Emergency Warning! New Plant Pathogen MUST READ

Link: http://www.i-sis.org.uk/newPathogenInRoundupReadyGMCrops.php

Excerpt:

USDA senior scientist sends “emergency” warning to US Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack on a new plant pathogen in Roundup Ready GM soybean and corn that may be responsible for high rates of infertility and spontaneous abortions in livestock Dr. Mae-Wan Ho

Please distribute widely and forward to your elected representatives 
An open letter appeared on the Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance founded and run by Judith McGeary to save family farms in the US [1, 2]. The letter, written by Don Huber, professor emeritus at Purdue University, to Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, warns of a pathogen “new to science” discovered by “a team of senior plant and animal scientists”. Huber says it should be treated as an “emergency”, as it could result in “a collapse of US soy and corn export markets and significant disruption of domestic food and feed supplies.”

The letter appeared to have been written before Vilsack announced his decision to authorize unrestricted commercial planting of GM alfalfa on 1 February, in the hope of convincing the Secretary of Agriculture to impose a moratorium instead on deregulation of Roundup Ready (RR) crops. 

The new pathogen appears associated with serious pervasive diseases in plants – sudden death syndrome in soybean and Goss’ wilt in corn – but its suspected effects on livestock is alarming. Huber refers to “recent reports of infertility rates in dairy heifers of over 20%, and spontaneous abortions in cattle as high as 45%.”

This could be the worst nightmare of genetic engineering that some scientists including me have been warning for years [3] (see Genetic Engineering Dream or Nightmare, ISIS publication): the unintended creation of new pathogens through assisted horizontal gene transfer and recombination.

Huber writes in closing: “I have studied plant pathogens for more than 50 years. We are now seeing an unprecedented trend of increasing plant and animal diseases and disorders. This pathogen may be instrumental to understanding and solving this problem. It deserves immediate attention with significant resources to avoid a general collapse of our critical agricultural infrastructure.”

The complete letter is reproduced below.

Dear Secretary Vilsack:

A team of senior plant and animal scientists have recently brought to my attention the discovery of an electron microscopic pathogen that appears to significantly impact the health of plants, animals, and probably human beings. Based on a review of the data, it is widespread, very serious, and is in much higher concentrations in Roundup Ready (RR) soybeans and corn-suggesting a link with the RR gene or more likely the presence of Roundup. This organism appears NEW to science!

This is highly sensitive information that could result in a collapse of US soy and corn export markets and significant disruption of domestic food and feed supplies. On the other hand, this new organism may already be responsible for significant harm (see below). My colleagues and I are therefore moving our investigation forward with speed and discretion, and seek assistance from the USDA and other entities to identify the pathogen’s source, prevalence, implications, and remedies.

We are informing the USDA of our findings at this early stage, specifically due to your pending decision regarding approval of RR alfalfa. Naturally, if either the RR gene or Roundup itself is a promoter or co-factor of this pathogen, then such approval could be a calamity. Based on the current evidence, the only reasonable action at this time would be to delay deregulation at least until sufficient data has exonerated the RR system, if it does. 

For the past 40 years, I have been a scientist in the professional and military agencies that evaluate and prepare for natural and manmade biological threats, including germ warfare and disease outbreaks. Based on this experience, I believe the threat we are facing from this pathogen is unique and of a high risk status. In layman’s terms, it should be treated as an emergency.

A diverse set of researchers working on this problem have contributed various pieces of the puzzle, which together presents the following disturbing scenario:

Unique Physical Properties 
This previously unknown organism is only visible under an electron microscope (36,000X), with an approximate size range equal to a medium size virus. It is able to reproduce and appears to be a micro-fungal-like organism. If so, it would be the first such micro-fungus ever identified. There is strong evidence that this infectious agent promotes diseases of both plants and mammals, which is very rare.

Pathogen Location and Concentration
It is found in high concentrations in Roundup Ready soybean meal and corn, distillers meal, fermentation feed products, pig stomach contents, and pig and cattle placentas.

Linked with Outbreaks of Plant Disease
The organism is prolific in plants infected with two pervasive diseases that are driving down yields and farmer income-sudden death syndrome (SDS) in soy, and Goss’ wilt in corn. The pathogen is also found in the fungal causative agent of SDS (Fusarium solani fsp glycines).

Implicated in Animal Reproductive Failure
Laboratory tests have confirmed the presence of this organism in a wide variety of livestock that have experienced spontaneous abortions and infertility. Preliminary results from ongoing research have also been able to reproduce abortions in a clinical setting.

The pathogen may explain the escalating frequency of infertility and spontaneous abortions over the past few years in US cattle, dairy, swine, and horse operations. These include recent reports of infertility rates in dairy heifers of over 20%, and spontaneous abortions in cattle as high as 45%.

For example, 450 of 1,000 pregnant heifers fed wheatlege experienced spontaneous abortions. Over the same period, another 1,000 heifers from the same herd that were raised on hay had no abortions. High concentrations of the pathogen were confirmed on the wheatlege, which likely had been under weed management using glyphosate.

Recommendations
In summary, because of the high titer of this new animal pathogen in Roundup Ready crops, and its association with plant and animal diseases that are reaching epidemic proportions, we request USDA’s participation in a multi-agency investigation, and an immediate moratorium on the deregulation of RR crops until the causal/predisposing relationship with glyphosate and/or RR plants can be ruled out as a threat to crop and animal production and human health.

