# [Partners #16-Protecting The Homeland]{.underline}

Final script

**Announcer**

This time on Partners, it's Protecting The Homeland.

From EDEN-the Extension Disaster Education Network distributing vital
information in times of catastrophe...

To Louisiana House-offering storm & flood solutions for the
hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast...

To Avian Influenza where scientists are in a race for answers to this
threatening disease.

**Bill Hoffman-CSREES**

These land-grant universities are meeting the challenges of the 21^st^
century in their pursuit to protect the homeland.

**Announcer**

Number range CHAPTERWelcome to Partners! In the next half-hour, we'll
travel the nation and see breakthrough work in research, education and
Extension. That's what CSREES is all about - helping universities
generate valuable knowledge for those who need it, and educating our
next generation of Americans. And now, it's time for Partners!

**Narrator**

Since the dawn of the new millennium, the United States has experienced
extraordinary events within its borders. Terrorist attacks have led to a
vigilance unprecedented in modern times. Natural disasters, especially
hurricanes, have significantly increased in number, leaving devastation
in their wake. And new diseases threaten plants and animals across the
continent. The Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension
Service of USDA is doing its part in meeting the challenges of this new
American landscape.

**Bill Hoffman**

We're awarding grants to universities and others for research, education
and Extension efforts throughout the country. These our trying times,
and it's our goal to be proactive-to have solutions in place before the
unexpected occurs.

**Narrator**

In the next half hour, you'll hear from these "problem solvers". From
scientists in a quest to unlock the secrets of avian influenza to
Extension staff helping residents of the storm-torn Gulf Coast. And now,
Partners Video Magazine presents \-- Protecting the Homeland.

It is August 29th, 2005. A Category 4 hurricane called Katrina is
bearing down on the Mississippi Gulf Coast with winds in excess of 120
miles per hour.

**Tom Ball**-Mississippi State University

It traveled north and northeast eventually, and got approximately 50-60
of our 82 counties.

**Narrator**

At 7am, Katrina hits. The power of the storm is beyond what many had
ever expected. NOAA calls it "the most destructive hurricane to ever hit
the U.S.".

**Tom Ball**

There were 179 tornados inside of Katrina when it hit land and those
created as much damage as anything else related to the storm.

**Paul Coreil-LSU AgCenter**

With Katrina, probably the largest natural disaster in the United
States - over 250,000 homes -uninhabitable.

**Tom Ball**

Those first 48 hours before and after the storm were fairly intense.

**Narrator**

While much of Louisiana dodges a direct hit, Katrina still does its
damage. Hours after the storm passes, the levies of New Orleans begin to
collapse. Much of the city is under water for weeks.

**Tom Ball**

When you got 600,000 people in need, resources are spread so thin, that
you've got to have a back up. You've got to have auxiliary help, and
EDEN provided that.

**Narrator**

EDEN - the Extension Disaster Education Network - is an internet-based
source of catastrophe information designed to address both man-made and
natural disasters. Started in 1994 with CSREES funding, it now receives
major support from land-grant universities. By the time Katrina hit, the
Network was well established, and used by Extension agents nationwide.

**Paul Coreil**

EDEN really provided a world of resources that had already been
organized for handling a disaster.

**Narrator**

The biggest problem after the storm, though, was that those in need
could not get the information from the internet.

**Tom Ball**

There was no electricity. There was no way to deliver those messages. We
had to print.

**Narrator**

Mississippi State University jumped to action. Staff took EDEN Web-based
information and put it into print. Thousands of pamphlets were
distributed by the National Guard, especially along the storm-ravaged
coast. And EDEN information was delivered by MSU Extension experts
through radio and TV.

**Tom Ball**

You realize that talking to them that the home is probably the only
thing that they have left-that they've had a family tragedy beyond
comprehension and that the information that we provide to them makes a
real difference.

**Narrator**

Back in Louisiana, entire neighborhoods are ruined by flood waters in
New Orleans and surrounding communities. EDEN information is distributed
by the LSU AgCenter through delivery systems other than the web.

**Paul Coreil**

When there's no electricity, no broad-band service, and people are just
looking for a place to sleep-temporary housing or whatever. You got to
go back to print and we did. We had to print about a hundred thousand
dollars of materials in about three weeks. We had to. Who else can do
that? An office in every parish, known faculty who people trust, and
good information*.*

**Narrator**

The LSU AgCenter also bought full page ads in major newspapers in the
region. They delivered timely recovery information to Katrina victims.
But the storm season is not over for the Gulf Coast. Nearly one month
later, Hurricane Rita hits Texas and western Louisiana. It has
devastating effects for those living in the low, coastal flatlands.

