Hemorrhagic disease is killing large numbers of deer in NC

[dav...@agent.com]

http://www.chapelhillnews.com/2012/09/28/73134/area-deer-may-dodge-fatal-disease.html

Area deer may dodge fatal disease
By Tammy Grubb

CHAPEL HILL - Hemorrhagic disease is killing large numbers of
deer in northwestern North Carolina, but it’s not expected to
have a significant impact locally. The disease does not affect
people, and eating meat from an infected deer is safe, said
Jason Allen, wildlife biologist with the NC Wildlife Resources
Commission. The viruses that cause the disease – epizootic,
the most common, and bluetongue – are spread by a biting fly
called a midge, or no-see-um. Infected deer usually develop a
high fever, weakness, breathing problems and severe, rapid
bloating of the head and neck. There also may be extensive
bleeding, flaky hooves, foaming at the mouth & nasal discharge.
Infected deer most commonly react by going to water sources &
usually die within 36 hours. The disease is most prevalent
from July to Nov, when the first frost kills off many flies,
but infected deer that survive can develop a resistance.

Kindra Mammone, founder & executive director of CLAWS Inc.
wildlife rehab group, told Chapel Hill Town Council last week
that the disease could kill half the state’s deer population.
She said she found that info in a North Carolina Sportsman
magazine article. It quotes WRC wildlife biologist Chris Kreh,
who said his educated guess is that 30-50% mortality is likely
in the northwestern part of the state. Kreh said it’s the most
substantial number he has seen in five years. As of Thursday,
he had 1,400 reports of deer in his 11-county area exhibiting
symptoms. Very few are being tested to be sure it’s hemorrhagic
disease, and state officials won’t know the full effect until
later this winter, he said. Herds in more than a dozen north-
western counties are being hit particularly hard. Surry, Wilkes
& Caldwell counties have had the most serious outbreak, but
Mitchell, Burke, Alleghany & Cleveland counties also reported
a high number of fatalities. The state's asking hunters in
those areas to voluntarily limit the number of deer they kill
when this fall’s hunting season opens.

The Triangle region isn't experiencing the same problem, Allen
said. Allen said one Caswell County deer was killed this year
by hemorrhagic disease, out of 43 suspected cases across an
11-county area. Orange County had 3 reports, but only one
animal was still fit for testing & the results were negative,
he said. Hemorrhagic disease is common & cyclical in nature.
Every 5-6 years, the state sees more cases, though not usually
at this year’s levels, wildlife experts say. No one really
knows why there are more cases this year. Allen said there
might be more flies or more deer this year in certain areas,
or the northwestern deer may not have been exposed to the
disease before, making them more vulnerable. The disease also
tends to show up in years with a hot, wet summer followed by a
mild winter, officials say.

[Boikat]

On Sep 30, 12:24 am, dav...@agent.com wrote:
> http://www.chapelhillnews.com/2012/09/28/73134/area-deer-may-dodge-fa...

>
> Area deer may dodge fatal disease
> By Tammy Grubb
>
> CHAPEL HILL - Hemorrhagic disease is killing large numbers of

> deer in northwestern North Carolina......

<snip>

Ooooh! So it's not only *people* dying from disease, but you also get
your rocks off with *critters* dying from diseases, too!

Boikat

[J.J. O'Shea]

On Sun, 30 Sep 2012 01:40:31 -0400, Boikat wrote
(in article
<3a7667ed-5e8f-4038...@z8g2000yql.googlegroups.com>):

He is quite consistent.

--
email to oshea dot j dot j at gmail dot com.

[dav...@agent.com]

Boikat <boi...@bellsouth.net> wrote:

> dav...@agent.com wrote:
>>
>> Area deer may dodge fatal disease
>> By Tammy Grubb
>>
>> CHAPEL HILL - Hemorrhagic disease is killing large numbers of
>> deer in northwestern North Carolina......
>
><snip>
>

> So it's not only *people* dying from disease, but you also get
>your rocks off with *critters* dying from diseases, too!

