Category Archives: Fail!

Stanford University study shows Ebola virus may infect people who show no symptoms – Homeland Preparedness News

{This may mean that ebola has indeed evolved – more survivors, mean that it can impact more people since more survive to carry it to those who are more vulnerable.}

The Stanford researchers identified 14 individuals in the village previously unknown to have had the disease one year after the Ebola epidemic spread through various parts of West Africa.This development, the researchers say, confirms previous suspicions that the Ebola virus does not uniformly cause severe disease and that people may be infected without showing any signs of the illness. The findings also suggest that the virus’ spread may have been far wider than originally thought. The researchers calculated that the virus may be minimally symptomatic in up to 25 percent of all people in affected areas.“The study corroborates previous evidence that Ebola is like most other viruses in that it causes a spectrum of manifestations, including minimally symptomatic infection,” Dr. Gene Richardson,a former fellow in the Division of Infectious Diseases and Geographic Medicine at Stanford who is now a PhD candidate at the university.“It provides important evidence on that front,” he added. “It also means a significant portion of transmission events may have gone undetected during the outbreak. This shows there was a lot more human-to-human transmission than we thought.”

Source: Stanford University study shows Ebola virus may infect people who show no symptoms – Homeland Preparedness News

WHO says human H5N8 risk low as more H5N6 reported | CIDRAP – More political-economic assessment over health assessment, it appears.

The World Health Organization (WHO), in an assessment yesterday, said that while human risk of contracting H5N8 avian flu cannot be excluded, there is so far little evidence that the current H5N8 strain will mutate and infect humans.H5N8 has circulated the globe since 2014, when it first appeared in China, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, South Korea, Russia, and the United Kingdom. In late 2014, the strain came to North America, and last year H5N8 viruses were also detected in Taiwan, China, Hungary, and Sweden. The strain can infect both wild birds and poultry, and people have minimal to no immunity from the virus.The current clade has been found in 11 countries: Austria, Croatia, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, India, Israel, Netherlands, Poland, Russia, and Switzerland. It was initially detected in Tyva, Russia, in May of 2016, and has followed migratory bird patterns, first appearing in India and then moving west to central Europe, the WHO said.The agency said it expects more countries will report cases in the coming weeks, following bird migration patterns.

Source: WHO says human H5N8 risk low as more H5N6 reported | CIDRAP

WHO scales back Zika public health emergency | CIDRAP

(Becoming clearer and clearer – to me – releases such as this one, are overly influenced by political and economic considerations rather than health concerns)

 

Based on a recommendation from its emergency committee today, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Zika virus infections and related microcephaly cases no longer constitute a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC), and efforts to battle and research the disease will now be folded into the WHO’s regular work, where it will receive high-level attention and more sustained funding.

Source: WHO scales back Zika public health emergency | CIDRAP

Febrile illness diagnostics and the malaria-industrial complex: a socio-environmental perspective | Single disease focus – misleading and harmful.

A study from Tanzania highlights the diverse etiology of AFI. Of 870 hospital admissions, 528 (60.7%) patients were clinically diagnosed with malaria, but only 14 (1.6%) actually had malaria parasites upon subsequent blood analysis. Ten different kinds of infections, including bloodstream infections, bacterial and fungal infections, and arboviruses, were all presumptively diagnosed as malaria based on clinical symptoms [19]. But this study was conducted in Moshi, a city of roughly 144,000, which may not be representative of the local disease ecology of large, tropical SSA urban agglomerations like Luanda, Dar es Salaam, Abidjan, Nairobi, or Accra, much less emerging megacities like Lagos or Kinshasa-Brazzaville. We are just beginning to realize how little we know about communicable disease epidemiology in SSA.

Source: Febrile illness diagnostics and the malaria-industrial complex: a socio-environmental perspective | BMC Infectious Diseases | Full Text

George Takei Responds to Trump Surrogate’s “Dangerous” Japanese-American Internment Camp Comments | Hollywood Reporter

George Takei is taking a firm stand against the recent comments by a Donald Trump surrogate that the treatment of Japanese Americans during WWII serves as “precedent” for a national Muslim registry now. Takei called the remarks “dangerous” and warned against history repeating itself. “The Japanese-American internment was an egregious violation of our national values and principles, a terrible event for which Congress apologized in 1988,” said Takei. “To invoke that dark chapter as a precedent for any action against any minorities today is a morally bankrupt and dangerous step, completely out-of-bounds with contemporary notions of civil and human rights.”

Source: George Takei Responds to Trump Surrogate’s “Dangerous” Japanese-American Internment Camp Comments | Hollywood Reporter

Swedish politician suspends Twitter account over ‘hate’ – The Local

A former Social Democrat MP and one of the party’s most outspoken feminist and anti-racist campaigners on Tuesday said ‘lies and hate’ had prompted her to take a break from Twitter.Racist and sexist trolls target Sweden’s Twitter account (06 Oct 16)Veronica Palm, a former member of parliament and chairwoman of the centre-left Social Democrat party’s local branch in Stockholm, said the increasingly hostile social climate on Twitter was behind her decision to suspend her account.”As you have noticed I’ve been tweeting less and less. The reason is simple: it actually bloody hurts,” she wrote in a tweet on Tuesday morning.”I simply don’t have the energy. I am human and want to continue to be human. Not switch off my feelings about what other people say. And in that case, lies and hate hurts. It gets under my skin, every day,” Palm, 43, continued.”I have promised that I won’t be silenced by hate and threats. I know that the democratic conversation and free speech is the foundation of democracy, but right now I just can’t do it. I won’t stay quiet, but I’m taking a break from Twitter.”

