by Jeanete Duazo Eagle News Service Canada Bureau (Eagle News) — The Public Health Agency of Canada has confirmed the country’s first case of Zika-related defects in a fetus, withholding further information for privacy reasons. It has however, confirmed that the fetus had severe congenital neurological anomalies. This is the second Canadian case of maternal-to-fetus transmission occurred in a baby that was confirmed to have the virus and the first to which has been linked to […]
Health
UN combats spread of cattle disease in Europe through early-detection training
(UNITED NATIONS) The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) today started a programme to train European laboratory staff on how to use nuclear-derived techniques to detect lumpy skin disease – a highly infectious cowpox virus spreading across the continent. “Lumpy skin disease has always been considered exotic in Europe, therefore many laboratories in the region are not prepared to detect it, or to differentiate between its various strains,” said Giovanni Cattoli, head of the UN […]
Outbreak of yellow fever in DR Congo could go global, children’s charity warns
By Umberto Bacchi LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – An outbreak of yellow fever that has killed hundreds of people in central Africa could spread across the world, an international children’s charity warned on Tuesday, even as a massive vaccination campaign was expected to get underway. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) declared a yellow fever epidemic in June after the hemorrhagic virus spread from Angola, where at least 360 people have died since last December […]
Lack of stores with fresh foods linked to signs of early heart disease
By Kathryn Doyle (Reuters Health) – Living in poor neighborhoods has been linked to increased heart risk, and a new U.S. study suggests the lack of access to fresh, healthy foods may be to blame. “Previous studies have found relationships between neighborhood characteristics and cardiovascular disease,” said lead author Jeffrey Wing of Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids, Michigan. “Finding that the density of healthy food stores was the only factor among those […]
Factbox: Why the Zika virus is causing alarm
(REUTERS HEALTH) Global health officials are racing to better understand the Zika virus behind a major outbreak that began in Brazil last year and has spread to many countries in the Americas. The following are some questions and answers about the virus and current outbreak: How do people become infected? Zika is transmitted to people through the bite of infected female mosquitoes, primarily the Aedes aegypti mosquito, the same type that spreads dengue, chikungunya […]
Women with common ovary problem may not get recommended tests
By Madeline Kennedy (Reuters Health) – Women with a common ovary problem should be screened for blood sugar and cholesterol problems, but a new survey of obstetricians and gynecologists found few were ordering those tests. In the U.S., up to 12 percent of women have polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), a hormone disorder that causes irregular periods, acne, weight gain, and difficulty getting pregnant. Most women with PCOS have multiple cysts on their ovaries. They’re […]
U.S. to allow more marijuana research: sources
By Eric M. Johnson SEATTLE (Reuters) – The U.S. government will announce on Thursday that it will allow more research into marijuana but has rejected requests to relax the classification of the substance as a dangerous, highly addictive drug with no medical use, sources with direct knowledge of the matter said. The decision is the Drug Enforcement Administration’s response to a 2011 petition by two former state governors who had urged federal agencies to […]
Scientists warn anthrax just one threat as Russian permafrost melts
by Maria ANTONOVA MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — A recent anthrax outbreak in the far north of Russia left a child dead, 23 people infected and the government scrambling to deploy hundreds of rescue workers and soldiers to stop any further spread. The source, scientists say, seems likely to have been the long-buried corpses of reindeers on Yamal peninsula uncovered as Russia’s permafrost melts — and then been passed on to grazing herds. The fear now […]
DOH to Metro Manilans: Brace for dengue
MANILA, Philippines (Eagle News) — The Department of Health (DOH) on Wednesday urged Metro Manila to begin boosting its efforts to combat dengue fever. In a press briefing held at the DOH Media Relations Unit in Tayuman, Sta. Cruz, Manila, DOH Spokesperson Dr. Eric Tayag said that Metro Manila has made it to the list of dengue hotspots. Declared as hotspots were Barangay Longos in Malabon City, as well as Barangays Novaliches proper, Fairview and […]
US finds GMO mosquitoes won’t harm environment
MIAMI, United States (AFP) – A type of genetically modified mosquito made by the British company Oxitec should pose no danger to the environment, US regulators said on Friday after considering thousands of public comments. The US Food and Drug Administration’s environmental review for the release of Oxitec’s genetically engineered (GE) mosquitoes, known as OX513A, found “the proposed field trial will not have significant impacts on the environment.” The male mosquitoes are engineered so that their […]
Three Zika vaccines show promise in monkey studies: report
MIAMI, United States (AFP) — Three different experimental Zika vaccines being developed in the United States have worked well in monkey studies, paving the way for human trials in the coming months, researchers said Thursday. The report, published in the journal Science, comes as researchers rush to find a way to prevent the mosquito-borne virus, which can cause severe birth defects. It is currently spreading in 50 countries and territories, mainly in Latin America, the […]
Obama says money to fight Zika virus is ‘running out’
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) – Money to fight the outbreak of the mosquito-borne Zika virus in the United States is running out, US President Barack Obama said Thursday, calling the situation “critical” and urging lawmakers to act. Obama spoke to reporters at the Pentagon, where he said the US government is taking the news of 15 cases of Zika being locally transmitted in Florida “extremely seriously.” “As our public health experts have been warning for […]
