Health & Science

• Monday, April 18th 2011 - 06:23 UTC

  Mercosur organized joint program to combat dengue

  

  Mercosur will consider next June adopting a regional joint program to combat the mosquito transmitted dengue disease, which has become endemic in the group with the exception of Uruguay, and which has forced landlocked Paraguay to declare a national emergency.

• Wednesday, April 13th 2011 - 18:17 UTC

  EU ‘animal well being’ group warns about Mercosur livestock conditions

  

  The Eurogroup for Animals called on the European Union to demand from Mercosur farmers associations and governments the same ‘animal well-being’ requisites and regulations which their European counterparts must comply with.

• Wednesday, April 13th 2011 - 00:30 UTC

  Paraguay admits that the dengue epidemic is the most severe in a decade

  

  Paraguay’s Minister of Public Health Esperanza Martinez acknowledged on Tuesday that the current mosquito transmitted dengue epidemic is far more severe than that of 2007, considered the worst in recent times, and claimed she has had limited support from city councils

• Friday, April 8th 2011 - 20:04 UTC

  Deadly bacteria named after New Delhi triggers controversy with India

  

  International health journal Lancet on Friday accused the Indian government of being in denial over the issue of presence of drug-resistant bacteria NDM-1 in the public water system of Delhi and argued that the debate over the naming of the bug should not detract one from the health implications of the findings.

• Thursday, April 7th 2011 - 21:57 UTC

  Drug resistance becoming top global challenge, says WHO on World Health Day

  

  Drug resistance is becoming more severe and many infections are no longer easily cured, leading to prolonged and expensive treatment and greater risk of death, warns the World Health Organization (WHO) on World Health Day.

• Thursday, April 7th 2011 - 21:16 UTC

  Antarctica unveils new mineral ‘wassonite’, found by NASA and co-researchers

  

  NASA and co-researchers from the United States, South Korea and Japan have found a new mineral named “Wassonite” in one of the most historically significant meteorites recovered in Antarctica in December 1969.

• Monday, April 4th 2011 - 04:21 UTC

  FAO calls on Asia to tighten FMD controls; outbreak reported in Taiwan

  

  The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, FAO called for veterinary and border control authorities in Asia to be on alert for animals showing signs of Foot and Mouth Disease, FMD. The request follows on South Korea’s culling millions of livestock and vaccinating millions more to stop the spread of FMD, while North Korea also is responding to an outbreak of the disease.

• Monday, April 4th 2011 - 04:19 UTC

  FAO alerts on three pesticides and industrial chemicals

  

  United Nations chemical experts have recommended that two pesticides - endosulfan and azinphos methyl - and one severely hazardous pesticide formulation - Gramoxone Super - be included in the Rotterdam Convention's Prior Informed Consent procedure.

• Monday, April 4th 2011 - 01:55 UTC

  Almost half of China’s dairies closed down following quality inspections

  

  Nearly half of China's 1,176 dairies are being shut down after failing to obtain new licences, the country's quality inspection agency says. It says that 533 dairy producers have been ordered to halt productions after a government safety audit.

• Saturday, April 2nd 2011 - 18:47 UTC

  Desperate call from FAO for aid to North Korea to combat spread of FMD

  

  Around one million US dollars of equipment and vaccines are urgently needed to help stem outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in North Korea, where farm animals are crucial to food security, the United Nations warned.