.
"I am not sure there is much we can do with it," said George O'Shea,=20
assistant manager of the Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge in eastern=20
Delaware. "They come and go as they desire. . . . If you open an area to=20
hunting, they will go to a private field and tear it up. . . . They=20
adapt and learn very quickly."
O'Shea said the flock of snow geese at Prime Hook has increased to as=20
many as 100,000 birds, compared to only a few thousand in the late=20
1970s. It is a sight so impressive that the local Chamber of Commerce=20
wants to start an annual snow goose festival.
There will be political hurdles as well, Schmidt said. Many migratory=20
bird species are declining in North America, their habitat converted to=20
farms and housing subdivisions. After spending money and effort building=20
refuges, establishing wetlands laws and encouraging conservation efforts=20
to preserve wildlife, Schmidt said, it will be hard to sell the idea=20
that a specific species should be suppressed.
Schmidt said he also expects strong opposition from those who challenge=20
the ability -- and the moral right -- of scientists and government=20
officials to set the population level for a wild species and kill off=20
the excess.
Biologists estimate that if 15 percent of adult snow geese are killed=20
each year, the overall population could be cut in half in several=20
seasons, with little danger of overkill or other miscalculation.
It is better to wait for a natural population crash as the geese run out=20
of food and acceptable habitat, responded Susan Hagood, an analyst for=20
the Humane Society of the United States, than to guess about how many=20
birds should die. After a recent tour of the goose nesting grounds=20
around La Perouse Bay, east of Churchill, Hagood said the humane society=20
will oppose the proposed goose kill.
The snow goose nesting grounds in North America include northern Quebec,=20
Ontario and Manitoba and parts of the Northwest Territories, "and it is=20
a little hard to believe that geese at their current population level=20
could affect that entire area," Hagood said. "Let nature take its=20
course. The population will continue to increase. It will probably then=20
crash at some point, and that will give the tundra the break it needs."
So far, however, there is no crash in sight, only the bare ground that=20
flocks of hungry geese leave behind. Areas along the western coast of=20
Hudson Bay that were once prime feeding ground for the birds are now mud=20
flats. Scientists estimate that as much as one-third of that traditional=20
habitat has been destroyed.
Compounding the problem, the snow geese move inland and change their=20
diet when the coastal grasses are gone, invading fresh-water marshes as=20
well. Land that once bloomed with gentle blue gentian and white Grass of=20
Parnassus flowers now has a dust bowl quality, covered with mats of a=20
purple weed and the skeletal twigs of dead willow bushes.
The goose's success, in and of itself, might not be cause for action.=20
However, the scientists involved contend that they are only surviving in=20
such numbers because man has given them an unfair advantage. Since the=20
1960s, said botanist Jefferies, the geese have been gorging on rice and=20
grain in the southern and southwestern United States, returning north=20
fatter than ever and better able to survive the northern Canadian=20
winter.
There is more land in cultivation now, the grain is better, and farmers,=20
to conserve soil, no longer plow their fields under in the fall,=20
Jefferies said. The result is a virtually unlimited supply of food for=20
the birds to eat during their months in America.
"All the evidence is that man caused the booming of that population. We=20
created a niche for [the snow goose] to be more competitive with other=20
species," said Jefferies. "If we are not effective in four or five=20
years, we are going to have to use our imagination."

@CAPTION: Snow geese flew over Cap Tourmente, Quebec, last October=20
during annual migration south. Their growing numbers threaten other=20
species.=20

=A9Copyright 1997 The Washington Post Company
    Killing Snow Geese
Date: Wed, 20 Aug 1997 10:44:33 -0700
From: "ida" <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Organizers needed!
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>


IDA needs people who can ORGANIZE an action at certain locations in the
month of September:

Approximate dates:
Fargo, ND Sept. 19-20
Columbus, OH Sept. 11-14
Roanoke, VA Sept. 24-28
Killington, VT Sept. 25&26
Milwaukee, WI Sept. 15-16

Please contact lauren [by e-mail or [phone] X29] if you are
interested in ORGANIZING something in any of these cities.

Thanks.


    Organizers needed!
Date: Wed, 20 Aug 1997 15:08:19 -0400 (EDT)
From: PAWS <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: albuquerque hearing in progress
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII

The city of Albuquerque's hearing on the King Royal circus animals
is going on right now (Wednesday afternoon).

PAWS will post the results of the hearing as soon as it adjourns.

Please continue to pressure the USDA to confisgate the animals
and place them in a safe refuge.


Date: Wed, 20 Aug 1997 21:55:52 +0000
From: "Miggi" <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Barry Horne hunger strike
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT

