The index case, (click title to entry - thank you) a mare, was housed with 23 other horses after falling ill and died two days later. Subsequently, 19 of the remaining horses succumbed with 13 dying. Both the trainer and a stable hand were involved in nursing the index case and both fell ill within one week of the horse’s death with an influenza-like illness. The stable hand recovered while the trainer died of respiratory and renal failure. The source of virus was most likely frothy nasal discharge from the index case....
Rarely do Americans experience Australian Thoroughbred Horse Racing. They are beautiful animals. Valuable animals. But, what appears to be benign negligence of research on the surface into these 'modern day' viruses (Hendra was first realized in 1994, I believe.) really is a collapse of a research institution I once worked for. This is exactly the kind of work we did, successfully and profitably.
The research institution was the Agricultural Division of American-Cyanamid in West Windsor, New Jersey. It was a fascinating place to work. Very exotic. Very engaging. There was never a challenge to great and its activities were backed by the international community.
I was there two summers ago after decades of absence and the place was shuttered and abandoned. It was a damn shame. When I pulled up to the guard house there were a couple of people inside and when I told them I once worked there they could not get enough of me. We went on a tour of the place while I was there. They wanted to know more about what occurred there. So I told them. I also told them American Cyanamid got a bad rap for being a chemical company. Not that they were saints, their Bound Brook plant was a huge disaster with its chemical pools, but, the research that went on including their Lederle Lab division did really vital work.
I think a German concern bought them out and then closed it down for whatever reason they did. But, the place is enormous. The labs are still there unless the township did something with them. The greenhouses must be worth at least a million or more a piece. They were state of the art and I am not sure they still aren't.
What the Ag Division did was to act a 'a global research and development' lab. Literally. The scientists there would bring 'problems' of any kind from around the world for research and cures. Heck, there was a time we even had India's cows there for research into a disease they were ailing from. The animals were isolated. We never had a case of a disease entity that escaped into the USA population of any animal or plant. Besides, we had the cure anyway.
It was a great place. The main research building had three wings, animal, plant and chemical. It was very productive. The American Cyanamid Hannibal, Missouri plant was built because of the work from the Ag Division. We had some incredible stories to tell. As a matte of fact, I believe our beagles were among the first to be free of heartworm.
I took one of them home after he was cured. He lived a long time afterward. He was a great dog.
That was in the mid-to late 70s. It was unfortunate all the divisions of American Cyanamid were sold to the highest bidder to allow such valuable people, facilities and activities to end. It is a tragedy actually. Then people wonder what happened to the economies around the world.
That complex was part of a 'culture' in the Princeton area. We had a Princeton address. But, in New Jersey there were other companies in the area, Squibb was one of them. We really enjoyed the 'juice' of investigative disease research. I think there was a company in Somerset County called "Boroughs Wellcome" and I am probably misspelling that. And of course, Johnson and Johnson is still around. We were in research when J&J built their Baby Products Division in Skillman, New Jersey.
Its a darn shame. The WHO should obtain that old American Cyanamid facility if it is still available. They could find some real value in that property and its research complex in West Windsor. If it is still there. It was still there in the summer of 2009.
But, these new viruses need that kind of intense attention. They mutate quickly and cause human death. There is absolutely nothing saying they will remained contained in an international venue where transport by plane and ship is nothing. Currently there is a big argument about the mistreatment of live cattle from Australia to Indonesia. The humanitarian focus is interesting, but, more to realize the 'ease' in which disease processes can be exported with entities that take a month or more to manifest symptoms.
There needs to be more than record keeping and tracking by the WHO. They need an active research staff that actually finds cures. This research of such entities to end their impact both on life and economies is mostly abandoned by the Plutocrats. They don't find it profitable the way they LIKE to make vast amounts of money. This research is vital and MORAL. Those 'qualities' are not valued in the modern day market place and the world shows it.
...Right now on the east coast of Australia where I live, (click here) we have an outbreak of the deadly Hendra Virus (HeV) which kills horses and humans and even infects dogs and I have to admit that I’m scared, especially as I own 3 horses and 3 dogs. Over the last month of July 2011, 14 horses have died and have potentially infected 55 people who are being tested for HeV and remain under observation along with any horses, dogs and cats that also came into contact with the sick horses. This is required even when that contact occurred before the infected horses started to exhibit any symptoms of the virus, as they were potentially infectious for at least 2 days beforehand while they were still outwardly symptom free....
August 17, 2011 - 1:34PM
A sixth horse has died from the Hendra virus in NSW, the NSW Department of Primary Industries has confirmed.
The horse died at a property near Ballina, on the far NSW North Coast, on Monday.
"The property has been quarantined and the infected horse has been euthanised and buried on the property," NSW Chief Veterinary Officer Ian Roth said in a statement today.
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Dr Roth said the horse was noticeably ill late on Sunday, and deteriorated rapidly during the night and into Monday.
Two other horses on the property were at risk, he added.
"These horses will be closely monitored and, following an initial test, further laboratory testing will be carried out 16 and 32 days following the last contact with the infected horse," he said….
