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Written by Administrator
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June 14, 2009 |
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It was the final surge in numbers that forced the World Health Organisation to act. With confirmation last week that swine flu cases had risen above 1,000 in Australia, it was clear the disease was now spreading freely around the world. Thousands of cases had already been reported in the United States, Mexico and Chile. Officials at the World Health Organisation simply had no choice. On Thursday, they announced swine flu had achieved pandemic status, the first strain of influenza to reach this mark for 41 years. It seems an alarming prospect. Are we again set to face a disease that can kill millions as happened with the pandemics of 1918, 1957 and 1968? Margaret Chan, the World Health Organisation's director general, was confident, however. The disease is only a "moderately severe" risk, she announced. Out of 30,000 cases worldwide, only 145 deaths have been reported. Development of a vaccine - the world's main anti-flu weapon - is already under way while stockpiles of anti-viral drugs such as Tamiflu are also available, at least for developed nations. With 27,000 cases, swine flu is officially a pandemic
Death toll hits 140 as swine flu goes global |
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Written by Administrator
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May 11, 2009 |
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The United States now has 2,600 cases of the new H1N1 influenza across 43 states and Washington, D.C., the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported on Monday. The outbreak of swine flu has been mostly mild in the United States, with three deaths, the CDC said in a statement. On Sunday the CDC reported 2,532 cases. Globally, the World Health Organization confirmed 4,694 infections in 30 countries with 53 deaths, all but four in Mexico. While it is widespread across the United States, WHO said the new H1N1 virus shows no signs of sustained person-to-person spread outside of North America. "There are about 3,300 probable and confirmed cases in 46 states and the District of Columbia," the CDC's Dr. Anne Schuchat told a news briefing. |
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Written by Administrator
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May 06, 2009 |
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The United States now has 642 cases of the new H1N1 flu, with two deaths, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported. CDC officials have said they expect the new swine flu to spread to all 50 states, to cause severe disease and some deaths, although most cases have been mild. Mexico has confirmed 42 deaths and said it was impossible to get samples from about 70 more people who died of flu-like illness recently. Globally, more than 1,600 cases have been reported in 23 countries. |
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Written by Administrator
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May 02, 2009 |
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The swine flu virus that has frightened the world is beginning to look a little less ominous. New York City officials reported Friday that the swine flu still has not spread beyond a few schools. In Mexico, very few relatives of flu victims seem to have caught the virus. One flu expert says there's no reason to believe the new virus is a more serious strain than seasonal flu. And a federal health officialpandemic flu strain so deadly. said the new flu virus doesn't appear to have genes that made the 1918 It's too soon to draw any definitive conclusions about what this variation of the H1N1 virus will do. Experts say the only wise course is to prepare for the worst. But in a world that's been rattled by the specter of a global pandemic, glimmers of hope are welcome. Lower Mexico death toll heartens nervous world...
WHO fears complications if HIV and H1N1 viruses combine...
Expert says 'just another flu virus,' so why the fear?