> Barry enters week 2 of hunger strike
> ************************************
>
> A vigil was held outside Bristol Prison on the night of Tue 19 Aug to
> mark the first week of Barry Hornes hunger strike against Government
> policy on animal experiments.
> After 4 days without food, the prison authorities imposed a punishment
> regime on Barry, withdrawing all but his most basic privileges. He was
> confined to his cell for 23 hours a day and was not allowed to associate
> with other prisoners.
> Following many calls of protest and a press release which generated
> intense media pressure, the prison backed down and restored all
> privileges. They even appointed an occupational therapist to check
> Barrys condition.
> Although Barrys condition did worsen a little after 6 days, he was
> somewhat better the following day and responding to the many letters of
> support which have flooded in from around the world. He wishes to thank
> all those who have written and will try to answer all letters
> eventually.
> In a statement, Barry has let it be known that he has chosen to embark
> on the hunger strike during a parliamentary recess to enable campaigners
> to approach their MPs in person, as this is when most surgeries are
> held  in their constituencies. He urges all those who care to, to attend
> the surgery of their MP and quiz Labour MPs as to why their party has
> so blatantly lied about vivisection.
>
> LABOUR ADMITS IT LIED ABOUT VIVISECTION
> ---------------------------------------
> Last December, Elliot Morley, Labour spokesperson on animal welfare made
> a number of promises, including a Royal Commission to examine the
> necessity of animal experiments. In a shocking new development, a Home
> Office spokeswoman, commenting on Barry Hornes hunger strike, has
> revealed that the new Labour administration has no intention of
> honouring this pledge, stating that December was a long time before the
> election. She went on to say: We already have an excellent source of
> independent advice - the Animal Procedures Committee."
> For those who dont know, the Animal Procedures Committee consists
> entirely of vivisectors and their political lackeys and a handful of
> totally discredited ex-animal welfare campaigners. Even the RSPCA is not
> represented.
>
> Labour has also broken a pledge to outlaw primate experiments and
> announced a 2.5million research programme using monkeys to be carried
> out at the infamous Porton Down Chemical and Biological Defence
> Establishment.
>
> A week of action against vivisection is planned next week against
> vivisection targets and the Government for its betrayal of laboratory
> animals.
>
> *On Bank Holiday Monday, Aug 25, we will be gathering in Minster Lovell,
> Oxford,  for a Demo against Hill Grove Farm, breeders of cats for
> vivisection, and currrently the target of an intensive campaign. Meet at
> Minster Lovell Hall at 5pm.
> *On Wed 27 August, at 12.30,  there is a picket of Labour Party HQ, 150
> Walworth Rd, London SE 17 (Tel.[phone]). Nearest Tube and rail
> station is Elephant & Castle.
>
> *On Sat 30 August there is a day of action against vivisection, meeting
> at BIBRA contract toxicology lab, 12 noon, BIBRA, Woodmansterne Rd,
> Carshalton, Surrey.
> For further details use the contact numbers printed on the letterhead.
>
>  Please remember that time is very important!
Date: Wed, 20 Aug 1997 17:23:44 -0700
From: [e-mail] (Lawrence Carter-Long)
To: [e-mail]
Subject: APHIS Decision on King Royal Circus & Albuquerque Elephants
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

 APHIS Press Release ANIMAL EXHIBITOR GIVEN 21-DAY SUSPENSION

    Jim Rogers     [phone]      [e-mail]

    Jamie Ambrosi  [phone]      [e-mail]

ANIMAL EXHIBITOR GIVEN 21-DAY SUSPENSION

     RIVERDALE, Md., Aug. 20, 1997- The owner of King Royal
Circus, John Davenport of Von Ormy, Texas, was ordered by the
U.S. Department of Agriculture today to suspend for 21 days all
activities covered under the Animal Welfare Act.

     "We have reason to believe that John Davenport's actions
contributed to the death of one of his elephants," said Michael V.
Dunn, USDA's assistant secretary for marketing and regulatory
programs.  "Davenport transported an elephant named Heather
while it was not in good health in a trailer that was sub par."

     On August 11, authorities in Albuquerque, N.M., found 11
King Royal animals in a parked trailer outside a local motel.  The
animals included three  elephants, one of which was dead, and
eight llamas.

     "We have also begun an investigation into King Royal
Circus and this incident,"  said W. Ron DeHaven, the acting
deputy administrator for USDA's animal care program.  "For us,
this is a high priority investigation and we expect to have it
completed soon."

     In 1992, Davenport received a warning ticket regarding
King Royal Circus' animal inventory and veterinary care records.
And in 1996, Davenport settled with the USDA regarding several
alleged violations of the act.  He agreed to a civil penalty of
$8,000.

     Under the AWA, animal exhibitors must be licensed with
the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, a part of USDA's
marketing and regulatory programs mission area.  Animal Care
employees conduct unannounced inspections to ensure
compliance with the AWA.  Any violations that inspectors find can
lead to license suspensions and/or civil penalties following
administrative adjudication.

#

Lawrence Carter-Long
Coordinator, Science and Research Issues
Animal Protection Institute
phone: [phone]
[e-mail]

"Do not be too moral. You may cheat yourself out of too
much life by doing so. Aim above morality. Be not simply
good; be good for something."  -- Henry David Thoreau




Date: Wed, 20 Aug 1997 20:42:32 -0400
From: allen schubert <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: (US) VRG HOSTS 4-H STUDENTS
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

from VRG e-mail list (VRG contact info at end of post):
-------------------------------
VRG HOSTS 4-H STUDENTS

VRG hosted seven 4-H students on August 12th and 13th. The teenage
students (many from rural farming communities) were attending a national 4-H
conference in Washington, DC and had indicated a desire to learn about public
relations and marketing skills in the food industry. VRG was asked to
participate in this program and gladly accepted the challenge. Students had
the opportunity to do research including calling supermarket chains and
asking them whether or not they offered natural foods products in their
stores and if so, which products and how were they displayed.  Some students
also called natural foods companies asking them if they had any new vegan
products available in foodservice size. If so, they asked the companies for
practical tips on how the products could be used by foodservice.  The 4-H
students also participated in two food tasting sessions to evaluate products
and discuss how they thought the products should or should not be marketed.
These non-vegetarians tasted about a dozen non-dairy frozen desserts the
first day and about a dozen vegan cup of meals the other day. Their comments
and conclusions will appear in Vegetarian Journal sometime in 1998. The
students also learned about writing press releases, wrote Veggie Action
columns for Vegetarian Journal, and practiced researching and answering
consumer questions. Overall, the two days were a tremendous success!