It is urgent to examine whether the side-effects of glyphosate use may have facilitated the growth of this pathogen, or allowed it to cause greater harm to weakened plant and animal hosts. It is well-documented that glyphosate promotes soil pathogens and is already implicated with the increase of more than 40 plant diseases; it dismantles plant defenses by chelating vital nutrients; and it reduces the bioavailability of nutrients in feed, which in turn can cause animal disorders. To properly evaluate these factors, we request access to the relevant USDA data.

I have studied plant pathogens for more than 50 years. We are now seeing an unprecedented trend of increasing plant and animal diseases and disorders. This pathogen may be instrumental to understanding and solving this problem. It deserves immediate attention with significant resources to avoid a general collapse of our critical agricultural infrastructure.

Sincerely,

COL (Ret.) Don M. Huber
Emeritus Professor, Purdue University
APS Coordinator, USDA National Plant Disease Recovery System (NPDRS)

References
1. “Researcher: Glyphosate (Roundup) or Roundup Ready Crops May Cause Animal Miscarriages”, Jill Richardson, La Vida Locavore, 18 February 2011
http://www.lavidalocavore.org/diary/4523

2. “Researcher: Glyphosate (Roundup) or Roundup Ready Crops May Cause Animal Miscarriages”, 18 February 2011, http://farmandranchfreedom.org/gmo-miscarriages

3. Ho MW. Genetic Engineering Dream of Nightmare? The Brave New World of Bad Science and Big Business, Third World Network, Gateway Books, MacMillan, Continuum, Penang, Malaysia, Bath, UK, Dublin, Ireland, New York, USA, 1998, 1999, 2007 (reprint with extended Introduction). http://www.i-sis.org.uk/genet.php

There are 7 comments on this article so far. Add your comment 
Nancy Oden Comment left 21st February 2011 16:04:27
Thank you so much for this. I will spread it about and encourage others to do so. I recall reading years ago about sows aborting litters when fed RR corn and/or soy exclusively. This could cause Goldman-Sachs and that ilk to buy up even more of the world’s grains and hoard them for higher prices. Monsanto has a lot to answer for – let’s hope there’s such a thing as Karma. 
Rory Short Comment left 21st February 2011 18:06:45
I can only agree with you. It looks like an indisputable, actual, nightmare has arrived rather than just the fear of something of this kind happening which fear is what has gripped us ant-GM lobbyists from the very inception of the commercialization of GM seeds. 
Brian John Comment left 21st February 2011 19:07:48
BV, this is not the first we are hearing of this. For years now, peer-reviewed papers have been showing cell damage and reproductive problems associated with animals that have consumed GM feed. It has been difficult to explain WHY this damage has been occurring — maybe this is a breakthrough on this score. There have been hardly any studies on the effects of GM feed on larger mammals, except for a few “nutritional studies” dressed up as safety studies. Monsanto, for whom you appear to have great admiration, has cynically blocked truly independent research into the lifetime and multi-generational effects of GM feed. In that company’s obsession with “efficiency” health and safety issues have been shunted out into the long grass — and they have also worked tirelessly to vilify those honest scientists who have had the courage to point out that animals which consume GM crops (and the Roundup residues that come with them) are actually HARMED. 
patrons99 Comment left 21st February 2011 19:07:12
Our food supply is endangered by pharma and the GMO giants. Just as pumping millions of gallons of BP’s Corexit and artificial life forms into the Gulf may have lacked foresight, so too, does global vaccine “madness”. Vaccine epidemics may be not be amenable to control. They could easily endanger every living thing on the planet. “BP’s Corexit Increases Uptake of Endocrine Disruptors in Fish – What Will It Do to People?” by Kirk James Murphy, MD on May 24, 2010. Just look at the picture of the dead fish! Is there not an analogy here with vaccine epidemics? http://firedoglake.com/2010/05/24/bps-corexit-increases-uptake-of-endocrine-disruptors-in-fish-what-will-it-do-to-people/ 
BV Comment left 21st February 2011 18:06:23
Roundup Ready soybeans have been out for over 15 years and Roundup Ready corn for over 10, and this is the first we’re hearing of this? Give me a break. If it were as rampant a problem as this makes it out to be, we would have heard about it a LONG time ago. It is also unfair to accuse speculators and traders of hoarding grain. Look at the global demand right now. There was a big drought last year in parts of the world that are usually large wheat producers, and China continues to be a huge market for us. While nobody really LIKES Monsanto, they have been a frontrunner in making us the most efficient farmers in the world. I, for one, am VERY thankful for all the money they have put into research and development, which has in turn made farming much easier for guys like me. 
patrons99 Comment left 21st February 2011 19:07:15
O.K.! I can see why we might ought to be a tad bit concerned here. The organism has been linked with outbreaks of plant diseases and implicated in animal reproductive failure. What will the endocrine disruptors, phase transfer catalysts, ionophores, neurotoxic metals, VLP’s, and non-human antigens in the vaccine schedules do to people? If homeopathy is valid, and we are quantum coherent living organisms, would not all vaccines be unreasonably dangerous? 
Maggi Comment left 21st February 2011 22:10:04
I don’t even wonder. Sadly the bad things get attention only when it’s too late. 

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