Free Republic

For all intents and purposes, the port of New Orleans has been shut down for almost two weeks, with navigation being allowed in the past few days. The majority of the export elevators are in St. Charles Parish northward, which has not been affected with the flooding that occurred in Jefferson, Orleans, St. Bernard and St. Tammany parishes.

What is actually occurring from the midwest farmer's viewpoint is that the availability of barges to load has decreased dramatically (barges waiting to unload in New Orleans now), which is making what few that are available much more costly. For example (supply and demand), what may normally cost $9 per ton to ship in the normal harvest season is projected to cost $27 per ton. This will cause farmers to hold product until they have a better margin of return (which is normal). The only ones paying the penalty will be those that require selling to fund operations.

One of the main drawbacks in getting things back to normal in New Orleans deals with the available work force. Power and utilities can be restored, but if your workers are no longer in the area you won't be able to operate.

Thanks for posting, Gem. Been a part of Pro-Med for a number of years, and find it cuts through the bull crap of reporters trying to get an angle. Glad to see someone else enlightening our friends at FreeRepublic.

If you're in the Quarter, my favorite place is Mr. B's for dinner..

Date: Tue, 23 Oct 2001 11:30:59 -0400br From: ProMED mail
Source: The Times-Picayune 23 Oct 2001 [edited]

West Nile [virus] sickens Kenner patient
----------------------------------------
A Kenner man who was hospitalized last month with "severe neurological symptoms" was found Monday to have contracted the potentially deadly West Nile virus, the first human case reported in Louisiana.

The middle-aged man, said to be a drifter who spent an unusual amount of time on the streets, remains in stable condition at Kenner Regional Medical Center, a hospital spokesperson said. The man frequented the area near the Kenner-Metairie line where 5 dead birds have tested positive for West Nile in recent months.

"It is not extraordinary that a person who is outside a lot and not taking [anti-mosquito] precautions has come down with the disease," said Dr. Raoult Ratard, state epidemiologist. "But I don't think we are going to have an outbreak. It's very late in the season."
[Mosquitos stop breeding in cold weather -- but see below. - Mod JW]

The man was admitted to Kenner Regional Medical Center on 29 Sep 2001.. Officials would not elaborate on his symptoms. They said that after extensive testing to rule out other illnesses, doctors checked for West Nile encephalitis. A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lab in Fort Collins, Colorado, confirmed Monday that he had West Nile [virus].

Twenty-five people have been infected this year with the brain-swelling West Nile virus, in Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Maryland, Florida and Georgia, according to a CDC report released this month. One patient has died.

Ratard said doctors think the man was bitten by an infected mosquito around 15 Sep 2001. No other human cases are suspected in the area, he said.

West Nile encephalitis cases occur primarily in the late summer or early fall, but the disease can be transmitted year-round in Southern climates where temperatures are milder, according to the CDC. Besides the dead birds found in Jefferson Parish, the state has confirmed the virus in 5 horses in Vermilion Parish, proving West Nile is established in Louisiana, Ratard said.

Mosquito Control Inc., which contracts with Jefferson Parish to spray insecticide, has stepped up ground and aerial spraying within a 3-mile radius of where the dead birds were found and is using the highest concentration of insecticide allowed by the Environmental Protection Agency, officials said.

(By Martha Carr )

--
PROmed@promedmail.org
.......................................mpp/jw

Just some further info on the cropdusting incident.

To me this is showboating. You're talking about rural Mississippi/Arkansas people potentially at the stick. Depending on which way the wind was blowing, assuming he was dusting cotton, crossing the river twice is not uncommon. I haven't talked to the company yet to get the lowdown on what they precisely witnessed, but they're just as paranoid as the rest of us.

It's not an event in my book. Showboating is my take.

The towboat and tow were south of Memphis when this occurred, heading south. My guess is probably halfway between Helena, Arkansas and Rosedale, Mississippi. There's not a lot of river access in this area, but there ia a lot of farmland on both sides of the river.

We do get used for target practice alot by military planes, but usually between Natchez and Baton Rouge (from Naval Air Station in Chalmette). They use us because of our slow speed and relative size to naval targets.

I'm not sure of the normal incidence of crop dusting buzzes, but I personally have experienced the naval buzzing a number of times. Let's just assume this jerk was showboating and will pay the price for it.

