Category Archives: environment

Drug-Resistant Bacteria on Chicken: It’s Everywhere and the Government Can’t Help – Wired Science

Two important, linked publications are out today, both carrying the same message: The way we raise poultry in this country is creating an under-appreciated health hazard, and the government structures we depend upon to detect that hazard and protect us from it are failing us.

The two pubs are:

A long piece that will be in the Feb. 2014 edition of Consumer Reports but has been placed online today.

A companion report by the Pew Charitable Trusts, addressing some of the systemic problems raised by the Consumer Reports story.

Short version: Independent tests show that multi-drug resistant disease-causing bacteria are widely present on chicken, and the US Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has insufficient personnel, or legal authority, to change that.

via Drug-Resistant Bacteria on Chicken: It’s Everywhere and the Government Can’t Help – Wired Science.

The System of Rice Intensification

The benefits of SRI have been demonstrated in over 50 countries (see map). They include: 20%-100% or more increased yields, up to a 90% reduction in required seed, and up to 50% water savings. For additional information, visit the Africare/Oxfam/WWF report, More Rice for People. SRI principles and practices have been adapted for rainfed rice as well as for other crops (such as wheat, sugarcane and teff, among others), with yield increases and associated economic benefits.

via The System of Rice Intensification.

Sustainable Rice Farming in Tanzania

Mwajuma Ramadhani, a farmer from Kiroka village can now plan for her children\’s education better than before as she doesn\’t have to worry about food for her family anymore.

The 47-year-old widow is among farmers who can testify on the benefits of the new system. “I am very happy with this technique because since I started using it, my crop yields have gone up, she told DW,” I can now get enough food for my family and sell the surplus.”

From her humble beginnings, Ramadhani hardly got 5 bags of rice per acre when she was still using the old method, but with SRI her yields have remarkably improved.

“I harvested 30 bags of rice last season and that was the highest since I started using this method” she said.

via .

Zoonotic TB may be public health threat in Zambia | Vaccine News Daily

According to the research, Namwala contains a large degree of genetic variation amongst M. tuberculosis strains in humans and the bacteria isolated from humans and cattle are respectively related. Because the bacterium is found in cattle, the animals may be a reservoir for human tuberculosis. Humans may become infected with M. tuberculosis and M. bovis by eating untested meat and by drinking unpasteurized milk.Malama concludes that health authorities, cattle owners and wildlife managers must work together to stop zoonotic TB in Namwala and its bordering areas. He said a one health approach adapted to local needs should be employed to control the spread of TB in the area.The incidence of all forms of human TB in Zambia is estimated to be 444 infections per 100,000 people.

via Zoonotic TB may be public health threat in Zambia | Vaccine News Daily.

Proliferation of Multidrug-Resistant New Delhi Metallo-β-lactamase Genes in Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plants in Northern China – Environmental Science & Technology Letters (ACS Publications)

This is the first report of the occurrence, persistence, and fate of NDM-1 genes through different processes in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). Conjugation experiments with an NDM-1-positive Achromobacter sp. isolated from a WWTP and indigenous bacteria in Haihe River sediment were also conducted to address the potential propagation of NDM-1 genes in environments receiving WWTP discharges. Knowledge of the distribution of NDM-1 genes in WWTPs and the associated discharge patterns helps inform strategies for mitigating the propagation of multidrug resistance determinants and the associated risks to public health.

via Proliferation of Multidrug-Resistant New Delhi Metallo-β-lactamase Genes in Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plants in Northern China – Environmental Science & Technology Letters (ACS Publications).

Can angora production ever be ethical? | World news | The Guardian

now we\’ve seen the video of a Chinese angora farm, will we ever look at Nastassja Kinski\’s backless sweater in the same way again? A rabbit is screaming, as best it can, while chunks of its wonderful soft fur are ripped away to leave just a bald, raw and bleeding body. Rows and rows more rabbits are locked alone in filthy cages, waiting for their turn.

These, according to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta), based on the 10 farms they visited, are standard conditions for angora rabbits in China, where around 90% of the world\’s angora wool is now produced. Certainly there are no laws there to prevent people plucking rabbits, which yields longer hairs, and thus more valuable yarn, and is quicker to do. Topshop, H&M, Boden, Primark and dozens of other retailers have halted orders immediately.

And yet there\’s no denying that, if you own an angora rabbit, it would be inhumane not to remove some its fur. Left alone, the animal becomes too hot, gets covered in thick clumps and tends to lick off any moulting hairs, which accumulate in its stomach. (Whether it was ethical to breed rabbits this way in the first place is another matter.)

