UAPB slates resource fair
A Community Resource Fair will be held from 1:30-3:30 p.m. Aug. 21 at the W.E. O’Bryant Bell Tower at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff.
Agencies may sign up to grow their clientele, promote their businesses, educate students and meet potential customers, according to a flier. Details: Chris Riggins at rigginsc@uapb.edu.
1st Ward pantry sets school supply event
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
First Ward Living Grace Pantry, 1201 Commerce Road, will host a back-to-school giveaway from 2-5 p.m. July 21.
Supporters include Arkansas Food Bank, Ephesus Christian Bookstore, Super 1 Foods, Abraham Carpenter Jr., Angela Fair Baker, Sixth Division Circuit Court, Pleasant Grove Missionary Baptist Church, Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, and Group Violence Intervention, among others, according to a news release.
Avian flu topic at July 17 webinar
In the more than two years since the current outbreak began, highly pathogenic avian influenza, or HPAI, has proven to be a highly adaptable foe, infecting not only poultry, but also dairy cattle and their human handlers.
Brook Duer, staff attorney at Penn State Center for Agricultural and Shale Law, said that HPAI remains as virulent and easily transmissible in poultry as when the industry first experienced an outbreak in 2015.
The foundational statutes, regulations, manuals and procedures that give USDA-APHIS its authority will be examined through the lens of HPAI outbreaks in poultry and cattle during the NALC’s next webinar, “HPAI in Poultry and Cattle: How Can We Miss You If You Won’t Go Away?” The webinar will be presented by Duer on July 17 at 11 a.m. Registration is no cost and available online.
“We are in uncharted territory with HPAI in poultry — it is by far the largest animal disease event in U.S. history,” Duer said. “HPAI may already be a permanent backdrop to poultry and egg production.”
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, or USDA-APHIS, 97.26 million birds in commercial and backyard flocks, as well as 137 dairy cattle herds, have been affected since the current outbreak’s start in February 2022.
In a June 2024 technical report, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that the virus has also infected three farm workers in Texas and Michigan this year.
Since December 2023, the number of states where HPAI has been detected has risen from 27 to 48. Since May 24, 2024, 6.41 million birds have been affected, according to USDA-APHIS.
The spillover to dairy cattle has brought more insights and questions. Each host species’ unique response to the virus is vastly different and the virus can mutate quickly, Duer said.
HPAI is not only a threat to animals, but also to humans. On June 5, 2024, a 59-year-old man from Mexico City became the first person to die from HPAI. The man did have prior health complications and the source of exposure is unknown, according to Reuters. Details: nationalaglawcenter.org.