Green New Deals are being widely discussed as both a means to confront climate change and to improve aspects of social well-being. An important facet of the discussion is how they should be financed. The negative impacts of Covid-19 on national budgets and sovereign debt question whether the implementation of Green New Deals is feasible if austerity needs to be introduced to achieve sustainability. This article assesses whether a wealth tax based upon the work of Michal Kalecki could help avoid austerity measures and facilitate the introduction of Green New Deals. While wealth taxes have traditionally been defined on net worth or assets to reduce wealth inequality, the formulation is meant to be equitable by applying to gross wealth or assets. Estimates are calculated for the United States and turn out to be quite modest. The approach not only generates revenue to cover expected net interest outlays on national debt, but additional revenue to pay down portions of it and/or support green initiatives, such as Biden’s de-carbonisation policy. The article concludes with a discussion of challenges for the tax’s effectiveness.

Background: Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) are an important cause of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) in human hospitals. The Philadelphia Department of Public Health (PDPH) made CRE reportable in April 2018. In May 2019, the Matthew J. Ryan Veterinary Hospital (MJRVH) reported an NDM-5 Escherichia coli cluster in companion animals to the PDPH. In total, 15 infected animals (14 dogs and 1 cat) were reported between July 2018 and June 2019, with no new infections after June 2019. Limited literature is available on the prevalence of CRE in companion animals, and recommendations for dealing with CRE infections currently target human healthcare settings. Methods: A collaborative containment response included assessing interspecies transmission to veterinary staff and a comprehensive evaluation of the infection control program at MJRVH. MJRVH notified all owners of affected animals verbally and via notification letters with PDPH recommendations for CRE colonization screening of high-risk individuals. CRE screening of exposed high-risk employees was conducted by the University of Pennsylvania Occupational Health service and PDPH. Human rectal swabs were analyzed at the Antibiotic Resistance Laboratory Network (ARLN) Maryland Laboratory. PDPH were invited to conduct an onsite infection control assessment and to suggest improvements. Results: No pet owners self-identified in high-risk groups to be screened. In total, 10 high-risk staff were screened, and no colonized individuals were detected. Recommendations made by the PDPH to MJRVH included improvement of infection prevention and control policies (eg, consolidation of the infection control manual and identification of lead staff member), improvement in hand hygiene (HH) compliance (eg, increasing amount of HH supplies), improvement of environment of care (eg, decluttering and evaluation of mulched animal relief area), and improvement of respiratory care processes (eg, standardization of care policies). MJRVH made substantial improvements across recommendation areas including revision of infection control manual, creation of a full-time infection preventionist position, individual alcohol hand sanitizers for patient cages, and environmental decluttering and decontamination. PDPH and MJRVH maintained frequent communication about infection control improvements. Conclusions: No positive transmission to high-risk staff members suggest that, like in human healthcare facilities, transmission of CRE to caretakers may not be a common event. Stronger communication and collaboration is required from Departments of Public Health (DPH) to the veterinary profession regarding the reporting requirements of emerging pathogens such as CRE. Veterinary facilities should view DPH as a valuable resource for recommendations to fill in gaps that exist in infection control “best practices,” particularly for novel pathogens in veterinary settings.

Funding: None

Disclosures: Jane M. Gould reports that her spouse receives salary from Incyte.

Live-shearing of wild guanacos Lama guanicoe may affect their reproductive success and population resilience, and therefore it is important to assess the biological sustainability of obtaining their wool. We evaluated effects of capture and shearing on survival and reproduction, population parameters, daily movements, ranging behaviour and spatial distribution in sedentary and migratory populations. We assessed population variables by radio-telemetry and line-transect surveys before and after capture. We estimated high post-shearing survival rates in both populations and similar yearling production in shorn and non-shorn females in the migratory population. We did not find significant variations in density and population structure before and after shearing in the sedentary population, whereas in the migratory population density decreased and the population structure changed significantly after assembly of the capture structure, returning to pre-assembly levels 1 month later. The mean daily distance moved by radio-collared guanacos during the first 2 days after shearing was three times longer than during the following 30 days. There was a 25% decrease in the mean home-range size of shorn guanacos between the first and second month after shearing but this decline appeared to be associated with a seasonal change in movement, because a similar reduction occurred during the same period the following year, when the guanacos were not shorn. Live-shearing modified the spatial distribution pattern in the sedentary population but did not have a significant effect on the migratory population. Management of guanacos may contribute towards developing a biologically sustainable economic activity that promotes conservation of wildlife and habitats.

Over the course of the past half century, the field of colonial Latin American history has been greatly enriched by the contributions of Father Stafford Poole. He has written 14 books and 84 articles and book chapters and has readily shared his knowledge at coundess symposia and other scholarly forums. Renowned as a historian, he was also a seminary administrator and professor of history in Missouri and California. Moreover, his background and formation are surely unique among priests in the United States and his story is certainly worth the telling.

Father José María Luis Mora, infamous as an advocate for political liberalism during inchoate Mexico’s struggle for nationhood, worked through a myriad of channels to bring about change in his country. Educated and ordained as a secular priest, he was both professor and librarian at the prestigious Colegio de San Ildefonso in Mexico City, but found time to author five volumes of collected essays and edit three periodicals. His national acclaim rests with his career as lawyer, politician, and political theorist. Not all of his contemporaries recognized that he also became a Bible merchant during the second quarter of the nineteenth century.