Poor Thing CDC Colorado Scrapie-ville's Funding to Be Cut
Mort Zuckerman
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Subject: Poor Thing CDC Colorado Scrapie-ville's Funding to Be Cut
Date: Jun 4, 2010 8:12 PM
CDC Colorado - that's where Barbara
Johnson, patent holder and Dearborn
crook, hangs out:
http://www.actionlyme.org/CDCS_PARTICIPATION_IN_LYME_CRIMES.htm
http://www.actionlyme.org/Dearborn_Who_Approved.htm
Her ^^^patents show that she knew the
Dearborn case definition was bogus
before Dearborn even took place.
They're a funny bunch, that CDC.
We can't imagine why they would be
watching West Nile in Colorado, because
that's where the CDC did the goat-scrapie
experiments... later known as Mad Cow
Wasting Disease.
KMDickson
http://www.actionlyme.org
============================================
http://www.ncbr.com/article.asp?id=51910
Federal budget could cut local CDC funding
By Kristen Tatti
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June 4, 2010 --
A Northern Colorado facility that combats many major health threats is
itself threatened by a massive cut in the federal budget that could
eliminate its funding.
Centers for Disease Control's Division of Vector-Borne Diseases
building
The proposed fiscal year 2011 federal budget, now in the hands of
Congressional committees, would cut $26.7 million from the Centers for
Disease Control's vector-borne diseases division based in Fort
Collins.
"That would completely eliminate the funding for vector-born
diseases," said Assistant Surgeon General Ali Khan, M.D., acting
deputy director of the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic
Infectious Diseases, a new center being created from two existing
centers within the CDC.
Nestled into the westernmost reaches of Colorado State University's
Foothills Campus, the Division of Vector-Borne Diseases is responsible
for researching, tracking and treating infectious diseases such as
West Nile virus, Lyme disease, yellow fever, plague and dengue
hemorrhagic fever. It is part of the Rocky Mountain Regional Center
for Excellence for biodefense and emerging infectious disease
research, a consortium that includes 11 universities and laboratories.
The center employs about 250 researchers, technicians and other staff.
The total budget for DVBD in 2009 was $39 million, which also included
funds from programs outside the federal budget. About half of the
CDC's vector-borne disease budget is distributed to states to maintain
data systems for tracking disease outbreaks, according to Khan.
The division has been located on the Foothills Campus since 1967 but
got a major boost in 2007 with a new $80 million, 160,378-square-foot
facility that took three years to build. The facility includes
Biosafety Level 2 and 3 laboratories, an animal facility, an insectary
and office space. Shell space on the fourth floor was slated for
laboratory finishing to house about 50 scientists.
According to a CDC budget request report, the project was fully funded
in 2007 and was to be completed in the first quarter of this year. A
CDC spokeswoman was not able to confirm the status of the project in
time for publication of this story.
Critical programs in jeopardy
Despite its state-of-the-art digs, ongoing operations at the site
could be in serious jeopardy with federal budget cuts looming.
Khan noted that the budget is far from final and there are some
potential bright spots. One line item could increase the overall
budget for infectious disease by $19 million to $20 million,
backfilling some of the cut.
However, he points out that other programs facing budget cuts will be
vying for the same funds. If the budget proceeds as is, the CDC will
have to work in conjunction with the states to prioritize what will be
funded, Khan added.
"Without a doubt, Vector-Borne Diseases is important to us and to U.S.
health and safety," he said. "It's so important, we will prioritize
some money to support these programs."
Khan listed many accomplishments and critical programs under the
vector-borne disease program. The national arbovirus surveillance
system, known as ArboNet, integrates human, equine, avian and insect
monitoring reports from state health departments. The West Nile Virus
program has seen marked success, including the development of the
world's first licensed DNA vaccine to protect horses from WNV.
Unfortunately, if the proposed cuts are approved not everything could
be covered by the potential funding increases. Khan worries that the
dengue fever program's satellite center in Puerto Rico could become a
casualty, and the animal facility in Fort Collins could close, if the
appropriate level of staffing cannot be maintained.
"It's just a 'wait-and-see' situation now to see what Congress
decides," Khan said.
Holding pattern
Many others in the community with an interest in the fate of the DVBD
center are in the same holding pattern, in particular CSU.
"This is a very longstanding, collaborative effort we've had with
them," said Bill Farland, vice president for research. "We value the
opportunity to interact with the lab."
The DVBD touches on the core areas of the university's focus, both
research and education. Many staffers at DVBD serve as adjunct and
affiliate faculty of CSU.
"The division also provides work experience for our students," Farland
said, adding that last year more than 30 students worked at the
facility.
For the broader community, research from DVBD is progressing to the
point that spin-off companies are a possibility. Fort Collins-based
Inviragen, which recently landed $15 million in venture capital to
move its dengue fever vaccine into human clinical trials, licensed its
technology from the DVBD.
"We are very concerned with any cuts to the division of vector-borne
diseases," said Inviragen CEO Dan Stinchcomb, adding that the work
done there is essential to Inviragen as well as public health. "The
collaboration with DVBD has been very productive and very essential to
moving the dengue vaccine from the lab to clinical trials."
Khan pointed out that while dengue has traditionally plagued
developing tropical locales, a May outbreak in Florida could indicate
its reach is spreading. Stinchcomb explained that there is concern
that a number of vector-borne diseases are seeing expanded ranges as
disease transmitting mosquitoes adapt to new climates.
In addition to its work with the DVBD on dengue, Inviragen also
licensed technology for a West Nile vaccine and is collaborating on
research on chikungunya virus, a disease similar to dengue. Overall,
Stinchcomb feels that with the trend of threats from vector-borne
diseases on the rise, any cut to the DVBD program is shortsighted in
terms of U.S. and global health.
Support for funding
With all of the connections to the Northern Colorado community,
legislators have been vocal about maintaining DVBD funding. U.S. Sens.
Michael Bennet and Mark Udall co-signed a letter to the chair and
ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor,
Health and Human Services and Education.
"We are concerned that the $26.7 million budget cut proposed in the
President's Fiscal Year 2011 budget request would severely compromise
the CDC's mission for the division, including its ability to protect
public health against some of the world's most destructive diseases,"
the letter stated.
Fourth District Rep. Betsy Markey fired off a similar letter to the
House subcommittee. She pointed out that the loss of a dedicated
budget will result in the loss of programs such as West Nile
surveillance and dengue research.
The local impact is obviously of concern, but the public health risk
has an even broader group concerned. The American Society for
Microbiology submitted testimony on the 2011 budget for the CDC, in
general, focused largely on what the cuts to the vector-borne diseases
program could mean for the overall health of the country:
"This funding reduction will essentially destroy the infrastructure
developed in the past decade in response to the importation of West
Nile virus in 1999 and its subsequent spread across the United States,
and will leave the country vulnerable to similar importation of other
vector-borne diseases."
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