Doug Zatechka, director of University Housing, gets his flu shot from Szu Hua during the flu vaccination clinic Nov. 29 in the University Health Center. More vaccination clinics will be offered from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Dec. 6, 7, 10, 11 and 12 at the University Health Center on City Campus.

Flu vaccine available at Health Center

The University Health Center has received its final shipment of flu vaccine and will hold City and East Campus walk-in flu vaccination clinics from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Dec. 6, 7, 10, 11 and 12 in the City Campus Health Center.

While supplies last, flu shots will be available by appointment beginning Dec. 13.

Use the northwest entrance of the City Campus Health Center, 15th and U streets. Limited patient parking is available north and south of the City Campus Health Center in designated patient parking stalls.

Flu shots are available to students and dependents, faculty/staff and dependents, and the public and cost $8. Flu shots must be paid for at the time of service. Blue Cross/Blue Shield members must bring their medical insurance cards in order to receive reimbursement from BC/BS. Dates and times are subject to change based upon availability of the vaccine.

The flu is a highly contagious infection of the nose, throat and lungs. Flu symptoms include a sudden onset of high fever, chills, a dry cough, headache, runny nose, sore throat, and muscle and joint pain.

There are several preventive measures you can take to avoid the flu. They include:

• Get enough sleep, typically 7-8 hours per night.
• Eat a balanced diet.
• Wash your hands frequently.
• Do not rub your eyes with your hands.

For more information about the flu or vaccination information, call the University Health Center at 472-5000.

Ag bioterrorism threat requires vigilance

By Heather Corley, IANR News and Publishing

While bioterrorist attacks on Nebraska agriculture may seem unlikely, it's a serious concern. University of Nebraska agricultural specialists say vigilance and preparation can help protect the state's leading industry.

For livestock producers, good biosecurity practices are key to preventing potential terrorist acts and minimizing damage should an attack occur, said David Smith, an NU beef and dairy veterinarian.

"It is a serious concern that our livestock could be deliberately exposed to disease-causing infectious agents or dangerous chemicals," Smith said. "The resulting losses may include animal suffering, debilitation or death, economic damage to our markets at home and abroad or danger to public health from an unsafe food supply."

Many livestock producers implemented tighter biosecurity policies as a preventive tactic earlier this year in response to overseas outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease and bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease. Continuing and even stepping up these safety measures is a good idea at this time, the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources specialist said.

Smith urged producers to check livestock frequently and to call a veterinarian should higher-than-normal rates of illness or death occur.

Of particular concern are animals with blisters or sores around the mouth, udder or feet, severe lameness, spontaneous abortions or sudden deaths. These symptoms can be indicative of highly contagious foreign animal diseases such as foot-and-mouth disease.

"Livestock illness and death may be noticed before authorities become aware of human health problems due to the same exposure," he said. "Report your concerns. Don't wait to see if things will look better in a day or two."

To prevent disease from spreading, carefully inspect all animals that are bought or sold, Smith said.

"If something doesn't look right, call a veterinarian before the animals leave your property," he said. "Also be sure that you follow livestock movement laws. If the animals need health papers, be sure they have them."

Smith suggested producers talk with feed suppliers about the safety of feed that comes onto the farm or ranch and store feed in a secure location.

"Post signs that restrict access to your livestock and direct legitimate visitors to check in at the office," Smith said. "Keep an eye out for people who don't belong on your place or your neighbor's. Call law enforcement if you suspect a problem."

Producers should control the contact visitors have with livestock and insist that guests wear clean clothes, he said.

"The bottom line is that if someone wants to introduce a disease to the livestock population, they will find a way to do it," Smith said. "Our job is to be vigilant about biosecurity and report any abnormalities to veterinarians or law enforcement immediately so that we can prevent any problems from spreading."

Insects also present a bioterrorism risk, NU Entomologist Leon Higley said.

"There have been claims about the use of insects as terrorism agents dating back to the Civil War," he said. "There are definitely insects that we wouldn't want here, that pose serious risks to Nebraska crops and livestock."

