Vol. 8, No. 8, August 2012 |
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SART Advisory Board to Meet
The SART Advisory Board will meet on October 10th from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. in Suite 200 of the Alachua Regional Service Center in Alachua. The Service Center is located at 14101 Hwy. 441, Alachua, FL 32615 Telephone: 386-418-5500.
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Included on the agenda will be a discussion of Tropical Storm Debby response and the upcoming SART Planning Meeting.
For additional information contact Bianca Blakley, S.A.R.T. Planner, FDACS/DAI, 407 South Calhoun St., Tallahassee, FL 32399-0800 [Telephone: (850) 410-0959 E-mail: bianca.blakley@freshfromflorida.com]
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Photos from the Editor's SARC Course
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"An emergency shelter is a complex system requiring the use of the Disaster Prevention Cycle and Incident Command System. The Disaster Prevention Cycle is just that – a series of events that are repeated regularly in the same order. Individuals and animal shelter responders should move through one stage after another, improving and refining their plans and preparations to minimize the effects of future disasters. Skipping just one stage can cause a failure in the cycle as a whole. The same is true with ICS – communication with the correct supervisor can provide for the success of the entire operation."
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 Above: The Florida SARC Sheltering course has a variety of learning-by-doing opportunities including – from the instructors' many hours of practical experience – the best way to set up temporary small animal crates. |
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"The biggest advocate for the dogs, the cats, the animals, is you. You are going to speak for the animals when you are on deployment."
Andy Bass
 "Our goal in sheltering is not to cure, but to identify."
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| LEFT: The Florida SARC Instructors for the Small Animal Emergency Sheltering course held on July 14 at the Alachua County EOC were (l-r) Andy Bass, Lori Piper, Leila Lindsey and Harry Reeve. RIGHT: Kanyon McLean, a prospective student at UF's Veterinary College, works on the exercise to design an emergency shelter for pets and companion animals. The purpose of the exercise is to have attendees think through the on-the-ground needs and difficulties of handling an unexpected number and variety of animals, improvising a space, and thinking through the needs of the human caregivers as well. |
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"Zipties are our best friends in a small animal emergency response."
Andy Bass
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LEFT: Debra Foster hangs a schematic of her team's model small animal emergency shelter. The SARC Instructors broke down the 40+ attendees into four teams for this exercise. RIGHT: Tiffany Thomas of Jacksonville has assisted with the animal needs of the hundreds of cats rescued earlier this year from a North Florida hoarding situation. After completing the Florida SARC course, she has passed one of the learning/doing hurdles to begin responding to animal emergencies. |
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"The purpose of learning about animal behaviors is to promote health and safety."
Lori Piper
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Students attending the Small Animal Emergency Sheltering course held July 14 at the Alachua County EOC, a course presented by volunteers from Florida SARC, study workbooks in preparation for the post-test at the end of the 8-hour day. |
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Florida's Robust but Vulnerable Aquaculture
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At SART's most recent Steering Committee meeting, Chris Brooks, Bureau Chief, Bureau of Aquaculture Environmental Services in FDACS presented an overview of Florida's aquaculture industry http://www.floridaaquaculture.com/ and potential threats to that industry. Most of the farmed elements of Florida aquaculture are centered in south and south-central Florida. The "natural" or harvested elements for shellfish for commerce and recreation however exist in pockets all along Florida's 1,350 miles of coastline. Potential threats to this business from freezes to tropical storms mean the industry is on guard virtually year-round.
FDACS reports that Florida aquaculture is an extraordinarily diverse farming sector with an estimated 1,500 species or varieties of fish, plants, molluscs, crustaceans, and reptiles grown. Florida aquafarms culture products for food and non-food markets that include seafood (fish and shellfish), freshwater and marine aquarium hobbyists, high fashion leather, water gardening, bait, biological control, biofuels, or as "seed" for national and international aquaculturists.
