Category Archives: environment

WHO | Ebola virus disease, West Africa – update

Guinea

As of 18:00 on 26 April 2014, the Ministry of Health (MOH) of Guinea has reported a cumulative total of 224 clinical cases of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD), including 143 deaths. To date, 202 patients have been tested for ebolavirus infection and 121 cases have been laboratory confirmed, including 74 deaths. In addition, 41 cases (34 deaths) meet the probable case definition for EVD and 62 cases (35 deaths) are classified as suspected cases. A revised number of 25 health care workers (HCW) have been affected (19 confirmed), with 16 deaths (12 confirmed); the number of HCW was previously reported as 26.

via WHO | Ebola virus disease, West Africa – update.

CDC disease detectives trace Ebola spread via new app – UPI.com

UPI Report

The Epi Info viral hemorrhagic fever application is specifically designed for outbreaks of viral hemorrhagic fevers such as Ebola, Marburg, Rift Valley, Lassa and Crimean-Congo.

The CDC has made this software platform freely available. It features virus transmission diagrams that help field workers visualize outbreak spread between people and automated tools that speed contact tracing and data analysis.

“With a disease as often fatal as Ebola, quickly identifying and following up with those who may have been exposed is key to saving lives and containing the outbreak,” Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the CDC, said in a statement. “Epi Info, the ‘Swiss Army knife’ of field-deployed epidemiologists, can now help to track disease more quickly.”

via CDC disease detectives trace Ebola spread via new app – UPI.com.

Avian Flu Diary: MERS: The Limitations Of Airport Screening

As the graphic above illustrates, airline traffic is a very effective conduit for infectious disease, able to transport someone to nearly anyplace in the world in less than 24 hours.  The world’s airlines carry 2.6 billion passengers each year, on more than 17 million flights.

 

In 2003, we saw the SARS virus hop the Pacific on a flight taken by a 78-year-old woman who fell ill in Toronto after visiting Hong Kong, and before that outbreak was contained, 251 people in Canada had been infected, and 44 died (see SARS And Remembrance).

via Avian Flu Diary: MERS: The Limitations Of Airport Screening.

Saudi prince slaughters 2,100 nearly extinct birds – for thrills? | Green Prophet

Saudi royals seem to be more hazardous to the world bird-life than wind turbines and skyscrapers! A Saudi prince poached thousands of protected birds during a 21-day hunting safari in Pakistan, so claims a new report.

Why would Pakistan allow exemptions from global conservation regulations? The bird meat is considered an aphrodisiac, which may explain why the men hunt.

Prince Fahd bin Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud reportedly killed 1,977 of the nearly-extinct houbara bustards last January, violating his hunting permit by killing so many of the birds. The rest of his party killed an additional 123 of the creatures, raising the final death toll to a staggering 2,100.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources estimates the houbara bustards’ global population to be at 110,000, declining by around 20% annually.

The incident, described in a report dated February 2014, says that during the safari the prince hunted the birds for 15 days in reserved and protected areas, poached birds in other areas for six days and then “took rest” for two days.

The report was prepared by local divisional forest and wildlife department officer Jaffar Baloch, according to Dawn News.

via Saudi prince slaughters 2,100 nearly extinct birds – for thrills? | Green Prophet.

Saudi Arabia MERS death toll rises above 100 | News | DW.DE | 28.04.2014

The Health Ministry in Riyadh on Sunday confirmed it had identified 16 more cases of the disease within a 24-hour period.

In a statement on its website late in the evening, the ministry reported there had been eight deaths – taking the number of people who have died from the disease, which first emerged two years ago, to 102.

Of those, a full 39 deaths have been this month. Among the latest deaths was a nine-month-old infant, the ministry said.

via Saudi Arabia MERS death toll rises above 100 | News | DW.DE | 28.04.2014.

