Category Archives: pandemic

Study shows high resistance to first-line malaria treatment | CIDRAP

More resistance woes possibleIn an accompanying commentary, however, two US Army experts caution that resistance to mefloquine is likely to return quickly now that artesunate-mefloquine has replaced dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine in Cambodian areas where artemisinin resistance is common.The writers are David Saunders, MD, MPH, of the US Army Medical Materiel Development Activity at Fort Detrick, Md., and Chanthap Lon, MD, of the Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical Sciences in Phnom Penh.With other effective drug combinations lacking, they suggest, one way to fight resistant malaria in Cambodia would be to hospitalize all malaria patients to ensure full adherence to treatment. They note that that approach is used successfully in the country’s tuberculosis control program.

Source: Study shows high resistance to first-line malaria treatment | CIDRAP

James Lovelock: ‘enjoy life while you can: in 20 years global warming will hit the fan’ | Environment | The Guardian

Humanity is in a period exactly like 1938-9, he explains, when “we all knew something terrible was going to happen, but didn’t know what to do about it”. But once the second world war was under way, “everyone got excited, they loved the things they could do, it was one long holiday … so when I think of the impending crisis now, I think in those terms. A sense of purpose – that’s what people want.”

Source: James Lovelock: ‘enjoy life while you can: in 20 years global warming will hit the fan’ | Environment | The Guardian

 

I’d like to think he is wrong, I really do. I think, however, that he is right and that we are already past the tipping point for changes that will force those left, after all all the eco-disasters to find a way of living in nature in a way that will enable us not to kill millions of humans because of shortsightedness, hubris and delusion.

Map shows hotspots for bat-human virus transmission risk

Liam Brierley added: “We’re pleased to have collated ecology, epidemiology and public health information to identify the factors that drive virus sharing and we hope it is used to improve surveillance of emerging diseases and inform decisions about preventative action. There’s still some way to go in monitoring virus diversity in wild animals and specific information on infections that would allow us to create higher-resolution maps. With advances in technology, we anticipate the way we collect and share data to improve, potentially stopping future pandemics.”

Source: Map shows hotspots for bat-human virus transmission risk

Avian Flu Diary: Brazil: MOH Update On Microcephalic Births

The current theory is that maternal infection during the 1st and 2nd trimester with the recently arrived mosquito-borne Zika virus is behind this sudden surge in birth defects, but hard evidence is still lacking and a conclusive link may take months to establish.

Source: Avian Flu Diary: Brazil: MOH Update On Microcephalic Births

Islamic Development Bank supports polio elimination with $90 million grant | Vaccine News

The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) recently granted $90 million in funds to help Pakistan implement the latest step of its polio elimination program through 2018. This decision was made by the IDB’s board of executive directors during a meeting at their headquarters in Jeddah. At the meeting, they evaluated the program’s status and chose to donate the finances. The IDB previously promised $227 million so that Pakistan could implement various disease elimination programs until 2015. In the past year, approximately 80 percent of the world’s wild poliovirus cases were located in Pakistan. A report from the World Health Organization showed serious vaccination gaps inside South Waziristan, Peshawar, Khyber Agency, northern Sindh, Karachi, and regions in Balochistan.

Source: Islamic Development Bank supports polio elimination with $90 million grant | Vaccine News

DuPont’s deadly deceit: The decades-long cover-up behind the “world’s most slippery material” – Salon.com Ohio screwed again by upstream polluters!

On October 7, after less than a day of deliberations, the jury found DuPont liable for Bartlett’s cancer, agreeing with the defendant that the company had for years negligently contaminated her drinking water supply in Tuppers Plain, Ohio with a toxic chemical formerly used to make its signature brand of nonstick coating: Teflon.

Source: DuPont’s deadly deceit: The decades-long cover-up behind the “world’s most slippery material” – Salon.com

First case of Zika virus reported in Puerto Rico | CDC Online Newsroom | CDC

The Puerto Rico Department of Health reported today the first locally acquired case of Zika virus infection in Puerto Rico.  Zika was confirmed in a resident of Puerto Rico with no known travel history.  CDC is working closely with the Puerto Rico Department of Health to investigate how the patient may have contracted the virus. Health officials in Puerto Rico are monitoring for other cases of Zika virus infection. CDC has issued a travel notice advising people traveling to Puerto Rico to take usual precautions to protect themselves from mosquito bites to reduce their risk of infection with Zika virus and other mosquito-borne viruses, such as dengue and chikungunya.  These steps include wearing insect repellent, using air conditioning or window and door screens to keep mosquitoes outside, wearing long pants and long-sleeved shirts when possible, and emptying standing water inside and outside the home.

Source: First case of Zika virus reported in Puerto Rico | CDC Online Newsroom | CDC

CENSORED NEWS: Yurok Tribe adopts ordinance banning Frankenfish and GMOs

The Yurok People have the responsibility to care for our natural world, including the plants and animals we use for our foods and medicines. This Ordinance is a necessary step to protect our food sovereignty and to ensure the spiritual, cultural and physical health of the Yurok People. GMO food production systems, which are inherently dependent on the overuse of herbicides, pesticides and antibiotics, are not our best interest,’ said James Dunlap, Chairman of the Yurok Tribe.The Ordinance allows for enforcement of violations through the Yurok Tribal Court. Yurok Chief Judge Abby Abinanti stated, ‘It is the inherent sovereign right of the Yurok People to grow plants from natural traditional seeds and to sustainably harvest plants, salmon and other fish, animals, and other life-giving foods and medicines, in order to sustain our families and communities as we have successfully done since time immemorial; our Court will enforce any violations of these inherent, and now codified, rights.’The Yurok Tribe is working with other Tribes in a regional collaborative as part of the Northern California Tribal Court Coalition (NCTCC), and the Tribe and NCTCC are co-hosting an Indigenous Food Sovereignty Summit in Klamath in the spring of 2016.A signed copy of the ordinance can be found on NCTCC’s website:nctcc.org.

Source: CENSORED NEWS: Yurok Tribe adopts ordinance banning Frankenfish and GMOs

Avian Flu Diary: PAHO ZIka Week 51: And Then There Were 12 Countries in the Americas

Like with Dengue and Chikununguya which arrived before it, Zika is finding the climate and abundance of Aedes mosquitoes highly conducive to spreading, along with a large, virologically naive population. As a result, Brazil alone is estimating more than a half million infections over the past eight months (see Brazil Estimates 500K+ Zika Infections). Up until a few months ago Zika was considered a relatively minor threat, particularly when compared to the far more painful and debilitating Chikungunya and the four (occasionally) deadly strains of Dengue.  Zika infections were generally regarded as relatively mild, and self limiting. That perception began to change, ever so slightly, after an outbreak in French Polynesia in 2013-2014, which saw a concurrent spike in Guillain–Barré syndrome (GBS) (see  Zika, Dengue & Unusual Rates Of Guillain Barre Syndrome In French Polynesia).

Source: Avian Flu Diary: PAHO ZIka Week 51: And Then There Were 12