Rutgers Cooperative Extension Water Resources Program



How did coronavirus break out? Theories abound as researchers race to solve genetic detective storyCNN, 4/6/2020One expert, a chemical biology professor and bioweapons expert at Rutgers University, has suggested to several media outlets that the lab-accident theory has credence. "The possibility that the virus entered humans through a laboratory accident cannot and should not be dismissed," Dr.?Richard Ebright?told CNN in an email Sunday.Drive Time Podcast 07-04-2020 - Healthcare and CoronavirusSoundcloud, 4/7/2020Join us LIVE from 5pm as we discuss the possible implications of spreading false information and fearmongering. Guests include: Dr.?Donald Schaffner: (Professor and Extension Specialist in Food Science and Professor at?Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.)The importance of gardening during COVID-19 pandemicMorning Ag Clips, 4/7/2020What can gardening do to help with the coronavirus pandemic? Gardening has always been touted as a relaxing recreational activity that can provide great personal rewards. During this time, when many people are working at home and students are learning at home, gardening can be a positive family-inclusive activity to adopt.?Michelle Infante-Casella, Rutgers Cooperative of Gloucester CountyRutgers Food Innovation Center offers virtual food safety trainingMorning Ag Clips, 4/7/2020Rutgers highly-regarded food safety certificate courses offered by the?Food Innovation Center?(FIC) at its location in Bridgeton, NJ, are now available as interactive virtual training options, including face-to-face via video conferencing, and presented by the same premier instructors with decades of on-the-job food industry experience... Expert trainers at FIC are led by food microbiologist?Donna Schaffner, associate director of Food Safety, Quality Assurance and Training. A member of the FDA’s Food Safety Preventive Controls Alliance, Schaffner helped to craft the training curriculum for the FDA’s new FSMA regulations. She is one of the just 21 individuals worldwide to be used by the FDA as a ‘Trainer-of-Trainers’ for the Preventive Controls for Human Foods course.Nuclear bomb tests help to expose a giant fish's true ageNature, 4/7/2020Using the radioactive carbon spewed into the atmosphere by cold war-era nuclear-bomb tests, scientists have developed a precise method for pinning down the age of whale sharks, giant fish that some researchers have suggested can survive for a century or longer...?Joyce Ong?at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and her colleagues measured the amount of carbon-14 in vertebrae from two whale sharks. Because carbon-14 decays at a known rate, measuring the ratios of different carbon isotopes in adjacent layers shows how much time has passed between layers' formation. The scientists' technique showed that a 10-metre-long female was 50 years old when it died after becoming entangled in fishing gear. A second shark studied by the team was 35 when it died.Nuclear bomb tests helped determine the ages of whale sharks for the first timeCNN, 4/7/2020Previous attempts at aging whale sharks were mixed. To do it, researchers need to slice into vertebrae that, when cut, reveal growth bands that could prove how old they are. But researchers could never decide whether the bands were formed once or twice a year, a distinction that made it difficult to determine how long they live. So Meekan, lead author?Joyce Ong?and the team set out to settle the growth band debate -- using leftover carbon from bomb tests. Carbon-14 is a naturally occurring radioactive isotope frequently used by archaeologists and historians to date fossils and artifacts because of its constant rate of decay, said Ong, a postdoctoral associate in the Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences at Rutgers University.YouTube Tested by Flood of Star Doctors During 'Infodemic'Bloomberg; Yahoo Finance, 4/8/2020VanWingen didn't tout an experimental drug or a "silver solutio" as cures for Covid-19, and didn&'t blame the spread of the virus on 5G networks - all claims that have appeared on YouTube. But his video, coming from a medical professional, did create alarm in a way that some viewed as irresponsible. &"He's treating handling your groceries like doing open heart surgery,"?Donald Schaffner, a biologist at?Rutgers University. "He's giving people panic attacks." There is no evidence that Covid-19 is transmitted through food or grocery packaging, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.How Safe Is It To Eat Takeout?NPR, 4/8/2020Don Schaffner?had