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MercoPress, en Español

Montevideo, November 21st 2024 - 14:11 UTC

Health & Science

  • Tuesday, May 7th 2024 - 10:37 UTC

    Paraguayan health authorities warn of another disease transmitted by mosquitoes

    Oropouche causes a condition similar to that of dengue

    Paraguayan health authorities said the number of dengue cases was declining. Still, they told the population to look out for oropouche, another mosquito-borne virus that causes symptoms similar to those of dengue. Instead of the Aedes Aegypti, or pouches is carried by the Culicoides Paraensis mosquito.

  • Sunday, May 5th 2024 - 12:03 UTC

    Campaign in several US states to ban sale of lab-grown “cultivated” meat

    Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has banned lab-grown meat, saying he will “save our beef” from the “global elite” and its “authoritarian plans”.

    Several US states, spear headed by Florida are on a campaign to ban the sale and distribution of lab-grown or “cultivated” meat. The process of making cultivated meat involves extracting cells from an animal, which are then fed with nutrients such as proteins, sugars and fats, and they were first cleared for consumption in the US in 2022. The end product is genetically indistinguishable from traditionally produced meat.

  • Friday, May 3rd 2024 - 20:48 UTC

    Uruguay launches app to involve people in fight against dengue-spreading mosquito

    “Uruguay has a culture of using networks and managing information through smartphones” that can be useful in this case, Rando stressed

    Uruguay's Health Ministry Friday launched the application “Mosquito Alert” and urged the population to use it so that authorities can better fight the Aedes Aegypti mosquito which is behind the spread of dengue, zika, and chikungunya, it was reported in Montevideo.

  • Thursday, May 2nd 2024 - 10:24 UTC

    Dengue fever causes over 2,000 deaths so far this year in Brazil

    Federal health authorities will be deploying a biotechnological tactic to disarm the Aedes Aegypti mosquito

    Dengue fever has killed over 2,000 people in Brazil while almost 4.2 million cases of the malady have been confirmed this year in South America's largest country. The incidence rate of the disease is 2,056.9 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.

  • Wednesday, May 1st 2024 - 14:30 UTC

    Panama Canal Authority to explore desalinization plant's potential

    The Panama Canal uses freshwater from two local lakes to fill the locks through which vessels cross from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific and vice versa

    The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) announced Tuesday that a pilot plan to test the viability of implementing a desalination process was to be carried out in a move to keep the century-old structure fully operational while maintaining the quality of water for human consumption.

  • Tuesday, April 30th 2024 - 04:06 UTC

    Falklands launches a scientific mental health awareness survey

    The survey includes completing a short questionnaire, which should only take about 10 minutes.

    The Falkland Islands King Edward Memorial Hospital, KEMH, Public Health Unit is asking the public's views on mental health to better understand awareness, perceptions and attitudes related to mental health among the Islands residents.

  • Monday, April 29th 2024 - 16:07 UTC

    Former President José Mujica reveals that he suffers from cancer

    “You have to die. We belong to the world of living things, and in the world of living things we are born destined to die. That is why life is a formidable adventure,” he mused

    Former Uruguayan President José “Pepe” Mujica revealed on Monday that he had been diagnosed with a tumor in his esophagus following a routine medical examination on Friday. At a press conference surrounded by leaders, activists and supporters of his Frente Amplio party, the world-renowned political figure vowed to continue his activism despite the health challenge.

  • Saturday, April 27th 2024 - 10:59 UTC

    Cases of dengue in mainland Chile are all imported

    Autochthonous cases were only recorded in Easter Island

    Chilean health authorities said that dengue fever was on the rise nationwide last week, now totaling 228 confirmed cases, none of them autochthonous (patients with no recent travel history) in Chile's mainland. Nevertheless, local experts underlined that the Aedes Aegyppti mosquito was present in the country as a result of weather abnormalities stemming from climate change.

  • Saturday, April 27th 2024 - 09:54 UTC

    Brazil opens insulin-producing plant

    Lula recalled that his 7-year-old great-granddaughter had diabetes and would need the medication

    Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva Friday participated in the city of Nova Lima, state of Minas Gerais, in the opening of the Biomm recombinant human insulin-producing plant. The Government will purchase the entire output to make it available free of charge nationwide for diabetes patients. The facility is said to have cost around R$ 800 million (US$ 156 million) through loans from public banks. The South American country currently imports 95% of the insulin it uses. Some 15.7 million adults are said to have the malady nationwide.

  • Friday, April 26th 2024 - 10:01 UTC

    World Penguin Day: 9 out of 18 species breed in UK Overseas Territories, RSPB report

    Falkland Islands are nesting sites for five of the 18 species of penguin - King, Gentoo, Southern Rockhopper, Magellanic and Macaroni

    April 25 is World Penguin Day, from the impressive 1.2m tall Emperor Penguins of the British Antarctic Territory to the smaller, agile Southern Rockhopper Penguins of the Falkland Islands – nine out of 18 penguin species breed in the UK Overseas and British Antarctic Territories. Follows a report from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, RSPB.