Category Archives: environment

DRC logging is out of control as Chatham House study lays bare | Greenpeace International

DRC logging is out of control as Chatham House study lays bare | Greenpeace International.

On top of everything else, continued logging and deforestation will induce new outbreaks of ebola and create perfect conditions for massive increase in breeding grounds for malarial carrying mosquitoes!

Guinea: Mobilisation against an unprecedented Ebola epidemic | Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) International

Conakry / Brussels / Geneva, 31 March 2014 – With eight confirmed cases of Ebola reported in the capital Conakry, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is facing an unprecedented epidemic in terms of the distribution of cases now scattered in several locations in Guinea.

“We are facing an epidemic of a magnitude never before seen in terms of the distribution of cases in the country: Gueckedou, Macenta Kissidougou, Nzerekore, and now Conakry,” said Mariano Lugli, coordinator of MSF’s project in Conakry.

via Guinea: Mobilisation against an unprecedented Ebola epidemic | Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) International.

H5N1: Guinea: More Ebola cases reported in Conakry, interior

So Guinea now sees a big jump in total cases, from 88 to 112, and a rise in deaths from 66 to 70. (Not all VHF cases may be Ebola, but that’s a distinction lost on the dead.)

We also have confirmation of the report of the two healthcare workers at Kipé, and we have an example of how a simple and loving ritual—the touching of a loved one’s body before burial—can have a disastrous effect on other family members.

via H5N1: Guinea: More Ebola cases reported in Conakry, interior.

Rosebud Sioux Tribe Hosting Spirit Camp to Oppose Keystone XL Pipeline

The Rosebud Sioux Tribe is hosting the Shield the People project this weekend near Ideal, South Dakota called the Rosebud Sioux Tribe Spirit Camp, which is an action to unite together in prayer for protection from the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, and ultimately to request President Obama deny the permit for the proposed pipeline.

via Rosebud Sioux Tribe Hosting Spirit Camp to Oppose Keystone XL Pipeline.

H5N1: Four cases of Ebola confirmed in Guinean capital Conakry

Total fail in actually getting word out to people and about how this is different!

The minister said the virus appeared to have been transmitted by an old man who showed symptoms of haemorrhagic fever after visiting Dinguiraye in central Guinea, far from the identified outbreaks of Ebola in the remote southeast.

Four of the man’s brothers, who attended his funeral in the central town of Dabola, started to show the same symptoms and were tested for Ebola on their return to Conakry.

“The four tested positive,” Lamah told Reuters. “They have been placed in an isolation ward in Donka hospital.” The old man’s family has also been quarantined, the minister said.

The spread of the disease to Conakry, a city of some 2 million people, marked an escalation in the Ebola outbreak in Guinea, which ranks as one of the poorest nations on earth despite rich deposits of bauxite and iron ore. As of Wednesday, 63 deaths had been reported from suspected cases of infections.

via H5N1: Four cases of Ebola confirmed in Guinean capital Conakry.

A bill to prohibit the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency from issuing any final rule under the Clean Air Act until the date on which the Administrator improves certain employment effect analyses under that Act. (S. 2161) – GovTrack.us

Polluting jobs more important your child’s health or your own!

S. 2161: A bill to prohibit the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency from issuing any final rule under the Clean Air …

… Act until the date on which the Administrator improves certain employment effect analyses under that Act.

Introduced:

Mar 26, 2014

Sponsor:

Sen. James “Jim” Inhofe [R-OK]

via A bill to prohibit the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency from issuing any final rule under the Clean Air Act until the date on which the Administrator improves certain employment effect analyses under that Act. (S. 2161) – GovTrack.us.

H5N1: Guinea says Ebola outbreak contained; death toll rises

The outbreak of mysterious haemorrhagic fever was first detected in Guinea in February. Scientists have since identified it as the most virulent Zaire strain of the Ebola virus.

The virus is believed to reside primarily in bats between rare outbreaks in humans. Some experts believe it may have been carried by bats from central Africa, where it is more common.

BAN ON BATS AND BUSHMEAT

In an effort to contain the disease, Guinea has banned the sale and consumption of bats and other types of bush meat, and banned public funerals for those killed. Volunteers from the Guinean Red Cross were disinfecting the homes of victims and dealing with infected bodies.

via H5N1: Guinea says Ebola outbreak contained; death toll rises.

WHO chief raises prospect of ban on live poultry sales | South China Morning Post

Dr Margaret Chan Fung Fu-chun, formerly Hong Kong’s director of health, also said that the regional culture of eating fresh chicken would have to evolve to help governments fight the diseases.

In her keynote address on infectious diseases delivered in Hong Kong yesterday at a conference on investment in Asia, Chan said that so far there was no global pandemic of H5N1 and H7N9 bird flu. But she warned of the “amazing ability” the viruses had to mutate, making them harder to control.

Unsustainable food production methods, such as overcrowding livestock, have been contributing to the spread of infectious diseases. Wet markets in particular have become breeding grounds for new strains of viruses and hotspots for infection, Chan said.

When asked whether the government should halt live poultry sales here, she said it was an idea it “should consider”.

Wet markets selling live poultry are not common in many parts of the world, but in Hong Kong and parts of southern Asia there is still an appetite for fresh chicken, she said. “You can’t just blame the government.”

Chan said she believes the Hong Kong government is trying to encourage a change in that culture.

via WHO chief raises prospect of ban on live poultry sales | South China Morning Post.

Publications – ebola-guinea-rapid-risk-assessment.pdf

An outbreak of Ebola haemorrhagic fever is currently ongoing in Guinea. Eighty cases were reported, including 59 deaths. This is the first such outbreak in Guinea.

As of 23 March 2014, the situation in Sierra Leone is also under investigation, as there are concerns about the disease’s spread in the districts which border affected prefectures in Guinea.

via Publications – ebola-guinea-rapid-risk-assessment.pdf.