Up to 10 dead in Afghanistan; wheat contamination suspected

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — As many as 10 people have died in western Afghanistan from a rare liver disease believed to be caused by contaminated wheat, officials said.

At least 161 people were also hospitalized with Gulran disease in Herat province on the Iranian border, Peter Graaff, resident representative of the U.N. World Health Organization (WHO), said April 19.

A toxic weed called charmak grows in the area and contains chemicals that can cause Gulran disease, WHO stated. Graaff said the disease is not new but rare, and has killed as many as 10 people in recent weeks. Abdul Hakim Tamana, the director of the Herat public health department, said Gulran disease “has spread all over” the affected district.

It was unclear exactly how the people became ill. The WHO was sending an epidemiologist from Geneva to Afghanistan within days to investigate whether wheat or other foods were contaminated, and whether people might be eating the weed accidentally or deliberately as a flavor enhancer, Graaff said.

WHO and Afghan government authorities believe local wheat was tainted with charmak and have taken measures to distribute fresh wheat supplies. Tests have not been done to check for contamination and laboratories in the capital, Kabul, were unable to detect the cause of the illness.

“Maybe the flour they have is contaminated,” Graaff said. “Is it the wheat that is contaminated, or do people eat it deliberately to add to the taste? Or other food products might be contaminated.”

The Afghan Red Crescent Society received $14,000 to purchase new wheat to replace suspect supplies in the district as a precautionary measure, said Graziella Leite Piccolo, a spokeswoman for the International Committee of the Red Cross in Kabul.

Tamana said Gulran disease has affected people in the area for the past 40 years, and that several people died from it in 1999 and 2001.

Iowa House approves $23 million odor study

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa House on April 17 approved a $23 million study seeking ways to ease the stench from livestock facilities.

The measure, which heads to the Iowa Senate, calls for a five-year study by Iowa State University researchers. Rep. Nathan Reichert (D-Muscatine) said the study would be “boots on the ground, pragmatic research” that would include up to 300 producers across the state.

The proposed study has been criticized by environmental groups that call the bill a stall tactic for lawmakers unwilling to authorize real solutions, such as tougher permitting standards. The study would review giant hog confinements and smaller operations with animals such as chickens and turkeys. Researchers would study everything from facility modifications to animal diets that could potentially reduce manure odor.

Critics of giant livestock facilities tried unsuccessfully to add other provisions to the bill, such as a study that would recommend air quality standards for the facilities and evaluate health impacts of those who live near them. Another failed proposal would have banned livestock facilities within three miles of a museum, historic site or tourist attraction.

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (D-Des Moines) said the leaders haven’t included any money for the study in the budget plan, but he wouldn’t rule out finding the money or even seeking federal funds. Under the measure, the study would begin when the money is appropriated.

Dip to freezing in Tennessee unlike devastating cold in 2007

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A steep drop from balmy weather to freezing temperatures in mid-April was very much unlike last year’s devastating Easter freeze, observers say.

Any damage from last week’s freezing readings would be to fruit crops, including peaches and strawberries and, even then, could be more beneficial than harmful.

The April 15 morning low temperature in the Tri-Cities was 27 degrees. Nashville recorded 31 degrees. There was widespread frost and some rural areas dipped briefly into the mid-20s.

“Those producers make plans for freezing temperatures (during blooming) and would irrigate or use fires,” said Tom Womack, spokesman for the state Department of Agriculture. “A light freeze can help by thinning crops and improving what’s left.”

Any damage to grain would first show up in a federal agricultural statistical report to be released on April 21, Womack said. A wet early spring, however, has delayed much planting, particularly of corn, and most row crops have not emerged.

On April 6-9, 2007, temperatures plunged, producing a hard freeze statewide over the Easter weekend.

Even Tennessee residents feel Midwest earthquake

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — People across Tennessee awoke suddenly to shaking from an earthquake in Illinois early Friday, but no damage or injuries were reported.

The quake, just before 4:37 a.m., was centered six miles from West Salem, Ill., about 175 miles north of Nashville. It was felt in such distant cities as Milwaukee, Des Moines and Atlanta, nearly 400 miles to the southeast. Dozens of aftershocks followed, one with a magnitude of 4.5.

Tennesseans from Memphis to the Tri-Cities reported feeling the temblor. Misty McCullum of Millersville said her pictures were askew after her house shook for more than a minute. In Wilson County, environmental engineer Charlie Robinson said he woke to a strange noise and found it was venetian blinds rattling against his bedroom windows.

800 hogs die in eastern Iowa confinement fire

CLARENCE, Iowa (AP) — About 800 hogs have died in a fire near Clarence in eastern Iowa.

Firefighters were called to the blaze on April 14. Three hog buildings on the property were destroyed. About 200 hogs survived. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Clarence is about 30 miles east of Cedar Rapids.

Insecticide killed cows on Clinch County farm

HOMVERVILLE, Ga. (AP) — Tests have found that an insecticide caused the sudden death of 35 cows at a southern Georgia farm, officials said. But authorities are still trying to determine if the deaths earlier this month were deliberate or accidental.

“We conducted tests on three of the dead cattle and found aldicarb in their rumen,” Georgia Commissioner of Agriculture Tommy Irvin said last week in a statement.

Aldicarb is sold under the brand name Temik, a pesticide for cotton and soybeans, officials said.

“We tested feed from the trough where the cattle had eaten and found aldicarb,” Irvin said. “We also did a composite sample of 10 unopened bags from the same lot of feed. The sample did not contain any traces of the insecticide.”

Authorities were called to the farm, which is along the border between Lanier and Clinch counties, on April 6 after getting a report that cattle were dropping dead there.

No other animals at the farm have died suddenly or fallen ill, said Special Agent in Charge Russell Mansfield, of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s regional office in Douglas. There have also not been any reports of animal deaths at neighboring farms, he said.

“There is no question the insecticide was in the food, and all the (dead) cows had come up and eaten out of the same trough,” Mansfield said. “We’re working to determine if this was a deliberate act against the cattle owner.”