Short Takes – 2-19-25

USDA working to rescind terminations for fired officials working on bird flu efforts. TheHill.com article. Pull quote: ““Although several positions supporting HPAI were notified of their terminations over the weekend, we are working to swiftly rectify the situation and rescind those letters,” the USDA said in a statement to NewsNation.”

Third avian flu spillover reported in Arizona dairy herd; raw pet food sickens Oregon cats. CIDRAP.UMN.edu report. Pull quote: “APHIS said in a February 14 statement that detection of the D1.1 genotype isn’t surprising, given its prevalence. It added that sequencing suggests that it represents a separate introduction to dairy cattle, now the third of its kind in dairy cattle. “This finding may indicate an increased risk of HPAI [highly pathogenic avian influenza] introduction into dairies through wild bird exposure,” APHIS said, urging dairy farmers to tighten biosecurity and to report cattle illnesses and unusual sick or dead wildlife to state veterinarians.”

Impact odds continue to rise for ‘city killer’ asteroid 2024 YR4. Easier to understand discussion of the odds determination process. Pull quote: “In fact, based on NASA's calculations, the most likely closest approach distance for 2024 YR4 on December 22, 2032 will be 122,539 km (compared to 120,137 km from the Feb. 7 calculations). That's a completely safe pass at about one-third of the distance to the Moon. The asteroid's farthest close-approach distance on that day is now just over 580,000, which is still over 1.5x farther than the orbit of the Moon.” Data link: Small-Body Database Lookup (2024 YR4) 

National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants: National Perchloroethylene Air Emission Standards for Dry Cleaning Facilities Technology Review. Federal Register EPA effective date change.

EO 14212 - Establishing the President's Make America Healthy Again Commission. Federal Register.