For more information on VRG-NEWS, see http://www.vrg.org/vrgnews or
contact Bobbi Pasternak at [e-mail].

The Vegetarian Resource Group
PO Box 1463 Baltimore, MD 21203
http://www.vrg.org
email: [e-mail]

Date: Wed, 20 Aug 1997 21:18:06 -0400
From: allen schubert <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Admin Note--subscription options
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

routine posting (a "must" a couple times a week)..........

Here are some items of general information (found in the "welcome letter"
sent when people subscribe--but often lose!)...included:  how to post and
how to change your subscription status (useful if you are going on
vacation--either by "unsubscribe" or "postpone").
---------------------------------------------------------------

To post messages to the list, send mail to [e-mail]
POSTING

To post a *news-related item* (no discussions), send your message to:

     [e-mail]

Appropriate postings to AR-News include: posting a news item, requesting
information on some event, or responding to a request for information.
Discussions on AR-News will NOT be allowed and we ask that any
commentary either be taken to AR-Views or to private E-mail.
------------------------------------------

***General Subscription Information***
ALL THE FOLLOWING SHOULD NOT be sent to ar-news !!!
(send them to [e-mail])
For all commands, use a blank Subject line.
---------------------------------------------------

To request a digest version, send mail to [e-mail]
with the following single line:

     set ar-news mail digest

To switch back to immediate mail, and to get copies of *your* postings
also, send the following command:

     set ar-news mail ack

or the following to not get your own postings:

     set ar-news mail noack

To see how you are set up ***(and to see if you are still subscribed!)***, use

     set ar-news

To temporarily stop mailings, use:

     set ar-news mail postpone

To re-enable it, use ack, noack, or digest as above.

To unsubscribe, use:

     unsubscribe ar-news

or:

     signoff ar-news

If you have to subscribe again, use:

     subscribe ar-news first_name last_name   (use false name if you want!)

If you have problems, please contact:

     Allen Schubert
     [e-mail]


Date: Wed, 20 Aug 1997 21:49:19 -0400
From: allen schubert <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: (US) Contaminations raise the question: Is food safe?
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

from CNN web page:
--------------------------------
                     Contaminations raise the question: Is food safe?

                     Most of the time is the answer

                     August 20, 1997
                     Web posted at: 7:39 p.m. EDT (2339 GMT)

                     From Health Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen

                     ATLANTA (CNN) -- What's gotten into the American
                     food supply lately?

                     This year alone, there has been E. coli bacteria
                     in hamburgers and alfalfa sprouts, Hepatitis A in
                     strawberries, and a parasite called cyclospora in
                     raspberries.

                     These contaminations not only give the American
                     consumer pause when it comes to eating such
                     things, it also makes one wonder just how safe
                     food is.

                     Americans two or three
                     generations back
                     generally ate only
                     food that was grown
                     nearby. If something
                     went wrong, "it went
                     wrong locally," said
                     Dr. Robert Tauxe of the Centers for Disease
                     Control and Prevention.

                     "The food supply that our grandparents ate was
                     really different from the food supply we're eating
                     now," he said.

                     "It was a local problem with a local solution," he
                     said. "Our food comes from all over the country
                     and, indeed, from all over the world."

                     As food goes, so go contaminants

                      When something went wrong with
                     beef at the Hudson Foods plant in
                     Columbus, Nebraska, this summer, it made people
                     sick in Colorado. Bad strawberries from Mexico
                     gave people food poisoning in Michigan.
                     Contaminated raspberries from Guatemala affected
                     people in New York.

                     In other words, as food travels around the globe,
                     so do bacteria and pesticides and, inevitably,
                     food poisoning.

                     "There are some new disease-causing agents like E.
                     coli that just didn't seem to cause much disease a
                     generation ago," Tauxe said.

                     What can be done about it? One answer is
                     technology.

                     Congress agreed this year to spend money on a
                     better early-warning system for food poisoning.
                     The quicker scientists can figure out what's
                     making people sick, the quicker they can recall
                     the contaminated foods.

                     And technology does exist to kill many food-borne
                     contaminants. It's called irradiation. But many
                     companies are reluctant to use it, fearing that
                     consumers won't buy a product with a label that
                     says it has been exposed to radiation.

                     No food is risk-free

                     There are also low-tech solutions such as improved
                     sanitation at slaughterhouses and more thorough
                     cooking by consumers.

                     Produce is a different story. You don't cook
                     lettuce, and washing it won't kill the E. coli
                     bacteria.

                     Which brings up a point many consumers don't want
                     to hear: while most food seems to be safe, there
                     is no such thing as risk-free food, even when
                     you're eating something as innocent as a
                     strawberry or an alfalfa sprout.


Date: Wed, 20 Aug 1997 21:39:00 -0400
From: Vegetarian Resource Center <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Cc: [e-mail], [e-mail]
Subject: Merger Mayhem in the Dairy Business
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Merger Mayhem
An Editorial by Sevie Kenyon

Low Milk Prices are Only Background Noise
as the Cultural-Social Fabric of Dairy Farming Changes

Big, Bigger, Biggest

Four of the nation's larger dairy marketing co-ops, including the two biggest,
announced formally in May they are seeking to consolidate.