Swine flu spread 'not sustained'
Panic killing more than the flu - Emergency Rooms Fill With Record Numbers, but Many Aren’t Ill, Just Afraid
SCENARIOS: What the new swine flu might do |
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Written by Administrator
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April 27, 2009 |
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As the world grapples with the worst economic downturn in decades and the possibility of a flu pandemic, a growing body of research suggests the complexity of the modern global economy may make us more vulnerable than ever to catastrophe. The financial crisis began as turmoil in one small segment of the US mortgage market. Within months it had morphed into a global meltdown affecting almost everyone on earth. "The speed at which these events unfolded was unprecedented," said the World Economic Forum's 2009 report on global risk. "It has demonstrated just how tightly interconnected globalisation has made the world and its systems." Disease, too, can spread faster than ever before. Modern air travel means that any contagious outbreak can be worldwide in a matter of days. In the past, it would have taken months or years. |
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Last Updated ( April 27, 2009 )
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Written by Administrator
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April 25, 2009 |
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A new flu virus suspected of killing up to 60 people in Mexico has the potential to become a pandemic, the World Health Organization's chief says. Margaret Chan said the outbreak was a "serious situation" which needed to be followed closely. Ms Chan cut short a visit to the US and returned to Geneva for urgent talks. Health experts say tests so far seem to link the illnesses in Mexico with a new swine flu virus that sickened eight people in the southern US. The WHO's emergency committee, which can recommend declaring an international public health emergency and raise the global pandemic alert level - a move that could lead to travel advisories, trade restrictions and border closures - has been meeting. |
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Last Updated ( April 25, 2009 )
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Written by Administrator
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April 24, 2009 |
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US medical authorities expressed strong concern Friday about an unprecedented multi-strain swine flu outbreak that has killed at least 60 people in Mexico and infected seven people in the United States. "It's very obvious that we are very concerned. We've stood up emergency operation centers," Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) spokesman Dave Daigle told AFP. One major source of concern was that the virus included strains from different types of flu. Swine Flu, Mexico Lung Illness Heighten Pandemic Risk |
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Written by Administrator
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April 21, 2009 |
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There's a new bogeyman lurking in the closet, and this one isn't imaginary. Us. One out of three children aged 6 to 11 fears that Ma Earth won't exist when they grow up, while more than half—56 percent—worry that the planet will be a blasted heath (or at least a very unpleasant place to live), according to a new survey. Commissioned by Habitat Heroes and conducted by Opinion Research, the telephone survey polled a national sample of 500 American preteens—250 males and 250 females. On a sliding scale of anxieties, minority kids have it worst; 75 percent of black children and 65 percent of Hispanic children believe that the planet will be irrevocably damaged by the time they reach adulthood. Interestingly enough, kids vex over the state of the planet, especially when it came to safe and clean air and water, regardless of any pro-environmental measures on the part of their parents. A staggering 95 percent of the children surveyed said their parents pitched in by recycling, using rechargeable batteries, and conserving water and electricity. "We commissioned the survey as a result of my own childrens' experiences with the recent fires in Australia as they expressed much concern for both their safety and the planet’s,” said Sharon Lowe, founder of Habitat Heroes, in a press release. “While it is upsetting to hear how many children in the United States have expressed similar concerns, I am more committed than ever to help educate children around the globe in a way that is not scary to them.” |
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Written by Administrator
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April 11, 2009 |
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First the good news: bird flu is becoming less deadly. Now the bad: scientists fear that this is the very thing that could make the virus more able to cause a pandemic that would kill hundreds of millions of people. This paradox – emerging from Egypt, the most recent epicentre of the disease – threatens to increase the disease's ability to spread from person to person by helping it achieve the crucial mutation in the virus which could turn it into the greatest plague to hit Britain since the Black Death. Last year the Government identified the bird-flu virus, codenamed H5N1, as the biggest threat facing the country – with the potential to kill up to 750,000 Britons. The World Health Organisation is to back an investigation into a change in the pattern of the disease in Egypt, the most seriously affected country outside Asia. Although infections have been on the rise this year, with three more reported last week, they have almost all been in children under the age of three, while 12 months ago it was mainly adults and older children who were affected. And the infections have been much milder than usual; the disease normally kills more than half of those affected; all of the 11 Egyptians so far infected this year are still alive. |
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Last Updated ( April 11, 2009 )
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Written by Administrator
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April 06, 2009 |
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The Mount Redoubt volcano had another large eruption Saturday after being relatively quiet for nearly a week. Radar indicated a plume of volcanic ash rose 50,000 feet into the sky, making it one of the largest eruptions since the volcano became active on March 22, said the National Weather Service. The ash cloud was drifting toward the southeast and there were reports of the fine, gritty ash falling in towns on the Kenai Peninsula. |
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Written by Administrator
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March 19, 2009 |
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Scientists sailed Thursday to inspect an undersea volcano that has been erupting for days near Tonga -- shooting smoke, steam and ash thousands of feet into the sky above the South Pacific ocean.
