ANIMALNET MAY 26, 2002

Iran says 30 percent of cattle infected with contagious haemorrhagic fever
Avian influenza - china (Hong Kong) (10)
Deer disease
Cow clone
Castro's super-cows closer to reality
Campaigners urge ban on animal transport


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IRAN SAYS 30 PERCENT OF CATTLE INFECTED WITH CONTAGIOUS HAEMORRHAGIC FEVER
May 26, 2002
Agence France Presse English
TEHRAN - The English-langauge Tehran Times paper was cited as reporting
Sunday that 30 percent of Iran's cattle are infected with an extremely
contagious haemorrhagic fever with officials sounding "public alarm" over a
probable new outbreak of the deadly disease
Mohammad Mahdi Gouya who heads the health ministry's Disease Management
Center was quoted by the conservative daily as saying that, "Health
officials have warned that a new outbreak was in the making with the start
of a hot spell."
The story says that the deadly disease "has led to the death of at least 20
Iranians since 2001," the daily said adding that "more than 140 people" have
been diagnosed as "carrying the virus."



AVIAN INFLUENZA - CHINA (HONG KONG) (10)
May 25=4, 2002
A ProMED-mail post
http://www.promedmail.org
International Society for Infectious Diseases
http://www.isid.org
Source: ABC News, Reuters report, Fri 24 May 2002 [edited]
http: //abcnews.go.com/wire/US/reuters20020524_91.html
Recent H5N1 avian influenza virus strains differ from 1997 outbreak strain
HONG KONG: Investigators for the Hong Kong government confirmed on Fri 24
May 2002 that the viruses in a recent outbreak of avian influenza in the
territory differed from the virus that killed 6 people in 1997. The 1997
outbreak sparked fears of a potential global epidemic, but last month the
government said there was no indication that this year's virus would
endanger humans. Hong Kong has been hit by 3 major outbreaks of avian
influenza in the past 5 years. This year, over 900 000 chickens were killed.
In 1997, and again last year, the entire chicken population of over one
million birds was slaughtered.
"None of these recent H5N1 [avian influenza virus] strains shared the same
combination of genes as those found in the 1997 virus that caused severe
disease in both man and poultry," Thomas Chan, chairman of the investigation
team and director of Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation, told reporters
on Fri 24 May 2002. "All the viruses isolated early this year were derived
originally from the Goose GD-96 [avian influenza] virus."
The investigators said the 1997 killer H5N1 strain had not been found in the
territory since the first mass slaughter. "The investigation team considers
that the outbreak of disease on local farms was probably caused by a small
number of introductions of H5N1 [avian influenza] virus onto farms, followed
by local spread between farms," Chan said. "The spread from farm to farm was
likely to be due to the movement of people or items associated with the
poultry industry and, for some farms in very close proximity, may have been
the result of airborne spread of the virus, possibly via contaminated dust."
Hong Kong diners prefer fresh chicken to frozen meat. Recommendations
proposed by the investigation team to reduce the chance of another outbreak,
however, included farmers avoiding any form of contact with markets,
stopping movement of materials between farms, increasing the supply of
chilled poultry, and introducing an additional market "rest day" each month
so retail markets could be disinfected.
[Byline: Carrie Lee]
[In the outbreak of avian influenza A (H5N1) virus in humans in Hong Kong in
1997 infection was confirmed in 18 individuals, 6 of whom died. Infections
were acquired by humans directly from chickens, without the involvement of
an intermediate host. The outbreak was halted by a territory-wide slaughter
of over 1.5 million chickens at the end of December 1997. The clinical
spectrum of H5N1 virus infection ranged from asymptomatic infection to fatal
pneumonitis and multiple organ failure. Reactive hemophagocytic syndrome
was the most characteristic pathological finding and might have contributed
to the lymphopenia, liver dysfunction, and abnormal clotting profiles that
were observed among patients with severe infection. - Mod.CP]