The suspects are: Associated Milk Producers, Inc. (AMPI), Arlington, Texas;
Mid-America Dairymen, Inc. (Mid-Am), Springfield, Missouri; Milk Marketing,
Inc. (MMI), Strongville, Ohio; and Western Dairymen Cooperative, Inc. (WDCI),
Thornton, Colorado and Salt Lake City, Utah.

The U.S. Justice Department will review this proposal. At the start anyway,
leadership of the four co-ops believe the Justice Department will rule
favorably
and allow the merger to take place. Mid-Am in particular has experience with
anti-trust reviews as it has grown.

You're asking: "How does this affect me?"

The answer to your question depends on your view of dairy marketing co-ops.
Should this merger take place, dairy producers in large parts of the
country will
have only one outlet for their milk. That's if you look at dairy co-ops as
milk
buyers.

If you look at dairy co-ops as sellers of milk, you have a different spin.
This
proposed co-op consolidation will control 25% of the national milk supply.
In theory, that's a enough market power to move prices.

"Competition only helps buyers," says Carl Baumann, president of Mid-Am.
Presumably, if there is only one source from which to purchase milk, buyers
will pay the established price.

The principals in this proposed consolidation also cite "economies of
scale" as
desirable benefits for such a super co-op. Benefits from economies of scale
are
gained in administration through reduced operating costs and by providing the
"financial strength" to develop "value-added dairy marketing enterprises."

This proposal is still some distance from the finish line. As we mentioned
earlier, the Justice Department may have something to say about it. While
farmer-owned co-ops have the benefit of the Capper-Volstead Act, allowing
co-ops to set farm prices, a co-op still has to operate by the same rules as
other businesses.

Plus, the directors of each board have to sign off on the details. Then, the
members of each co-op will ratify the proposal if that's what they choose
to do.

Mid-Am Notes

Even without the consolidation news, Mid-Am, Springfield, Mo., is very busy
growing. While we couldn't get an official comment at press time, sources say
the deal for Mid-Am to buy Borden's is "imminent."

Borden's is one of the few remaining "national" dairy product companies. It's
most recognized by its Elsie the cow logo. The company has had a number of
financial "challenges" lately and is looking for a home.

Mid-Am is also dealing for a couple of bottling plants in the northeastern
part of
the country. The co-op has made a huge commitment to the fluid market and is
keenly interested in gaining a foothold inside the big population areas.

Final notes and a Correction:
Don't look for a dairy section in your July magazines. We skip that month,
sweep out the cobwebs, juice up the batteries and come back in the August
editions all fired up. Good luck this summer. And, our apologies to Marvin and
Mary Klehr. Last month we said they are Michigan dairy farmers when in fact
they are Minnesota dairy farmers.


Date: Wed, 20 Aug 1997 21:56:31 -0400
From: allen schubert <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: (US) Dead rats found at VMI, apparent anti-woman stunt
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

interesting story about sexism and speciesism
from Mercury Center web page:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted at 10:53 a.m. PDT Wednesday, August 20, 1997

Dead rats found at VMI, apparent anti-woman stunt

LEXINGTON, Va. (AP) -- Thirty dead rats and a sign
reading ``Save the Males'' were found on the parade
ground at the Virginia Military Institute today,
two days after it admitted its first female cadets.

The rats apparently were dumped by pranksters from
a rival school.

The term ``rats'' is used to refer to first-year
cadets.

Behind the pile of white laboratory rats was a
white towel with the slogan printed with black
marker. ``Save the Males'' was the mantra of
opponents of allowing women into VMI.

The nearly 460 freshmen lined up early this
afternoon to begin their six-month ordeal, known as
the ``rat line,'' that is intended to test their
physical, mental and emotional endurance. The
cadets, including the 30 women who enrolled Monday,
faced screaming upperclassmen drillmasters.

Earlier, Superintendent Josiah Bunting was visibly
disturbed as he stood over the dead rats.

``It tells you a lot more about the people who
would do that than the point they're trying to
make,'' Bunting said. ``What kind of people would
do that? Sick people.''

The rats may have been left as a prank by students
at rival Washington & Lee University, whose campus
is adjacent to VMI.

A Washington Post reporter and Roanoke Times
photographer said they were in a Lexington bar
Tuesday night when a young man who identified
himself as a W&L student told them that he and some
fellow students were considering dumping dead rats
at VMI.

``We're pretty sure the rats are ours,'' W&L
security chief Mike Young said. The rats apparently
were among those used in psychology and biology
labs. When experiments are finished, rats are
frozen and later buried in a landfill.

The rats were found by Rusty Garber, the
11-year-old son of an assistant football coach at
VMI. ``It made me queasy. I thought somebody has a
really sick mind,'' he said.

VMI officials for 14 months have prepared to comply
with a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that the
state-supported school must admit women. Cadets
have been trained how to avoid sexually harassing
female rats without compromising VMI's harsh
regimen.

VMI is trying to avoid the embarrassment The
Citadel suffered in 1995 when Shannon Faulkner
became the first woman to enter there. The South
Carolina school was the only other state military
school to exclude women. Miss Faulkner dropped out
after one week, citing stress and her isolation as
the only woman in a hostile male corps.

Four more women joined The Citadel last August, but
two dropped out in January alleging hazing by male
upperclassmen.

Bunting believes the female dropout rate should be
comparable to the men. Roughly one-quarter of the
men drop out of the tough regimen in a typical
year; two have dropped out already this week.

