The microbe responsible for the Black Death plagues was infecting Bronze Age humans more than 3,000 years earlier than the pandemics it is most notorious for.Original enclosures:
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Tracking feat finally recognised as Ted Egan awarded NT Police medal
A legendary bush tracker is recognised for bravery for the 1967 capture of a murder fugitive in the Central Australian outback.
Cuomo Planning Discrimination Protections for Transgender New Yorkers
Mormons Say Duty to Law on Same-Sex Marriage Trumps Faith
Balloon memorial for US boy ends up in Denmark
A heartbroken father in the state of Illinois released a helium balloon with a hand-written tribute to his dead son that was found this week in a Dane’s backyard.
Denmark increases Syrian residence permits
Syrians now receive more residence permits in Denmark than US citizens, although the number of the latter is also on the rise.
Hepatitis E virus antibody prevalence in hunters from a district in Central Germany, 2013: a cross-sectional study providing evidence for the benefit of protective gloves during disembowelling of wild boars
Background:
In Germany, 17 % of the general human population have antibodies to hepatitis E virus (HEV) (recomLine HEV-IgG/IgM immunoassay [Mikrogen GmbH]). Wild boars represent an animal reservoir for HEV genotype 3, which is the common genotype in Germany. We estimated the seroprevalence among hunters with contact to wild boars to identify factors that may be associated with past or present HEV infection.
Methods:
In 2013, the local veterinarian authority in a district in Central Germany attended meetings of hunters who provided blood specimens and completed a questionnaire collecting information on age, sex, hunting-related activities and consumption of wild boar meat. Specimens of wild boars were taken during drive hunts in this district during the season 2012/2013. All specimens were tested for HEV RNA and anti-HEV IgM and IgG antibodies. Log-binomial regression was used to estimate prevalence ratios (PR) for the hunters.
Results:
Of 126 hunters (median age 55; 94 % male) 21 % tested positive for anti-HEV IgG antibodies (95 % confidence interval [CI] 13–28 %) (recomWell HEV IgG assay [Mikrogen GmbH]). Anti-HEV prevalence was highest in the age group of the 70–79-year-olds (67 %; 95 % CI 39–95 %). Wild boars showed an average anti-HEV prevalence of 41 %. HEV RNA was detected in 4/22 (18 %) liver specimens and in 1/22 (4.5 %) muscle specimens. Most wild boars were tested positive for HEV RNA (3/10; 30 %) and HEV-specific antibodies (7/15; 47 %) in the southwestern part of the district. Hunters preferring this hunting ground had a lower anti-HEV prevalence when gloves were frequently used during disembowelling of wild boars compared to hunters using gloves never or infrequently (age-adjusted PR 0.12; 95 % CI 0.02–0.86).
Conclusions:
Hunters may benefit from wearing gloves when in contact with blood or body fluids of HEV animal reservoirs. Anti-HEV prevalence among the hunters of this study did not significantly differ from that of the general population suggesting that other factors play a major role in the epidemiology of HEV in Germany.
Drug-resistant malaria extends to Africa
Scientists with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, a branch of the National Institutes of Health, recently discovered that the deadliest species of malaria parasites are responsible for the majority of malaria cases in Africa.
This finding shows that Africa is at a higher risk for drug-resistant malaria infections that health professionals originally thought. This risk could limit the efforts that are being made to prevent and eventually eliminate malaria from the country.
The P. falciparum parasites are resistant against artemisinin, which is the major drug that doctors use to treat malaria. These parasites have quickly spread throughout Southeast Asia, which has made it more challenging to control as well as treat malaria infections in that region.
Health professionals were concerned about this parasite spreading throughout Africa, but there had not been any proof that Anopheles coluzzii mosquitos could contract these parasites. This study provided the first scientific hints that P. falciparum could extend to Africa, as Anopheles coluzzii is the main species that transmits malaria to people in Africa.
When the researchers infected a wide range of mosquito species from Africa and Southeast Asia with parasites resistant to artemisinin, they found that the parasites infected A. coluzzi as quickly as Anopheles minimus and Anopheles dirus.
“My dad left us at a very young age and my mom didn’t know…
“My dad left us at a very young age and my mom didn’t know English. We never had anyone to help us with our homework. My stepfather beat us every day. Sometimes he’d whip us with extension cords. When I was thirteen, I threw a brick at him and broke one of his ribs so I had to run away. I moved into a crack house where they let you sleep there if you helped sell drugs. I live in the shelter now. I’ve spent over twenty years of my life in prison. I want my son to have a different life than me, but I can’t even help him with his homework. I don’t know my times tables or anything.”
Went to the CornMaize last weekend with these beautiful people…
Went to the CornMaize last weekend with these beautiful people (+ @blck_fyre) I have the privilege of calling my family.
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