WHY IT MATTERS: Social Security
Sep 30 2012

STEPHEN OHLEMACHER, Associated Press

The issue: Unless Congress acts, the trust funds that support
Social Security will run out of money in 2033, according to
the trustees who oversee the retirement and disability program.
At that point, Social Security would collect only enough tax
revenue each year to pay about 75% of benefits. That benefit
cut wouldn't sit well with the millions of older Americans who
rely on Social Security for most of their income.
___
Where they stand:

Obama hasn't laid out a detailed plan for addressing Social
Security. He's called for bipartisan talks on strengthening
the program but he didn't embrace the plan produced by a
bipartisan deficit reduction panel he created in 2010.

Romney proposes a gradual increase in the retirement age to
account for growing life expectancy. For future generations,
Romney would slow the growth of benefits "for those with
higher incomes."
__
Why it matters:

For millions of retired & disabled workers, Social Security is
pretty much all they have to live on, even though monthly
benefits are barely enough to keep them out of poverty. Monthly
payments average $1,237 for retired & $1,111 for disabled.
Most older Americans rely on Social Security for a majority
of their income; many rely on it for 90% or more, according to
the Social Security Admin. SocSec is already the largest fed
program & it's getting bigger as millions of boomers reach
retirement. More than 56 million retirees, disabled workers,
spouses & children get SocSec benefits. That number that will
grow to 91 million by 2035, acc. to congressional estimates.
SocSec could handle the growing number of beneficiaries if
there were more workers paying payroll taxes. But most baby
boomers didn't have as many children as their parents did,
leaving relatively fewer workers to pay into the system.

In 1960, there were 4.9 workers for each person gettin bennies.
Today, there are about 2.8 workers for each beneficiary, and
that ratio will drop to 1.9 workers by 2035. Nevertheless,
SocSec is ripe for congressional action in the next year or
two, if lawmakers get serious about addressing the nation's
long-term financial problems. Why? Because Social Security is
fixable. Despite the program's long-term problems, SocSec
could be preserved for generations to come with modest but
politically difficult changes to benefits or taxes, or a
combination of both. Some options could affect people quickly,
such as increasing payroll taxes or reducing annual cost-of-
living adjustments for those who already get benefits. Other
options, like gradually raising the retirement age, wouldn't
be felt for years but would affect millions of younger workers.

Fixing SocSec won't be easy. All the options carry political
risks because they have the potential to affect nearly every
U.S. family while angering powerful interest groups. Liberal
advocates & some Dems oppose all benefit cuts; conservative
activists & some Repubs say tax hikes are out of the question.
But SocSec is easier to fix than Medicare or Medicaid, the
other two big govt benefit programs. Unlike Medicare/Medicaid,
policymakers don't have to figure out how to tame the rising
costs of health care to fix SocSec. SocSec's problems seem
far off. After all, the program has enough money to pay full
benefits for 20 more years. But the program's financial probs
get harder to fix with each passing year. The sooner Congress
acts, the more subtle the changes can be because they can be
phased in slowly.

[Boikat]

On Sep 30, 1:49 pm, dav...@agent.com wrote:
>  Boikat <boi...@bellsouth.net> wrote:
> > dav...@agent.com wrote:
>
> >> Area deer may dodge fatal disease
> >> By Tammy Grubb
>
> >> CHAPEL HILL - Hemorrhagic disease is killing large numbers of
> >> deer in northwestern North Carolina......
>
> ><snip>
>
> > So it's not only *people* dying from disease, but you also get
> >your rocks off with *critters* dying from diseases, too!
>
> WHY IT MATTERS: Social Security
> Sep 30 2012
>

<snip>

Go hide in a cave then.