Date: Wed, 20 Aug 1997 22:29:48 -0400
From: allen schubert <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: EU Asks WTO To Judge US Chickens
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

from AP Wire page:
----------------------------------
 08/20/1997 13:55 EST

 EU Asks WTO To Judge US Chickens

 GENEVA (AP) -- The European Union has formally notified the World Trade
 Organization of its complaint against U.S. restrictions on poultry
 imports, trade officials said Wednesday.

 Under WTO rules, the EU and United States have 60 days from last Monday
 -- the day the notice was filed -- to try to work out their differences
 between themselves. If they fail, the EU may request that a three-member
 WTO panel rule on the dispute.

 The dispute has curbed poultry trade across the Atlantic, with the EU
 blocking imports from the United States over objections to the U.S. use
 of chlorine to kill bacteria in chicken carcasses. The United States also
 has stopped imports of European poultry and poultry products, on
 unspecified health grounds.

 Earlier this year, the EU and United States agreed to accept each other's
 veterinary standards for meat, meat products including pet food, dairy
 products and eggs. But they have been unable to agree on poultry
 standards.

Date: Wed, 20 Aug 97 21:51:12 PDT
From: "bhgazette" <[e-mail]>
To: "AR News" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Calle, the elephant
Message-ID: <[e-mail]822>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1"; X-MAPIextension=".TXT"


This article appeared (some parts omitted.... as noted) in today's San
Francisco Chronicle:

  ELEPHANT'S TB TREATMENT EFFECTIVE BUT NOT PRETTY
         Cocoa butter suppositories prescribed

 Two pounds of cocoa butter a day may spell salvation for Calle, the
elephant....

"Suppositories," explained David Robinett, general curator at the San
Francisco Zoo.  "They were considered a last effort.  Surprisingly,
she's taking it well."....

After the  zoo put out a call for help, a Berkeley pharmacist developed
two-pound suppositories molded from cocoa butter.
Acting on a suggestion from the zoo vet, pharmacist John Garcia
fashioned hollow tubes of cocoa butter, 10 inches long and two inches
wide, and filled them with the daily dose of four TB medicines.
The drug-filled suppositories cost about $125 each.  Garcia said he
crafted five different designs for the mold before he hit on the right
one.  Cocoa butter was selected instead of more common vegetable fat
because of its lower melting point and resistance to cracking.
Garcia, propietor of Abbott Pharmacy on Woolsey St.l, specializes in
old-fashioned compounding with mortar and pestle.  He makes
salmon-flavored steroid medicine for cats and fruit-flavored antibiotics
for parrots.

As far as he knows, this is the first all-hollow cocoa butter elephant
suppository in history...

Calle, a 30-year old Asian elephant on loan from the L.A. Zoo,
apparently arrived in San Francisco already infected.  Under the terms
of the loan, S.F. is oliged to pay for animal's treatment, expected to
cost more than $60,000 a year.

Calle will receive daily suppositories for two months and three
suppositories a week for 10 more months.  After that, if tests are
negative, she will be introduced to veteran zoo elephant Tinkerbelle,
with whom she will share an enclosure.

It takes a team of four zookeepers, working very much together, to
administer the suppository by hand.  One keeper is in charge of holding
Calle's tail."It's not a pretty sight," said associate curator Michele
Rudovsky.

Date: Thu, 21 Aug 1997 11:47:06 +0800 (SST)
From: Vadivu Govind <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Mir and Milk ads
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"


>South China Morning Post

Thursday  August 21  1997
     Amid toil and trouble, Mir cosmonauts find time to
     film milk commercial

     AGENCIES in Jerusalem and Moscow

     A hole in his space station was not the only thing former Mir commander
Vasily     Tsibliyev plugged on his star-crossed mission - he also made a
television commercial     for Israeli milk.

     Yesterday Channel Two television broadcast a preview of the ad showing
Tsibliyev     swallowing a floating globule of long-life milk which he
squeezed out of a     Hebrew-lettered carton.

     "The 'Milk in Space' commercial is the story of a cosmonaut who,
hundreds of kilometres away in space and months away from home, craves
fresh-tasting milk," said     a spokesman for the advertising agency that
produced the commercial for Tnuva,     Israel's biggest food manufacturer.

     She said US$450,000 (HK$3.48 million) was budgeted for the 90-second
commercial     and a fee was paid to the Russian space agency. She said she
did not know if the Mir     crew received payment.

     Tsibliyev returned to earth on August 14.

     Yesterday the new cosmonauts on Mir prepared for a dangerous spacewalk,
     scheduled for tomorrow, to repair the damaged module.

     The station was back in line with the sun and its solar batteries fully
recharged after     Monday's main computer shutdown which sent Mir into a
chaotic spin. The computerwas repaired on Tuesday.

Date: Thu, 21 Aug 1997 11:47:15 +0800 (SST)
From: Vadivu Govind <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: (HK) Epidemic fear as bird flu kills boy
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"



>Hong Kong Standard
21 Aug 97

Epidemic fear as bird flu kills boy
By Mary Ann Benitez and Ceri Williams

A HONG KONG boy has died from a new influenza strain that was thought to
exist only in birds.

The three-year-old's death has prompted the World Health Organisation (WHO)
to send investigators here to try to prevent an epidemic.

The flu type, which has never before been known to strike humans, is H5N1 _
known officially as A/HK/97 _ Director of Health Margaret Chan Fung Fu-chun
said.