Many of the most important economic insect pests in North America are introduced, not native, Higley said.

"This country deals with new insect pests all the time because of commerce," he said. "For that reason, it would be difficult to find out if someone did introduce a pest. We wouldn't know whether it was done on purpose or came in through trade."

Insects that can infect livestock are a concern, as are foreign crop pests.

"There are insects that attack soybeans that exist elsewhere in the world that we have the right environmental conditions for right here in Nebraska," Higley said. "Damage to livestock and crops would cause economic loss, as would the quarantines that would be put into place if certain pests were found in the state."

Higley said the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has many tools to prevent the entry of foreign pests and to manage infestations that should occur.

"The best thing producers can do is stay informed about insect problems in their livestock and crop production systems," Higley said. "Should an unusual pest appear, promptly informing extension educators or the state department of agriculture is essential for recognizing new pests and taking appropriate action."

When it comes to crop diseases, John Watkins, an NU plant pathologist, said it's possible but far more difficult to create an artificial disease epidemic in plants than in humans or livestock.

"To understand how difficult it is to create an artificial plant disease epidemic under field conditions, one must only look at one of the basic principles of plant pathology, the plant disease triangle," Watkins said. "For any plant disease to occur and then become epidemic, three essential components must be in balance: a virulent pathogen, a susceptible host and a favorable environment. This doesn't often occur in nature."

Natural plant disease epidemics happen every year in Nebraska. This year, certain varieties of winter wheat were infected with stripe rust.

"Statewide, losses to stripe rust were probably less than 1 percent," he said.

Gray leaf spot of corn also is a good example of natural disease control.

"Gray leaf spot is the most common and serious corn disease in the Midwest," Watkins said. "This year, dry weather early in the season delayed initial disease development so that when gray leaf spot began to cause damage in most fields, yields had already been determined by plant development. Therefore, the effects of the disease on crop production were minimal."

These examples show why it would be difficult for terrorists to create an artificial plant disease epidemic that would devastate a crop, even with a highly contagious or aggressive disease-causing virus, bacteria or fungus, Watkins said.

"There is a wide genetic diversity in our food, feed and fiber crops," he said. "This environment is variable and generally discourages disease development. Also, the fact that most crops are only susceptible to infection during a few months of the year . . . makes it less likely that plant pathogens would be used as bioterrorism agents."

For more information, consult NU Cooperative Extension NebFact NF01-492, Protecting Livestock from Terrorism, available at county extension offices or on the Web at http://www.ianr.unl. edu/pubs/safety/nf492.htm.

2 NU Press books on terrorism resource site

The University of Nebraska Press has listed two titles in "Books for Understanding," the Association of American University Presses Web site bibliography of books related to the events of Sept. 11.

The site can be found at http://www.aaupnet.org/ news/spotlight.html.

The UNP titles are Searching for Saleem: An Afghan Woman's Odyssey by Farooka Gauhari, and Atlas of a Tropical Germany: Essays on Politics and Culture, 1990-1998 by Zafer Senocak.

The growing list of books by member presses offers more than 600 titles from more than 60 scholarly publishers and is being compiled to help readers and scholars in the search for understanding of the Sept. 11 events.

Searching for Saleem: An Afghan Woman's Odyssey by Farooka Gauhari, http://unp.unl.edu/scripts/Cart/smart.pl?command=listitems&ID= 2878&tmp=1, is a first-person account of a national tragedy that interrupted daily life in Afghanistan after the communist coup of April 1978. Farooka Gauhari manages the biology lab at the University of Nebraska-Omaha.

Atlas of a Tropical Germany: Essays on Politics and Culture, 1990-1998 by Zafer Senocak, http://unp.unl.edu/scripts/Cart/smart.pl?command=listitems&ID= 3915&tmp=1, writes about the immigration of Turks and other Muslims to Germany and their experience and role there. Senocak, born in Ankara, has lived primarily in Berlin and Munich since 1970.

