US declares swine flu 'emergency'

16:36 GMT, Saturday, 24 October 2009 17:36 UK

bbc.co.uk


US officials say swine flu activity is widespread in 46 states
US President Barack Obama has declared swine flu a national emergency.
The White House said the president signed the proclamation concerning the 2009 H1N1 outbreak on Friday evening.
It increases the ability of treatment facilities to handle a surge in H1N1 patients by easing the implementation of emergency plans.
Last week US officials said swine flu activity was widespread in 46 states. More than 1,000 US deaths have been linked to the virus.
Health officials say the infections are already comparable to peak season flu levels.
Vaccine warning
US officials said the president's declaration was similar to ones issued before hurricanes make landfall.

SWINE FLU SYMPTOMS

Typical symptoms: sudden fever (38C or above) and sudden cough
1. Other symptoms include: Tiredness and chills
2. Headache, sore throat, runny nose and sneezing
3. Stomach upset, loss of appetite, diarrhoea
4. Aching muscles, limb or joint pain
Source: UK NHS
It allows authorities to bypass certain federal requirements in order to deal more effectively with emergencies.
The aim of the directive is to remove bureaucratic hurdles, allowing sick patients to receive treatment more quickly and giving health-care providers more flexibility in providing it.
Paperwork on patients can be reduced and additional health centres set up outside hospitals to care for the sick.
In his proclamation statement, Mr Obama says the 2009 H1N1 pandemic "continues to evolve".
"The rates of illness continue to rise rapidly within many communities across the nation, and the potential exists for the pandemic to overburden health care resources in some localities."
He said the US had already taken "proactive steps" by implementing public health measures and developing an effective swine flu vaccine.
However, the government has admitted there are delays in the delivery of vaccines.
It had hoped to roll out 120 million doses by mid-October.
It now hopes for about 50 million by mid-November and 150 million in December.
Dr Thomas Frieden, of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said on Friday: "We are nowhere near where we thought we'd be by now."
Given the shortfall, New York State on Friday stayed a directive ordering health care staff to be inoculated or risk losing their jobs.
The CDC says widespread influenza activity in 46 states is "unprecedented during seasonal flu".
It said the hospitalisation rates for laboratory-confirmed swine flu were still climbing.
Although figures are hard to verify, it is thought H1N1 has hospitalised about 20,000 people in the US.
Visits to the doctor for influenza-like illnesses were also much higher than expected for the time of year, the CDC said.
The seasonal flu peak is usually between late November and early March.
Children and young adults have been among the hardest hit by H1N1. Almost 100 of the deaths have been children.

WHO Recommends Antivirals For Patients With Symptoms Of Both H1N1, Pneumonia

Monday, October 19, 2009

The WHO concluded a three-day meeting on H1N1 (swine flu) in Washington, D.C., on Friday, where health experts issued recommendations that patients with symptoms of H1N1 and pneumonia be treated quickly with antivirals, even before the results of H1N1 tests are complete, the San Francisco Chronicle blog, "ChronRX" reports (Allday, 10/16).

"Experts stress that most people who get the H1N1 virus either never get sick or recover easily. But some young adults, possibly especially women, are falling seriously ill at an unexpectedly rapid pace and are showing up in intensive care units and dying in unusually high numbers, they say," the Washington Post reports. "Although why a minority of patients become so sick remains a mystery, new research indicates that H1N1 is different from typical seasonal flu viruses in crucial ways -- most notably in its ability to penetrate deep into the lungs and cause viral pneumonia" (Stein, 10/17).

H1N1 Vaccines Shortages In U.S., Mexico

Also on Friday, the CDC announced the number of H1N1 vaccine doses to arrive in the U.S. by the end of October would be about 10 million short – "about 25% fewer than expected" – due to slower than anticipated vaccine production, the Los Angeles Times reports. "Despite the current low production, however, there are no plans to use adjuvants -- chemicals added to increase the immune response to the antigen -- to extend the supply of the pandemic H1N1 vaccine, said Dr. Jesse Goodman of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration" (Maugh/Ellingwood, 10/17).

"Yields for vaccine are lower than would be hoped," Anne Schuchat, of the CDC, said during a telephone press conference, Reuters reports" (Fox, 10/16). According to the Associated Press, "[W]hat CDC calls the 2009 H1N1 flu is causing widespread disease in 41 states, and about 6 percent of all doctor visits are for flu-like illness — levels not normally seen until much later in the fall" (Neergaard, 10/17).

The Los Angeles Times reports that Mexico is also facing H1N1 vaccine shortages, where "[o]fficials had promised 30 million doses, but now say they don't expect the first batch of 5 million to 8 million doses until late December," due to "the huge demand for vaccines around the world." Even so, the newspaper notes, "reaction to the H1N1 pandemic in Mexico has been more muted than it was in the spring, when the country was the first to be hit hard by the outbreak."