Indeed, even Peta accepts that – when done on a very small scale – angora production can be ethical. \”If you had someone who has a companion angora rabbit who sat on their knee, and they put their fingers through their coat and, as happens, they find the fur gently comes away, then if somebody wanted to collect that and make a pair of gloves that would be entirely different,\” says Yvonne Taylor, Peta\’s campaigns manager.

via Can angora production ever be ethical? | World news | The Guardian.

Avian Flu Diary: FAO: Surge In Animal Disease Increases Zoonotic Threats

With an increasingly mobile global population now numbered over 7 billion, huge increases in the number of animals being raised for food consumption (often in environments conducive to the spread of diseases), and man’s continual encroachment into remote jungles and forests of the world – you have a huge potential to introduce new `exotic’ diseases to mankind.

via Avian Flu Diary: FAO: Surge In Animal Disease Increases Zoonotic Threats.

60 percent of West Bank without power | Maan News Agency

Crews worked overtime across the West Bank on Friday after 60 percent of the Palestinian territory\’s regions were plunged into darkness as a result of severe weather conditions.

Director General of the Jerusalem Electricity Company Said Hisham Omari told Ma\’an that there were at least 45 malfunctions in power lines across the West Bank as a result of the ongoing storm, and that although crews were working to fix them adverse driving conditions were inhibiting their work.

The majority of the power line malfunctions are located inside Israel on lines leading to the West Bank, but Israeli authorities are not fixing the malfunctions while also prohibiting the access of Palestinian crews to the areas.

Company crews were able to restore power to 80 percent of areas across large parts of Bethlehem and Jerusalem and are working hard to restore electricity to Ramallah as well, Omari said.

However, the power supply covers only 40 percent of the province as of Friday evening, and 60 percent remains in the dark, he added.

via 60 percent of West Bank without power | Maan News Agency.

Bubonic plague killed 20 villagers in Madagascar, health experts confirm | World news | theguardian.com

Once feared as the Black Death – the rodent-born disease that wiped out a third of the world\’s population in the Middle Ages – bubonic plague has killed 20 villagers in Madagascar in one of the worst outbreaks globally in recent years, health experts have confirmed.

The confirmation that bubonic plague was responsible for the deaths last week near the north-western town of Mandritsara follows a warning in October from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) that the island nation was at risk of a plague epidemic.

The Pasteur Institute of Madagascar revealed on Tuesday that tests taken from bodies in the village last week showed that they had died of the bubonic plague. The institute added it was concerned the disease could spread to towns and cities where living standards have declined since a coup in 2009.

via Bubonic plague killed 20 villagers in Madagascar, health experts confirm | World news | theguardian.com.

Major study! Avian Influenza and Ban on Overnight Poultry Storage in Live Poultry Markets, Hong Kong

Totally validates my research into influenza and its connections to live markets and especially in live markets leading up the Lunar New Year celebrations and Spring holidays. Read this and you will see why Hong Kong is no longer a primary breeding ground or virtual laboratory for new flus!

Previous influenza pandemics originated from influenza viruses of birds (1). Live poultry markets play a crucial role in maintenance, amplification, and dissemination of avian influenza viruses (2,3) and are high-risk locations for potential zoonotic transmission of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus (H5N1) to humans (4,5). From September 1999 through May 2011, fecal dropping samples were collected monthly under the poultry cages in live poultry markets in Hong Kong as part of a systematic longitudinal avian influenza surveillance program. During the 12-year period of surveillance, several interventions were implemented by the Hong Kong government in response to outbreaks of influenza virus (H5N1) in live poultry markets and on poultry farms. In July 2001, a monthly rest day was first implemented; under this system, all poultry in live poultry markets must be sold or slaughtered at the end of the day, poultry stalls must be cleaned and disinfected, and the stalls must be left free of live poultry for 1 day before restocking any live poultry the next day. In February 2002, a ban on sales of live quail was implemented in because an influenza virus (H9N2) lineage commonly isolated from quail possessed the internal genes of the virus that caused the avian influenza (H5N1) outbreak in Hong Kong in 1997 (6). In response to further incursions of avian influenza (H5N1) into poultry markets and farms in Hong Kong, a second monthly rest day in live poultry markets was introduced in March 2003, and a complete ban on holding live poultry overnight in live poultry markets was implemented in July 2008.

via Avian Influenza and Ban on Overnight Poultry Storage in Live Poultry Markets, Hong Kong.