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Ornamental plants and fish for water gardens are increasingly important to aquaculture production and sales. (Photo Donald Webster) |
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Because the alligator hide and meat market is extremely volatile, alligator farming is a very tenuous business. (FWC) |
The Division of Aquaculture's responsibilities include certifying all legitimate aquaculturists through an annual registration, implementing on-farm Aquaculture Best Management Practices to meet Florida's environmental goals, managing 1.4 million acres of coastal waters for the harvest or culture of wholesome shellfish, implementing the National Shellfish Sanitation Program through periodic inspection of shellfish processing plants and product, and managing submerged sovereign land leases for aquacultural purposes.
Ornamental fish (freshwater and marine tropicals, koi and goldfish) continue to be the largest segment of Florida aquaculture with 203 farms reporting farm-gate income of $32.1 million. Florida is the leading producer of ornamental fish in the United States followed by California at $13.4 million. Mollusc production (hard clam) is the next largest segment with 130 farms reporting $15.2 million in sales. Florida ranked fourth in the nation behind Washington ($85.2 million), Louisiana ($37.3 million), and Virginia ($36.9 million). Other aquaculture products (alligator, turtle, triploid grass carp, live rock, snails, frogs) produced by 43 farms yielded $6.2 million. Other food fish production (hybrid striped bass, tilapia, sturgeon) from 37 farms reported $3.4 million in sales. Crustacean production (shrimp, crawfish, prawn) from 17 farms reported $2.5 million in sales. Catfish production by 54 farms sold $979,000. Sport and game fish (largemouth bass, sunfish) production from 31 farms totaled $622,000. Five bait farms reported $71,000 in sales. [The complete 2007 Census of Agriculture report can be accessed at: http://www.agcensus.usda.gov/Publications/2007/index.asp.]
As established in the Florida Aquaculture Policy Act, aquaculture is agriculture and FDACS is the lead aquaculture agency. Chris Brooks may be reached at (850) 488-5471 Christopher.Brooks@freshfromflorida.com.
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VETS Team Participates in Horse Rescue
On July 12, a 30-year-old horse named Tea Cup was rescued from a shallow pit, or swale, that suddenly opened on ground soaked by rain from Tropical Storm Debby.
Tea Cup is a "rescue horse." Ten years ago, Miami law enforcement seized the starving horse from a clandestine slaughter house in Miami. It was eventually placed with the nonprofit Retirement Home for Horses at Mill Creek Farm near Alachua.
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The rescue team was contacted at 1:26 p.m. Tea Cup was up and walking within two hours. The team consisted of Alachua County sheriff's deputy Brandon Jones with members of the UF College of Veterinary Medicine's Animal Technical Rescue Team (Dr. Roger Clemmons, Security Supervisor David John, and College Director and Team Leader John Haven). According to Haven, Jones "had a plan, but needed more equipment and more hands on the job to safely move the horse. He requested the dispatch of the UF Veterinary team." While waiting for the UF Team, Jones used a hose to keep the horse cool and hydrated.
"Deputy Jones and the team quickly put a low tech rescue plan together," Haven says. "It was going to be easier on Tea Cup to open up the bottom of the swale with a tractor, perform a rear drag, and ultimately walk her out, than to perform a higher angle rescue and lift her up. While waiting for the UF team, Jones managed to thread a pilot line around the horse's pelvis, making it easier to insert weight-distributing webbing.
"We wrapped Tea Cup's" head in a water rescue lifejacket to protect her eyes and to pad her head. With just a short five-foot pull, Tea Cup was moved clear of the swale, and she immediately stood up. Within a few minutes she was back to grazing grass like nothing happened."
The UF Animal Technical Rescue Team [352-294-4256] is an all-volunteer team, and operates on donations to fund the costs of responding to rescues.
The Retirement Home for Horses at Mill Creek Farm near Alachua http://millcreekfarm.org/ is open to the public on Saturdays from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at a cost of two carrots. More than 100 horses live at the farm: rescue horses or those retired from government service.
Florida SARC Awareness Courses
The Florida State Animal Response Coalition is teaching "Small Animal Emergency Sheltering: Awareness Level" to promote effective response for animals during disasters. Registration is required, but there is no fee to attend. Breakfast, snacks and lunch will be provided through a sponsorship by IAMs Pet Foods.
