Category Archives: environment

NEJM Ebola Brief: What does it mean? | Mens et Manus

While deforestation in the DRC may not have brought ZEBOV to Guinea, it’s possible that it still played a significant role in the emergence of Ebola among West African human populations. If enough bats migrated out West due to habitat displacement, increased population density would boost ZEBOV transmission… Resulting in above average Ebola prevalence among reservoir bats. This enabling condition – paired with the common Guinean practice of poaching bats – might have created viable circumstances for emergence among humans… But this is just one possible theory.

Understanding Ebola’s emergence in Guinea might help us prevent similar outbreaks in the future. While the NEJM article gives us valuable insight into the virus that’s responsible for #Ebola2014, it can’t be considered in isolation when addressing this challenge. The animals that carry the disease and the environment in which they live are equally important. We must also be willing to take a step back and look at the ecosystem system that connects them.

via NEJM Ebola Brief: What does it mean? | Mens et Manus.

National Technical Commission for Biosecurity approves Oxitec mosquito for use in Brazil | Vaccine News Daily

{Nature is not a machine and cannot be fooled by humans – when the new dengue comes – Oxitec will just say… Oops?}

Oxitec announced on Thursday that the National Technical Commission for Biosecurity approved the commercial release of its genetically modified mosquito in Brazil to control dengue fever.

The Oxitec mosquito is a strain of the wild Aedes aegypti species that was modified to contain two additional genes. The added genes cause mosquitoes to die before they become functional adults.

The male mosquitoes are released to mate with wild female mosquitoes and pass the genes to their offspring. The genetically modified mosquitoes have a marker that is visible with a special light, which will aid field monitoring and help ensure the mosquito control programs are successful.

“In recent years, our technology has been attracting a great deal of attention from dengue endemic countries worldwide and CTNBio’s technical opinion will be very helpful for other countries considering whether to evaluate this for their own circumstances,” Oxitec CEO Hadyn Parry said. “We feel that the beneficial environmental profile, coupled with excellent efficacy to date, make the Oxitec mosquito a valuable new tool for health authorities around the world to complement their existing efforts in tackling the mosquitoes that spread dengue fever.”

The A. aegypti mosquito is the main vector of dengue, and is known for being difficult to control. In several trials, the Oxitec males have proved to significantly reduce the wild population of dengue mosquitoes.

via National Technical Commission for Biosecurity approves Oxitec mosquito for use in Brazil | Vaccine News Daily.

The Surprising Gut Microbes of African Hunter-Gatherers | Science | WIRED

That’s not to say you should start stocking up on exotic roots, berries, and wild game hoping to create the perfect balance of beneficial bacteria for your belly. Crittenden and her research partners warn against turning their research into a diet, even if the link between the Hadza’s gut microbiome and their lower rates of gastrointetinal illness prove true. “Even if you try to emulate the diet of the Hadza, you’re not living in the environment,” explained Amanda Henry, a dietary ecologist from the Max Planck Institute in Germany, and a co-author of the study. “There are transfers from the soils, from the animals.” In other words, it’s not just what the Hadza eat that contribute to their remarkable gut flora, it’s where and how they are eating it, too.

Among the communities of gut microbiomes that have been sampled — from Americans to Italians to Koreans to vegans — the Hadza’s is drastically different. But, what really surprised the researchers was how different the gut communities were between the sexes. The females had much higher levels of several bacteria known to break down fibrous veggies. Both sexes eat copious amounts of tuborous roots, the women do most of the digging, while the men hunt or collect honey. ”Even though both groups bring food back to camp, they both snack, so they both eat more of what they collect,” Henry said. For the research team, this was just more evidence of how much the gut biota can vary, even between people who spend their entire lives eating different quantities of roughly the same diet.

This research is provocative, but there is a lot more work before the many new questions it raises can bring us answers about the human gut. Henry says she’d like to get samples from more people, and across a broader swath of time. “We really need to look at how gut microbiomes vary by season,” she said.

via The Surprising Gut Microbes of African Hunter-Gatherers | Science | WIRED.

Crop Art Size of 80 Footballs Fields Heartland Message: #NoKXL

A large crop art image—the size of 80 football field—with the message “HEARTLAND #NoKXL” has been created to send President Barack Obama a message to protect the Heartland by saying no to the proposed Keystone XL pipeline. Created by the Cowboy and Indian Alliance, the image art is located in Neligh, Nebraska.

The crop art is directly on the proposed path of Keystone XL, which also crosses the Ponca Trail of Tears.

via Crop Art Size of 80 Footballs Fields Heartland Message: #NoKXL.

