Economic development officials in Des Moines talked about the potential impact of an avian flu outbreak in a roundtable discussion this morning (Wednesday). Mahesh Kumar of Fort Dodge Animal Health says a low-level avian flu has been in the United States, but a foreign strain of the virus is causing concern. He says the Asian “H-five-N-one” strain is the concern because it hasn’t entered the human population in the U.S. and there’s no natural immunity to the strain.

Kumar says the government is taking the right steps to meet the challenge. Kumar says,”I think we’re doing as much as we can, based on what (information) we have.” Kumar says we are stockpiling the vaccinations and hopefully when the virus shows up, everyone will get a vaccination and there will hopefully be enough vaccine available.

Kumar says the public should know that U.S. poultry is safe now, and as time goes on, we’re more prepared to battle the virus. He says the longer it (the virus) takes to get here, the better prepared we’ll be, and Kumar says he thinks the government is doing everything it can to prepare. Kumar says the only thing the public can do at this point is stay informed.

Kumar says, “Just be aware of going on.” He says if the virus would show up, there are systems in place to handle it and the public needs to be ready to get the vaccinations. Several agribusiness and animal medicine professionals attended today’s roundtable.

The University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha will hold a summit this weekend on autism for parents of kids with the condition. Wayne Fisher, an expert at U-N-M-C, says autism affects about one in 166 children. He says the summit is one way to inform teachers and parents who might not be able to pay the cost of learning about autism. It’s also to help parents get the treatment their kids need, and highlights the research into the causes and possible treatments for autism.

Fischer, a P-h-D, says it’s tough to get research money for autism. He says autism is ten times more common than juvenile diabetes, muscular dystrophy, childhood leukemia and cystic fibrosis combined, yet about 100 times fewer research dollars per case is spent on autism.

A daylong educational summit will be held this Saturday at Omaha’s Qwest Center, for families that want to know more about autism and how to deal with it. Gail Werner-Robinson is a financial advisor, major supporter of autism research fundraising, and the mother of two sons with autism-spectrum disorder.

She says many parents don’t understand what is affecting their child, or how to deal with it. It can overwhelm a family, she says. Without financial advice, they may have to get a second mortgage on their home to try and find treatment that will help their child.

Werner-Robinson says Temple Grandin, who’s autistic herself, will speak about what she went through when she was young, before there was a diagnosis for autism and people didn’t understand it. Grandin, who didn’t speak till she was nearly four years old, finally got proper diagnosis and treatment, and became a successful designer of livestock handling equipment. She has designed the facilities in which about half the cattle in the U.S. are handled and serves as a consultant for firms such as Burger King, McDonald’s and Swift.

Events this weekend also include a Sunday dinner and auction at the Omaha Qwest Center and Monday golf tournament at Shadow Ridge, a country club in west Omaha. Last year the dinner and golf tournament raised 675-thousand dollars for autism research.