Category Archives: environment

CDC expands Zika travel advisory as WHO updates risk levels | CIDRAP

CDC adds 4 nations to Zika travel guidanceThe CDC announcement adds Angola, Guinea-Bissau, Maldives, and Solomon Island to a long list of countries on its travel advisory. For all four, public health officials are reporting that mosquitoes infected with Zika virus are spreading the disease to people.The CDC’s Angola and Maldives advisories includes maps showing parts of the country that are above 6,500 feet elevation, thought to be a lower risk, because mosquitos that spread Zika don’t usually live at higher elevations.

Source: CDC expands Zika travel advisory as WHO updates risk levels | CIDRAP

Ebola vaccine promising in chimps but may never be used | New Scientist – Spin to reopen research using captive simians for whatever…

A new oral Ebola vaccine seems to works in apes – but that doesn’t mean Africa’s great apes are now safe from the virus, which poses a grave threat to endangered gorillas, bonobos and chimpanzees.

Source: Ebola vaccine promising in chimps but may never be used | New Scientist

E.P.A. Head Scott Pruitt Falsely Asserts That Carbon Dioxide Is Not A Primary Cause Of Climate Change: Gothamist – when your children and grandchildren gasp for air, make sure they gasp Pruitt You!

Environmental Protection Agency head Scott Pruitt said that there needs to be more debate about whether carbon dioxide is a primary driver of global warming and that “I would not agree that it’s a primary contributor to the global warming that we see.”

Source: E.P.A. Head Scott Pruitt Falsely Asserts That Carbon Dioxide Is Not A Primary Cause Of Climate Change: Gothamist

Six ill, 2 dead in Listeria outbreak tied to Vulto soft cheese | CIDRAP #LoserTrump will soon promote reducing inspections and standards for safe food – count on it and more unnecessary dead.

Six people have been sickened—two fatally—in a four-state listeriosis outbreak that began last September and has been traced to soft raw milk cheese made by Vulto Creamery of Walton, N.Y., which has issued a recall, federal officials said today.The outbreak strain of Listeria monocytogenes is known to cause serious, life-threatening disease.Deaths in Connecticut, VermontListeria specimens were taken from two of the patients in September, one in October, and the other three in January, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in its first statement on the outbreak today.Half of the patients are from New York, while Connecticut, Florida, and Vermont have each reported one case. All case-patients required hospitalization. The patients in Connecticut and Vermont died.

Source: Six ill, 2 dead in Listeria outbreak tied to Vulto soft cheese | CIDRAP

WHO | Yellow fever – Brazil

As of 3 March 2017, yellow fever virus transmission continues to expand towards the Atlantic coast of Brazil in areas not deemed to be at risk for yellow fever transmission prior to the revised risk assessment, supported by the scientific and technical advisory group on geographical yellow fever risk mapping (GRYF), and published by WHO in the Disease Outbreak News of 27 January 2017, and on the WHO International Travel and Health website on 31 January 2017 and 14 February 2017.

Source: WHO | Yellow fever – Brazil

San Joaquin Valley is Still Sinking : Image of the Day – Inconvenient truths will lead trump to cut more from NASA budget.

Since the 1920s, excessive pumping of groundwater at thousands of wells has caused land to subside, or sink, by as much as 8.5 meters (28 feet) in sections of California’s San Joaquin Valley. This subsidence is exacerbated during droughts, when farmers rely heavily on groundwater to sustain one of the most productive agricultural regions in the United States.Subsidence is a serious and challenging concern for California’s water managers, putting state and federal aqueducts, levees, bridges and roads at risk of damage. Already, long-term land subsidence has damaged thousands of public and private groundwater wells throughout the San Joaquin Valley. Furthermore, the subsidence can permanently reduce the storage capacity of underground aquifers, threatening future water supplies. It’s also expensive. While there is no comprehensive estimate of damage costs associated with subsidence, state and federal water agencies have spent an estimated $100 million on related repairs since the 1960s.

