Health & Science
Health & ScienceLatest UK avian flu outbreak is virulent H5N1 strain
The type of bird flu found in turkeys on an English farm is the virulent H5N1 strain, according to UK government veterinarians. The virus was discovered on Sunday at Redgrave Park Farm near Diss, Suffolk where all 6,500 birds, most of them turkeys, are being slaughtered.
UN urges basic sanitation for 40% of world population
In anticipation of the International Year of Sanitation in 2008 and with more than 2.6 billion people – 40% of the world's population – lacking access to toilets and other sanitation facilities, the head of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme has urged governments to adopt low-cost technology to ensure adequate sanitation for all.
High ozone levels over Santiago linked to pneumonia rates
Recent Chilean Health Ministry study found ozone levels in the northeast parts of greater Santiago higher than normal during 180 days this year. The study also linked the high levels of ozone in Santiago's atmosphere with increased rates of pneumonia.
Citizens willing to accept sacrifices to curb climate change
Canadians are among the world's leaders in being prepared to accept potential lifestyle changes and higher taxes in order to address climate change, according to a new poll released Monday.
Heated controversy in Chile over the “morning after pill”
Chile's National Association of Pharmaceutical Chains (Anacaf) met with Chile's Health Ministry (Minsal) this week to discuss fines imposed on those pharmacies that have refused to dispense emergency contraceptives to customers.
Week of rain leaves a million homeless in Southern Mexico
Massive flooding from a week of rain has forced hundreds of thousands of people in the Mexican state of Tabasco to abandon their homes and seek shelter from the muddy waters that on Friday covered an estimated 80% of this southeast Gulf state.
Bat-transmitted rabies in Uruguay - Brazil border
Uruguay has ordered the vaccination of 90.000 livestock cattle in the border area with Brazil following an outbreak of bat-transmitted paralytic rabies that killed thirty head of cattle. Sanitary authorities have asked farmers and residents to help locate bat caves on both sides of the open frontier.
Wind fanned wildfires scorch California, half million evacuees
US President George W Bush has declared California a major disaster zone after four days of wildfires sparked the biggest evacuation since Hurricane Katrina. The fires have killed five people, injured 40 and burned 1.500 homes, causing an estimated one billion US dollars in damage.
Lack of water conditions future of Chile's mining industry
Sergio Gonzalez, one of four Chileans working with the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), warned this week that the economic future of Chile's mining industry cannot be sustained unless the nation deals seriously with its growing water shortage.
Climate change helps spider specimen move to Magallanes region
Climate change consequences in the entomologic field have reached Magallanes Region in the far south of Chile and local authorities are cautioning about the appearance of a small spider identified as the “false black widow”, which can be lethal for people suffering different allergies.