Thai takeout for dinner a few nights ago, just as he did occasionally in the weeks and months before the current COVID-19 pandemic. That's worth knowing. Schaffner is a distinguished professor at?Rutgers University?in New Jersey whose expertise includes quantitative microbial risk assessment, predictive food microbiology, hand-washing and cross-contamination. "I know people are worried, but from what we know currently about the virus, it's safe to eat food prepared at restaurants so long as you take the proper precautions - in particular hand-washing," says Schaffner.Your questions about coronavirus in San Diego answered: When will this be over and done with?The San Diego Union-Tribune, 4/8/2020Q: Should I disinfect all my grocery purchases? How should I do it? Is it safe to buy lettuce, parsley and other soft vegetables? Dr.?Donald Schaffner, a professor in the food science department at?Rutgers University?whose research includes microbial risk, said he does not recommend washing foods with soap or other cleaning materials. "Soap is not designed for use on food and, if ingested, it can give you nausea, vomiting and diarrhea," Schaffner said. Instead, Schaffner suggests rinsing produce under cold water.Why You Shouldn't Wash Produce With Soap During The Coronavirus CrisisHuffpost, 4/8/2020Why isn't it a good idea to wash produce with soap??Don Schaffner,?extension specialist in food science and distinguished professor at?Rutgers University, likens the use of soap on produce to using a BB gun to kill a fly. "It might work," he said. "But it's probably not the best tool."How to wash vegetables: Can I get the coronavirus from groceries?The Philadelphia Inquirer, 4/8/2020"Your risk from going to the grocery store is bigger - much bigger - than your risk from getting it from food,"?Don Schaffner, food microbiology professor at?Rutgers University?told Inquirer reporter Jonathan Lai. "At the grocery store, you might stand by somebody who's symptomatic or asymptomatic." Asymptomatic means people who aren't showing symptoms, but still carry, and transmit, the virus.Rutgers: New Jersey shore sea rise is more than double the global averageThe Press of Atlantic City, 4/8/2020The Rutgers scientists say the rise is largely the fault of humans, and our use of fossil fuels. The report, commissioned by the state Department of Environmental Protection, presents few positive scenarios for the Garden State as sea levels continue to rise, even if fossil-fuel emissions decrease, as called for by the Paris accords.?Jeanne Herb, executive director of an environmental analysis group at Rutgers' Bloustein School, said the report was written as a planning tool for communities. The group assembled to produce the report included scientists, local officials, engineers, and parks and recreation heads, all working under the direction of?Robert Kopp, a climate scientist and director of the university's?Institute of Earth, Ocean & Atmospheric Sciences.Atomic bombs and whale sharks: How to calculate age of world's largest fishYahoo News; The New York Times, 4/8/2020Scientists have figured out how to calculate the age of whale sharks - Earth's largest fish - with some guidance from the radioactive fallout spawned by Cold War-era atomic bomb testing... The researchers compared carbon-14 levels in the rings to data on fluctuations in its global presence during the busy years of atmospheric nuclear tests in the 1950s and 1960s. "These elevated levels of carbon-14 first saturated the atmosphere, then oceans and moved through food webs into animals, producing elevated levels in structures such as the vertebrae of whale sharks," said marine ecologist?Joyce Ong?of?Rutgers University?in New Jersey, lead author of the study published this week in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science.Mother Earth: another COVID-19 victim?Morning Ag Clips, 4/8/2020Faculty members describe the ways COVID-19 might impact N.J. waterways, water quality. To better understand the ways COVID-19, the novel coronavirus, might impact our fragile New Jersey ecosystems and the planet, we spoke with?Rutgers Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences?