African Swine Fever -the U.S. swine industry is at risk for the first time in 40 years

One of the unique qualities of African Swine Fever is its amazing ability to travel in the wind. Castro claimed the U.S. had tried to use ASF in a biological attack, but the proclivity of ASF to travel as much as 200 miles via the wind, made many other sources likely. The U.S. was not found to have used ASF, but it is still on the list for a potential agri-bioweapon, but even without human intervention Mother Nature can decimate a swine industry.

China, where ASF is endemic, has had repeated outbreaks of African Swine Fever over the last five years, and it has popped up in Eastern Europe from time to time, recently.

An occurrence of ASF requires immediate destruction of the herd to eliminate the highly contagious spread to other farms. 

Now, it has been reported that African Swine Fever has been detected in the Caribbean, the first identification in the Western Hemisphere in about 40 years, according to Agri-Pulse.  

ASF was detected in the Dominican Republic and then spread to other farms. Haiti, part of the same island, is the nearest nation at risk from this occurrence. 

The OIE is the international organization responsible for animal health and reporting outbreaks, and the Dominican Republic is to be commended for promptly reporting the first outbreak on July 29, 2021. Prompt reporting will ensure international resources to assist these nations and it also complies with international law. We have come to appreciate prompt reporting of outbreaks after the COVID-19 pandemic, still raging in its first significant variant phase, throughout the world, after witnessing what failure to promptly report can do to the world.

Given that the Dominican Republic is 700 miles from the U.S., it is in our interest to immediately assist the Caribbean nation and protect Haiti swine from the disease as much and as quickly as possible. 

According to Agri-Pulse, China has lost more than a million pigs over the past five years. A University of Iowa study estimated that the U.S. would lose $40 billion over ten years if ASF appeared in the U.S.. 

The USDA has offered assistance to the Dominican Republic and Haiti, confirmed in a press release from the Department. The USDA is a robust federal government Department with unmatched expertise in animal diseases. They have the capability and capacity to assist the Dominican Republic and Haiti, and for many years they have all been in cooperation with surveillance programs. 

Let's hope the Caribbean nations are open to assistance.

Cyberbioattack on a Florida Water Supply -- No one should be surprised

 It was only a matter of time until a cyberbiohacker emerged. Last week, a cyberbiohacker hacked into the operating system for a Florida municipal water utility, and got control of the chemical control code and tried to increase the sodium hydroxide from 100 to 11,100 parts per million.  Sodium hydroxide is "lye" and can cause injury or death if consumed.

A similar attack on infrastructure took place in Rye, New York, where hackers hacked into the control system of a dam and successfully managed to control the opening and closing of the gates -- had the gates not been in repair and inoperable, the flooding from opening the gates would have been life-threatening to the cities downstream. The perpetrators in that scheme turned out to be Iranian hackers, and they are on the Interpol red list, but unlikely that they will be leaving Iran. At the time, it was apparent that hacking into water systems and potentially poisoning the water was not only conceivable but likely. No one should be surprised with this attack.

The FBI might want to start with that team of cyberhackers with similar motives.

What is shockingly obvious is that we have let federalism get in the way of helping municipalities protect their water supply. Although local and state governments have jurisdiction to control their supplies, the federal government has long had jurisdiction over water quality through the Safe Drinking Water Act, and waste water treatment through the Clean Water Act. In fact, after 9/11, the Safe Drinking Water Act was amended to require security systems and fences installed around water systems to prevent terrorist attacks. 

Now that fences no longer protect water systems, it is time for Congress to focus on the urgent problems facing America, and protecting the water supply should be a top priority.

Article, Feb 9, 2021

Some water systems add some to prevent corrosion in the pipes.