Source: Swedish politician suspends Twitter account over ‘hate’ – The Local

US elections: The end of a dream | In English | EL PAÍS

Electing Hillary Clinton would not only have put a woman in charge of the most important country in the world, along with other great nations like Germany (Angela Merkel), the United Kingdom (Theresa May and before her, Margaret Thatcher) and Brazil (Dilma Rousseff until she was impeached). More importantly it would have allowed the United States to make two symbolic moves in two back-to-back revolutions: racial equality and gender equality. And if it were on a roll, why not imagine a Hispanic man or woman in the White House?Instead, the United States has elected the enemy of minorities, women, immigrants, Muslims and the political correctness that has made coexistence possible in democracies. The dream fades and, in its place, a nightmare begins.

Source: US elections: The end of a dream | In English | EL PAÍS

Bird flu spreads in Germany, sparking fears for holiday meals | News | DW.COM | 12.11.2016 – We will kill ourselves with global “goose” greed and try to blame it on wild  birds – but we are doing it to ourselves.

Berlin has set up a crisis management task force to tackle the issue, after reports also came in from Austria that another large outbreak was suspected in an area along the border with Bavaria.Authorities urge extreme cautionAt the same time, Switzerland has confirmed that a number of dead birds found along Lake Geneva were confirmed to be carrying the H5N8 virus. Bern and Vienna both immediately took steps to contain the disease from spreading further, authorities said.This particular strain of avian influenza arrived in Europe from South Korea in 2014, brought by migratory waterfowl. Massive culling followed after wild ducks, geese and swans passed the disease to farmed birds like chickens and turkeys.Authorities have urged extreme caution and care on the part of farmers and food inspectors. The upcoming holiday season will increase the demand for duck, goose and chicken, and the flu outbreak could have serious economic consequences.Avian influenza spreads easily among domestic poultry, but only certain subtypes – H5N1 and H7N9 – are known to infect humans.

Source: Bird flu spreads in Germany, sparking fears for holiday meals | News | DW.COM | 12.11.2016

US elections: A presidency of fear | In English | EL PAÍS

Put simply, one half of the United States has voted against the rights of the other half. The people celebrating Trump’s victory on Tuesday night were celebrating the triumph of boorishness, intolerance, fear, and ignorance. The only sure thing we know about Trump is that he will say one thing one day and another the next, depending on which way the political wind is blowing, or which side of bed he got out of. In a single day he has been for and against abortion rights, same-sex marriage and banning Muslims from entering the country. And when it suits him, he has no problem lying.

Source: US elections: A presidency of fear | In English | EL PAÍS

It’s the End of the World as We Know It, and I Don’t Feel Fine. | Rebelle Society

Here’s the problem, folks…She doesn’t have a penis.Oh, I can feel your eyes rolling. Your brain is screaming about her f*cking emails, and how oily and polished she comes across. Like a typical politician. To you, I say: I don’t give a !@#$ about her emails. I like oily and polished. In this case, it meant the candidate had equilibrium because she knew what she talking about.Say what you want to say about Hillary Clinton’s off-putting demeanor, her lack of charisma, and her distrustful air. There’s no debating that she’s brilliant. Something Donald Trump isn’t.And see, Trump hates everything I am. Despises what I believe in. He has offended me as a woman. A Latina. And as a person who believes in a God by many names. Any time he offends people who lead with their faith, he is offending me.Before now, when I did not see eye to eye with a candidate and he was elected, I did not feel despair, thrown away, or less of an American because none of those men attacked me personally. None of them told me that the way I showed up in the world was intrinsically less-than. They had not assaulted me with their words and their hatred.Inside my body, in my heart, what I carry is rejection by my country. The country that I love. If this nation could elect Donald Trump to be our leader, I am a disposable American. Everything I am is being tossed in the bin.As Van Jones stated on CNN, “This was a White-lash.” The Men and the Whites rallied to elect Trump because they detest the changes that have occurred in America — what I consider progress.Plainly speaking, I’m terrified for my country. What does this election say about our path? Our legacy? What will the world think, and how will it affect international affairs and the economy throughout the next four years?There is a small part of me still clinging to hope that one day a woman will lead the United States. Another part of me wonders, if it does happen while I breathe, whether it will be a nation I recognize. Or if it will recognize me.The faith I have always held sacred, that has carried me through painful moments, wavers. On this day, I pray God sees us through the next four years. I’m too anxious to focus on my chores and my work.I just don’t know if it will ever happen for us.I haven’t got high hopes to see it in my lifetime.But then again, a racist, xenophobic misogynist with the temper of a hangry lab monkey got elected as the President of the United States.I suppose anything is possible.

Source: It’s the End of the World as We Know It, and I Don’t Feel Fine. | Rebelle Society