Health & Science

• Thursday, February 7th 2019 - 10:01 UTC

  All horse racing in UK cancelled because of outbreak of equine fever

  

  All British horse racing meetings on Thursday have been cancelled because of an outbreak of equine flu. The decision by the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) comes after three vaccinated horses in an active yard tested positive for the disease.

• Thursday, February 7th 2019 - 09:50 UTC

  New Zealand' dairy industry struggling with an outbreak of Mycoplasma bovis

  

  While experts struggle to pinpoint the original source of the Mycoplasma bovis outbreak, New Zealand Agriculture Minister Damien O'Connor says resources may be better spent on bio security systems that prevent similar outbreaks. Last May the New Zeland government announced it would try to eradicate the disease, which can cause mastitis and abortions in cows, ordering a phased culling program that's expected to cost close to US$ 700 million.

• Wednesday, February 6th 2019 - 09:05 UTC

  UK seminar for Overseas Territories on safe maritime trade and seabed mapping

  

  The United Kingdom Hydrographic Office (UKHO) have launched a five-day capacity building seminar to help UK Overseas Territories, including the Falkland Islands, support safe maritime trade. The seminar, delivered as part of the government’s Overseas Territories Seabed Mapping Program, will focus on international regulations, with sessions on maritime safety information training, best practice governance and maritime law.

• Tuesday, January 29th 2019 - 09:31 UTC

  African swine fever scare in Europe; Denmark builds a 70km fence in the border with Germany

  

  Denmark has started building a 70km fence along its border with Germany in an effort to control the migration of wild boar. There are fears that African swine fever, which has been found in two dead wild boars in Belgium, could threaten Denmark's huge pig industry. If the disease spreads, it could jeopardize almost US$ 1.7bn in pork-product exports from Denmark.

• Friday, January 25th 2019 - 10:07 UTC

  Hantavirus outbreak in Argentine Patagonia: WHO news alert

  

  At least eleven people have died in Argentina after becoming infected with hantavirus, a disease carried by rats and other rodents, according to a news alert from the World Health Organization (WHO).

• Friday, January 25th 2019 - 09:00 UTC

  Argentina announces identification of the 107 unknown combatant, buried in the Falklands

  

  An Argentine 18 year old conscript from the northern province of Chaco has become the 107 combatant, with remains resting at the Argentine military cemetery at Darwin, in the Falklands, to be fully identified. The announcement was made by Argentina's Human Rights Secretary, Claudio Avruj who visited the family of Ruben Horacio Gomez, in the city of Ressistencia.

• Tuesday, January 22nd 2019 - 10:06 UTC

  Beware EU consumers: scheme to sell horse meat lasagna

  

  Four people are going on trial in Paris over an alleged scheme that fed consumers across Europe frozen foods containing cheap horse meat fraudulently labelled as pricier beef.

• Tuesday, January 22nd 2019 - 09:45 UTC

  Albatrosses ‘Bird-borne’ radar project to enhance UK Overseas Territories environment

  

  Seventeen innovative new projects will receive UK Government funding through the Darwin Plus initiative, to help protect and enhance the environment in the UK Overseas Territories. The seventh round of funding under the initiative, worth around £3.75m, will be shared amongst 17 projects around the globe. The funding will support international nature and help to achieve many of the commitments in the UK Government’s 25 Year Environment Plan.

• Tuesday, January 22nd 2019 - 08:50 UTC

  Krill retreating towards Antarctica because of climate change

  

  A keystone prey species in the Southern Ocean is retreating towards the Antarctic because of climate change. Krill are small, shrimp-like creatures that swarm in vast numbers and form a major part of the diets of whales, penguins, seabirds, seals and fish. Scientists say warming conditions in recent decades have led to the krill contracting pole-ward.

• Monday, January 21st 2019 - 08:57 UTC

  Argentina and Spain scientific research on climate change impact on hake in Tierra del Fuego

  

  Scientific study suggests snoek (Thyrsites atun) can re-colonize the marine area of the Beagle Channel and South-Western Atlantic waters, an area in the southernmost point of the South American continent where this species competed with the hake (Merluccius sp.) to hunt preys in warmer periods.