More Birds Turn Up Dead In Poughkeepsie

Recently it was reported that birds were dropping dead in Staten Island, N.Y. Now reports are coming in from Poughkeepsie, N.Y. that birds are turning up dead there too.

The story first reported by Newsday, also mentioned by Thedailygreen and Homeland Security all suggests that the Avian Reovirus seems to be responsible for the die off of these birds. At this time it is unknown if the two separate incidents are related; I expect they are connected as reports are coming in from several NY counties around the State.

Details of the story are best found by following the link above to Newsday. I will see if I can follow up with more information on the incident later.

Dead Birds In Staten Island

Last week I was informed of an event in my home town of Great Kills, Staten Island involving a large number of birds falling dead from the sky.

Initial reports from Fire Dept personal stated an ammonia cloud coming from a pile of mulch, dissipated into the air causing the birds to become ill and die. I have it on good authority no such ammonia cloud existed.

Though the birds were sent in for testing, the cause is still unknown as of this writing. The birds all appeared to be crows (though reports mention black birds) and numbered from about forty - fifty according to reports. As the video below shows not all the birds were dead after hitting the ground.

The mystery still continues. It is also now being reported by the office of Homeland Security as well.

Merry Christmas

Hello, and Merry Christmas. It has been a while since I have been able to update anything here as I have been busy working multiple contracts, so I figured I'd stop in today and provide an update on recent events.

Though this should not come as a surprise to many, it is still somewhat shocking and I almost did not believe it at first myself. It seems actress Vanessa Redgrave has assisted two Al-Qaeda suspects recently. You can get more on the full story here. I wont comment further on the story at this time and let you come to your own conclusions.

In recent news the FBI will be developing a biometric database that is slated to cost $1 Billion dollars. Sounds like good news as far as Homeland Security goes, but hopefully this time they will get it right.

Nothing too big to report right now. I have joined the San Francisco chapter of ACP (Association of Contingency Planners). Should be good for my business as well as great fun and another opportunity to network with like minded people.

I will be posting more later in the week, probably Thursday.

The Rockies Ticketing System Overwhelmed

The Colorado Rockies have hit their first road block on the way to the World Series before the first game even gets underway.

The Rockies have had to shut down the online ticketing system due to the amount of people trying to access the system to purchase tickets. In the first hour and a half they received 8.5 million hits which far exceeded the expected number of people trying to access the system. This resulted in the system being overwhelmed and shut down.

Only 500 tickets were sold prior to the system interruption and they hope to be back online soon.

The tickets were only available through the website, and no backup plan was established for the continuity of operations in case something went wrong.

The team released a statement in which they said they are working on a solution and will announce plans once they work out the details of that solution.

UPDATE: E. coli and Salmonella Cases Across United States

Earlier in the week I mentioned that two companies, Topps Meat and Cargill, were hit by E. coli sparking large recalls in hamburger meat.

Topps Meat was hit so hard the company shut its doors and claimed that it could not possibly recover from such an economic hit.

The FSIS (Food Safety and Inspection Service) agency has noticed greater numbers of positive samples for E coli O157:H7 in May and June, along with a related increase in recalls. The FSIS took a number of steps in June to explore why E coli findings have been increasing, including doubling its E coli sampling in July. The agency didn't find any positives in July, but increased testing continues today.

Richard Raymond, FSIS undersecretary for food safety, said: "We had 3 really good years where the amount of product that we sampled was extremely low as far as coming back positive for E. coli," he said. "Something happened this summer. It's different. It was a high prevalence season, but we saw sample numbers go up, we saw the recall numbers go up, we saw human illnesses attributed to ground beef go up."

He also states that the FSIS is now looking into and examining the efficiency and effectiveness of outbreak investigations related to recalls. The USDA is planning a 2-day seminar, incorporating the input of public health officials at federal, state, and local levels, to discuss ways it can improve the process.

One of the things that officials will cover in the Topps investigation is whether FSIS investigators have the tools, training, data, and oversight to do their jobs, Raymond said. Noting that Investigators have found that Topps Meats' E coli controls were inadequate, and on Sep 26 they suspended raw ground processes at the plant, he said.

The USDA will also do a thorough assessment of whether processors have followed through on the food safety systems they promised to adopt—and whether or not those systems are effective. Some evidence suggests that not all ground beef processors have uniformly applied the USDA policies and that some of the safety programs aren't effective. Another problem, is that the USDA needs to better clarify what the minimum expectations are for the industry.

The National Cattleman's Beef Association also chimed in recently and had some harsh words for processors that don't adhere to established food safety systems. James O. Reagan, chairman of the association's Beef Industry Food Safety Council, said in the statement, "It is unacceptable that even one company was not following commonly accepted safety interventions in place for many years."

Yesterday, Meatingplace.com, a beef industry Web site, published the results of an online survey of its readers on what interventions are needed to contain E coli O157:H7. 63% advocated a test-and-hold system whereby processors hold ground beef shipments until sample test results are confirmed as negative for E coli; 37% opted for diligent disinfection, irradiation, and consumer education.

When asked about mandatory traceability for meat products, 48% supported the idea and 52% opposed it. About 60% doubted that it is possible to trace the source of E coli contamination in ground beef to the original supplier.

I addition to the E. coli recalls associated with beef some Salmonella outbreaks have occurred as of late as well. Today, it was announced that 139 cases of illness are being reported due to Salmonella in 30 states. The Salmonella appears to be traced back to Banquet pot pies, made by ConAgra Foods Inc.

According to a CDC spokesperson the states with the largest numbers of people hit by the salmonella are Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Missouri.

Though ConAgra is reporting that its Banquet pot pies are safe if cooked properly, and no recall has been issued as yet the company is recommending people don't eat the Banquet chicken and turkey pot pies. The USDA issued an alert on Tuesday to warn consumers about the outbreak.

If they wish, consumers may return these products to ConAgra Foods for a refund by sending the side panel of the package that contains the code "P-9" to ConAgra Foods, Dept. BQPP, P.O. Box 3768, Omaha, NE 68103-0768. If consumers prefer, they may return the product to the store from which it was purchased for a refund; consumers should discard the product before returning the entire package to their retail store.