HIGH WIRE: May 2013

Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus, or PEDV, has been confirmed in the U.S., and the Kansas State Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory at Kansas State University is ready to accept samples for diagnostic testing.

Laboratory testing is the only known way to diagnose the virus. The diagnostic laboratory has assembled a team of virologists, molecular diagnosticians and pathologists to rapidly identify the virus.

The U.S. Department of Ag confirmed last week that the virus had been found for the first time in the U.S. The virus is a production-related disease and is associated with outbreaks of diarrhea and vomiting in swine, similar to transmissible gastroenteritis virus.

PEDV only affects pigs and is not zoonotic, so it poses no threat to humans or food safety.

Cases of the pig disease have been confirmed in Indiana and Iowa. Although these are the first cases in the U.S., the virus exists in many parts of the world – including a mild form in Europe and a severe form in China.

“Emergence of this disease in our naive pig population has the potential for significant economic impact,” says Kelli Almes, veterinary pathologist and director of client services at the Kansas State Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory. “Timely recognition of clinical signs with confirmatory diagnostic testing will be critical for our veterinary community and the producers they serve.”

The Kansas State Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory is working closely with swine veterinarians to proactively monitor and track disease in the field. The laboratory provides high-quality diagnostic testing and is the only laboratory in the state of Kansas to be accredited by the American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians.

Producers are encouraged to work with their veterinarians, who can send samples to KSVDL, 1800 Denison Ave., Manhattan, KS 66506. These samples should be shipped in the same manner as all other diagnostic specimens while being diligent about adequate biosecurity and disinfection, which is imperative to prevent spread of this virus. For questions, contact the laboratory at 866-512-5650 or email at clientcare@vet.k-state.edu.

http://www.agriview.com/briefs/livestock/diagnostic-lab-accepting-samples-to-test-for-pedv/article_57c81966-c872-11e2-9dd0-001a4bcf887a.html

China's Shuanghui International plans to buy Smithfield Foods Inc for $4.7 billion to feed a growing Chinese appetite for U.S. pork, but the proposed takeover of the world's No. 1 producer has stirred concern in the United States.
The transaction, announced on Wednesday, would rank as the largest Chinese takeover of a U.S. company, with an enterprise value of $7.1 billion, including debt assumption.

As it stands. the deal is the biggest Chinese play for a U.S. company since CNOOC Ltd offered to buy Unocal for about $18 billion in 2005. The state-controlled energy company later withdrew that bid under U.S. political pressure.
Like similar foreign transactions, the Smithfield deal will face the scrutiny of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, or CFIUS, a government panel that assesses national security risks.

And at least one member of Congress said the deal raised alarms about food safety, noting Shuanghui was forced to recall tainted pork in the past.

"I have deep doubts about whether this merger best serves American consumers and urge federal regulators to put their concerns first," U.S. Representative Rose DeLauro, a Democrat from Connecticut, said in a statement.

Shuanghui is already majority shareholder of Henan Shuanghui Investment & Development Co, China's largest meat processor. It would join forces with a company that has a worldwide herd of 1.09 million sows, according to industry data compiled by Successful Farming magazine.

The CFIUS review process comes at a time of sour relations between the United States and China over cross-border deals. In the latest irritant, a $20.1 billion bid by Japan's SoftBank Corp to control U.S. wireless carrier Sprint Nextel Corp has fanned fears of Chinese cyber-attacks against the United States.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/29/shuanghui-idUSL3N0EA2KH20130529

So how exactly did a disease that has not been seen in the US until now, with the capabilities to severely damage the US pork industry make it past the vast and enormous net of US agricultural agencies, biological defense network and homeland security?

Russian strategic bombers conducted flights within the U.S. defense zone close to northern Alaska and the Aleutian Islands last week in Moscow’s latest incident of nuclear saber rattling against the United States, according to defense and military officials.

Two Bear H nuclear-capable bombers were detected flying into the military’s Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) near the Aleutians, where a strategic missile defense radar is located, and Alaska’s North Slope region by the Arctic and Chukchi Seas on April 28 and 29, military officials told the Washington Free Beacon.

Lt. Cmdr. Bill Lewis, a spokesman with the U.S. Northern Command, confirmed the fighter intercept of the latest bomber incursion but declined to provide details.

“Two U.S. F-22′s from Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska, were launched and visually identified Russian aircraft on the night of April 28, as the Russian Air Force flew standard out of area flights near Alaska,” Lewis said.

More At: http://freebeacon.com/bears-buzz-alaska-again/

What's the year again? 2013 or 1980? Apparently Russia never got the memo, the "Cold War" ended...or maybe we didn't get the memo and the past 21 years was actually an arms build-up and the flames of the "Cold War" have been rekindled.

Here we sit, under sequestration, with a downsized, decrepit and worn out military from 12 years of war in the Mid-East. Mean while the United Socialist Soviet Republics...err, Russian Federation with it's leader former KGB Agent Vladimir Putin have been retooling and upgrading the matériel, hardware and munitions of the old Soviet republic and building newer ones.

An example:

Russian Federation's newest ICBM;

RT-2UTTKh Topol-M ICBM

Nato Reporting Name: SS-27 "Sickle B"

Date of Service: 1997-Present

Guidance System: Inertial with GLONASS (Russian GPS)

Warhead: Single 800 kt warhead or MIRV – 4 or 7 x 150–250 kt

Launch Platform: Silo, Mobile Launcher

Accuracy: 200m CEP

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topol-M

United States Newest ICBM;

LGM-30 Minuteman III

Date of Service: 1970-Current

Guidance System: Inertial

Warhead: One 475kt W87

Launch Platform: Silo

Accuracy: 200m CEP

So as the Russian Federation is armed with newer systems and making even newer ones...we're armed with 1970's design systems, with less range, accuracy, warhead payload and a lesser guidance system.

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

US PEDV Outbreak?!

Friday, May 10, 2013

Soviet...err, Russian Air Power