"Nearly 20,000 new cases of swine flu infection have been confirmed in that country since early September, with at least 61 fatalities, according to health authorities there. That contrasts with the nearly 42,000 cases and 260 deaths reported since the outbreak began in the spring -- though authorities cautioned that the winter flu season has just begun," the newspaper writes. "This time, health officials are stressing good hygiene and prompt medical treatment for flu-type symptoms, but say there is no need for widespread precautionary closures" (10/17).

In related news, Rwanda could receive the country's first batches of H1N1 vaccine from the WHO as early as next month, according to the Minister of Health, Richard Sezibera, New Times/allAfrica.com reports (Nambi, 10/17).

The Hill Examines Congressional Positions On H1N1 Vaccine

Meanwhile, the Hill examines discussion over whether Americans should receive the H1N1 vaccine. "In the Senate, the topic has accomplished the rare feat of uniting Democrats and Republicans — members of both parties are promoting vaccinations regardless of the rhetoric," the newspaper writes (Rushing, 10/18).

The Kaiser Daily Global Health Policy Report is published by the Kaiser Family Foundation. © 2009 Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.

US swine flu vaccines 'delayed'

01:22 GMT, Saturday, 17 October 2009 02:22 UK


Some 11.4 million vaccines have been made available in the US
US officials have warned of delays in the delivery of swine flu vaccines just as deaths from the H1N1 virus climb above epidemic level in some states. Only 28-30 million doses would be available by the end of the month, said Anne Schuchat of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). That was down from an earlier estimate of 40 million. Swine flu has had an especially strong impact on children, 86 of whom have died this year, Ms Schuchat said. The number of children who have died so far this year from the H1N1 virus was greater than the number that normally die in an entire flu season, Ms Schuchat said.

Forty-three children are reported to have died from flu since 30 August, with 38 of those confirmed to have been caused by the H1N1 virus. Half of those deaths were in children aged between 12 and 17. "These are very sobering statistics," Ms Schuchat said. "Some of these children have been totally healthy."

'Rapid deterioration'

Ms Schuchat said swine flu activity was widespread in 41 states, and deaths had reached the epidemic threshold in some states and cities. "Influenza is widespread in the country and illnesses, hospitalisations and deaths continue to increase," she said. "It's unprecedented for this time of year to have the whole country seeing such high levels of activity." Testing the vaccines for strength and purity was cited as one reason for a delay in their delivery. "We are not cutting any corners in the safety of the production of this vaccine or the testing and oversight of the vaccine," Ms Schuchat said.

Some 11.4 million vaccines have so far been made available in the US.

At a meeting on swine flu in Washington, officials from the World Health Organisation said the H1N1 strain was killing unusually quickly. "In severe cases, patients generally begin to deteriorate around three to five days after symptom onset," said the WHO's Nikki Shindo. "Deterioration is rapid, with many patients progressing to respiratory failure within 24 hours, requiring immediate admission to an intensive care unit."

Billionaires in Duel Over a Hog Farm
By KEITH SCHNEIDER, Special to The New York Times
Published: Tuesday, November 28, 1989


A battle among billionaires has broken out along the South Platte River here at the western edge of the Great Plains, where the nation's largest hog farm is being built.

The $50 million complex of gleaming metal buildings, being erected by National Hog Farms Inc., is to produce 300,000 hogs a year when it is completed in 1992.

Opposing the hog farm, which is owned by the Bass brothers of Fort Worth, Tex., is Philip Anschutz, owner of the Southern Pacific Transportation Company, and Peter H. Coors of the brewing family. Both men own ranches in the area and they say the urine and feces from the farm will pollute underground water and foul the South Platte River. Company Facing Suits

The two men are suing National Hog Farms in State District Court, running full-page advertisements in The Greeley Tribune and have financed two small citizen's groups. Both men have declined, through spokesmen, to discuss the fight.

Nearly obscured by the people involved are a number of other issues. Many groups fear that as technology allows more animals to be kept on immense farms, competition will decrease and the quality of beef, pork and chicken will decline even as prices rise.

National Hog Farms, a subsidiary of the Kansas City-based swine and cattle company, National Farms Inc., insists there is no evidence to support such concerns. William J. O'Hare, the manager of the hog farm at issue, said he was taking advantage of its isolation to raise hogs without feeding them grain laced with antibiotics and other drugs, a common practice on Middle Western family hog farms.

''This is a brand new, modern facility that could set new trends in the industry,'' Mr. O'Hare said of the farm, situated on 25,500 acres and 20 miles east of Greeley, near Kersey. ''We fully intend not to use drugs in these animals if we don't have to.''

Nonetheless, opponents are suspicious of Mr. O'Hare and National Farms. The company has run into problems throughout the 1980's in controlling livestock waste in Holt County, Neb., where National Farms owns three operations that together produce as many pigs as the new Colorado farm will. Complaints on Odors and Animals

Holt County residents also complained about the number of animals that died and the manner used to dispose of the carcasses.