Authorities said Thursday the eruption does not pose any danger to islanders at this stage, and there have been no reports of fish or other animals being affected. Spectacular columns are spewing out of the sea about 6 miles (10 kilometers) from the southwest coast off the main island of Tongatapu -- an area where up to 36 undersea volcanoes are clustered, geologists said. 
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Last Updated ( March 19, 2009 )
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Written by Administrator
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March 19, 2009 |
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Growing world population will cause a "perfect storm" of food, energy and water shortages by 2030, the UK government chief scientist has warned. By 2030 the demand for resources will create a crisis with dire consequences, Prof John Beddington said. Demand for food and energy will jump 50% by 2030 and for fresh water by 30%, as the population tops 8.3 billion, he told a conference in London. Climate change will exacerbate matters in unpredictable ways, he added. |
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Last Updated ( March 19, 2009 )
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Written by Administrator
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February 26, 2009 |
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Almost 90,000 food crop seed samples have arrived at the "doomsday vault" in the Arctic Circle, as part of its first anniversary celebrations. The four-tonne shipment takes the number of seeds stored in the frozen repository to more than 20 million. The Svalbard Global Seed Vault, built 130m (426ft) inside a mountain, aims to protect the world's food crop species against natural and human disasters. The £5m ($7m) facility took 12 months to build and opened in February 2008. "The vault was opened last year to ensure that, one day, all of humanity's existing food crop varieties would be safely protected," explained Cary Fowler, executive director of the Global Crop Diversity Trust (GCDT). |
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Last Updated ( February 26, 2009 )
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Written by Administrator
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January 22, 2009 |
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China faces a "grim" situation in preventing and controlling human cases of bird flu, the health minister said, after announcing four human infections in the last two weeks and three deaths. Health Minister Chen Zhu called for hospitals to spare more resources in diagnosing and treating bird flu and more cooperation between agriculture authorities and his ministry, Xinhua news agency said. A Chinese newspaper reported that the mother of a toddler diagnosed with bird flu had died of severe pneumonia earlier this month, but no samples had been taken to see if she had bird flu. She had been in contact with poultry before her death. |
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Written by Administrator
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January 04, 2009 |
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Just when you thought you could scratch bird flu off your list of things to worry about in 2009, the deadly H5N1 virus has resurfaced in poultry in Hong Kong for the first time in six years, reinforcing warnings that the threat of a human pandemic isn't over.
India, Bangladesh, Vietnam and mainland China also experienced new outbreaks in December. During the same period, four new human cases -- in Egypt, Cambodia and Indonesia -- were reported to the World Health Organization. A 16-year-old girl in Egypt and a 2-year-old girl in Indonesia have died. The new cases come after a two-year decline in the number of confirmed human deaths from H5N1 bird flu and as fewer countries are reporting outbreaks among poultry. A United Nations report released in October credits improved surveillance and the rapid culling of potentially infected poultry for helping to contain and even prevent outbreaks in many countries. |
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Written by Administrator
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January 03, 2009 |
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Authorities and witnesses say a strong earthquake in eastern Indonesia has sent panicked residents running outside. The country's meteorology and seismology agency warned that with a preliminary magnitude of 7.2 it was strong enough to cause a tsunami. There were no immediate reports of giant waves. It struck at 2:43 p.m. EST, around 85 miles off of Manokwari, Irian Jaya, at a depth of about 6 miles. Hasim Rumatiga, a local health official, said electricity went off and residents ran to higher ground. Indonesia straddles a chain of faultlines and volcanoes known as the Pacific "Ring of Fire" and is prone to seismic activity. A huge quake off western Indonesia caused the 2005 Asian tsunami that killed around 230,000 people. http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Quakes/us2009bjbn.html |
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Last Updated ( January 03, 2009 )
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Written by Administrator
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January 02, 2009 |