Course Topics include:
| Personal Preparedness | Overview of Incident Command System |
| Deployment Preparedness | Assisting in Shelter Set Up |
| Daily Care and Feeding | Proper Cage Cleaning and Disinfection |
| Animal Behavior | Stress Management |
| Zoonotic Disease | Personal Safety |
| and more … | |
September 15 – Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Plantation, FL: This class is full. Please email Pam Burns pamburnssarc@gmail.com if you wish to add your name to the wait list. A Florida SARC representative will contact you if space becomes available.
October 6 – Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Brevard County Office of Emergency Management, 1746 Cedar Street, Rockledge, FL 32955
October 13 – Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Cat Depot, 2542 17th Street, Sarasota, FL 34234
For more information or to register online go to http://www.flsarc.org/Training.html or contact Consie Von Gontard training@flsarc.org (352) 658-1224.
Update: Cats of Caboodle Ranch
The ASPCA and local animal welfare groups are hosting three cat adoption events on Saturday and Sunday, August 11 and 12, for hundreds of cats needing homes after being rescued on February 27 from Caboodle Ranch in Lee, Florida.
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Jacksonville: ASPCA Temporary Shelter, 2580 West 1st Street (hosted by Jacksonville Humane Society – fee waived – note: responders have been caring for the cats in Jacksonville since their rescue)
Sarasota: Robarts Arena, 3000 Ringling Boulevard (hosted by Cat Depot – a $10 donation required)
Clearwater: 1928 Gulf to Bay Boulevard (hosted by the Humane Society of Pinellas County with assistance from SPCA Tampa Bay and Bay Area DART – a donation is requested)
Adopters should bring a government-issued photo ID (i.e. driver's license, passport, military ID or non-driver ID), proof of address and a pet transfer crate, if possible.
Adoptable cats will be spayed/neutered, micro-chipped, vaccinated, and provided an ID tag free of charge. Additionally, members of the ASPCA Anti-Cruelty Behavior Team and animal behaviorists from other groups will be on-site to help answer questions about temperament and personality in order to make the best possible match with potential adopters.
Background
In June, the County Court, Third Judicial Circuit, Madison County, FL stripped Caboodle Ranch of all right, title or interest in the animals that are now available for adoption and placed them in the custody of the Madison County Sheriff's Office. The Sheriff's Office subsequently transferred custody to the ASPCA, and agencies across Florida are joining efforts to help these cats find permanent homes with qualified adopters.
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ASPCA's rescue efforts exceeded more than $1.7 million: 150,000+ cans of food; 140,000 pounds of cat litter; 5,000 doses of antibiotics; and 85,000 man-hours of work. More than 550 responders from 11 agencies have provided round-the-clock care for the cats since the rescue.
Additional groups providing assistance for the adoption events include: PetSmart Charities, Inc. (providing grants to host communities, as well as wire cages and shelter supplies); Subaru of America (ID tags); Fido Pharm (PetArmor flea and tick products); and Nestlé Purina PetCare Company (food donation).
For more information on the adoption events and the cats rescued from Caboodle Ranch, please visit www.aspca.org/caboodlecats.
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Ebola – Again
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Ebola (and the related Marburg) is a viral hemorrhagic fever. After about 12 days of incubation it begins like the flu – but gets worse, much worse, and usually ends in coma and death following apparent bleeding from eyes and ears, but it is the internal difficulties which actually cause death. The vector or carrier of the virus may be a fruit bat which sheds bodily fluids that eventually wind up in humans.
From human to human, the virus passes through body fluids and perhaps a bite. Because the virus is highly infectious as breathable droplets – at least in laboratory tests – there is concern that one of the Ebola strains could be used as a biological terror weapon.
Still, Ebola epidemics have taken place in remote areas where "sub-optimal hospital conditions" are prevalent … in other words, primarily in poor central African countries where basic sanitation is difficult and standards of hygiene are low.
"In modern hospitals with disposable needles and knowledge of basic hygiene and barrier nursing techniques, Ebola has never spread on a large scale," wrote Blaine Harden in the New York Times magazine. "In isolated settings such as a quarantined hospital or a remote village, most victims are infected shortly after the first case of infection is present. The quick onset of symptoms from the time the disease becomes contagious in an individual makes it easy to identify sick individuals and limits an individual's ability to spread the disease by traveling. Because bodies of the deceased are still infectious, some doctors had to take measures to properly dispose of dead bodies in a safe manner despite local traditional burial rituals."
