Terry D. Etherton
There is an ongoing overweight/obesity epidemic in the United States. Estimates from the National Center for Health Statistics are that about 66% of Americans are either overweight of obese! This epidemic not only poses a health problem for overweight/obese individuals, but also represents a rapidly expanding burden on health care costs in America. Read the rest of this entry »
Jacob Werner, VMD
Assistant Professor of Veterinary Medicine and Dairy and Animal Science
Attending Veterinarian for Agricultural Animals and Wildlife
Animal Resource Program
Penn State University
A recent outbreak of equine Herpes Virus 1 (EHV-1) in Southwest Pennsylvania has prompted many questions and concerns from horse owners. The farm has been quarantined to prevent the spread of the virus. While there is no immediate threat outside that farm, horse owners should be vigilant and practice high levels of biosecurity. Commonly known as Rhinopneumonitis or “Rhino,” Equine Herpes Virus (EHV) has many different types and is best known by horse owners to cause respiratory disease and abortions. It is important to know that EHV can cause other disease states in horses. EHV-1 found in Southwest Pennsylvania was the cause of a neurologic form of the disease. Read the rest of this entry »
On June 9, 2009, I posted a blog “The Slippery Slope Involved in the Proposed Move of the U.S. Foot and Mouth Disease Lab – What a “Mess!” that questioned the basis for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) support for the movement of FMD virus and research from the current location at Plum Island Animal Disease Research Center (PIADC) to the newly announced National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF) site managed by Kansas State University. This morning’s Washington Post had a very interesting article that discusses concerns about this issue. Enjoy reading the story.
By Carol D. Leonnig
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, July 27, 2009
The Department of Homeland Security relied on a rushed, flawed study to justify its decision to locate a $700 million research facility for highly infectious pathogens in a tornado-prone section of Kansas, according to a government report. Read the rest of this entry »
A ProMED-mail post (July 23, 2009)
Two Canadian Food Inspection Agency [CFIA] inspectors appear to have contracted swine flu while investigating an outbreak of the new virus in pigs on an Alberta farm in late April [2009], the agency confirmed on 21 July 2009.
The cases appear to be the first report of people catching the new H1N1 virus from pigs. Read the rest of this entry »