Avian Flu Diary: WHO EMRO Statement On MERS-CoV

The World Health Organization (WHO) is concerned about the rising number of cases of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in recent weeks, especially in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and in particular that two significant outbreaks occurred in health facilities.

“Approximately 75 percent of the recently reported cases are secondary cases, meaning that they are considered to have acquired the infection from another case through human-to-human transmission,” Regional Director of WHO for Eastern Mediterranean Dr. Ala Alwan said. “The majority of these secondary cases have been infected within the healthcare setting and are mainly healthcare workers, although several patients are also considered to have been infected with MERS-CoV while in hospital for other reasons.”

via Avian Flu Diary: WHO EMRO Statement On MERS-CoV.

Nepal Scrambles to Bring Striking Sherpas Back to Mount Everest – The Wire

{Seems now, it is all just about the money, not lives, honoring their friends, or safety.}

As it stands, the Sherpas already made their demands clear to the Nepalese government before yesterday’s walkout. They want substantially more money in compensation to the families of the 16 guides who died last week. Originally, the government offered a sum equivalent to $415. As the AP explains, the Sherpas’ counter offer is just over $20,000. The government responded by increasing the sum to $15,620, still far below what they’re asking. The guides also outlined a number of other demands for the government’s consideration, originally with a Monday deadline. It’s not yet clear what the Tourism ministry is willing to to bring this year’s (very lucrative) season back.

To be sure, a Sherpa vote to walk away from the 2014 climbing season was not taken lightly: the livelihoods of the famed guides depends on the 2-month window each year when it’s relatively safe to make a summit attempt. As the New York Times explains, Sherpas can make $3000-$5000 for a season of work. The average annual income in Nepal is about $700.

via Nepal Scrambles to Bring Striking Sherpas Back to Mount Everest – The Wire.

ExxonMobil Partners with Plan International to Combat Ebola Outbreak in Liberia – MarketWatch

{A little disease-wash to cover ire when spills pollute the land, sea, rivers, and air never hurts, I guess…}

Plan International USA today announced a $75,000 grant from ExxonMobil to help contain the spread of the Ebola virus in Liberia. The grant will support local authorities who are responding to the epidemic by disseminating prevention messages via TV, radio, and SMS. It will also support the supply of hand washing kits to all schools in the county of Lofa.

via ExxonMobil Partners with Plan International to Combat Ebola Outbreak in Liberia – MarketWatch.

Urban Foodies and Libertarians Join Forces to Set Raw Milk Free – The Wire

{This has to be the – I’m sorry to have to say this – dumbest exercise of misplaced hipsterism, personal freedom and anti-science. If adults want to risk the illnesses that can come from raw – unPasteurized – milk that’s one thing but to make that same risk for their children or unknowing guests – that’s wrong, goofy, and criminal, or should be.}

Raw milk supporters claim there are boundless health benefits — as long as the milk-producing cows are healthy — including components that strengthen the immune system. But raw milk by definition skips the pasteurization process, meaning the end product could contain E. coli and salmonella bacteria. States are currently allowed to regulate the sale of raw milk within their own borders, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have reported that 75 percent of raw milk disease outbreaks have come from the 21 states where its legal to sell non-pasteurized products. Still, despite the health risks, it sounds a little bit safer than the anti-vaccine movement.

via Urban Foodies and Libertarians Join Forces to Set Raw Milk Free – The Wire.

Nearly 90% of Syria’s Chemical Arms Have Been Removed – NYTimes.com

Nearly 90 percent of the chemicals in Syria’s weapons arsenal have now been removed from the war-torn country, with only two or three shipments left for export, the group responsible for policing the global treaty that bans chemical munitions reported on Tuesday.

The declaration by the group, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, came as new allegations have emerged about the Syrian military’s possible use of bombs containing chlorine, a commonly used industrial chemical that was not on the list of toxic compounds declared by Syria when it agreed to renounce the use of chemical weapons last year.

via Nearly 90% of Syria’s Chemical Arms Have Been Removed – NYTimes.com.