Secure and Prepared Newsletter, December 18, 2007, Vol. 3, no. 22

A bi-weekly newsletter for those involved in the fields of homeland security and/or emergency management

Secure and Prepared Newsletter, January 22, 2008, Vol. 4, no. 2

A bi-weekly newsletter for those involved in the fields of homeland security and/or emergency management

Secure and Prepared Newsletter, January 22, 2009, Vol. 5, no. 2

A bi-weekly newsletter for those involved in the fields of homeland security and/or emergency management

Secure and Prepared Newsletter, October 22, 2009, Vol. 5, no. 21

A bi-weekly newsletter for those involved in the fields of homeland security and/or emergency management

Secure and Prepared Newsletter, November 5, 2009, Vol. 5, no. 22

A bi-weekly newsletter for those involved in the fields of homeland security and/or emergency management

Secure and Prepared Newsletter, November 5, 2009, Vol. 5, no. 22

A bi-weekly newsletter for those involved in the fields of homeland security and/or emergency management

Characterization of the staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec insertion site in 108 isolates lacking the mecA gene and identified as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus by the Xpert MRSA assay.

During a 3-year period, 848 patients were detected as carriers of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) by the Xpert MRSA assay (Cepheid). Among them, 108 patients (12.7 %) were colonized with strains showing methicillin-susceptible phenotypes and absence of the mecA gene, despite being positive with the rapid polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay. DNA sequences of the staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec) insertion site of these "false-positive" strains was determined by direct sequencing of the genomic DNA. More than half (53.7 %) of the strains had DNA sequences unrelated to either SCC or SCCmec and one-third had DNA sequences related to non-mec SCC. Only 10.2 % of the strains carried sequences related to SCCmec, suggesting that a sequence containing the mecA gene was lost from an SCCmec. These findings differ from the general idea that all methicillin-susceptible S. aureus having positive Xpert MRSA assay results are essentially MRSA that lost the mecA gene.

Business Recovery Status Report #7: Presidential Disaster #1763, August 22, 2008

Safeguard Iowa Partnership launched a survey to the business community to capture the impact from the 2008 disasters. Five hundred eighty surveys were completed and compiled for the report submitted to the Rebuild Iowa Office Economic and Workforce Development Task Force on August 20, 2008.

Secure and Prepared Newsletter, December 22, 2009, Vol. 5, no. 25

A bi-weekly newsletter for those involved in the fields of homeland security and/or emergency management

Lottery Action, Vol. 15, No. 22

Iowa Lottery newsletter for lottery retailers.

Lottery Action, Vol 16, No. 22

Iowa Lottery newsletter for lottery retailers.

Motor Vehicle Crash Fatalities for Week Ending, January 22, 2010

Motor Vehicle Crash Fatalities