Source: San Joaquin Valley is Still Sinking : Image of the Day

Spanish Peaks Turn Tan : Image of the Day how we are connected – even if Trump wants to pretend that nature does not matter

Two days after it was lofted into the air over the Sahara Desert on February 20, dust blew north into Spain and Europe. As dust particles settled down en masse on the snow-covered peaks of Spain’s Sierra Nevadas, they left the mountains a very different color.From above, satellites captured images of the mountains before and after the dust settled. The European Space Agency’s Sentinel 2-A satellite captured an image of the snow on February 18, 2017, before the dust arrived. NASA’s Landsat 8 shows the same area on February 27. The ski trails in Pradollano, Spain (left side of the top image) stand out as white streaks amidst the tan dust. A wider view of the two images appears below.Ground-based photographers captured images of the dust discoloring the snow atop the Sierra Nevadas, near Granada, Spain. Climbers encountered the dust as they trekked over the mountains, and skiers faced dusty conditions.It is not uncommon for African dust to reach Spain, said Colin Seftor, an atmospheric scientist working for NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. “Sometimes you see the dust in Italy or all the way into Greece,” he said of analyzing satellite imagery. “You’ll see this weather pattern that looks like a storm, with that classic comma shape of clouds. The dust gets entrained and moves right along with the pressure system.”

Source: Spanish Peaks Turn Tan : Image of the Day

H7N9 analyses hint at genetic mutations, drug resistance | CIDRAP

In the latest H7N9 avian influenza developments, analysis of virus samples from China and Taiwan hint at mutations including resistance to the antiviral class of drugs known as neuraminidase inhibitors, and the World Health Organization (WHO) said today that the burgeoning number of cases this season now account for a third of all cases reported since the outbreak began in 2013.

Source: H7N9 analyses hint at genetic mutations, drug resistance | CIDRAP

French ‘goanna girl’ scared of spiders evicts huge reptile from winery restaurant – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Before stunned diners, Samia Lila, a young waitress on a working holiday from France, grabbed the large reptile by the tail and dragged it out.The vineyard is surrounded by forests and features a popular restaurant where Ms Lila occasionally helps out.A few days after celebrating her 25th birthday she found herself ‘first responder’ when a large — and curious — goanna came out of the forest and onto the restaurant’s deck.Ms Lila was serving tables when a customer grabbed her hand and pointed outside.

Source: French ‘goanna girl’ scared of spiders evicts huge reptile from winery restaurant – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

WHO | Seoul virus – United States of America and Canada – “Profits and Potential Pandemics”

Information on Seoul virusSeoul virus is a type of hantavirus that is transmitted from rats to humans after exposure to aerosolized urine, droppings, or saliva of infected rodents, or after exposure to dust from their nests or bedding. Transmission may also occur from rat bites or when contaminated materials are directly introduced into broken skin or onto mucous membranes. For Seoul virus, the natural host is the Norway rat (Rattus norvegicus) and the black rat (Rattus rattus). This virus has been found in both pet rats and wild rat populations around the world. The incubation period varies from 1 to 8 weeks; however, most individuals develop symptoms within 1 to 2 weeks after exposure. Seoul virus infection symptoms can range from mild to severe. In the severe form of the disease, patients can exhibit bleeding and renal syndromes. Inapparent infections can also occur. Seoul virus infection is not transmissible from human to human. There is no effective treatment available for Seoul virus infection.

WHO risk assessment Hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) is the severe form of the infection with Seoul virus. The case fatality rate (CFR) among humans who develop HFRS due to Seoul virus ranges from 1-2%. Of the 11 cases reported in the United States so far, two were hospitalized and none have died.Although the three HFRS cases in Canada are still under investigation, there is some evidence of an epidemiological link to the United States Seoul virus outbreak.There is no available information on

Hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) is the severe form of the infection with Seoul virus. The case fatality rate (CFR) among humans who develop HFRS due to Seoul virus ranges from 1-2%. Of the 11 cases reported in the United States so far, two were hospitalized and none have died.Although the three HFRS cases in Canada are still under investigation, there is some evidence of an epidemiological link to the United States Seoul virus outbreak.There is no available information on further distribution of the infected rats outside of the United States and Canada. Rats do not show symptoms of disease when they are infected with Seoul virus. Once infected, rats can continue to shed virus throughout their lives, potentially infecting other rats and humans. The United States CDC is working with state health departments in the United States and others to investigate the outbreak of Seoul virus infections in pet rats and humans, to trace shipments and transport of rats, some of which may be infected with Seoul virus, to better understand how the virus entered the pet trade and to interrupt transmission of Seoul virus to other rats and humans.Because there is presently no effective treatment for Seoul virus infection, preventing infections in people is important.If infected rodents have contact with local rat populations, the infection with Seoul virus could spread to non-infected rodents and consequently change the prevalence of this zoonotic disease, both in rodents and in humans.WHO adviceInternational pet trade has the potential to spread and cause emerging or re-emerging disease in humans. WHO encourages State Parties to developed and maintain the capacity to detect, and report similar events.

Source: WHO | Seoul virus – United States of America and Canada