CRIMEAN-CONGO HEMORRHAGIC FEVER - IRAN
**************************************
A ProMED-mail post
PromedMail
ProMED-mail is a program of the International Society for Infectious Diseases
ISID

[see also:
Crimean-Congo hem. fever - Pakistan (Baluchistan) 20010531.1071
Crimean-Congo HF, suspected - Pakistan (NW Frontie... 20010404.0674
Crimean-Congo HF, suspected - Pakistan (NW Frontier) 20010331.0652
Crimean-Congo HF - Afghanistan, Pakistan 20011004.2409
Crimean-Congo HF - Afghanistan, Pakistan (02) 20011010.2467
Crimean-Congo HF - Afghanistan, Pakistan (03) 20011011.2479
Crimean-Congo HF - Pakistan (NW Frontier): confirmed 20010424.0800

2000
----
Crimean-Congo hem. fever - Pakistan (Baluchistan) 20000925.1651
Crimean-Congo hem. fever - Pakistan (Baluchistan) (07) 20001122.2027
Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever - Tajikistan 20000708.1142
Crimean-Congo hem. fever - Iran (Southeast): RFI 20000918.1599

1998
------
Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever - Afghanistan 19980509.0911
Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever - Pakistan 19980509.0908
Crimean-Congo HF, nosocomial - Pakistan, 1994 19980811.1581]

Date: Sun 14 Oct 2001
From: ProMED-mail
Source: IRNA (Islamic Republic News Agency), Sun 14 Oct 2001
[edited]

The possibility of fatalities in those infected with the Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever is 30 percent, Makanali said, adding that the virus is spread by ticks from animal to humans or via patients' bodily fluids such as urine or blood. The symptoms of CCHF are fever, with bleeding from the nose, gums, and bowels and [blood] in urine, the official said, adding that it is transmitted through sheep, cows and camels. He said the Veterinary Organization has been taking precautionary measures to check the spread of the disease by insecticiding the contaminated regions. Some 40 quarantine bases on the borders, 100 movable quarantine bases, and 39 hospitals have been established in this effort.

Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever is endemic in parts of Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, some of southern Europe, and most of tropical and south Africa. The illness is seasonal, since the ticks emerge in spring, live through the warmer months, and die out in winter. Health experts say that although the symptoms of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever are similar to Ebola hemorrhagic fever, it doesn't spread as quickly, and there is a significantly higher recovery rate.

--
ProMED-mail

[CCHF virus is a member of the genus _Nairovirus_ of the family _Bunyaviridae_. Although classed as a Biosafety Level 4 Pathogen, it is not related either antigenically, phylogentically, or epidemiologically to Ebola fever virus (a filovirus). CCHF is a zoonotic disease, which is an emerging problem with increasing numbers of cases reported each year from many parts of the world. It is maintained by transovarial and transstadial transmission in ticks and transmitted to humans via intermediate mammalian hosts, viremic wild and domestic ruminants being the most dangerous. Infection can be contracted also by direct contact with infected viremic animals during shearing, slaughter, etc. Consequently the disease affects primarily farmers, veterinarians, abattoir workers, and butchers. Likewise the virus can be transmitted directly from human to human, usually in hospital settings. Clinical disease is confined to humans. There is no vaccine, and prevention is by vector control and by quarantine measures to control the movement of infected domestic animals. The latter is difficult to achieve in countries with long land borders, as exemplified by this report. - Mod.CP]

---------------------------------------
This was from 14 October. Should give some insight into the situation.

Attached is a CDC advisory to doctors on treatment of airborne anthrax:
========================================================
Source: This is an official CDC Health Update [edited]
Distributed via Health Alert Network

Recommendations for Post-Exposure Prophylaxis for _B. anthracis_ in Florida
---------
These recommendations are based on the susceptibility pattern of the _B. anthracis_ isolate from the Florida inhalational anthrax case.

Adults
--------
Adult males & non-pregnant females (ages 18-65 yrs)
Ciprofloxacin 500 mg orally twice a day for 60 days
OR
Doxycycline 100 mg orally twice a day for 60 days
OR
Amoxicillin 500 mg orally 3 times a day for 60 days

*Drug-drug interactions and individual patient allergies should be considered when selecting an antibiotic for prophylaxis.

Pregnant adult females
Amoxicillin 500 mg orally 3 times a day for 60 days
* If allergic to amoxicillin or penicillin, consultation with a physician is required as ciprofloxacin or doxycycline may be indicated.