DEER DISEASE
May 25, 2002
AP
Robert Imrie
WAUSAU, Wis. -- When Wisconsin wildlife officials first asked hunters to
kill hundreds of deer to test for a fatal brain disease found in southern
Wisconsin, more than 600 people, according to this story, volunteered for
the job.
But now the state wants to destroy all the deer in a 361-square-mile area
starting in June, and hunters are, the story says, balking, saying
authorities are moving too fast and going against long-held hunting
traditions.
Mark Kessenich, a hunter who owns 80 acres in the hot zone west of Madison,
was quoted as saying, "It has been nothing but panic, panic, panic. We are
saying slow down."
Other hunters were cited as saying they support trying to eradicate chronic
wasting disease from Wisconsin's 1.6 million deer herd by targeting animals
in the infected hot zone. But they won't hunt until fall -- the traditional
time.
Steve Oestreicher, chairman of the Wisconsin Conservation Congress, which
represents thousands of hunters and believes the state has the right
strategy, was quoted as saying, "We need to get these animals killed. All
eyes in the nation are on Wisconsin. If this is indeed a crisis, the
governor would be wise to very seriously consider even calling out the
National Guard on this. The hunters and sharpshooters are not going to get
them all."
Landowner and hunter Mark Sherven was cited as saying the state's timing is
off. Instead of killing deer now, the DNR should test every deer carcass
during tradition hunts this fall to provide a better picture of the
disease's spread, and to reassure hunters their venison is disease-free,
adding, "I give the DNR credit for not dragging their feet, but I think they
are pulling the trigger a little bit too quick on this one."
The emerging opposition doesn't surprise Bruce Heberlein, a hunter and
retired University of Wisconsin sociologist who has researched hunting
trends.
Though some people have proposed building a fence around the hot zone to
contain the diseased deer, DNR spokesman Bob Manwell was cited as saying too
much land is privately held for such a plan to be feasible.




COW CLONE
May 26, 2002
AP
Andrew Bridges
LOS ANGELES -- Researchers working with clones of a Holstein cow were cited
as saying that genetic programming errors may explain why so many cloned
animals of all types die, either as fetuses or newborns.
In cloning, the DNA of an adult animal is inserted into a donor egg emptied
of its own DNA. For that cell to develop, genes that may have been turned
off in the adult animal that was being cloned must be turned on again to
guide the egg to form a new, genetically identical individual.
The story says that scientists at the University of Connecticut studying how
the normal patterns of X chromosome inactivation are erased and then
re-established during cloning found abnormalities in nine of 10 genes they
examined on the X chromosome.
The story adds that the scientists found the genes had been incompletely
reprogrammed in five dead cow clones and one aborted fetus. Looking at four
live clones, as well as control animals conceived naturally, the scientists
found the same genes were normal.
Xiangzhong "Jerry" Yang, lead author of the study. Results appear online
Sunday in the journal Nature Genetics, was quoted as saying, "Our study
demonstrates that in clones, even though they can develop to full term, many
abnormalities in gene expression exist, which may be partially responsible
for the developmental abnormalities frequently observed, including death."
Dr. Robert Lanza, medical director of Advanced Cell Technology and an expert
in the cloning of cows, was cited as calling the study "solid" and said that
it helps explain the high death rate in cloning. More than 80 percent of
clones die during pregnancy or shortly after birth.



CASTRO'S SUPER-COWS CLOSER TO REALITY
May 26, 2002
The Calgary Herald
A13
Sarah Baxter
According to this story, Cuba's leader, Fidel Castro, is developing a
cow-cloning program based on Ubre Blanca -- White Udder -- and no beast
could rival her milk production quotas.
The story says that when Ubre Blanca died in 1985, she was eulogized in the
Cuban press as a revolutionary hero, just as Boxer the horse was in Animal
Farm before he was secretly taken to the knacker's yard.
Her pendulous udder produced the world record for milk in a single day: 238
pounds, the output of four normal cows. She was kept in an air-conditioned
barn, serenaded with classical music and had security guards at her side.
T-shirts with her picture on them were distributed.
Yet, if Castro has his way, the beast's greatest achievement may lie in the
future.
A team of geneticists has been appointed to create a race of cloned
super-cows. Tissue from Ubre Blanca has been kept for 17 years, and her eggs
were harvested at her death, while taxidermists put her behind glass at
Cuba's centre for cattle health.
According to Dr. Jose Morales, the head of the cow-cloning team at Havana's
Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Cuba is "very, very close"
to producing a bovine version of Dolly the sheep.


CAMPAIGNERS URGE BAN ON ANIMAL TRANSPORT
May 26, 2002
PA News
Amanda Brown
UK campaigners are, according to this story, to present a giant postcard to
Environment Secretary Margaret Beckett and other EU agriculture ministers
tomorrow, urging them to end the long-distance transport of animals.
Members of Compassion in World Farming will stage their protest in Brussels,
because they say the trade imposes suffering to more than two million
animals each year within the EU.
The story says that the giant postcard is a montage of photographs of
citizens from across Europe who want to see an end to this cruel trade.
It will be received by Mrs Beckett and her European counterparts, Renate
Kunast from Germany, Margareta Winberg from Sweden and Laurens-Jan
Brinkhorst from the Netherlands, at 2pm outside the Council Building.
The card also represents the hundreds of thousands of postcards individually
sent to agriculture ministers around Europe calling for an end to the trade.

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