The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "pathogen" ...
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"Fowl Play"
In "Fowl Play," writer Tula Karras warns consumers of the potential dangers lurking in their chicken dinners. Arsenic and other harmful bacteria have been found in poultry, making it possible for those who consume it to become ill. Many chicken plants rely on "visual" safety "inspections" even though harmful bacteria cannot be seen by the "naked eye."
Tags: Chicken; poultry; campy; campylobacter infection; arsenic; gastrointestinal; USDA; bacteria; pathogens
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China Storms Africa
China's drive for resources in Africa has depleted one sub-Saharan country after another is wreaking havoc environmentally and morally as corruption is on the rise and workers are being exploited.
Tags: Congo; Zambia; mining; Eh; pathogen; Mozambique; timber; copper; World Health Organization
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Biosludge
This story explores whether any health risks exist from the spreading of biosludge on farmland. People in the Green Bay, Ala., area complained that the biosludge, the solid byproduct from sewage treatment plants, was making them sick. Scientists say the practice, while legal, merits further study. Calling the situation a developing public health problem, a former microbiologist with the EPA says biosludge needs to be treated to remove all of the pathogens and not just some of the pathogens as present practices allow.
Tags: biosludge; byproduct; solid waste; sewage; sewage treatment
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Germs on the Loose: Bioweapons Tests Tainted Sites Around the Globe
"Every major World War II combatant had a biological weapons program," Choffnes writes, "and many of these countries' field test sites remain reservoirs of disease. Although the programs may have ended, the pathogens they released persist in the test sites' animal, bird, reptile, and insect populations. Unless extreme measures are taken to secure testing grounds, pathogens once released into the environment will adapt to new hosts and spread diseases to new areas...As it becomes harder to obtain pathogenic materials from private and public sources, terrorists or nations seeking to acquire a biological weapons capability might be tempted to obtain pathogen seed stocks from wildlife collections or other environmental sources of pathogenic materials." Story discusses in particular biological weapons testing sites in the U.S., Britain, and the former Soviet Union.
Tags: biological weapons; testing sites; field test; anthrax; bioweapons; disease; Vozrozhdeniye; U.S. Cooperative Threat Reduction Program; Gruinard; U.S. Biological Defense Research Program; Chemical Warfare Service; Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention
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Making a New Mosquito
Spielman and D'Antonio report how some scientists "are trying to deprive mosquitos of their ability to spread parasitic infections" such as malaria and dengue fever by altering the genetic makeup of the mosquitos. The strategy of one entomologist, Alexander Raikhel, proposes boosting "the immune response of mosqitos so that they kill pathogens they would normally harbor and pass on to humans." Raikhel and other scientists would release the genetically mutated mosquitos into the wild, allowing them to pass along their traits to wild mosquitos. However, genetic manipulation of mosquitos "is not without risk." At worse, it could "lead to "epidemics as wild mosquitos rebound."
Tags: mosquito; genetic engineering; malaria; disease; DNA
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Lackmann sustains questionable food safety standards
"Lackmann Culinary Services, Hofstra University's food supplier maintains nine eating facilities on campus that were found to have a variety of unsanitary and harmful food handling and preparation practices even Lackmann corporate officials admitted could be endangering the health of patrons."
Tags: food safety; sanitation; garbage; pathogen bacteria; chicken salad; Nassau County Board of Health
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The trouble with meat
Unfortunately, the grim reality of E. coli infection is not an isolated stain on the reputation of an otherwise hygenic American meat supply. E. coli, along with other meat-borne pathogens like Salmonella Ententidis and campylobacter, both found in poultry, can be traced to our highly productive "factory farms." Genetically "optimized" pigs, cattle, sheep, turkeys and chickens are raised in tightly packed confinement systems -- an ideal breeding ground for bacteria.
Tags: None