But the writing of "Dr. Matthew's Passion" is 11 years old. Following the recent outbreak in Uganda, in which as many as 20 people have died and thousands fled their homes, the health community is once again studying the possibilities that an Ebola strain could be used as a biological terror weapon.
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Dr. Paul Gibbs, retired U.F. specialist in zoonotic diseases, warns that it may be possible to cross disease strains – ebola and smallpox, for example – and create a "chimera," a virulent bio-weapon with multiple DNA options for infecting populations. |
Dr. Paul Gibbs, SART specialist in zoonotic diseases like Ebola, recently retired from UF and is now in Wales "finishing a major restoration of our cottage in the hills." Gibbs was in Uganda in 2008 and followed up the earlier outbreaks by visiting the affected area in the west, he says. "Certainly Ebola can be used for bioterrorism. The former USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) reportedly produced a smallpox Ebola chimera. Ebola virus itself tends to burn out after a few transmission cycles so it's not an ideal weapon. There are promises of a vaccine but to my knowledge there are no US stocks."
Gibbs referred those interested in the possibilities of modern bio-weapons to a book by Ken Alibek titled, "Biohazard: The Chilling True Story of the Largest Covert Biological Weapons Program in the World--Told from Inside by the Man Who Ran It." Alibek notes his book is, "A horrifying account of the Soviet bio-weapons program. Why bio-weapons are more of a threat than nuclear weapons."
In Greek and Roman mythology, the chimera combined elements of lion, goat, and serpent into one monstrous form. In modern genetic science, a chimeric organism is a life form that contains genes from a foreign species, but they are not all bad and some occur naturally. The Soviet researchers referred to in Alibek's book discovered a means to increase the lethality of such bio-weapons as smallpox and anthrax by tweaking their genetic structure. By combining genes, the scientists could theoretically create a virus that triggered two diseases at once. During the late 1980s, the Soviet Union's Chimera Project studied the feasibility of combining smallpox and Ebola into a super virus.
Other potential nightmare scenarios involve strains of viruses that require certain triggers. A stealth virus would remain dormant for an extended period until triggered by predetermined stimuli. Other possible chimeric bio-weapons might require two components to become effective. Imagine a strain of botulinum toxin that, when combined with the botulinum toxin antidote, only becomes more lethal. Such a biological attack would not only result in a higher mortality rate, but might erode public trust in health initiatives, aid workers and government response to the outbreak.
For additional information:
http://www.nytimes.com/library/magazine/home/20010218mag-ebola.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/04/world/africa/uganda-ebola-outbreak-slows-health-official-says.html
Caught On Radar
Register Now for 2013 Planning Meeting
The 2013 state-wide SART Planning Meeting is scheduled for Monday-Wednesday, January 28-30. Registered participants will not be charged an event fee.
Registration is available through the Florida SART website at www.flsart.org/jsp/meetingregistration/. For organizations and/or individuals who must wait, on-site registration will begin at noon on Monday the 28th. A general session will end with closing remarks at noon Wednesday the 30th.
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Animal responders were required to use all of their learned skills during the North American hurricane season of 2004. |
The site for the conference is The Shores, 2637 South Atlantic Ave., Daytona Beach Shores, FL 32118 Telephone (386) 767-7350 Fax (386) 760-3651 Toll Free (866) 396-2217 http://www.shoresresort.com/.
SART Planner Bianca Blakley (bianca.blakley@freshfromflorida.com) says the room rate for conference attendees is $99/per night. You must register and book your room before December 28 to be eligible for the group rate. Conference attendees are invited to a light fare reception on Monday evening.
NOTE: Photos from the Florida SART conferences of 2007 and 2009, and the 2011 planning meeting are available online at http://www.flsart.org/photogallerylist/. Also available there are photos from Operation Red Fly and several SART training events.
Drought in U.S. but Florida is Wet!
Drought has spread across the U.S. and Florida has taken its share of beatings in recent years. So far in 2012, unusual weather patterns and the return of seasonal thunderstorms have allowed Florida to escape the worst.