(EOAS) faculty members?Nicole Fahrenfeld and John Reinfelder. They explain the ways COVID-19 might impact New Jersey's water quality, how the global scientific community is exploring these issues, and what we, as ordinary citizens, striving trying to protect ourselves and others from the novel coronavirus, can also do to protect the environment and local infrastructure at the same time.How to pick the best location for a vegetable gardenTreehugger, 4/9/2020If you already have a garden, then you are one step ahead already. But for anyone looking to start now, there are good places and not-so-good places to stake out your plot. Here's a primer on what to consider.... Observe your outdoor space and see where the sun is throughout the day. The ideal location will provide eight to 10 hours of direct sunlight a day. "The more sun exposure the better," says?Michelle Infante-Casella, agricultural agent at?Rutgers Cooperative Extension.Three coronavirus pandemic questions that science hasn't answered with certaintyBulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 4/9/2020In an interview with the Bulletin, a professor in?Rutgers University's Department of Food Science,?Donald Schaffner, said it's possible that COVID-19 could be spread by food, but there is no evidence for that mode of transmission. Furthermore, Schaffner said, people have little choice but to eat. The biggest risk that COVID-19 poses to the food system, Schaffner said, is that food workers could get sick and not be able to work. "I guess there's a theoretical chance they could contaminate food," he said. "But more importantly, they're going to stop working, which is going to make it harder for us to get the food that we need.";DOH says enhanced COVID-19 testing starts at SmithfieldKeloland, 4/9/2020Donald Schaffner, extension specialist in food science at Rutgers University, told the AP. “The human body is designed to be really good at maintaining its pH... "the best way to keep from getting a virus is to stay away from people."" (NIAID-RML via AP)Taiwan's coronavirus success bolsters case for joining WHO, experts sayNBC News, 4/9/2020A dispute over whether Taiwan warned the World Health Organization about human-to-human transmission of the coronavirus before China did has renewed calls to allow the island to join the organization, over the strong objections of Beijing...?Richard Ebright, a molecular biologist at?Rutgers University?in New Jersey, said he believes that Taiwan has done an "exceptional job" responding to the crisis and that if it had been a member of the WHO, "we would have learned at least two weeks earlier of the threat we were facing."13 UV sanitizers that kill germs and bacteria on phones, keys and moreToday, 4/9/2020"UV light works because it damages the DNA of bacteria, and the DNA or RNA of viruses,"?Donald Schaffner, extension specialist in food science and professor at?Rutgers University, told Shop TODAY. "If you damage the DNA of the bacteria it dies, and if you damage the nucleic acid of the virus enough it cannot infect."Coronavirus Shopping: Should You Disinfect Groceries?Popculture, 4/10/2020Donald Schaffner, a microbiologist and food safety expert at?Rutgers University, debunked the idea that you should leave groceries outside for three days before taking them inside. "There is a tiny nugget of truth in this advice, because we know that the virus is slowly inactivated at room temperature, with a half-life of about eight hours," he wrote in Science Alert. "But this advice presumes that all groceries are contaminated, and that simply touching the groceries will make you sick, neither of which are true." "If you are concerned about the outside of food packages being contaminated, I suggest that you wash your hands and/or sanitize your hands before you sit down to eat any food that you might've taken out of those containers," Schaffner continued.First coronavirus, now rats. Why hungry rodents are heading for , 4/11/2020Changlu Wang, an entomology specialist at?Rutgers, said restaurants or businesses that recently closed due to the pandemic also need to be on high alert for rodent infestation. If food left inside the building is not properly stored or sealed, rats can infiltrate, devour it and start reproducing at a rapid rate. Wang also said some temporarily or permanently shuttered restaurants or businesses that had hired regular pest control services may have canceled the treatments, leaving them even more vulnerable to vermin. "It can turn into a more serious problem during the shutdown," Wang said.Is Easter Dinner Takeout Food Safe Due to COVID-19?Heavy, 4/12/2020Restaurants throughout the country are offering curbside, takeout or delivered Easter meals. However, when you get the food, is it safe from coronavirus (COVID-19)? Do you need to sanitize it?.. One expert,?Dan Schaffner, a professor of food microbiology at?Rutgers?School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, told Vox that he thinks disinfecting your groceries is "being overly cautious" because there are