Similar concerns have now arisen in Colorado. Over the weekend, the environmental group Protect Our Water, formed in Greeley in October and financed by Mr. Anschutz, made public photographs of dead pigs beside an irrigation canal parallel to the South Platte River along the hog farm's southern boundary. The group asserted that the bloated carcasses were from the hog farm.

''This is exactly the thing that we are worried about,'' said James A. Monaghan, a Denver-based public relations expert hired by Mr. Anschutz to advise Protect Our Water. ''It's the exact opposite of what they're portraying.''

Mr. O'Hare confirmed that carcasses had been left by the canal. ''We've asked the removal company to pick them up daily and we've had troubled getting this scheduled,'' he said.

The heat and acerbity of the fight have suprised most residents of Weld County, where some of the country's largest cattle-feed yards and a beef slaughterhouse are situated. The annual income from agriculture, nearly $900 million, is greater than all but a handful of counties in California, Texas and Florida. Opposition Developed Quickly

When it arrived in Weld County in June 1988, National Farms believed the farm would easily slip into a landscape where American agriculture had already attained a level of technical sophistication, size and profitability matched in few other regions.

But in six months opposition developed among several Weld County residents who formed the Platte River Environmental Conservation Organization, another opposition group financed by Mr. Anschutz.

''We'd love to shut it down,'' said Tim Erickson, a 38-year-old farmer from Fort Lupton, 20 miles south of Greeley, who is the group's spokesman. ''These huge operations, helped by tax breaks and loopholes, will drive the family farmer out of business.''

The recent history of the hog industry reflects what is occurring in American agriculture, said Mr. Erickson. About 300,000 farms, half the number of hog farms that existed in 1965, raise the 90 million hogs consumed in the United States each year. At least 15 percent of the $9 billion annual market for hogs is controlled by about 25 corporate producers, studies by Iowa State University and the University of Missouri show.

Mr. Erickson's group was joined by Mr. Coors in a lawsuit in April that questioned the hog farm's ability to dispose of its wastes safely. The suit, against Weld County, National Hog Farms and the state, sought to halt construction and overturn the county's decision to grant the company a building permit. National Farms has argued that neither Weld County nor the state required the hog farm to gain a disposal permit because farms are exempted from water quality control laws in Colorado.

In July, a State District Court judge ruled that the procedures followed by the county were proper and the building permit was valid. Other sections of the suit are still to be heard. Seeking New Treatment Plant

''If the water is polluted it will affect the cattle and it will affect the river from a wildlife standpoint,'' said J. Robert Stovell, the manager of Eagle's Nest Ranch, a 32,000-acre cattle ranch and hunting preserve downstream from Mr. Anschutz's hog farm.

Mr. Stovell, a founding member of Protect Our Water, wants National Farms to apply the same treatments to its waste water that a city would use for municipal wastes. The group's attorneys wrote a detailed petition urging the passage of an ordinance requiring secondary treatment of wastes from ''swine production facilities in the county designed to hold more than 25,000 animals.''

More than 2,000 county voters have signed the petition; 2,511 confirmed signatures are needed for the county commissioners either to pass the ordinance or put it on the ballot.

Mr. O'Hare said during a tour of the farm earlier this month that the petition should not alter the company's plans. Mr. O'Hare said the hog farm has the most elaborate and effective waste-water treatment system of any livestock farm in the country. Waste water, he said, would be treated by one system that removes the solids and another that aerates the effluent to reduce the smell. Slightly more than two million gallons of effluent will then be sprayed every day through circular sprinklers to irrigate and fertilize thousands of acres of pasture.

''Our engineers tell us this system is as effective or more effective than secondary treatment,'' said Mr. O'Hare. ''The amount of effluent we apply through the sprinklers will have no effect on the groundwater or the river.''

Photo of William J. O'Hare, manager of the hog-rasing complex (NYT/Bruce McAllister); map of Colorado showing location of the site of the hog farm (NYT)

Correction: November 30, 1989, Thursday, Late Edition - Final Because of an editing error, an article on Tuesday about a dispute over a huge hog farm being built in Colorado misstated the holdings of Philip Anschutz, an opponent of the development. He owns the Eagle's Nest ranch; he does not own a hog farm.

A version of this article appeared in print on Tuesday, November 28, 1989, on section A page 16 of the New York edition.

Hog lawsuits raising stink in Missouri
Wednesday, September 23, 2009 7:59:55 AM
Central Florida Channel 13 News
BERLIN, Mo.(AP)

A faint rotten-egg smell drifts off a covered lagoon a hundred yards from a well-traveled Missouri gravel road. It's not an overpowering odor, but it's there.