**Pat Skinner-LSU AgCenter**

When the storm surge came in, it basically ruined the pasture for the
beef producers down here in this parish. And they were not able to find
hay for their cattle.

**Narrator**

Hurricane Rita could not have happened at a worse time. Ranchers like
Eric Broussard grow grass on these fields in the fall-feed that
nourishes his cattle through the winter.

**Eric Broussard-Louisiana farmer**

Rita is the one that got us. We had a tidal surge come in from
Vermillion bay. And we had about from 12-18" of salt water come over the
pastures on the hills. On the lower spot we had a bout 12' of water.
This water stayed for about 3-4 days. It killed all the grass. We run on
a budget. We know about what it is going to cost us to feed through the
winter and we prepare for that and we have our hay. What this did to me,
now I'll have to start over because I'm feeding twice what I'm going to
normally feed.

**Pat Skinner**

This is their livelihood. This is what they do if they can't loose their
cattle and keep going so it really makes a difference between having an
operation and not having one.

**Narrator**

Again, the EDEN network proved invaluable. Farmers, those who deal often
with the wrath of nature, took immediate action. Within 48 hours, trucks
from around the country were loaded with hay and on the road. The local
Extension office in Vermilion Parish served as the distribution point.

**Eric Broussard**

Some of the heroes in this thing is the LSU AgCenter. The fellas that
work in this office over here they coordinated and made sure the feed
was distributed fairly-and they work 24/7. Feed and hay came in by the
18-wheelers. I heard people from Oregon sent hay down-from Michigan-It's
really amazing that people that don't' even know us-and we'll never get
a chance to thank these people-that they sent this down to us. I heard a
lady from Oregon bought a truckload of hay and sent it down to us. It
really\-\--makes us feel good.

**Pat Skinner**

It was only through EDEN that I knew that such a thing existed. And
that's really what the network is about. It's one Extension learning
from another Extension.

**Tom Ball**

Our country is different today than it was months ago. We don't live in
fear. We live in preparation of how to deal with catastrophic
circumstances. EDEN has a very vital role in that, and a very necessary
role.

**Announcer**

Citizens have used EDEN educational materials on disaster topics related
to health, home, agriculture, natural resources, and youth development.

**Narrator**

This is the Winous Point Shooting Club and Marsh Conservancy in northern
Ohio. Some things haven't changed here since the club began over 150
years ago. Hunters still travel by hand-crafted wooden prams,
custom-made for these waters. And they continue to hunt migratory
ducks-the same species that have been returning to the marsh for
decades. But at the end of the day, these hunters divert from tradition.
They now, on occasion, voluntarily submit their ducks for inspection.

**Richard Slemons-The Ohio State University**

We've worked collaboratively with wildlife biologists here in Ohio, and
our hunters have been very patient and accepting of us.

**Narrator**

Richard Slemons is a professor of veterinary medicine at the Ohio State
University. He has tracked avian influenza in wild birds for over 30
years.

**Richard Slemons**

We need to get our hands on a fair number of birds fairly quickly to
conserve time and resources. And the hunters in check stations will come
in and bring their birds in. Now with the emergence of the Asian strain
of high-pathogen H5N1 avian influenza virus-now we're starting to
re-look at what viruses are in wild birds more systematically and in a
coordinated effort.

**Narrator**

H5N1 is the Type A virus causing all the buzz in the news lately, and
with good reason. It has started to spread to domestic poultry flocks in
countries around the world. This could have serious consequences for the
US economy. When a highly pathogenic virus hit the poultry industry here
in 1983, it cost \$60 million dollars to eradicate, and an estimated
\$350 million dollars in increased consumer costs. Over 17 million birds
died or were euthanized. But since then, some things have changed before
the appearance of H5N1 in Asia.

**Richard Slemons**

Early isolation and detection will let us isolate the area and eradicate
the virus very efficiently. Still, if it gets into our poultry industry,
that particular flock or that particular geographical area will be
impacted because their market will be lost and they will have to destroy
and eradicate the virus. If the virus became widespread in the US
poultry industry, it would be devastating to our economy.

**Narrator**

And there are other concerns. People have died from H5N1 in
bird-to-human contact. But the real fear is that the virus could mutate
to where infection occurs from person-to-person. History has shown that
this could be disastrous.

**Johns Hopkins 1957 film host**

Analysis showed the virus to be Type A, but it was different from any of
the previously-known Type A strains.

**Narrator**

This Johns Hopkins University film was released in response to the
1950's Asian Flu pandemic. 75,000 Americans died from the disease.
Earlier in the century, 700,000 lost their lives in the 1918 pandemic.

In response to the potential danger of H5N1 and other influenza viruses,
the Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service awarded
\$5 million for the Avian Influenza Coordinated Agricultural Project,
known as the AI-CAP grant. It funds researchers and Extension
specialists in 25 states.