Boikat

[dav...@agent.com]

UN urges protection for elderly as world grays

Oct 01 2012, ELAINE KURTENBACH, Associated Press

The fast aging of Japanese society is evident as soon as one
lands at Narita airport & sees who's doing the cleaning. Young
people tend to take such menial jobs in other countries, but
here they are often held by workers obviously in the second
half-century of their lives. Having the world's highest % of
older people is creating unique challenges for Japan, but a
report released Monday by the U.N. Population Fund warns that
they won't be unique for long. Japan is the only country with
30% of its population over 60, but by 2050 more than 60 other
countries, from China to Canada to Albania, will be in the same
boat. The report urges govts to summon the political will to
protect the elderly & ensure they can age with good health &
dignity. Discrimination toward and poverty among the aged are
still far too prevalent in many countries, it says, even in the
relatively wealthy industrialized nations.

The problem is worse for women, whose access to jobs & health
care is often limited throughout their lives, along with their
rights to own & inherit property. "More must be done to expose,
investigate & prevent discrimination, abuse & violence against
older persons, especially women who are more vulnerable," the
report says, calling on countries to "ensure that aging is a
time of opportunity for all." "We need bold political leader-
ship," said Babatunde Osotimehin, executive director of the
Population Fund. "Aging is manageable, but first it must be
managed." In some countries, such as Latvia & Cyprus, about
half of those over 60 are living in poverty. And even in highly
industrialized countries such as Japan the elderly face problems
that get little attention from the govt. Hisako Tsukida, a 77yo
retired school teacher in Kyoto, is living what sounds like a
dream retirement life, taking tai chi and flower arrangement
lessons & visiting a fitness center for spa treatments & muscle
training. But her current leisure followed many years of caring
for her ailing husband & then for her mother. Japan's elderly
often take on enormous burdens in caring for older relatives at
home.

Tsukida spent years trying to find a nursing home for her mom,
now 100, & finally succeeded about 6 months ago after a rare
vacancy opened up. But now she wonders about the time when
she'll have to go thru the same struggle for herself. "I wonder
if I could do this again when I'm even older and need to find
myself a place to go," she said. The U.N. report said that
policy discussions of all kinds must include a consideration of
problems facing the aging if mankind is to reap a "longevity
benefit" from people's longer life expectancies. Governments
should build safety nets to ensure older people have income
security and access to essential health and social services,
it said. The report cited data from the Int'l Labor Org showing
that only about 1/5 of all workers get comprehensive social
insurance.

Aging is no longer solely an issue for rich countries. About
2/3 of people over 60 live in developing countries like China,
& by '50 that figure is expected to rise to about 80%. One in
nine people — 810 million — are 60 or older, a figure projected
to rise to 1 in 5 — or more than 2 bil — by '50. Even Japan,
world's 3rd-largest economy, offers only meager social bennies,
though govt-subsidized services provide affordable household
help & daycare in some areas. Neighbors & religious groups
often help older people, & public facilities have been vastly
improved from a few decades ago, with elevators & other handi-
capped access now the norm. The discovery earlier this year,
though, that an aged couple & their son apparently had starved
to death in their home in a Tokyo suburb highlighted Japan's
own growing problems with poverty & unemployment. Growing #s
of people suffering from dementia pose another challenge. About
35.6 million people around the world were afflicted with the
disease in 2010, a number growing about 7.7 million a year &
costing about $604 billion worldwide.

Provisions must be made for the infirm to ensure their basic
human rights, the U.N. report says. In many countries, incl.
the U.S., India, Brazil & Mexico, stats show the elderly often
pay more into pension systems over their lifetimes than they
receive in return. Meanwhile, as retirement ages are raised &
benefits cut due to ballooning deficits, elderly are paying
proportionately more in taxes. The report blamed a bias toward
youth in mass media, which stereotype aging as time of decline,
for lowering expectations about life for older people. It noted
that older people often live highly productive, enjoyable lives
if they have good health & reasonable levels of income. The
report's authors also argued against a prevalent belief that
older workers should make way for younger job seekers, saying
that way of thinking is based on the mistaken idea that there's
a finite number of jobs and that workers are perfectly inter-
changeable. "More jobs for older people do not mean fewer jobs
for younger people," it says.