no known cases of COVID-19 being transmitted by food or its packaging.Somerset County 4-H offers virtual activitiesMyCentralJersey, 4/13/2020Somerset County 4-H, a department within the?Somerset County Rutgers Cooperative Extension, is growing its list of virtual learning activities at virtual-learning (). Somerset County 4-H is also offering weekly social media activities for youth to get involved with. From showing your best inspirational chalk art to sharing your most creative food art creation, they are looking for youth to explore their creativity on Facebook and Instagram @SCNJ4H.This self-cleaning water bottle is keeping me hydrated at homeToday, 4/13/2020The bottle's cap disperses UV-C light from a bulb at the top, which is meant to kill odor-causing bacteria and help clean the water inside the bottle. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, UV lights can be an effective method for disinfecting water. UV-C light essentially works by damaging bacteria to the point where it can no longer grow. "UV light works because it damages the DNA of bacteria and the DNA or RNA of viruses,"?Donald Schaffner, extension specialist in food science and professor at?Rutgers University, told Shop TODAY. "If you damage the DNA of the bacteria it dies, and if you damage the nucleic acid of the virus enough it cannot infect."Online Plant ShopMorning Ag Clips, 4/13/2020Due to the COVID-19 pandemic,?Rutgers Gardens?are operating under and are fully compliant with Governor Murphy's Executive Order 107, CDC guidelines (including social distancing), as well as federal, state, and university regulations to support agriculture, nurseries, and food sustainability. All perennial plants need to be ordered before Monday, April 27th, but we plan to have our online shop open a bit longer for plants grown in-house at Rutgers Gardens (such as herbs and vegetables, tropicals, succulents, and annuals).Do I need to wash my shoes when I come inside?The Philadelphia Inquirer, 4/13/2020Su Fen Lubitz, 26 of Rittenhouse, has been keeping up a running routine. A volunteer with Back on My Feet, a nonprofit running group tackling homelessness, it’s the only time she’s been getting outside. With a background in public health, she’s taking the right steps to mitigate any possible exposure to the coronavirus...But the possibility of tracking the coronavirus indoors through a shoe is low, said?Don Schaffner, food microbiologist at the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences at?Rutgers University. It’s not something he’s especially concerned about.The Best Way to Wash Fruits and Vegetables So You Don't Get SickYahoo, 4/14/2020Rinsing your produce is pointless if your hands, utensils, or cutting boards are dirty. The Food & Drug Administration recommends washing your hands with soapy water for at least 20 seconds before and after touching food. You should wash all kitchen supplies, such as knives and colanders, with hot soapy water after every use to avoid cross-contamination. Be sure to dry hands using a clean towel, says?Donald Schaffner, Ph.D., a food safety expert at?Rutgers University.?The ick factor of your towel depends on a variety of factors. For example, a cloth that does double duty to dry counters is likely dirtier than one dedicated to clean hands. And you'll want to use paper towels to wipe hands after handling meat, he says. Schaffner suggests changing cloth towels every two to three days.Food supply worries grow after outbreak closes Smithfield meat plantThe Hill, 4/14/2020"Currently there is no evidence of food or food packaging being associated with transmission of COVID-19," the agency said on its website in a statement posted on March 17. "Foodborne exposure to this virus is not known to be a route of transmission," the FDA added. "The virus is thought to spread mainly from person-to-person."?Donald W. Schaffner, a professor of food microbiology at?Rutgers University?who is looking for evidence of food-borne coronavirus transmission, said he agreed with the agency. "That's true. We do know how it is transmitted, it's transmitted person to person by people who are symptomatic," he told The Hill, with some evidence of asymptomatic transmission.We invite you to send an email to?InTheNews@aesop.rutgers.edu?alerting us when you are quoted in a story or if your program is mentioned in the news. Please send links of news,?as it happens, as some media outlets do not retain online links beyond a week.Visit the newly redesigned SEBS and NJAES Newsroom at?sebsnjaesnews.rutgers.edu. ................
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