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Disease outbreaks, looting hampering relief efforts in Somalia famine
“Outbreaks of measles and cholera are striking down Somali children already weakened by hunger, resulting in dozens of new fatalities,” the Guardian reports (Rice, 8/13). According to the WHO, “181 people have died from suspected cholera cases in a single hospital in Mogadishu, and there have been several other confirmed cholera outbreaks across the country,” the New York Times writes (Gettleman, 8/12). UNICEF spokesperson Marixie Mercado “said Friday that tens of thousands of children have died and countless more are particularly at risk of cholera and other diseases because of drought and violence in East Africa,” the Associated Press/NPR notes (8/12).
The World Food Programme (WFP) “said Saturday that it is Read more…
Twenty Percent of All Mammals at Risk of Extinction
Elephants are among the mammals nearing extinction according to a new report.Chris Jackson/Getty Images
At least twenty percent of all known mammals are nearing extinction, with large species at greatest risk, according to a recent assessment of the conservation status of 5,487 mammals.
Expanding agriculture and hunting are the primary extinction drivers, according to the findings, published in the latest Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B. That means humans causing the most severe mammal extinction period in history.
“The example I often tend to bring up is Tasmanian Devil, familiar to many from the Looney Tunes cartoons, because it’s an example of how a species that is common, or at least not uncommon, can suddenly, through the emergence of a novel threat, be plunged into a steep decline,” lead author Michael Hoffmann told Discovery News, explaining that a relatively Read more…
China releases 600 million wasps to combat moths
Chinese forestry officials have released some 600 million parasitic insects into the north China city of Baoding to combat the spread of the American White Moth that has been (in their caterpillar stage) eating the leaves off of forest and domestic orchard trees, as well as some farm crops. This is the fifth year in a row that Chinese officials have released wasps hoping to reduce the damage caused by the moths.
The American White Moth, known in the U.S. as the Fall Webworm, (though some call them “forest locusts”) creates, during its larval stage, the familiar webbed nests seen on hardwood tree limbs all across the country. It is one of the few insects that have migrated from North America to other parts of the world. The Fall Webworm doesn’t generally harm the trees where it lives, though it does reduce the amount of leaves on them, which isn’t considered all that much of a problem until it moves to Read more…
Deadly superbug outbreak hits problem-plagued network of Ontario hospitals
A deadly outbreak of a highly contagious superbug has claimed the lives of 15 patients in Southern Ontario, raising questions about whether enough is being done to prevent and control the spread of hospital-acquired infections.
Niagara Health System, a sprawling network of seven hospitals serving 434,000 people in a dozen communities, has declared an outbreak of Clostridium difficile, commonly known as C. difficile, at three of its sites.
Farm Animal Disease to Increase With Climate Change, Scientists Say
Researchers looked at changes in the behaviour of bluetongue — a viral disease of cattle and sheep — from the 1960s to the present day, as well as what could happen to the transmission of the virus 40 years into the future. They found, for the first time, that an outbreak of a disease could be explained by changes to the climate.
In Europe, more than 80,000 outbreaks of bluetongue were reported to the World Animal Health Organisation between 1998 and 2010, and millions of animals died as a result of the disease. Bluetongue was previously restricted to Africa and Asia, but its emergence in Europe is thought to be linked to increased temperatures, which allows the insects that carry the virus to spread to new regions and transmit the virus more effectively.
Researchers produced a mathematical model that explains how Read more…
Long Island Officials Warn Of Rapidly Spreading Whooping Cough Virus
A bottle of the pertussis vaccine against whooping cough and a syringe are show in a pharmacy in Pasadena, Calif. on Sept. 17, 2010. (Photo credit: Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images)
SMITHTOWN, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) — A cluster of whooping cough is growing on Long Island, with dozens of people infected by the virus.
As CBS 2’s Hazel Sanchez reports, a warning was sent out as children begin to head to summer camp – a certain breeding ground for the illness.
Parents in Smithtown are on high alert, as the highly contagious whooping cough is spreading through their community.
“It’s one of those diseases you don’t think you’ll ever hear about again,” parent Rick Vollkommer said.
Donna Wilson said she’s not taking any chances with her daughter, Kayla.
“She has been coughing a little bit here and there, so I’m Read more…
Hong Kong declares scarlet fever outbreak
Hong Kong has declared an outbreak of scarlet fever after it claimed the life of at least one child while infecting thousands of others in the city and elsewhere in China.
A seven-year-old Hong Kong girl died from the illness late last month while a five-year-old boy in the city died Tuesday morning from what health authorities said was a “very likely” a case of scarlet fever.
Hong Kong authorities have recorded 40 new cases in the past few days, pushing the total number to 459 so far this year, the highest annual total in the city and more than three times the figure for the whole of 2010.
The boy — who also had chicken pox — developed a fever last Wednesday and was admitted to hospital on Sunday with symptoms of the illness.
His condition deteriorated rapidly and he died Tuesday morning, Thomas Tsang, controller of Hong Kong’s Centre for Health Protection, said.
Classes have been suspended at the boy’s kindergarten for a week, a first for Hong Kong following a scarlet fever death.
“The situation is rather serious at the moment,” Tsang said Tuesday.
“We are facing an epidemic because the bacteria that is causing scarlet fever is widely circulating in Read more…
A Microscopic Chytrid Fungus Is Causing Massive Declines In Frog Populations Worldwide
A microscopic chytrid fungus is causing massive declines in frog populations all over the world and even the extinction of certain species. Together with colleagues from Europe and the USA, researchers from the University of Zurich present methods as to how the chytrid fungus can be combated in the journal Frontiers in Zoology: namely with bacteria and fungicides. However, the possibility of vaccinating the frogs is also being considered.
Photo: Benedikt Schmidt
New pathogens are not just a growing problem for humans and livestock, but also wild animals. Along with the destruction of their habitats and the overexploitation of their populations, a disease caused by a chytrid fungus called chytridiomycosis is one of the three Read more…
Locusts Invade Russia and China, Threatening Food Supply
Millions of Locusts Invade Russia
June 9, 2011
MSNBC – Giant swarms of locusts are said to be threatening the food supply for nearly 20 million people in the region.
Locust Plague Ravages NW China
May 5, 2011
Xinhua – Large swarms of locusts have laid waste to vast tracts of Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, with authorities expecting the plague to worsen as the weather heats up.
The locust plague began in the pastureland of the Ili River Valley and Read more…
Sprouts to Blame for E. Coli Outbreak
Despite no positive findings of Escherichia coli on sampled produce, German officials have determined that bean sprouts are the source of the deadliest outbreak in recent European history.
“It’s possible to narrow it down. It’s the sprouts. However, it’s not yet been possible to detect the pathogen on this product,” said Reinhard Burger, chief of Germany’s national disease control center, during a press conference in Berlin on Friday.
Burger said that the pattern of the outbreak, which has sickened 3,082 and killed 31, has led them to conclude that the source of E. coli is an organic farm in Bienenbuettel, Germany, which is about 70 miles south of Hamburg, the epicenter of the outbreak.
It is possible that no traces of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) will ever be linked to the outbreak, as most of the suspected sprouts have been consumed or thrown into the garbage after spoiling, German officials said. However, the hunt for the bacterium is not over.
“Of the 18 samples taken [from the organic farm], eight Read more…
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