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What does it mean that Florida has been inundated this summer while much, if not most of the U.S. is suffering a terrible drought? Water managers in the Sunshine State claim that the heavy rains experienced in the north and central portions of the state have not made their way into the underlying Floridan aquifer which remains dangerously low. |
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Poor corn and soybean crops in the Midwest will cost the U.S. food export industry billions in lost revenue. The U.S. accounts for over half the global export market for corn and nearly half of the soybean market. It's estimated the corn crop could be 10 to 15 percent smaller than expected this year due to the drought.
U.S. agricultural products account for roughly 10 percent of the country's $1.5 trillion export market, according to the Census Bureau. Most U.S. corn and soybean exports go to four countries: China, Japan, Mexico and South Korea.
In Florida, the acreage of harvested corn has remained about constant for a decade: 25,000 acres resulting in 2,625,000 bushels. In a national sense, the state soybean figures are relatively small although acreage harvested has more than doubled in the past 10 years: 23,000 acres resulting in 690,000 bushels. (2010 figures from Florida Agriculture by The Numbers 2011 http://www.florida-agriculture.com/brochures/P-01304.pdf)
10 Commandments for Team Building
To create a successful team you will need a powerful and proven leader. Admiral Eric Olson is one of the best. The Admiral is the former commander of the U.S. Special Operations Command and retired Four-star Navy SEAL who has over 38 years in government.
Here are his recommendations:
- Know the purpose
- Select the right people -- or get to know the people thrust on you
- Train and educate your team from the start but don't stop training
- Present your team with adversity and see how they handle it (character under stress cannot be faked)
- Organize for success
- Learn fearlessly
- Show trust in your team
- Hold them to a high standard
- Be their advocate and champion
- Live the life of a leader (leaders are never off duty)
By Emily Jarvis (Federal Veterinarian, Vol. 69, #8, August 2012)
Forwarded by Dr. Kendra E. Stauffer, USDA/APHIS
The National Association of Federal Veterinarians (NAFV: www.nafv.org) is a constituent body of the American Veterinary Medical Association. It numbers approximately 1,000 members and is recognized by the USDA as the representative organization for federally employed veterinarians. NAFV strives to facilitate communication, make suggestions for improvements and work collaboratively to address issues of concern.
FMD Notes and Vaccine Developments
"Recent Foot-and-Mouth Disease FMD) outbreaks around the globe demonstrate that animal diseases have no boundaries, can have a devastating impact and require a global response," said Hiroyuki Konuma, the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization's regional representative for Asia and the Pacific.
The global cost of FMD associated with production losses and vaccination for prevention is estimated at $5 billion annually, but can be much more severe. In 2001 the United Kingdom's direct and indirect cost impacts were estimated at $30 billion. Earlier outbreaks had similar tolls:
1997 – Taiwan – a major epidemic cost $15 billion
1993 – Italy – economic damages estimated at $130 million.
2010 – South Korea – culling of one-third of its swine
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One of the first signs of FMD is excessive salivation and lesions on the tongue and hooves. (Credit: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory) |
A recent article in Science Daily (www.sciencedaily.com) noted that a promising new vaccine for FMD was being developed by scientists at the DHS Science & Technology Directorate's high-containment Plum Island Animal Disease Center located off the tip of Long Island, NY. Traditionally, vaccine development has been difficult primarily because FMD comes in many strains and a vaccine must closely match the strain. The new vaccine does not use live virus and can help differentiate between infected and inoculated animals.
The United States has been FMD-free since 1929, but SART member, Dr. Kendra Stauffer says that is no guarantee the disease will not strike again, as the United Kingdom learned in 2001 after being FMD-free for 34 years.
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About the SART Sentinel |
The SART Sentinel is an e-mail newsletter prepared monthly by the members of the Florida State Agricultural Response Team. Past issues of the Sentinel are archived on the Florida SART Web Site www.flsart.org. If you have a story or photo that you would like to have considered for publication in the SART Sentinel, please contact the editors. Editor: Rick Sapp, PhD, Technical Writer, under contract with the Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services, Division of Animal Industry rsa5@cox.net Associate Editor: Joe Kight, State ESF-17 Coordinator, Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services, Division of Animal Industry Joe.Kight@freshfromflorida.com [top] |
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