All posts by nedhamson

Activist, writer, researcher, addicted to sharing information and facts.

Ebola epidemic not yet over, says MSF

“We remain vigilant and cannot say that the outbreak is over, as we continue to see new confirmed patients and are continuing to provide care for the patients who remain in treatment centres,”   said Marc Poncin, emergency coordinator for MSF in Guinea. “Tracing the people who have had contact with known patients remains an key ongoing task.”

Bringing an Ebola outbreak under control requires close collaboration with the affected populations, which can be challenging.

“We have to remember that this is a new disease for Guineans, and that there remains significant fear and stigma associated with it,” said Armand Sprecher, the project’s medical coordinator and an Ebola expert.

“We understand this fear, and have seen it in previous outbreaks in other countries. More work by all the actors involved in the epidemic is still needed to ensure that populations affected have the correct information, and seek prompt medical attention.”

via Ebola epidemic not yet over, says MSF.

US terror report details ‘price tag’ violence by Israeli settlers – Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East

September 2012, Minister of Internal Security Yitzhak Aharonovitch announced the establishment of a new police unit to counter settler violence and called for a “zero-tolerance policy against terror, the desecration of Islamic religious institutions, attacks on symbols of governance and attacks commonly known as ‘price tag.’”

“We know who are committing these acts and plan to make more arrests shortly. We intend on putting these criminals behind bars,” Aharonovitch said while visiting the mosque in the Israeli Arab village Fureidis, the site of one recent such attack. “These are a bunch of criminals taking the law into their own hands. Most of them are in Judea and Samaria, are part of the extreme right and we know who most of them are.”

via US terror report details ‘price tag’ violence by Israeli settlers – Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East.

Shanghai resumes live poultry sales, still urges people to buy frozen: Shanghaiist

(Mistake – influenza will come back again unless markets clean up big time – just adopt slaughter and keep cool for “fresh” sale.)

After a 3-month long live poultry ban due to H7N9 bird flu concerns, Shanghai has resumed live fowl sales – but only after strict inspections (we hope) of purveyors. Still, we’re not going to be rushing to the wet market to snuggle with any Silkie chickens anytime soon. In fact, the city still urges consumers to purchase pre-frozen specimens as a precaution.

via Shanghai resumes live poultry sales, still urges people to buy frozen: Shanghaiist.

Cintas chief takes up growth, race | www.journal-news.com

“Yes, a lot of progress has been made in Middletown and America, but … things come up like a pro basketball owner who makes very negative comments related to race, or a Texas rancher who wonders aloud if African Americans were better off as slaves, or we have a Treyvon Martin situation or we have voter suppression laws coming into play,” he said. “Any number of issues just remind us that, unfortunately, no we haven’t moved into this more idealistic, post-racial or racism phase.”

via Cintas chief takes up growth, race | www.journal-news.com.

WHO Calls Antibiotic Resistance ‘Serious, Worldwide Threat’

WHO Calls Antibiotic Resistance ‘Serious, Worldwide Threat’.

“Without urgent, coordinated action by many stakeholders, the world is headed for a post-antibiotic era, in which common infections and minor injuries which have been treatable for decades can once again kill,” says Dr Keiji Fukuda, WHO’s Assistant Director-General for Health Security. “Effective antibiotics have been one of the pillars allowing us to live longer, live healthier, and benefit from modern medicine. Unless we take significant actions to improve efforts to prevent infections and also change how we produce, prescribe and use antibiotics, the world will lose more and more of these global public health goods and the implications will be devastating.”

Egypt warns against travel to Saudi Arabia due to MERS virus | News , Middle East | THE DAILY STAR

Egypt warns against travel to Saudi Arabia due to MERS virus

May 02, 2014 03:46 PM

A Saudi man wears wears a mouth and nose mask as he walks in a street of the Red Sea coastal city of Jeddah on April 27, 2014. AFP PHOTO/STR

CAIRO: Egypt’s Health Ministry issued a warning on Friday against children, elderly people and anyone suffering from chronic heart and chest diseases travelling to Saudi Arabia due to an outbreak there of a deadly new virus.

Saudi Arabia said on Thursday the number of cases of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), an often fatal disease caused by a coronavirus, had nearly doubled in April, with 26 more infections reported on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Of the more than 370 people who caught the disease in Saudi Arabia, 107 have died since MERS first emerged two years ago.

via Egypt warns against travel to Saudi Arabia due to MERS virus | News , Middle East | THE DAILY STAR.

Gun battle at Benghazi police HQ – Issa and McCain not reported to be involved

Libyan soldiers and rival militiamen fought an hour-long battle in Benghazi on Friday. Military sources said the assailants tried to retake a vehicle loaded with weapons and ammunition that police had captured.

At least five Libyan soldiers were killed and 11 others were wounded when a special force unit intervened to push out the militiamen, according to military and medical sources.

Benghazi was the cradle of the 2011 uprising that ended the rule of the late Muammar Gadhafi, resulting in a patchwork of local militias and a fragile central government in Tripoli.

Foreign consulates and airlines have largely avoided Benghazi since September 2012 when a US ambassador and three other Americans were killed during an Islamist militant attack.

Friday’s violence came just days after a minibus packed with explosives detonated outside a Libyan army camp in Benghazi, killing two soldiers.

via .

Avian Flu Diary: Saudi MOH Announces 7 New MERS Cases

In Riyadh

​31 year old woman. She displayed respiratory symptoms and was admitted to a government hospital on 28/4/2014. Now, her condition is stable. She has been in contact with a confirmed case.

28 year old woman. She was admitted to a government hospital. She has been in contact with a confirmed case and has not displayed any symptoms.

28 year old man. He displayed respiratory symptoms and was admitted to a private hospital on 26/4/2014. Now, his condition is stable. He has been in contact with a confirmed case.

50 year old woman, suffering from diabetes. On 1/4/2014, she displayed respiratory symptoms. She was admitted to a government hospital on 22/4/2014.  Now, she is being treated in the ICU.

In Jeddah

​38 year old woman. On 19/4/2014, she displayed respiratory symptoms. She was admitted to a government hospital on 24/4/2014. Now, her condition is stable.

28 year old woman. She displayed respiratory symptoms on 24/4/2014. On 27/4/2014, she was admitted to a private hospital. Now, her condition is stable. She has been in contact with a confirmed case.

60 year old man. He displayed respiratory symptoms on 23/4/2014. He was admitted to a private hospital on 24/4/2014. Now, he is being treated in the ICU.

via Avian Flu Diary: Saudi MOH Announces 7 New MERS Cases.

LOL – pass a law against Russian Aggression? A bill to prevent further Russian aggression toward Ukraine and other sovereign states in Europe and Eurasia, and for other purposes. (S. 2277) – GovTrack.us

Corker

A bill to prevent further Russian aggression toward Ukraine and other sovereign states in Europe and Eurasia,

via A bill to prevent further Russian aggression toward Ukraine and other sovereign states in Europe and Eurasia, and for other purposes. (S. 2277) – GovTrack.us.