UN: Humans More Likely Spreaders of Avian Influenza
Philippine Daily Inquirer Posted by INQ7.net
2006 May 29
THE UNITED NATIONS’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said it was unreasonable to blame wild birds as the source of H5N1 or bird flu in the absence of rigorous research into their role in the ecology and dynamics of the virus.
“Human activities not birds are more likely to spread the virus,” the FAO said in a statement posted last week on its web site at www.fao.org.
Avian or bird flu is a very contagious disease caused by viruses that normally infect only birds. But the virus has since mutated and it is now causing infections and even deaths in poultry and humans.
The FAO said it had been calling for more research on the deadly virus as early as 2004, “but insufficient resources had been allocated to be able to study the question properly.”
Joseph Domenech, FAO’s chief veterinary officer, explained that with the rapid spread of the disease, FAO now needed $308 million (P16.3 billion) for its contribution to the global program for the progressive control of avian influenza over the next three years -- more than twice the sum required a few months ago.
Dead Squirrel in Park Tests Positive for Plague
KSBY.com
2006 May 27
Carina Corral
There's a serious health warning for those heading outdoors this weekend. San Luis Obispo County Public Health confirmed that a dead squirrel tested positive for plague. It's likely others are infected with the potentially deadly disease.
A plea today to people heading to parks, beaches, or anywhere wild rodents roam: don't feed the animals. "Just about everybody who comes here, they feed them peanuts, cat food," says Morro Bay resident Edwin Gill. He's seen people feeding squirrels here all the time, but San Luis Obispo County health officers hope that will change now that it could be life threatening.
"That dead rodent could've passed it on via the flea to another rodent," says Dr. Frank Mazzoni, a family practitioner. The plague is an infectious bacterial disease spread by rodents and their fleas. Humans can contract the disease if exposed to infected fleas or if they handle infected animals, which includes feeding them.
Other residents know all too well how dangerously close these rodents get. "I know the bravery of these things; it would be nothing for someone to get bit," says resident Joel Hughes. "They walk right up to you, no fear of man whatsoever."
Marine Biologists Bust Underwater Eco Criminals
CDNN - CYBER DIVER News Network
2006 May 27
Jeff Barnard
HONOLULU, Hawaii -- When death strikes a coral reef, whether from an oil spill off Mexico or sediment unleashed by a dam bursting in Hawaii, marine biologists at the scene know what to look for, but not how to report and preserve their findings so they will hold up in court.
Not for long.
Biologists and criminalists are joining forces to develop specific crime scene investigation techniques that work under water, where almost nothing that is standard procedure on land works.
Call it "CSI: Coral Reef."
"The coral reef is the body," said Ken Goddard, director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Forensics Laboratory here, who is supplying the criminal investigation expertise. "Except I can't take it in for an autopsy."
They will present their recommendations to the International Tropical Marine Ecosystems Management Symposium Oct. 16-20 in Cozumel, Mexico, and offer a five-day training sessionafterward for marine biologists from around the world.
The idea was born over drinks last October in Australia among marine biologists attending an international conference on coral reefs, said David Gulko, a coral reef ecologist for the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources.
Bernalillo County Woman Dies of Plague
KOBTV.com
2006 May 26
Todd Dukart
A Bernalillo County woman’s death is the state’s first death from the plague in more than a decade.
The woman died early last week of bubonic plague, the bacterium many historians blame for the Black Death that killed more than a million people in Europe during the mid-14th century.
Bubonic plague is usually transmitted to humans through the bites of infected fleas, but also can be transmitted through infected pets or other animals.
Dr. Paul Ettestad, the state’s public health veterinarian, says Bernalillo County and other north-central New Mexico counties had increased plague activity this year.
Plague peaks during the warmer months, so Ettestad says it’s very important to avoid rodents and fleas now.
Symptoms of the plague include fever; painful, swollen lymph nodes in the groin, armpit and neck; and chills.
Four people in New Mexico were infected with the plague last year. The last death from plague was 12 years ago, when a child in Rio Arriba County died of the disease.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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