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More cases of bird flu identified in Colorado poultry workers
By Jamie Gumbrecht and Brenda Goodman, CNN
3 minute read
Updated 1:42 PM EDT, Mon July 15, 2024
Five cases of H5N1 bird flu have been identified in poultry workers in Colorado. BSIP/UIG/Getty ImagesCNN —
Five cases of bird flu have been identified among workers culling poultry at a farm in northeast Colorado, the state department of health said on Sunday. The commercial egg operation was impacted by H5N1 outbreaks that have also affected wild birds and dairy cows in several states.
Three of the five human cases were announced Friday, and all of those have now been confirmed by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A fourth case was also confirmed, and a fifth is presumed positive based on state testing. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment said in a statement on Sunday that no additional test results are pending.
RELATED ARTICLEFourth human case of bird flu connected to dairy cattle outbreak identified in the US
The workers are believed to have caught the virus through direct work with infected birds. They had mild symptoms including conjunctivitis or pink eye and respiratory problems, but none of them were hospitalized, the state said Sunday.
The investigation into the cases is ongoing with support of a team sent by CDC at the state’s request.
The CDC said Friday its risk assessment for the general public remains low. “There are no signs of unexpected increases in flu activity otherwise in Colorado or in other states affected by H5 bird flu outbreaks in cows and poultry,” it said.
Four people in the US had previously tested positive for bird flu in connection with the ongoing outbreak: one in Colorado, one in Texas and two in Michigan. All were workers at dairy operations. Colorado’s agriculture industry has been hit hard by bird flu, with Gov. Jared Polis declaring a disaster emergency July 5 to ensure that the state can offer support and resources for farms in Weld County.
Poultry products are still safe to eat if they have been properly handled and cooked, the Colorado health department said. The CDC advises that everyone avoid close or long exposure to sick or dead animals, animal poop or bedding. Experts also recommend against consuming unpasteurized or raw milk due to the potential for contamination.
Another state finds bird flu in cattle
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Until the Colorado cases were announced, recent human H5N1 cases in the US had been linked to dairy cattle.
On Friday, the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry announced that a dairy cattle herd in the state had tested positive for H5N1 bird flu, raising the number of states that reported impacted herds to 13.
The positive sample was collected in April, the state said, and the herd has fully recovered.
It’s not clear why it took the so long for the state or federal government to report the results.
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Since the first cattle infections were reported in late March, 157 herds have tested positive for H5N1 across 13 states. Four states have had more than 20 herds impacted — Texas, Colorado, Michigan and Idaho — according to the US Department of Agriculture.
CNN’s Katherine Dillinger contributed to this report.
Conspiracy theories spread wildly after the first assassination attempt on a US president in the social media age
Meet the Vegan, All-Female Anti-Poaching Team That Has Been More Effective at Defending Animals Than Any Other
6 years ago
By Estelle Rayburn
Image Credit :International Anti-Poaching Foundation/Facebook
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Poaching is one of the largest threats presently facing precious endangered animals such as elephants, lions, and rhinos. Fed up with this senseless, ecosystem-destroying “sport,” an Australian convervationist and former military sniper named Damien Mander founded the International Anti-Poaching Foundation (IAPF) a decade ago. Since then, Mander has been working tirelessly to land on the best methods for combatting poaching and preserving wildlife in African nations.
Initially, Mander tried what he reportedly called “a fairly military approach” to fighting poaching. But in recent years, he began to rethink his strategy. He wondered, what if women were put at the forefront of wildlife Conservation efforts rather than men? What if we moved away from the norm and towards something totally new?
Seeking to answer these questions, Mander launched a program called “Akashinga” (meaning “the brave ones”) in 2017. The project’s goal? To recruit African women who come from disadvantaged backgrounds — abuse survivors, single mothers, abandoned wives, sex workers, and orphans — and train them to be wildlife rangers.
To prepare them for the complex and dangerous job of African wildlife Conservation, women who enlist in Akashinga go through the same training as male anti-poaching rangers. They are required to complete an extensive program covering everything from crime scene preservation to crisis management to camouflage.
Furthermore, they learn how to safely handle firearms, deal with dangerous wildlife, and much more. As you can imagine, completing this training requires a huge amount of discipline. But this isn’t the only area in which these brave women exercise discipline; all follow a strict vegan diet in the interest of preserving animals and their own health.
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So far, this unique program has been wildly successful. With nearly three dozen women on the team, Akashinga has already made around 60 arrests, resulting in a combined total of more than 41 years of jail sentences. Recently, Akashinga has successfully taken action against individuals associated with serious crimes such as zebra poaching, ivory smuggling, and sable antelope snaring.
According to Mander, Akashinga has been “more effective” than any other program he’s seen, which is saying a lot considering his long history of involvement in wildlife Conservation. As he pointed out, women have a special ability to “de-escalate everything,” which may very well have something to do with the program’s great success.
In addition to empowering women and thwarting trophy hunting, Akashinga is also having a positive impact on local communities: More than 70 percent of the project’s operational costs go directly back into African communities via employment and goods and services.
As Mander reportedly said, “This is the evolution of man to see something we should have seen in the past. Women will change the face of Conservation forever.”
We certainly agree with that, and we look forward to seeing this project continue to grow and thrive in coming years! If you’d like to Support this awesome program, you can make a donation to the IAPF here. Your generous contribution will go towards the training and supplies needed to keep this animal-saving organization alive.