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More earthquakes are rattling Yellowstone National Park. The small quakes include three more Friday that measured stronger than magnitude 3.0. The University of Utah Seismic Stations say the strongest was 3.5. Several hundred quakes centered under the northern end of Yellowstone Lake have now occurred since Dec. 26. No damage has been reported. Earthquake swarms happen fairly often in Yellowstone. But scientists say it's unusual for so many earthquakes to happen over several days. Yellowstone lies mostly in northwestern Wyoming and is the caldera of a volcano that last erupted 70,000 years ago. Scientists have not concluded what is causing the earthquakes. Continue Discussing this topic on our Message Boards ! |
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Written by Administrator
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December 13, 2008 |
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Medical workers were going door-to-door to look for people with symptoms of avian influenza in northeast India Friday as the infection in birds spread further, officials said. So far, no human cases of infection of the deadly H5N1 virus have been reported in the affected Assam state, but authorities stepped up a health drive after 150 people developed some symptoms of the infection. "About 150 people were treated for fever and upper respiratory tract infections in bird flu-hit areas. We have put the patients in isolation," senior health official Parthajyoti Gogoi told AFP. Bird flu was ruled out in all cases, the official said. The virus has spread in the past two weeks across six Assam districts, where an estimated 300,000 people live in the affected areas. |
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Written by Administrator
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November 26, 2008 |
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DISCUSS THIS TOPIC ON OUR FORUMS - CLICK HERE! Individually the following events are probably insignificant but altogether and during this current finacial crisis they could be leading somewhere...
MPs warn of riots due to soaring public transport costs - UK orders 10,000 tasers - record order - Police Officers in South West Train for Riot Scenarios - Recession Crime Wave
Things are going to be tight for some time to come but it'll be too tight for some people. Faced with large redundencies, people losing houses and costs of travelling to work rising, I can see how some people may get angry. |
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Written by Administrator
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August 18, 2008 |
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Tropical Storm Fay made an unexpected shift to the north early this morning, putting emergency officials in Broward and Palm Beach counties on alert for possible flooding and high winds. Early today, a tropical storm warning was issued for Florida's east coast from Jupiter Inlet southward and along Florida's west coast from Bonita Beach southward, including Lake Okeechobee.
A tropical storm warning remained in effect for the Florida Keys from Ocean Reef to Key West. A hurricane watch was in effect for most of the Keys and along Florida's west coast to Tarpon Springs. A tropical storm watch was in effect for from north of Jupiter Inlet to Sebastian Inlet.
While some Key West businesses began putting up hurricane shutters in preparation for Fay, tourists and residents still strolled lazily through town. Some even seemed jaded as they talked about the impending storm, which threatened to strengthen to a hurricane. Source : Sun Sentinel |
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Written by Administrator
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August 03, 2008 |
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Thousands of panicked pilgrims stampeded Sunday at a remote mountaintop temple in northern India during celebrations to honor a Hindu goddess, sending dozens of people plummeting to their deaths and trampling scores more. Police said 145 people were killed. Rumors of a landslide apparently started the panic at the shrine in the foothills of the Himalayas, said C.P. Verma, a senior government official in the Bilaspur district. Pilgrims already at the Naina Devi Temple began running down the narrow path leading from the peak. There, they collided with devotees winding their way up. With a concrete wall on one side and a precipice on the other, there was nowhere to escape and they were crushed. At one point a guard rail broke and dozens of people fell to their deaths. Source : AP / Myway News |
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Written by Administrator
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June 23, 2008 |
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Comedian George Carlin, a counter-culture hero famed for his routines about drugs and dirty words, died of heart failure at a Los Angeles-area hospital on Sunday, a spokesman said. He was 71. Carlin, who had a history of heart and drug-dependency problems, died at Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica about 6 p.m. PDT (9 p.m. EDT) after being admitted earlier in the afternoon for chest pains, spokesman Jeff Abraham told Reuters. Known for his edgy, provocative material, Carlin achieved status as an anti-Establishment icon in the 1970s with stand-up bits full of drug references and a routine called "Seven Words You Can Never Say On Television." A regulatory battle over a radio broadcast of the routine ultimately reached the U.S. Supreme Court. Source : Yahoo News RIP GEORGE! Thank you for the years of laughter! |
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