Love the Earth | Falling Into Wonderland

We wait to fix systemic problems until after the roof caves in, the mountain top slides onto homes, or the bridge falls into the river, dumping cars into the swiftly moving current.

We drill for oil, use millions of gallons of life-sustaining water to do so, and produce only finite amounts of shale gas as a result. The kicker is that the waste from that process is so toxic, everything within miles of pools holding it, dies.

We call this progress.

I call it crazy.

It is insane to burn your only home to the ground because someone offered you money to do so.

I ask you, where do you plan to live once you are holding the keys to a pile of ash? Where will you go when the last fish has been caught, the last great tree cut?

Will you eat your money?

THE EARTH IS OUR MOTHER

We will wither without our mother, our home.

via Love the Earth | Falling Into Wonderland.

Five mutations could send bird flu virus airborne : Study | Metro

While some critics argue these studies should not be done at all, Osterholm doesn’t take that view. But he insists that making this kind of information readily available makes it possible for scientists anywhere — even those working in laboratories which don’t meet the highest standards of biosafety and biosecurity — to make dangerous viruses.

“We now have intentionally lowered the bar to the point … where we have made it possible for laboratories around the world to do this work,” said Osterholm, who is the director of the Center for Infectious Diseases Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota.

“I think what remains very problematic is just the enabling information it provides. There are a lot of laboratories around the world that are not funded by the U.S. government, do not have specific restrictions or limitations on what they can do relative to biosafety.”

via Five mutations could send bird flu virus airborne : Study | Metro.

Text of H.R. 4419: AKA: Kill wild horses and burros bill and sell off National Forests to developers bill – To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to require periodic review of listings … (Introduced version) – GovTrack.us

H.R. 4419: To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to require periodic review of listings of endangered species and

via Text of H.R. 4419: To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to require periodic review of listings … (Introduced version) – GovTrack.us.

Los Angeles Bans Indiscriminate Snares and Traps | Damon Nagami’s Blog | Switchboard, from NRDC

Yesterday, the Los Angeles City Council unanimously passed an ordinance banning the use of traps that snare or grip coyotes, bears, foxes and other animals in the city and directing the Department of Animal Services to ensure that other types of traps aren’t used inhumanely — for instance, by leaving an animal caged for a long time.

While many people think of wildlife as something encountered in remote forests, deserts, or mountains, our cities also have wildlife of their own: animals that have adapted to living among people and often perform valuable functions. This is particularly true in Los Angeles — small mammals, resident and migratory species of birds, and aquatic wildlife all call parts of Los Angeles home and larger animals, such as foxes, coyotes, and even mountain lions live in the parks and open space within Los Angeles.

via Los Angeles Bans Indiscriminate Snares and Traps | Damon Nagami’s Blog | Switchboard, from NRDC.

Recalls, Market Withdrawals, & Safety Alerts > Lisy Corporation Issues Recall on: Lisy Sweet Basil (Albahaca) 6 Oz., Item 1132 Lot #’s A013 0518 & A014 0518

Lisy Corporation of Miami, FL is voluntarily recalling Lisy Sweet Basil (Albahaca), 6 oz jar, Item #1132, Lot #’s A013 0518 & A014 0518, because it has the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella. Salmonella is an organism which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Healthy persons infected with Salmonella often experience fever, diarrhea (which may be bloody), nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. In rare circumstances, infection with Salmonella can result in the organism getting into the bloodstream and producing more severe illnesses such as arterial infections (i.e. infected aneurysms), endocarditis and arthritis.

No illnesses have been reported to date in connection with this recall.

via Recalls, Market Withdrawals, & Safety Alerts > Lisy Corporation Issues Recall on: Lisy Sweet Basil (Albahaca) 6 Oz., Item 1132 Lot #’s A013 0518 & A014 0518.

Polluting of Lake Okeechobee Must End, Court Rules | Earthjustice

Why you should not trust Big Ag about anything but their desire for big profits!

Our case was 11 years in the making—we first filed it in 2002 to challenge the practice of “backpumping.” Backpumping works like this: South Florida sugar and vegetable growers pump the public’s waters out of Lake Okeechobee to irrigate fields. They wash the water over their industrial-sized crops, where it gets contaminated with fertilizers and other pollutants. Then, the agribusinesses get taxpayers in the South Florida Water Management District to pay to pump the contaminated water—along with some polluted run-off from industrial areas and city streets—back into Lake Okeechobee, where it pollutes public drinking water supplies for West Palm Beach, Fort Myers and the entire Lower East Coast metropolitan area.

via Polluting of Lake Okeechobee Must End, Court Rules | Earthjustice.