**Richard Slemons**

This is the first time we have continent-wide coverage to look at this
problem and figure out what's going on in the wild bird population. We
don't understand how these viruses are maintained and how these
populations appear and reappear. And that's what this network will let
us do, and then try to identify those viruses that will have increased
potential from jumping from wild birds to domestic birds.

**Daniel Perez-University of Maryland**

CSREES was ahead of its time in terms of devising this network research
structure.

**Narrator**

The scope of the program is wide and varied. Daniel Perez, the AI-Cap
Grant's director, shows the project's web site that features educational
outreach in an effort to help train others on avian influenza.

**Daniel Perez**

It is in land-grant universities that students and post-docs and young
investigators are becoming prepared to study influenza, to fight
influenza, to contain influenza. And it's thanks to this network that we
are able to provide the structure that is needed to produce those human
resources.

**Narrator**

Back in Ohio, Richard Slemons is finishing his field sampling. He dons
the purple gloves to avoid cross-contamination of the specimens.

**Biologist, standing**

Sarah, the far one on the left is a hen mallard.

**Richard Slemons**

We basically take fecal samples from these birds once they come in,
usually hunter-killed. Sometimes trapped, banded and released. This is
06950.

Those samples are put into what we call a virus transport media. We put
the specimen in there. We pull the swab out. Break it off. And then we
try to freeze that sample as soon as possible in ultra cold. In that
transport media, we have a high concentration of penicillin and
streptomycin-our antibiotics.

**Narrator**

Slemons travels over 100 miles south to his labs at the Ohio State
University, the land-grant institution in Columbus. Here, the tedious
process to determine if any of the bird samples contain a highly
pathogenic virus begins.

**Richard Slemons**

In the laboratory, the samples are held at -80 degrees until we process
them. They're taken out. They're thawed. They're stirred extensively
called vortexing. And then they're centrifuged to clear the debris out
of the top. Then the research assistants will take that transport media
and inoculate that into an embryonating chicken egg. And the virus-the
Type A influenza virus-replicates in the cell's lining. The virus is
released into the allantonic fluid. Then we check that for what we call
hemagglutinating activity.

**Narrator**

In this process, if the blood cells clump together, that's an indication
that this sample might be a virus. The rose-colored dots in the left
column confirm this.

**Richard Slemons**

Next step, we take a rapid diagnostic test and we determine if Type A
influenza virus is in that sample.

**Narrator**

The purple heart confirms that this one has Type A.

**Richard Slemons**

We then send those samples to the National Veterinary Service Diagnostic
Lab in Ames, Iowa, which is a US Department of Agriculture APHIS
organization.

**Narrator**

This lab sub-typed the Columbus sample and determined it was not H5N1.
It is this network of partnerships, however, that empowers the
CSREES-funded project. From various USDA agencies, including APHIS and
the Agricultural Research Service, to refuge managers - from land-grant
universities to hunters -- this diverse team is tackling the problem in
a concerted effort.

**Richard Slemon**

Our funding has been tremendous. It has given us the capability to do
something that has been sorely needed for many, many years. What has
happened, it has given us the capability to pull the avian influenza
research community together. So this is our network. And this let's us
track viruses down each of the flyways and understand where the viruses
are going. The earlier we detect it, the quicker we isolate those birds
and deal with them appropriately --the less it will cost us in the
United States.

**Announcer**

Avian Influenza CAP grant leaders are broadening waterfowl surveillance
by partnering internationally with colleagues in Canada, Central America
and South America.

**Narrator**

Beyond the front lines of avian influenza monitoring, CSREES is funding
science that promises to protect domestic chickens from the disease.
Ellen Collisson of Texas A&M is developing a vaccine that will enhance
immunity to a wide range of bird flu viruses.

**Ellen Collisson-Texas A&M University**

Cellular immunity? That's the immunity that depend on T-cells. T-cells
normally are those regulatory cells. They are the cells that are
regulating the immune system.

We are working very hard, actually, to identify what we can on the
chicken so that we can provided the information necessary to put
together these vaccines that are really going to be not only effective,
but safe, and safe is really important.

**Narrator**

Collisson has joined with the project's other principle investigator
Blanca Lupiani in their micro-bio battles against H5N1 and other
viruses. Their focus is on T-cells with memory --ones that kill only
influenza cells. Beneficial cells of the chicken are left alone.

**Ellen Collisson**

So this way the body has a mechanism to continually remove cells that
are infected and the overall end point is that these cells are gone. So
all you have left are healthy cells. Nobody has every looked at this
type of immunity, at least as far as the chicken goes. It's different
from the immunity of these other vaccines that induce what we call
antibodies and it may not totally eliminate the virus as the virus comes
in, but it will eliminate cells that are infected with the virus. So it
has that advantage.