Adults age 65 yrs & over
Doxycycline 100 mg orally twice a day for 60 days
OR
Ciprofloxacin 500 mg orally twice a day for 60 days
OR
Amoxicillin 500 mg orally 3 times a day for 60 days

*Drug-drug interactions and individual patient allergies should be considered when selecting an antibiotic for prophylaxis.

** In older adults, the potential CNS side effects of ciprofloxacin should also be considered when selecting an antibiotic for prophylaxis.

Children
-----------
Antibiotics for children are listed in order of preference:
Children 9 yrs & over
Amoxicillin 500 mg orally 3 times a day for 60 days
OR
Ciprofloxacin 500 mg orally twice a day for 60 days
OR
Doxycycline 100 mg orally twice a day for 60 days

*Drug-drug interactions and individual patient allergies should be considered when selecting an antibiotic for prophylaxis. Amoxicillin is preferred for children. If allergic to amoxicillin or penicillin, consultation with a physician is required, as ciprofloxacin or doxycycline may be indicated.

Children less than 9 yrs
Amoxicillin 80 mg/kg/day orally, divided into 3 doses a day for 60 days
OR
Ciprofloxacin 10-15 mg/kg/day orally, divided into 2 doses a day for 60 days
OR
Doxycycline 5 mg/kg/day orally, divided into 2 doses a day for 60 days

* Drug-drug interactions and individual patient allergies should be considered when selecting an antibiotic for prophylaxis. Amoxicillin is preferred for children. If allergic to amoxicillin or penicillin, consultation with a physician is required, as ciprofloxacin or doxycycline may be indicated.

* Reminder: symptoms of inhalational anthrax include fever, muscle aches, and fatigue that rapidly progress to severe systemic illness. Workers and visitors associate with the AMI worksite in Florida who develop such symptoms should be thoroughly evaluated to exclude anthrax and be reported to the state health department.

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
CALL CDC ATLANTA, USA
(404) 639-2807

=======================================================

ProMED-mail

[This information is posted as a public service. Note all the warnings about drug interactions. Self-medication is *not* advisable. It is my understanding that tetracyclines and penicillin are effective for *treating* cutaneous anthrax. The CDC recommendations above are for *prophylaxis* against *airborne* anthrax in the environment. Anthrax is NOT transmitted person-to-person. - Mod.JW]

=====================================================

I think we need to look at why the FDA has approved only Cipro. Certainly I would prefer amoxycillian, as it has been a proven antibiotic with few side-effects.

Date: Fri 17 Aug 2001 11:43:59
From: M. Cosgriff
Source: Reuters Health [edited]

CDC Reports First Human Anthrax Case Since 1992
-----------------------------------------------
ATLANTA - A North Dakota man who handled anthrax-infected livestock during an outbreak last year has become the first human case of the illness in the US in nearly a decade, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta reported Thursday.

The last reported case of cutaneous anthrax in the US occurred in 1992. The 67-year-old North Dakota man is the only person known to have been infected during a livestock outbreak in the state last year. During the outbreak, 32 farms in North Dakota were quarantined, compared with an average of only 2 farms per year during the preceding 40 years.

The infected man had helped dispose of 5 cows that had died of anthrax 4 days before his symptoms appeared. He wore leather gloves, but the CDC researchers speculate that the man may have transferred infective anthrax spores that were on his gloves to broken skin on his face. "(The man) noticed a small bump on his left check at the angle of his jaw," CDC researchers write in the 17 Aug 2001 issue of the agency's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. The lesion had enlarged to about the size of a quarter 2 days later and was surrounded by a purple ring, the report indicates. After antibiotics, the man's condition slowly improved. [14 days on 500 mg ciprofloxacin twice daily. - Mod.MHJ]

"In general, people should minimize the handling of animals that have died of anthrax. If possible, the animal should be burned where it lies," the CDC's Dr. David Ashford told Reuters Health. "Anyone that does handle an animal that has died of anthrax should be on the lookout for any unusual sores on the skin surfaces that were exposed to the carcass," he added. However, Ashford stressed that for most people the odds of contracting anthrax are quite low. "There is no great risk for the public or community in general," he said. "The risk for those handling these animals is for cutaneous anthrax exclusively, (and it) is a treatable disease with low mortality."

SOURCE: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 2001;50:677-680.
Human Anthrax Associated With an Epizootic Among Livestock --- North Dakota, 2000. Emma Hitt, PhD

http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5032a1.htm

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