A new method for tracking the virus could help prevent outbreaks.
Category Archives: environment
WHO: Array of Zika birth defects equals new syndrome | CIDRAP
WHO: Cast surveillance net beyond microcephaly Current evidence and unpublished data coming into the WHO are showing a wider range of birth defects besides microcephaly, including craniofacial disproportion, spasticity, seizures, irritability, eye problems, and brainstem dysfunction, leading to, for example, feeding difficulties. The WHO said clinicians are seeing a range of severity, including neurologic problems in babies born with normal head circumference, similar to those associated with other maternal infections. Unpublished data from Colombia and Panama, however, hint that Zika virus might be linked to other problems in babies, affecting the genitourinary, cardiac, and digestive systems, according to the report. The WHO said it has established a process to define the new congenital syndrome, which will focus on mapping and analyzing the clinical manifestations. Experts will need good antenatal and postnatal histories and follow-up data, lab findings, and neuroimaging results to flesh out the syndrome, the agency added.
Source: WHO: Array of Zika birth defects equals new syndrome | CIDRAP
After Harambe’s Death, Rethinking Zoos – The New York Times
Captive apes don’t all die from a gunshot; but almost all die having never really experienced what it is to be a gorilla. Harambe was born in a zoo in Brownsville, Tex. There are signs that times are changing. Prominent circuses are retiring their elephants. The “Blackfish” film helped change norms for orcas, or killer whales. The focus of this shift so far has been on big-brained, highly social species (those most like us) — a distinction that’s rejected as elitist by some animal advocates. There’s much more to be done. This issue was compellingly explored in Scientific American this week by Marc Bekoff, who studies animals’ behavior and awareness and is a proponent of what he calls “compassionate conservation”: While some might say Harambe had a ‘good life’ in the zoo, it doesn’t come close to the life he would have had as a wild gorilla, with all its attendant risks. Indeed, one might argue that the animal people were seeing was not really a true western lowland gorilla, surely not an ambassador for his species. He calls for an end to captive breeding of gorillas and an eventual shift from zoos to sanctuaries, with money saved going to conservation of species in the wild.
Source: After Harambe’s Death, Rethinking Zoos – The New York Times
OpenFlights: FAQ
What can I do with OpenFlights? Quite a few things: Track exactly how far you’ve flown and how much time you’ve spent sitting on a plane. (Quite a few of our members have been to the Moon and back, but nobody has yet reached Mars.) See at a glance where you’ve been and where you’re going. Rapidly search your flight history: now when did I go to the Bahamas, and on what airline? Share your flights and trips with friends. Check where you can fly to from any airport, or any pair of airports. (Learn more) Check where you can fly to with any airline. (Learn more) Coordinate flights for conferences and other events. (Learn more) View your flights in gorgeous 3D with Google Earth and other visualization apps. (Learn more)
Source: OpenFlights: FAQ
Zika virus in Brazil: “The Games must be postponed: Zika will spread via unexpected channels” | In English | EL PAÍS
“The clearest consequence is that you increase the risk of spreading the virus and the disease. With half-a-million people going to Rio for the Games – not just the usual visitors but people coming from every corner of the world – you open up the possibility of someone from each one of those places getting infected. Once the individual returns to his country, the local mosquitoes may then transmit the disease,” says Amir Attaran, a professor of epidemiology and public health at the University of Ottawa. Attaran co-authored the letter that more than 170 scientists have signed and sent to the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Olympic Committee, urging them to postpone the upcoming Games – scheduled for August 5 to August 21 – until the Zika virus is no longer a threat. The letter also asks the organizations to consider moving the Games to another host country.
Avian Flu Diary: Detection Of Airborne H9 Nucleic Acid In Chinese Live Poultry Market
In China the link between live poultry markets (LPMs) and the spread (and reassortment of) avian flu strains is already well established, and it is easy to understand why. Large quantities of birds of varying species (chickens, ducks, geese, quail, and others) are brought in from different farms, housed together in cramped quarters, and then slaughtered (and often de-feathered) in open air booths as thousands of people walk by. Not only does this expose humans to avian viruses, it facilitates the sharing of different avian flu subtypes (H5, H7, H9) among the birds, promoting continual reassortment and the creation of new clades, or subtypes.
Source: Avian Flu Diary: Detection Of Airborne H9 Nucleic Acid In Chinese Live Poultry Market
Mystery of Mongol Retreat from Hungary Solved
Di Cosmo and his colleagues have previously found that a stretch of warm, wet weather between 1211 and 1225 probably helped fuel the Mongols’ initial expansion by giving them ample fodder for their horses. And other climate researchers have found that the Mongols may have influenced the climate as well: In 2011, researchers reported that the Mongol invasion of the 1200s had a tiny but perceptible effect on global carbon dioxide levels because the amount of death and destruction their expansion caused slowed deforestation for agriculture.
WHO says ′no public health justification′ for postponing Olympics over Zika virus | News | DW.COM | 28.05.2016 – Deja vu Ebola Fail… economic and politics before public health by member states of WHO!
WHO noted, however, that people continue to travel between countries with the virus. There are also those who do not travel, for a number of other reasons. WHO has already urged pregnant women not to attend the games and in February called the virus a global health concern. The health experts questioned a possible conflict of interest because of WHO’s relationship with the International Olympics Committee. They called for an unbiased, evidence-based assessment to guide the UN health body. Moving the Olympics in such a short time period is not practical and cancelling or postponing the games would entail massive economic losses.
WHO: Angola yellow fever deaths cross 300 | News | DW.COM | 27.05.2016
Yellow fever is a viral hemorrhagic disease transmitted by infected mosquitoes. Symptoms include a mild infection with fever, back pain and fatigue. But in 15 percent of cases, a second, toxic phase is experienced. This can lead to bleeding in the mouth, eyes and gastrointestinal tract. Around 20 percent of those who experience the toxic phase die. Although there is no specific treatment for yellow fever infection, vaccinations are recommended for travelers to tropical regions of Africa and Latin America’s Amazon region. Aid groups say poor health facilities and vaccine shortages are limiting Angola’s ability to cope with the outbreak. The WHO said 2.4 million doses of the yellow fever vaccine have been received and a further 2.6 million people will be receiving a jab in the next few weeks.
Source: WHO: Angola yellow fever deaths cross 300 | News | DW.COM | 27.05.2016
US warns of nearly invincible superbug | News | DW.COM | {The final “oops!”?}
US health officials reported Thursday that they had discovered the first case in the country of a patient with an infection resistant to all known antibiotics. The discovery raises fears that the so-called superbug could pose serious danger for routine infections if it spreads. “We know now that the more we look, the more we are going to find. We risk being in a post-antibiotic world,” said Thomas Frieden, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, referring to the urinary tract infection of a 49-year-old Pennsylvania woman who had not travelled within the prior five months. “We need to do a very comprehensive job of protecting antibiotics, so we can have them and our children can have them,” Frieden added.
Source: US warns of nearly invincible superbug | News | DW.COM | 26.05.2016











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