This is the second time a new flu strain has been discovered in Hong Kong.
The first, H3N2, was discovered in 1968 and caused the ``Hong Kong flu''
pandemic that killed 120,000 people. That strain too was an avian virus.

A gene investigator from the United States' Centres for Disease Control
(CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia, arrived last night to confer with a special virus
committee on the new flu strain.

Hong Kong and WHO authorities said there was no cause for panic since no one
else had come down with the disease.

The boy died in Queen Elizabeth Hospital on 21 May, five days after being
admitted. He fell sick on 10 May and was first sent to Baptist Hospital.

His death came after outbreaks of H5N1 occurred on three farms in Lau Fau
Shan, where it killed 4,500 chickens in April.

Twenty-seven people, chicken farm workers and those who might have been in
contact with the boy, have since tested negative for the disease.

Dr Chan said this indicated the virus was weak and not easily transmissible.
The incubation period of the virus ranged from a few hours to five days.

``We are urging the public not to panic, for we have not yet found any other
cases of the virus up to now,'' Dr Chan said.

``If the virus has not gone through any major changes it will not be a
threat to mankind.

``If it has, it could increase the potential for a big epidemic like the
Hong Kong flu in 1968.''

Dr Daniel Lavenchy, WHO head of the influenza program, said from Geneva last
night: ``There's no reason to get anxious and go into special measures, as
long as there's only one case.''

But the investigation was continuing and a CDC gene investigator had been
sent to Hong Kong to try to prevent other cases. The investigation would
take a few weeks.

``We want to be very sure there's only one isolated case in the Hong Kong
population.

``If there's transmission from human to human or widespread transmission to
the community, we have to analyse if the virus is dangerous to humans.

``Depending on the findings we will have to discuss between the WHO, Hong
Kong and elsewhere to define a strategy.''

Dr Lavenchy said the H5N1 case did not surprise him because there had been
outbreaks in chickens in Hong Kong and on the mainland. But ``so far we have
not known H5 to affect humans''.

WHO medical investigators working from laboratories in Tokyo, London and
Melbourne were determining the ``final characteristics'' of the virus.

Deputy Director of Health Dr Paul Saw Tian-aun, who is heading the special
committee, said Hong Kong could breathe easy if the H5N1 had not mutated
significantly as the community would have immunity against it.

Three H types of influenza commonly affect humans: H1, H2, and H3. The boy's
case is the first in which H5 and H5N1 have been found in a human.

Dr Chan said specialists so far had no idea how the virus had jumped from a
bird to the boy, and they did not know what the intermediate host was.

Assistant Director of Agriculture and Fisheries Liu Kwei-ken said: ``All of
the infected chickens died of the disease but we do not yet know the effect
it has on humans.''


Date: Thu, 21 Aug 1997 11:47:20 +0800 (SST)
From: Vadivu Govind <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: (HK) Flu complications can kill: doctors
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"


>Hong Kong Standard
21 Aug 97
Flu complications can kill: doctors

By Maureen Pao

INFLUENZA itself may not be fatal but its complications can kill, doctors say.

And of the three types _ A, B and C _ type A is the most serious and can
affect animals and humans.

Dr Raymond Lai Wai-man, a microbiologist at United Christian Hospital, said
flu was generally transmitted through the air, but sometimes secretions
carrying the virus could be the culprit.

With an incubation period of one to three days, flu could be contagious for
three to five days after a patient exhibited symptoms.

Dr Lai said the usual symptoms, preceded by the onset of fever, were
headaches, fatigue, muscle pain and respiratory-tract problems such as
coughing, a sore throat and runny nose.

Dr Lai said most patients recovered without treatment within about a week.

The best a doctor could do was treat the symptoms.

Although influenza was generally not fatal, complications associated with it
could be.

The most serious of those included viral and bacterial pneumonia, acute
inflammation of the heart muscle and inflammation of the pericardium, or
membrane surrounding heart.

Dr Lai said such complications accounted for only 4 to 5 per cent of cases.

Those most at risk were the elderly and sufferers of chronic heart or lung
disease or diabetes.

Other complications included Reye syndrome, which occurred in children and
was associated with aspirin use to treat a fever.

Others included encephalopathy _ the impairment of the central nervous
system _ and liver failure.

Prof John Tam Siu-lun of the Chinese University's Department of Microbiology
said the classification of virus strains was done according to the antigens
on the surface of the influenza virus.
The ``H'' referred to haemaglutinin, the ``sticky'' end of the virus that
sticks to cell membranes, while the ``N'' referred to neuraminidase, an
enzyme that acts to break down sugars in red blood cells.

Influenza A's most distinguishing characteristic is its ability to change
into new strains, with a new strain appearing in humans every 10 to 15 years.

Prof Tam said although antigens could mutate, a person's body retained
partial immunity against the new viruses via the antibodies created to fight
older strains.

Major pandemic, or worldwide epidemic, strains of influenza A include the
Asian flu of 1957 and the Hong Kong flu of 1968.

Date: Thu, 21 Aug 1997 11:47:31 +0800 (SST)
From: Vadivu Govind <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: (HK) Death not linked to outbreak: farmers
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"



>Hong Kong Standard
21 Aug 97

Death not linked to outbreak: farmers

By Antoine So

FARMERS near the border who lost 4,500 chickens to H5N1 in April say their
birds were not responsible for the death of a boy from the virus.

