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US Officials Plan for Bioterrorism Attack.
Bioterrorism has moved to prominence following the 11 September 2001 attacks on the USA. Animal scientists have a special interest in Bioterrorism as such acts may be directed against humans or animals or both. This article was originally published prior to the 11 September 2001 attacks, showing that active concern about Bioterrorism existed before those attacks. The article is reproduced here for the benefit of animal scientists in Europe with acknowledgement to the author, Letitia Stein, and to Reuters, Washington DC, USA who issued it on 11 July 2001.
US Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson told state officials to intensify preparations for a possible biological weapons attack, saying an incident was likely at some point. "Someday we're more than likely going to be hit by some sort of Bioterrorism in America," Thompson told a National Governors' Association summit on domestic terrorism. Thompson stressed that he did not know when or where such an attack would occur, but urged states to do what they could to get ready.
To prepare for the threat, he announced the appointment of Dr. Scott Lillibridge, the former director of Bioterrorism preparedness and response at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Lillibridge, who will co-ordinate national response plans, said the threat of Bioterrorism was of great concern to national intelligence and security advisers. "We're concerned enough to shore up this vulnerability," he told Reuters. State governments scrambled to prepare for potential terrorist attacks following the bombings of a federal building in Oklahoma City in 1995, and the World Trade Center in 1993.
Dr. Thomas Inglesby of Johns Hopkins University said the United States was
better prepared for chemical than biological terrorism, a troubling fact given
that biological weapons are relatively easy to produce. "We have not found
a sophisticated microbiologist yet who thinks that a mass biological weapon
is beyond his capacity," Inglesby told Reuters. States like West Virginia
have had ample practice responding to natural disasters, such as the weekend
flash floods that devastated the state, Gov. Robert Wise Jr. told the summit.
But he said the state was "far less prepared" to respond to bioterrorist
attacks. The first day of the 2-day summit focused on a mock bioterrorist attack
in the fictional city of Gotham. A panel of experts, playing roles of a governor
and his advisers, acted out the step-by-step responses to the crisis. Local
officials then offered their suggestions for dealing with the emergency. Attorney
General John Ashcroft will address the summit on Wednesday, following an FBI
discussion on the domestic terrorism threat. Vice President Dick Cheney is leading
a review of America's ability to cope with a terrorist attack on US soil. It
is due to be completed by October 1. U.S. National Library of Medicine, 8600
Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD 20894. Copyright and Privacy Policy, We welcome
your comments.
Reported by Reuters Washington , July 11 2001.
South African Farm Animal Conservation Trust (Fact)
History and aims
The Farm Animal Conservation Trust (FACT) was established in 1994 as the Association
for the Conservation of Early Domesticated Animals in South Africa (ACEDA) with
a mandate to facilitate and promote the conservation of South Africa's indigenous
farm animal genetic resources. FACT activities include the dissemination of
information on known and endangered farm animals and facilitating conservation
through the sustainable use of these breeds in commercial farming systems.
FACT is an active partner in a national initiative to create awareness and markets
and to add value. This partnership includes the National Department of Agriculture,
the Agricultural Research Council, the National Cultural History Museum and
Universities.
Founding Workshop and basic constitution
FACT started life as ACEDA after a founding workshop assisted by the Secretary
General of RBI and Executive Director of RBST, Lawrence Alderson. This was an
opportunity to invite all possible stakeholders and role players to a symposium
to discuss the need for a breed conservation organization. In reviewing the
progress of FACT, it was undoubtedly the most effective way to initiate the
establishment of the NGO - and an effective way to get support from the State
and Parastatal organizations involved at the time.
Keith Ramsay, President Rare Breeds International.
American Society of Animal Science and the American Dairy Science Association
The two Societies (ASAS & ADSA) have issued the following announcement offering a NEW complimentary issue of DASEES, the Dairy and Animal Science Electronic Executive Summaries. Each DASEE includes recent stories of interest to those in the dairy/animal agricultural industry, peer-reviewed research articles on timely topics, practical applications of recent research findings. They are themed in six interest areas: dairy foods, dairy production, large animal health, large animal nutrition, beef production, and swine production.
“We have produced over 30 pilot issues and new DASEES issues will be posted every two to three weeks. Please take a few minutes to look them over. To get to the DASEE issues, please click on this address: http://www.fass.org/dasees
Please let us know how we're doing! We would appreciate any comments you may have on the DASEES issues. We would also appreciate any ideas you may have for future issues. Send your comments and ideas to tknox@advancenet.net
New DASEES include: Beef Production; Ultrasound Technology for Carcass Breeding Values; Large Animal Health Euthanasia; Swine Production; Low Dose Artificial Insemination; Meat Science; Meat Irradiation; Dairy Production; Accelerated Heifer Growing. Further information from: dasees_members@assochq.org
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