https://apnews.com/85a02d9296053980ea47eba97f920707

Outbreak at Iowa pork plant was larger than state reported

By RYAN J. FOLEY

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — The first confirmed coronavirus outbreak at an Iowa meatpacking plant was far more severe than previously known, with more than twice as many workers becoming infected than the state Department of Public Health told the public, newly released records show.

The department announced at a May 5 news conference that 221 employees at the Tyson Foods pork processing plant in Columbus Junction had tested positive for COVID-19.

But days earlier, Tyson officials told Iowa workplace safety regulators during an inspection that 522 plant employees had been infected to their knowledge, documents obtained through the open records law show.

A dozen of the plant’s roughly 1,300 workers were believed to have been hospitalized by then, and two died after contracting the virus, Tyson officials told the Iowa Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

The discrepancy adds to mounting questions that the state health department faces about its handling of public information during the pandemic. The department last week forced out its longtime spokeswoman, who said she was ousted for pushing hard to fulfill media requests and that the agency’s delays and scripted talking points were embarrassing.

The agency has also faced criticism for seeking to charge thousands of dollars for open records requests and for not routinely announcing outbreaks in workplaces, among other things. The department said it has “gone above and beyond to provide up-to-date and comprehensive information” to the public.

The early April outbreak in Columbus Junction was the first of several at meatpacking plants across the state as the virus spread through crowded workplaces.

Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds took a pro-industry approach to managing those outbreaks in Iowa, the top pork-producing state. She worked with executives to continue production even as thousands of workers became infected and some died, and she applauded President Donald Trump’s order to keep such plants open throughout the country.

On May 5, Reynolds said at her then-daily news briefing that the public health department had been compiling data from surveillance testing to track outbreaks, which the state defines as at least 10 percent of employees absent or ill.

She turned over the podium to health department’s deputy director, Sarah Reisetter, who said the Tyson plants in Columbus Junction, Perry and Waterloo and two other workplaces had confirmed outbreaks. Reisetter said the Waterloo plant had 444 positive cases, but county officials said days later it actually had more than 1,000.

As for Columbus Junction, department spokeswoman Amy McCoy said the 221 case figure announced by Reisetter reflected the results of the department’s testing and what it “could verify from our data systems” at the time.

“Keep in mind, we had just established an outbreak definition, and wanted to share the information we had available,” she said. “Since that initial round of testing back in April, the testing reporting process has significantly improved.”

The department never updated the number of confirmed infections in Columbus Junction. Unlike outbreaks at long-term care facilities, the department does not post workplace outbreaks on the state’s coronavirus website.

At the May 5 briefing, Reisetter said that the 221 cases reflected 26 percent of those tested, which would be 850 total tests.

Tyson spokesman Gary Mickelson said the number of infections announced by the state appeared to reflect only the first round of testing at the plant and that additional testing had uncovered hundreds of more cases.

“Coordinating facility-wide testing and obtaining results is a complex process that takes time,” he said.

But it’s unclear why the department would not have the full testing results that Tyson described to Iowa OSHA. The department, along with county health officials, had conducted the mass testing of workers weeks earlier.

Tyson officials said they learned of the first case in Columbus Junction on April 1 and idled the plant four days later after 29 workers tested positive, according to an Iowa OSHA inspection report.

The governor sent 1,100 testing kits to the county for testing during the two-week shutdown. The plant reopened April 20 with new safety measures, and Mickelson said the company isn’t aware of any current infections there.

Iowa OSHA opened an inquiry after seeing media reports that two workers had died from the virus and inspected the plant on April 30, walking through and meeting with several Tyson officials.

“There were 522 positive COVID-19 cases to the best of the company’s knowledge,” the inspection report says.

Tyson’s plant manager told inspectors that communication between the company and public health officials was “not efficient” and that information about the positive cases wasn’t available for days after testing, the report said.

Iowa OSHA did not cite Tyson for any workplace safety violations, saying the company “was trying to follow the best CDC guidance at the given time” and recommendations were rapidly changing.

Italy –  Animal rights activists rejoice as horror farm is closed

22 July 2020

Essere Animali

Bologna, 21 July – Closure of the farm located in the municipality of Senigallia (AN), where in 2018 an undercover investigator from the organisation Essere Animali – hired as a worker – used a hidden camera to film the violent behaviour of staff towards pigs bred for a well-known PDO (‘premium’) circuit.

The news is also being communicated by the same group Essere Animali which, after the broadcasting of the investigation, launched a campaign to demand the farm’s closure. Although the decision to close the business was made by the farmer, for the organisation this is clearly attributable to the release of the shock footage. In fact, from the documents recently received by the Department of Prevention, Hygiene Service for Livestock Breeding and Production of the healthcare department Azienda Sanitaria Unica Regionale (ASUR) of the Marche region, it appears that the farm closed after sending to slaughter the last pigs that were already there when the investigation came to light. The farm is not currently assigned any of the business codes required to pursue the activity of breeding any species of animals regarded as livestock.

The images of the investigation achieved widespread coverage in the media and quickly went viral. In addition to the killing of the sow, who died after 30 minutes of agony following numerous hammer blows to the head, the video shows the use of the electric taser on sick pigs who were unable to move, the cruel handling of animals while they were being moved – with smaller piglets literally being thrown and adults hit on the snout with iron bars – and the presence of hundreds of bodies, left outdoors and piled together in buckets, in breach of health regulations. The hidden camera of Essere Animali’s investigator also filmed some of the workers (those who were not committing these violent acts) protesting at the treatment inflicted on the pigs.

