Category Archives: Viva!

Flint Water Lead Poisoning | New tests show lead in Flint water may exceed filter capacity

Rachel Maddow is still on this.

Flint residents are still being charged for LEAD POISONED WATER!

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Michigan environmental agency to present Flint water-testing plan: report

DETROIT (Reuters) – The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality will present a comprehensive plan to federal officials on Monday to test lead-contaminated drinking water in Flint, the Detroit Free Press reported.

The goal would be to come up with a reliable assessment for the water system by April 14, when Michigan’s state of emergency is set to expire, the paper said.

Officials at the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality could not be immediately reached for comment.

The financially strapped city was under the control of a state-appointed emergency manager when it switched its source of tap water from Detroit’s system to the nearby Flint River in April 2014, in order to save money.

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Michigan Governor Rick Snyder has repeatedly apologized for the state’s poor handling of the issue.  Seriously, Snyder’s ass needs to be handed a JAIL SENTENCE.

 

Hong Kong Screening Blood Donors For Potential Zika Exposure

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Credit WHO/O. O’Hanlon

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One of the concerns with the Zika virus – particularly since testing is still difficult – is how to protect the blood supply from possible contamination.  Last week CDC’s Principal Deputy Director Anne Schuchat, M.D., during a press conference, indicated that our own FDA is looking at the issue of blood supply, donors, and travelers.

Today Hong Kong’s Hospital Authority has announced that starting tomorrow, their Blood Transfusion Service (BTS) will screen donors for recent travel to areas which are currently affected by the Zika virus, and blood donations will be deferred for at least 28 days from their departure date.

This is the same sort of screening process widely used to protect the blood supply from other mosquito-borne pathogens, including malaria and West Nile Virus.

Screening of blood donors to prevent Zika virus
 

The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:

The spokesperson for Hong Kong Red Cross Blood Transfusion Service (BTS) today (February 1) announced that with effect from tomorrow (February 2), anyone who has resided in or visited any countries which are affected by Zika virus (which include Barbados, Bolivia, Brazil, Cape Verde, Columbia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Martinique, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Puerto Rico, Saint Martin, Samoa, Suriname, the US Virgin Islands and Venezuela) will be screened under the new screening guidelines and deferred for blood donation in BTS donor centres for at least 28 days from the date he/she departed from the affected country. The incubation period for Zika virus is typically between three and 12 days. The BTS will closely follow the latest information on the virus outbreak as announced by the World Health Organization so as to revise blood donation screening policies.

The spokesperson added that the screening decision has been made as a precautionary measure by the Hospital Authority (BTS) Expert Panel on Blood and Blood Products Safety, and was endorsed by the Blood Transfusion Service Governing Committee. In fact, donors are currently temporarily deferred for blood donation if they have travelled to part of the countries or territories as mentioned in the past 12 months for the prevention of malaria, which is also an infection transmitted by mosquitoes.

The current blood donor screening policy includes enquiring about the travel history of prospective donors in the past 12 months. If a person has visited a malaria high-risk region in the last 12 months, or visited the West Nile virus prevalent regions in North America in the last 28 days, blood donation deferral will apply. The spokesperson also stressed that the objective of the deferral policy is to ensure blood safety, while blood supply would not be affected.


Ends/Monday, February 1, 2016
Issued at HKT 19:37

INTERNATIONAL: Zika declared as global emergency, same level as Ebola virus – St. Lucia News Online


St. Lucia News Online

INTERNATIONAL: Zika declared as global emergency, same level as Ebola virus
St. Lucia News Online
The last time a global emergency was declared was following the Ebola outbreak in December 2013, which is thought to have led to more than 11,000 deaths. Health experts have said the Zika outbreak could be far worse and WHO officials have predicted …

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“Both my parents were in prison while I was growing up. I’ve…

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“Both my parents were in prison while I was growing up. I’ve been in prison for 90% of my life, mainly for drugs. When I got out in 2014, there was this old lawyer in the Bronx who took an interest in me. His name was Ramon Jimenez. He’s kind of like a community activist. I don’t know why he cared so much, but he sat down with me and tried to map out my life. When I tried to start selling drugs again, Ramon came out and stood on the corner with me for three days straight. Here’s this 72 year old dude, shadowing me wherever I go, screaming at anyone who tried to walk up to me: ‘I’m calling the cops!’ I was so mad. But after three days I gave it up.”

Ai Weiwei lies face down in the sand to recreate heartbreaking photo of drowned Syrian toddler

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Shortly after retracting his work from Danish museums in protest of an anti-immigration bill, Ai Weiwei is drawing even more attention to the Syrian refugee crisis by recreating last year’s image of drowned infant Alan Kurdi. Taken by photographer Rohit Chawla for India Today magazine, the recreated picture is currently gathering crowds at an exhibition at the India Art Fair.