Subjects addressed by books on the list include terrorism and counter-terrorism, disaster management, dealing with grief and loss, Islamic thought and culture, Islamic fundamentalism, aviation and airport security, and the World Trade Center. Books are available through press Web sites, local and online booksellers, and libraries.

News stories about "Books for Understanding" have appeared in a host of publishing and academic media, and many Web sites have established links, including Independent Sector, which has posted a description of the bibliography and the link in their listing of different ways non-profit organizations have responded to Sept. 11: http://www .independentsector.org/sept11/information.htm.

More information about the two University of Nebraska titles can be found at the UNP Web site.

The Association of American University Presses is the largest and oldest association of non-profit scholarly publishers in the world. They publish books reporting research, textbooks and other books for general readers.

Vet center on lookout for West Nile virus

By Heather Corley, IANR News and Publishing

West Nile virus is expected to make its way to Nebraska by spring 2002, and the University of Nebraska's Veterinary Diagnostic Center is gearing up to track the virus.

West Nile is a mosquito-borne virus that has existed for many years in the Middle East, West Asia and Africa. It was first reported in the United States in 1999, spread along the East Coast in 2000 and made its way to the Midwest this year, with cases documented in Wisconsin, Iowa and Missouri.

The virus can infect people, birds and some mammals, including horses. Most people who are infected don't become ill. When symptoms occur, they range from those of a mild flu to encephalitis in severe cases. Less than 1 percent of people who are infected become severely ill, and 3 percent to 15 percent of severe cases are fatal, according to U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention information.

"One of the main reasons we are concerned about West Nile virus is because it was an exotic disease," said David Steffen, Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources veterinarian and director of NU's Veterinary Diagnostic Center. "It's important for us to track this disease as it spreads across the continent, and to alert the public and to minimize the risk of infection. If we know where the virus is, we can try to help minimize its impact by vaccinating horses and by mosquito control."

Often, the first sign of West Nile virus in a region is unusual bird die-offs, particularly crows. Crows and blue jays are unusually susceptible to the virus, and crows may feed on other birds that have died, Steffen said. Other birds, such as sparrows, replicate virus and spread infection but will not become ill.

"We have run a few negative tests this year for West Nile virus but we expect to see many more potential cases in the spring when mosquitoes become active again," he said.

The Veterinary Diagnostic Center has purchased equipment to safely handle infected birds and to run PCR tests, which identify viral genetic material without requiring scientists to handle live virus.

West Nile virus does not affect most livestock species, except horses. Dogs and cats are rarely infected.

"Quite a few horses have been infected as the virus has spread across the country," Steffen said. Many equine infections are subclinical, but there is a 40 percent death rate in clinically infected horses.

Steffen recommends that horse owners have their horses vaccinated against West Nile virus.

"There have been 55 diagnosed cases in humans in New York, and seven of those people died," Steffen said. In 2000, there were 21 human cases of West Nile virus in the United States and two deaths, according to the CDC. "So people who fall into one of the risk categories, elderly and immunosuppressed, will want to reduce their exposure to mosquitoes by wearing repellent and long sleeves."

Horses and humans are dead-end carriers of the disease, he said, meaning the infection is not contagious when present in those species.

Nebraska residents can help the center monitor the progress of the virus by reporting dead birds to Nebraska Game and Parks Commission or local pubic health authorities.

"Nebraska Game and Parks will assist in safely getting the dead birds to the Veterinary Diagnostic Center for testing," Steffen said. "If it is necessary for someone to handle a dead bird, they should use gloves, put the bird into a plastic bag and handle it as little as possible."

Reporting bird mortality will help public health monitors identify infection hot spots, which can be sprayed to reduce mosquito numbers and minimize the risk to humans.

Veterinarians doing necropsy on horses that show neurological symptoms are urged to handle the samples with care and report potential cases of West Nile virus to the Veterinary Diagnostic Center.

"This is not something to be scared of but something to be aware of," Steffen said. "Because the virus is new, we may see more cases this first year. But once it spreads, there will be more natural immunity and fewer cases in the future."