The footage and images caused a tremendous uproar. Two parliamentary questions and one regional question followed, and the then Minister of Health Giulia Grillo also condemned the violence filmed by the investigator. In the days that followed, Essere Animali promoted a large demonstration in the square in Senigallia and launched a petition to ask the relevant institutions to immediately revoke the farm’s permits, a petition that has now been signed by over 280,000 people.

“The images filmed by our investigator revealed a reality of ongoing abuse and violence. Since the release of the investigation, our aim has always been to close the farm and today we can finally say that no more animals will be abused at this horror farm, a result that confirms the importance of our investigations which are a fundamental tool for shedding light on crimes against animals,” says Simone Montuschi, president of Essere Animali.

The closure of the farm does not affect the legal action that the organisation has taken against those responsible for the violence, reported to the Ancona Public Prosecutor’s Office for the alleged crimes of killing animals (art. 544-bis of the Italian Criminal Code) and mistreatment of animals (art. 544-ter of the Italian Criminal Code), as well as for specific violations of the regulations for the protection of pigs. Following the charges, the Carabinieri Forestali responsible for the territory carried out a blitz on the farm, seizing the sledgehammer used to kill the sow, several tasers used in breach of the current legislation, the iron pipes used to beat the animals and the instruments used for the castration of pigs, an operation that was carried out by unauthorised personnel and outside the periods allowed by law.

20 Jul Council Of The EU: Pandemic Risk Of Industrial Agriculture Needs Global Action

Transformation of the Food System Essential for Sustainability

“Industrial agriculture increases the ‘risk of future pandemics and needs to be tackled”, according to the Council of the EU in Brussels, which calls for action to be taken on a global basis alongside other major issues including climate change and deforestation. The statement was made in the Council conclusions setting out the EU’s priorities for the coming year at the United Nations.

“Deforestation, industrial agriculture, illegal wildlife trade, pollution, climate change, water scarcity, inefficient sanitation and waste management and other types of environmental degradation increase the risk of future pandemics and need to be tackled,” said the Council of the EU’s conclusions in the run-up to the UN’s Food Systems Summit due to take place in July next year.  Echoing calls that protecting people means protecting animals too, the Council insists that we “must be guided by the ‘one health’ principle to ensure both human and ecosystem health”.

Industrial animal agriculture, where pigs, chickens and cattle are caged, crammed or confined, provides the perfect breeding ground for new and more deadly disease. Mild strains of Avian Influenza entering an over-crowded chicken factory farm, for example, spreads very rapidly. As it goes through the flock replicating madly, differences can occur in the virus’ DNA, giving rise to new, more deadly strains. The 2009 Swine Flu pandemic originated in pig factory farms in Mexico and North America. The resulting pandemic went on to kill up to 575,000 people worldwide.

The Covid-19 crisis has “sharpened the focus on the inadequacy of the global response to the climate and biodiversity emergencies,” said the Council conclusions. Factory farming is not only a melting pot for future pandemics, it is also a major driver of wildlife declines. And the burgeoning livestock sector worldwide already contributes 14.5 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions, which is more than the exhaust fumes from all the world’s planes, trains and cars put together.

Far-reaching Reform

A key theme in the Council of the EU document is the need for far-reaching reform of the food system, pledging to support efforts to scale-up action aimed at continuing the “transformation” of the current food system to one more healthy and sustainable.

To my mind, we are entering a crucial moment in history where the future viability of our society will be defined by our response to the Covid-19 pandemic and the changes we make to a global food system which has such a bearing on future sustainability.

In this age of pandemic, climate and biodiversity emergency, there is a pressing need for a wholesale move away from unsustainable industrial farming toward a future-fit food system based on regenerative agriculture. Farming that works in harmony with nature: putting back soil health, bringing pollinators and other wildlife swarming back, conserving water, being kind to animals and protecting the future for all.

Regenerative Food System

 To avoid the nightmare of Covid-19 being repeated, urgent action is needed globally to move away from damaging industrial farming practices in favour of regenerative food; without factory farming and with much less dependence on resource-sapping intensive animal products.

It is hugely welcome to see the EU setting out clear priorities, including tackling industrial farming, deforestation and climate change, ahead of next year’s most crucial UN meetings; UNEA5, the Food Systems Summit, the Biodiversity Summit and the next Conference of the Parties on climate change.

I and my team here at Compassion in World Farming stand poised to do everything we can to support the EU and all nations of the UN in this endeavour.

We encourage those charged today with creating a viable tomorrow to agree a global action plan to ‘build back better’ by ending industrial agriculture and runaway meat production.

The future for us all relies on moving to a more humane and sustainable regenerative food system. One that builds on a central principle learned through the pandemic: that protecting people means protecting animals too.

Compassion in World Farming is calling on the world’s most influential organisations, including the World Bank, the United Nations and the World Health Organisation, to replace factory farming with a food system that respects animals, nurtures our planet, and reduces the risk of pandemics. 

Please use this link to sign our petition and join the call for a future without factory farming.

Thank you.

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