Aside from a few dirt-speckled pickup trucks kicking up dust as they pass by, this battleground _ ground zero in what some see as a high-stakes fight for the future of Missouri agriculture _ is calm.

But in Kansas City law offices 80 miles away, combatants prepare for another showdown over the smells drifting from this 80,000-head hog operation. Is the aroma an obnoxious affront to neighbors or simply the "odor of agriculture" that comes with life in the country?

It's a fight Charlie Speer has waged for nearly 15 years. The Kansas City attorney has won almost $10 million from Premium Standard Farms and its affiliates in trials since 1999, and this summer praised a $1.2 million settlement with an unrelated southwest Missouri operation as having "set the bar" for future settlements.

Hog odor lawsuits are nothing new. The issue of what constitutes an agricultural nuisance has been argued anywhere hogs are raised.

The debate has new traction in Missouri, where some say flawed right-to-farm legislation encourages multimillion-dollar lawsuits like the ones against Premium Standard and its Virginia-based owner, Smithfield Foods.

In an internal memo accidentally e-mailed to The Kansas City Star last year, Smithfield attorneys estimated the company's exposure to litigation against Premium Standard at $150 million to $200 million. Smithfield, the world's largest pork producer, purchased Premium Standard in 2007.

Speer says he has at least 350 cases pending in Missouri against large hog operations. In contrast, only three were on file in Iowa, the nation's biggest pork-producing state with more than six times the number of hogs Missouri produces. Unlike Iowa's hog farms, which Speer says are traditionally family-run, Speer's targets in Missouri _ the seventh-largest hog state _ are corporate mega-farms.

"In Missouri, there is no limit to the amount a plaintiff can recover for an alleged nuisance, no matter how slight," Smithfield said in a statement to The Associated Press. "The potential for an unlimited recovery for a minor injury makes Missouri extremely attractive to out-of-state plaintiffs' lawyers looking for big paydays."

Speer contends Smithfield is sucking millions of dollars from the state and sending it to wealthy East Coast executives.

"They've got billionaires running billion-dollar operations worldwide," he said. "They don't live on the farms anymore. They never even visit the farms."

Members of seven families, many of whom have lived in Gentry County most of their lives, are suing the Premium Standard operation known as the Homan farm. Of the 15 plaintiffs, 13 received $100,000 apiece in a 1999 lawsuit against the same property.

Their argument is the same as it was 10 years ago: Stifling odors from the northwest Missouri hog confinements and lagoons are making their lives unpleasant.

"This lawsuit is on the theory that they haven't done anything to abate the nuisance, and we want the jury to send the message to stop it or we're going to keep coming back," Speer said.

None of the plaintiffs is alleging health issues beyond those associated with bad smells.

A lot has changed since 1999, said Premium Standard President Bill Homann, whose family lives 8 miles from a 140,000-head hog operation near Princeton, an hour north.

"Folks that manage these farms, including myself, are rural people who are no different than anybody else that lives in this community," said Homann, an Iowa State University graduate with a degree in agricultural education. "We are this community."

He said Premium Standard has pumped millions of dollars into measures _ mostly in response to complaints from the farm's neighbors _ to neutralize much of the odor.

"You can't raise hogs without there being a smell," said Jean Paul Bradshaw, an attorney for Smithfield Foods. "Hogs smell. There is the odor of agriculture, and we think we probably do more than anyone else to reduce odor."

Homann acknowledges mistakes made in the 1990s, including spills and effluent releases, probably warranted the legal judgments against the company in 1999. But he defends Premium Standard's environmental performance since then.

Stanley and Jean Berry, who received $100,000 apiece in the 1999 lawsuit and are plaintiffs in the current one, insist the odors are as bad as ever.

"At night when you think it's really still and there's no air movement, there really is" a smell, said Stanley Berry, 70, a farmer who was born in a farmhouse up the road. "And if it happens to be creeping your way, that is the very worst time, because it's so intense."

Bradshaw contends the lawsuits are driven by money, and suggested Missouri farmers pay the ultimate price while Speer and his colleagues line their pockets.

"They've made an industry out of filing nuisance cases, the effects of which cripple the biggest industry in Missouri," Bradshaw said, referring to agriculture. "It's no secret now is a bad time in the hog industry."

In June, Smithfield reported a fourth-quarter net loss of $78.8 million and a $190 million loss for the fiscal year. Industrywide, the National Pork Producers Council says hog producers have lost nearly $4.4 billion since September 2007.

The big operations will get no sympathy from Speer, who in April helped form The Center to Expose and Close Animal Factories. The center's stated mission: "to expose the dangers of concentrated animal feeding operations."

___

On the Net:

Center to Expose and Close Animal Factories: http://www.closeanimalfactories.org/

Premium Standard Farms: http://www.psfarms.com/index.html

Missouri Pork Association: http://www.mopork.com/default.asp

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.