ANIMALNET MARCH 1, 2003
Denmark reports 12th case of mad cow disease
Avian influenza - Netherlands
FDA seeks recall of U.S., Canadian animal feed due to dioxin contamination
Pesticide used to keep farmed salmon lice free called illegal: 'farmed
salmon are a plague' say green groups
PETA-holocaust display
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DENMARK REPORTS 12TH CASE OF MAD COW DISEASE
March 1, 2003
Agence France Presse English
COPENHAGEN - Veterinary officials were cited as saying that Denmark has
reported its 12th case of mad cow disease after a five-year-old dairy cow
was found to be infected with the fatal brain-wasting illness.
The rest of the 200 cows on the farm in Fyn will be destroyed next week. The
farm also delivered cows to neighbouring farms, which means an additional 33
animals will have to be destroyed.
AVIAN INFLUENZA - NETHERLANDS
March 1, 2003
A ProMED-mail post
http://www.promedmail.org
Source: AP Online, 01 Mar 2003 [edited]
http:
//www.austin360.com/aas/news/ap/ap_story.html/Intl/AP.V6977.AP-Netherlands-B
ir.html
Dutch Ban Poultry Exports; Suspect Flu
AMSTERDAM:The Dutch government banned all exports of poultry and related
farm products Saturday after a suspected outbreak of bird flu on 6 Dutch
farms.
The Agriculture Ministry ordered farmers to keep chickens and other birds
inside and prohibited the transport or sale of eggs, poultry or animal feed.
The infections are believed to be in the villages Scherpenzeel, Renswoude
and Barneveld in the eastern province of Gelderland, near the German border.
Avian influenza generally infects only birds, but there have been isolated
cases when humans contracted the disease. The most recent was in Hong Kong
last month when a boy and his father became sick after having been in direct
contact with sick birds.
To prevent infections from spreading in the Netherlands, roads were closed
for a radius of 6 miles around all suspect farms, according to an
Agriculture Ministry statement.
The Netherlands, which suffered several severe outbreaks of swine fever in
recent years, is a main exporter of chickens and eggs in Europe. The
association for poultry and eggs farmers said a long-term ban would cost the
industry tens of thousands of dollars a week.
[In case the current outbreak is found to be caused by the Highly
Patghogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) virus, this news might become very
alarming. Details on the identification of the involved virus are expected
soon. Low Pathogenic Avian Influenza (LPAI) virus has been evolving in
Northern Italy for some time (see ref).
ProMED-Mail is grateful to Marja Wijdeveld for providing us with preliminary
information on this item. - Mod.AS]
FDA SEEKS RECALL OF U.S., CANADIAN ANIMAL FEED DUE TO
DIOXIN CONTAMINATION
February 28, 2003
CP Wire
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration was cited as saying
Friday it had found elevated levels of dioxin in the mixes after a supplier
alerted the FDA to the problem.
The FDA was further cited as saying the mixes do not pose an immediate
threat to humans because they are heavily diluted when fed to animals raised
for meat. The agency is testing whether zinc oxide or copper dioxide are
the source of dioxins. The FDA has asked manufacturers and suppliers in 11
states to recall the premixed minerals and feed products.
Those include: California, Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi,
Nebraska, New York, Pennsylvania, Utah and Washington. The agency also is
asking Canadian suppliers to recall the mixes.
PESTICIDE USED TO KEEP FARMED SALMON LICE FREE CALLED ILLEGAL: 'FARMED
SALMON ARE A PLAGUE' SAY GREEN GROUPS
March 1, 2003
The Vancouver Sun
A8
Glenn Bohn
The Sierra Legal Defence Fund was cited as allegding Friday a B.C.
government plan to use a pesticide at Broughton Archipelago fish farms to
kill sea lice is "illegal" and a violation of the federal Fisheries Act.
The story says that the accusation came on the same day salmon farm
employees held their first demonstration in Vancouver to defend the $600
million-a-year industry, with about 20 members of the Vancouver Island-based
Society for the Positive Awareness of Aquaculture demonstrating outside the
B.C. headquarters of the federal fisheries department. Society president
Laurie Jensen, a fish food supplier, was cited as complaining of a "campaign
of harassment and intimidation" by groups and news media pundits who oppose
fish farming.
The story says that at the same time and place, about 80 people with
environmental and aboriginal groups, including the B.C. Union of Indian
Chiefs, demanded the closure of fish farms.
At the base of the Burrard Street office tower passersby saw contradictory
messages on different placards. Slogans like "farmed fish are a plague"
competed with pro-industry messages, like "salmon [farmed and wild] is good
for the heart."
FISH LICE WILL ALWAYS SPAWN MORE POTENT PESTICIDES
March 1, 2003
The Vancouver Sun
A23
Craig Orr, Executive Director, Watershed Watch, says in this letter he
attended the recent sea lice workshop and four others in the past few weeks
(Pesticide scares prawn fishermen, Feb. 28). Orr says that while Slice (an
avermectin) may be "safer" than true pesticides (organophosphates) relative
to non-target organisms, most scientists agree that there is little
information on the environmental fate and ecological effects of Slice in the
marine environment. Those scientists also know that lice rapidly develop
resistance to all chemical therapeutants (three to five years) and, as long
as we practise open-net-cage aquaculture, we'll always need newer, better
and more expensive drugs and lice treatments.
Lice cost Scottish fish farmers $50 million to $70 million each year. And
Scotland's wild salmonids still suffer.
The real question is what are British Columbians more interested in:
embarking on a gigantic "integrated pest management control" program on this
coast or protecting the health and well-being of our wild salmon?
PETA-HOLOCAUST DISPLAY
March 1, 2003
AP
Michelle Morgante
SAN DIEGO -- "The Holocaust on Your Plate" campaign by People for the
Ethical Treatment of Animals, comparing the suffering of livestock to that
of Holocaust victims, debuted this week in California and, according to this
story, will make a national tour.
The story says that the display is a set of eight 6-foot-by-10-foot panels
showing photographs of Holocaust victims -- emaciated men, crowds of people
being forced onto trains, children behind barbed wire, heaps of human bodies
-- set next to similar images of cattle, pigs and chickens.
The Anti-Defamation League denounced the project and PETA's appeal for
support from the Jewish community as "outrageous, offensive and taking
chutzpah to new heights."
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