``That's a big joke,'' Mr Lee, 60, a chicken-farm owner at Nim Wan Road, Lau
Fau Shan, said.

``I have been with chickens for more than 20 years. Look, I'm still very
healthy, ain't I?''

According to the Agriculture and Fisheries Department, three chicken farms
in Lau Fau Shan were hit by H5N1 in April.

More than 4,500 chickens died as a result.

The department would not reveal the exact locations of the three farms but
said the necessary isolation of the virus had been in place.

Farmers and the department's laboratory staff had not been infected, it said.

Mr Lee and another farmer said they were not aware of the April outbreak.
Mr Lee said most of his 20,000 chickens were imported from the mainland, but
he dismissed the possibility he had brought in sick poultry.

Like other farmers, he took precautions and had immunised his fowls against
a variety of diseases.

Chickens would receive four innoculations against common diseases like
influenza _ on the day of their arrival and at regular intervals afterwards.

They birds would then be raised for 50 more days on average before they
would go to the market.

``This is my living. Of course I don't want them to die, so I have all of
them injected right after they arrive,'' Mr Lee said.

The H5N1 outbreak has killed 1.7 million chickens in Guangzhou since
February, costing farmers more than 10 million yuan.

Date: Thu, 21 Aug 1997 11:47:26 +0800 (SST)
From: Vadivu Govind <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: (HK) Border farms targeted in hunt by vets
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"



>Hong Kong Standard
21 AUg 97
Border farms targeted in hunt by vets

By Antoine So

THE Agriculture and Fisheries Department will target poultry farms at the
border as it tries to track down the H5N1 virus.

Dr Barry Bousfield, the department's senior veterinary officer, said tests
would also be made at the 1,500 poultry farms in Hong Kong.
Dr Bousfield believed the death of the boy was an isolated case, and he
defended the way the department had handled the April outbreak at three
chicken farms at Lau Fau Shan.

``We checked this out, we isolated the virus, we typed the virus, we know
it's H5N1,'' he said.

``None of the farmers got sick, none of my laboratory staff got sick, so I
think it's hopefully just one odd issue.''

Dr Bousfield said poultry farms at the border would be scrutinised following
the massive outbreak of H5N1 in Guangzhou in February.

He said a person infected by the H5N1 virus would suffer from flu symptoms
such as a severe cold, headache and an infection of the lungs.

The virus would be more dangerous to the elderly and the young, who are
usually less resistant to disease.

Dr Bousfield said although there had been cases of pig influenza being
transmitted to humans, cross-influenza contamination between poultry and man
was quite rare.

``It's the first time I have heard of animal influenza directly infecting a
human,'' he said.

But Dr Bousfield warned that the development of cross-influenza infection
between animals and man could be the result of a combination of viruses and
the development of a new one, leading to the outbreak of a massive epidemic.

``Many scientists suspect that there is some actual cross-development of
virus between animal and human.
``The animal virus recombines with the human virus to create a new dangerous
virus. That will then be very worrying

Date: Thu, 21 Aug 1997 11:47:40 +0800 (SST)
From: Vadivu Govind <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: (HK) `Several' diseases cross species line
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"


>Hong Kong Standard
21 Aug 97

`Several' diseases cross species line

By Maureen Pao

CROSS-SPECIES infections, also known as zoonoses, are not unknown in Hong
Kong, medical experts say.

Diseases such as rabies and ``swine flu'' _ a type of influenza A
transmitted through the air, are types of zoonosis.

``When the path of the human crosses with that of the animal, when
development encroaches upon the habitat of the animal, cross-species
diseases may happen,'' Hong Kong Medical Association infectious diseases
spokesman Dr Lo Wing-lok said.

But Dr Lo and other experts said the appearance of cross-species infections
did not signal an epidemic and urged the public to remain calm.

Prof John Tam Siu-lun of Chinese University's Department of Microbiology
said: ``Once you have a virus crossing the species barrier, such as from
birds to humans, there's the possibility the brand new virus the human
population has never encountered before can spread.

``But right now it is a very isolated case.''

Dr Lo said such diseases could be transmitted several different ways.

For example, leptospirosis, a kind of bacteria, was spread from rats via a
liquid medium, usually urine or water.

He said several times a year, people in Hong Kong, usually labourers working
in ditches or gutters, contracted the disease, in which the bacteria
actually breaks the skin.

Streptoccocus meningitis suis (swine) bacteria, commonly found in pigs'
noses and throats, caused inflammation of the brain membrane if inhaled by
humans after being expelled from pigs.

Victims could die if the disease was not detected soon enough, Dr Lo said.


Date: Thu, 21 Aug 1997 11:47:45 +0800 (SST)
From: Vadivu Govind <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: (HK) Hospital staff ignorant of outbreak
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"


>Hong Kong Standard
21 Aug 97

Hospital staff ignorant of outbreak

By Mable Keung

MOST of the medical staff of Queen Elizabeth Hospital know nothing or very
little about the new infectious virus that caused the death of a
three-year-old boy at the government hospital in May.

Many confessed ignorance about the new infectious and potentially lethal
disease.

Few heard the news on radio or television after the hospital itself
announced the discovery of the disease on Wednesday.

But they accepted the risk as part of their job.

``There is always the possibility of getting infected,'' one said. ``It's
the nature of our job and we have to accept it. We cannot worry too much.''

Doctors and nurses agreed they had to take extra precautions in the wake of
the fatal virus' discovery.

``We will be reminded to wear gloves, if we have any wound, while performing
our duties,'' another said.

