so much for quarantine

Deadly flu strain found in dead parrot in Britain
The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon)
Mon 24 Oct 2005

LONDON (AP) -- The British government said Sunday that a strain of bird flu that killed a parrot in quarantine is the deadly H5N1 strain that has plagued Asia and recently spread to Europe.

Debby Reynolds, DEFRA's chief veterinarian, said the parrot was likely infected with the virus while it was housed in the country's quarantine system with birds from Taiwan. Tests conducted on the Taiwanese birds that had died were inconclusive, according to the department.

Sheesh!

trans fats make skinny unborn babies

Problems getting females in whelp and maintaining pregnancies? ... I wonder if the trans fats in dog food have anything to do with it.

As was reading the article from which the exceprts below are taken I couldn't help but wonder - if there was a connection in the canine world.

Mother's milk high in trans fats: Health task force
National Post
Thu 03 Nov 2005 Page: A10 Sharon Kirkey

Canadian breast milk, not just chicken nuggets and French fries, is one of the highest sources of industrial trans fatty acids in Canada's food supply, a federal task force heard yesterday.
The average lactating woman in Canada consumes 10.6 grams of trans fatty acids per day, and the harmful fats account for 7% of total fat in her breast milk, University of Guelph professor Dr. Bruce Holub told a 23-member task force charged with finding ways to eliminate, or reduce to the lowest levels possible, trans fatty acids in foods sold in Canada.

Some trans fats are found naturally, in small amounts, in dairy products, beef and lamb, but most come from cakes, flaky pastries, potato chips and other fried and processed food. Trans fats have been linked to low birth weight in babies and to a potentially dangerous form of high blood pressure in pregnancy.

Dr. Holub stressed in an interview that women should not stop breast-feeding. Rather, he said, "we can change and improve the quality of breast milk" by cutting industrialized trans fats "off at the source."

While one scientist after another spoke about the need to get man-made trans fats out of food, Dr. Alberto Ascherio, of Harvard University, cautioned it could take several decades before harmful effects of alternative fats are "recognized and proven."

In Denmark, oils containing more than 2% trans fat are forbidden. Anyone who wilfully flouts the law faces a prison sentence of up to two years. Manufacturers of food for humans in Canada have until Dec. 12 to label their products with trans fat content. The task force expects to make its recommendations to the government by the end of this month.