And even if you aren’t able to Donate at this time, you can still help by spreading the word about this organization’s important work with everyone in your network!
Image Source: International Anti-Poaching Foundation/Facebook
Minutes after Trump shooting, misinformation started flying. Here are the facts
The Associated PressFollow
695K Followers
Story by DAVID KLEPPER and ALI SWENSON, Associated Press
• 22h • 4 min read
Trump 2024 flag is raised outside of Trump Tower, Sunday, July 14, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)© Provided by The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Within minutes of the gunfire, the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump spawned a vast sea of claims — some outlandish, others contradictory — reflecting the frightening uncertainties of the moment as well as America’s fevered, polarized political climate.
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The cloudburst of speculation and conjecture as Americans turned to the internet for news about the shooting is the latest sign of how social media has emerged as a dominant source of information — and misinformation — for many, and a contributor to the distrust and turbulence now driving American politics.
Mentions of Trump on social media soared up to 17 times the average daily amount in the hours after the shooting, according to PeakMetrics, a cyber firm that tracks online narratives. Many of those mentions were expressions of sympathy for Trump or calls for unity. But many others made unfounded, fantastical claims.
“We saw things like ‘The Chinese were behind it,’ or ‘ Antifa was behind it,’ or ‘the Biden administration did it.’ We also saw a claim that the RNC was behind it,’” said Paul Bartel, senior intelligence analyst at PeakMetrics. “Everyone is just speculating. No one really knows what’s going on. They go online to try to figure it out.”
Related video: ‘Disgusting and unacceptable’: State and local leaders react to shooting of former President Trump (WKBW Buffalo, NY)
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Here’s a look at the claims that surfaced online following the shooting:Claims of an inside job or false flag are unsubstantiated
Many of the more specious claims that surfaced immediately after the shooting sought to blame Trump or his Democratic opponent, President Joe Biden, for the attack.
Some voices on the left quickly proclaimed the shooting to be a false flag concocted by Trump, while some Trump supporters suggested the Secret Service intentionally failed to protect Trump on the White House’s orders.
The Secret Service on Sunday pushed back on claims circulating on social media that Trump’s campaign had asked for greater security before Saturday’s rally and was told no.
“This is absolutely false,” agency spokesman Anthony Guglielmi wrote Sunday on X. “In fact, we added protective resources & technology & capabilities as part of the increased campaign travel tempo.”
Videos of the shooting were quickly dissected in partisan echo chambers and Trump supporters and detractors looked for evidence to support their beliefs. Videos showing Secret Service agents moving audience members away from Trump before the shooting were offered as evidence that it was an inside job. Images of Trump’s defiantly raised fist were used to make the opposite claim — that the whole event was staged by Trump.
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“How did the USSS allow him to stop and pose for a photo opp if there was real danger??” wrote one user, using the abbreviation for the U.S. Secret Service.
Social media bots helped amplify the false claims on platforms including Facebook, Instagram, X and TikTok, according to an analysis by the Israeli tech firm Cyabra, which found that a full 45% of the accounts using hashtags like #fakeassassination and #stagedshooting were inauthentic.
An image created using artificial intelligence — depicting a smiling Trump moments after the shooting — was also making the rounds, Cyabra found.Moments like this are ‘cannon fodder’ for extremists
Conspiracy theories quickly emerged online that misidentified the suspected shooter, blamed other people without evidence and espoused hate speech, including virulent antisemitism.
“Moments like this are cannon fodder for extremists online, because typically they will react with great confidence to whatever has happened without any real evidence” said Jacob Ware, a research fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. “People will fall into spirals and will advance their own ideologies and their own conclusions.”
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Before authorities identified the suspect, photos of two different people circulated widely online falsely identifying them as the shooter.
In all the speculation and conjecture, others were trying to exploit the event financially. On X on Sunday morning, an account named Proud Patriots urged Trump supporters to purchase their assassination-attempt themed merchandise.
“First they jail him, now they try to end him,” reads the ad for the commemorative Trump Assassination Attempt Trading Card. “Stand Strong & Show Your Support!”Republicans cast blame on Biden
After the shooting, some Republicans blamed Biden for the shooting, arguing sustained criticisms of Trump as a threat to democracy have created a toxic environment. They pointed in particular to a comment Biden made to donors on July 8, saying “it’s time to put Trump in the bullseye.”
Ware said that comment from Biden was “violent rhetoric” that is “raising the stakes,” especially when combined with Biden’s existential words about the election. But he said it was important not to make conclusions about the shooter’s motive until we know more information. Biden’s remarks were part of a broader approach to turn scrutiny on Trump, with no explicit call to violence.
Trump’s own incendiary words have been criticized in the past for encouraging violence. His lies about the 2020 election and his call for supporters to “fight like hell” preceded the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, which led to his second impeachment on charges of incitement of insurrection. Trump also mocked the hammer attack that left 80-year-old Paul Pelosi, the husband of the former House speaker, with a fractured skull.
Surveys find that Americans overwhelmingly reject violence as a way to settle political differences, but overheated rhetoric from candidates and social media can motivate a small minority of people to act, said Sean Westwood, a political scientist who directs the Polarization Research Lab at Dartmouth College.
Westwood said he worries that Saturday’s shooting could spur others to consider violence as a tactic.
“There is a real risk that this spirals,” he said. “Even if someone doesn’t personally support violence, if they think the other side does, and they witness an attempted political assassination, there is a real risk that this could lead to escalation.”
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