They were concerned that the hospital told the media of the outbreak before
staff.
``I would say I would have preferred the hospital to have immediately
notified us since, after all, we are the ones who actually have close
contacts with patients,'' one nurse said.


Date: Thu, 21 Aug 1997 11:48:03 +0800 (SST)
From: Vadivu Govind <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: HK could become centre of pandemic
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"


>Hong Kong Standard
21 Aug 97

HK could become centre of pandemic

By Maureen Pao

HONG KONG could become the epicentre of a world epidemic if the new strain
of virus has spread, influenza research scientist Professor John Tam Siu-lun
has warned.

``If a new strain, that humans have never encountered before, spreads from
human to human, we have serious decisions to make,'' said Prof Tam, a
leading member of the Chinese University's Microbiology Department.

One step would be to make infection-blocking drugs, such as Amantadine,
available to the public.

Prof Tam said Amantadine can prevent influenza if taken continuously during
an epidemic.

But he warned these drugs only prevent infection and are not a cure once the
disease takes hold.

The most important step would be for organisations such as the World Health
Organisation or the United States' Centres for Disease Control to develop a
preventative vaccine for the new strain, called H5N1.

However, vaccines at best give only 70 per cent protection and can be
quickly outpaced by new strains.

Influenza experts, including the University of Hong Kong's Kenneth
Shortridge, have suggested that the ecosystem of the southern China region,
including Hong Kong, may allow variant virus strains to mingle, making
epidemics more likely.

China and Hong Kong have historically been considered ``flu zones'', and
health organisations have set up numerous surveillance centres in the region.

Prof Tam explained that the theory is based on the fact that animals and
humans live in close proximity in the region.

In addition to being infected by a typically ``human'' strain of influenza,
a person may also contract ``equine'' or ``swine'' strains at the same time.

Known as ``supra-infection'', or co-existing infections by different strains
of viruses, this condition may result in the mingling of viruses to create
wholly new strains.

Prof Tam said the current case might provide evidence to support this theory.


Date: Thu, 21 Aug 1997 11:48:08 +0800 (SST)
From: Vadivu Govind <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: (TW) Ivory smuggling highlights ignorance of animal
  preservation laws
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"


>CNA Daily English News Wire

IVORY SMUGGLING HIGHLIGHTS IGNORANCE OF ANIMAL PRESERVATION   LAWS

Taipei, Aug. 16 (CNA) Customs police, in the first six months of this year,
seized more than NT$170 million (US$5.92 million)-worth of smuggled goods,
including drugs, guns and ivory products, in 93 major smuggling cases.

Chao Kuo-an, deputy director general of Customs, said on Saturday that of
these cases, 56 were committed by travelers entering Taiwan, 36 of which
were in connection with illegal bringing of ivory products. Chao said this
revealed Taiwan tourists liked to purchase ivory souvenirs while overseas,
bringing them home unaware that they were violating the Wild Animal
Preservation Law.

According to the latest statistics by the Directorate General of Customs,
the 93 smuggling cases also included 19 involving drugs and seven involving
guns and ammunition. There were several cases involving mainland alcohol and
agricultural products.

A total of 6,719 kg of heroin, 292 kg of amphetamines, 15 pistols, and 761
bullets were also seized during the six-month period, the statistics show.

Meanwhile, a spokesman of the Council of Agriculture (COA) said on Saturday
that they burned 1400 tons of smuggled agricultural products last year, down
36 percent from the year-earlier-level.

The decline in the amount of seized contraband was attributable to
strengthened coast guard patrols and customs examination systems, part of
the efforts to improve social order, the spokesman said.
(By Elizabeth Hsu)

Date: Thu, 21 Aug 1997 11:48:47 +0800 (SST)
From: Vadivu Govind <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Vitamin C said to help protect memory
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"


>CNA Daily English News Wire

VITAMIN C SAID TO HELP PROTECT MEMORY


Canberra, Aug. 20 (CNA) High intakes of vitamin C and betacarotene across a
lifetime may protect human memory functions from deterioration and stave off
dementia, according to a new study.

The study by University of Basel geriatrics Professor Hannes Staehelin of
Switzerland on Swiss men and women for 20 years found those who had high
levels of these antioxidant vitamins in their blood performed better in
memory tests.

Staehelin, who will present a research paper at the World Congress of
Gerontology in Adelaide this week, told the Australian Associated Press
(AAP) Tuesday that disturbances in memory functions related to aging could
be linked to increased oxidative stress with aging.

"It's quite clear that neurons in the brain cells are challenged by free
radicals and that the aging process itself is linked to free radicals," he
said.

"It appears that antioxidants actually protect the neurons from damage," he
said.

Although the usefulness of these vitamins is increasingly accepted, he said,
it's difficult to prove.

He said a study in Rotterdam in the Netherlands on dementia has shown people
with low betacarotene intake have a higher rate of dementia.

"Our study is unique because it involves a 20-year follow-up. We have
observed that antioxidants have a long-term effect, but how important intake
is in later years is not so clear," he said.

The study involved testing 442 healthy elderly people aged 65 to 94 years on
aspects of memory and matching the results with vitamin blood levels.
It found vitamin C and betacarotene were significant predictors of ability
in tests of vocabulary and betacarotene in tests of recognition.

Antioxidants are ideally obtained from natural sources such as fruits and
vegetables, but supplements might be necessary, Staehelin told the AAP. (By
Peter Chen)