**Narrator**

The "cross-protective" nature of this new vaccine could be a big
advantage for producers. It has the potential to defend their flocks
against the many strains of avian flu including H5N1. And since the
vaccine targets proteins that are less likely to change, it should stay
effective-even against ever changing viruses.

Next for Collisson and her team is to find economic ways to deliver the
vaccine to the flock. Inoculation is a costly process so methods are
being considered that would dovetail with existing poultry production
practices.

**Ellen Collisson**

This work is the precursor. This is what we need to know before we can
use this type of strategy to make those vaccines that we need. The
ability to understand this type of immunity, allows us to make vaccines
that are really recombinant types of vaccines so we don't have the whole
virus in the vaccine. This is the new generation of vaccines. These
vaccines are safe. They won't cause influenza. But in addition to being
safe, they will be very thorough. They'll be long lasting.

**Announcer**

The Avian Influenza Coordinated Agricultural Project focuses on these
four main objectives.

**Claudette Reichel-LSU AgCenter**

Its full name is Louisiana House-Home and Landscape Resource Center.
It's an educational resource center and a clearing house of
research-based information. If you abbreviate Louisiana-that's capital
L, little A and put them together- there's La House, and it gives a nice
French flavor to our nickname.

To be hurricane resistant, hurricane hardware is used...

**Narrator**

Claudette Reichel is the project director of Louisiana House and has
guided its development from the beginning. This project was funded in a
joint effort by CSREES, HUD and the EPA. It began in 2000 with the
primary goal to showcase solutions for storm and flood resistant
construction.

In the aftermath of the 2005 hurricane season, the timing could not have
been better.

It is estimated that 250,000 homes were destroyed by Katrina alone.

**Claudette Reichel**

It is kind of fortunate in a sense that La House is at this stage right
after these two, double-whammy disasters. Because it really is at a
perfect stage to show the insides-to show what strengthens it. And
there's been a lot of interest in coming to see it at this point.

Here you see hurricane straps connecting the second story to the first
story to tie them together wherever different materials meet.

**Narrator**

It is these kinds of building methods that make La House exemplary.
Hurricane hardware is used to get a continuous load-path of strength.
From anchor bolts connecting the bottom plate of walls to the foundation
to metal straps connecting studs between the first & second floor. A
secondary moisture barrier made of high-tech synthetics is used to
prevent water from entering the home. Mold is the enemy after the storm
as witnessed by many New Orleans homeowners in the wake of Katrina. And
the La House has been raised to three feet above the base flood
elevation as an added prevention against water entering the home. That
alone provides home owners the lowest flood insurance rate available.

Another new way of thinking about residential construction is taking
place at Tuskegee University in Alabama. This is the Healthy House -- a
low-cost alternative home that has peaked the interest of contractors
along the battered Gulf Coast.

**Heshmat Aglan-Tuskegee University**

We have a lot of contact from people coming and asking about, especially
developers, to build communities based on the Healthy House concept.
These houses can also be built quickly and they don't have any stigma
like a manufactured home. As you can see here, they are conventional
houses. Healthy indoor air quality is of course a good attribute in any
house.

**Narrator**

Healthy House was built by a grant from the Department of Energy to
promote low income housing for rural areas. CSREES contributed to the
project with its emphasis on healthier indoor air quality for homes.

The funds were used to develop educational brochures on residential air
quality based on Healthy House data collected by Heshmat Aglan and his
team at Tuskegee. As a result of the promotional materials, more people
are learning about Healthy House. This is opportune as the rebuilding of
the devastated Gulf Coast moves forward.

Back in Baton Rouge, Claudette Reichel and Sandra Scallon are giving
tours at the Louisiana House. And while post-storm problems have delayed
completion, weekly open houses give contractors and residents a chance
to learn responsible storm and flood resistant construction. Future
plans call for cutaway panels allowing visitors to see the storm proof
construction behind walls. And the LSU AgCenter is developing media
presentations to further educate the public.

**Claudette Reichel**

CSREES funding really helped to spearhead this. It gave us the beginning
of funding that we needed to in the initiative to get the plans together
to get rolling. We are gearing up for La House to be a major player in
the educational outreach efforts for rebuilding stronger, safer, and
smarter homes that can protect us in the future.

**Announcer**

On the next edition of Partners, North Carolina State University
scientists tackle a nasty fungus that threatens our country's food
safety. Oklahoma State University researchers experiment with the very
latest in precision agriculture. **A**nd hear the amazing story how the
US avoided an agricultural catastrophe from a devastating plant disease.
That's Partners- Feeding America- the next edition.

For more on Protecting The Homeland, log on to this web site.