Health & Science

• Monday, February 14th 2011 - 06:07 UTC

  Dengue is back in South America: 31 dead and 46.600 suspected cases

  

  An outbreak of dengue fever across much of Latin America has killed 31 people since the start of the year and is showing no sign of relenting. Endemic in several countries there’s growing concern following the discovery of a very “aggressive” strain in Peru.

• Friday, February 11th 2011 - 05:57 UTC

  Australian study links sunlight exposure and vitamin D with multiple sclerosis

  

  An Australian study published in the February issue of Neurology provides additional evidence for a potential role for low levels of sunlight exposure and vitamin D as triggers for multiple sclerosis.

• Thursday, February 10th 2011 - 06:39 UTC

  Uruguay has the highest per capita milk consumption: 230 liters annually

  

  Uruguay has the highest per capita consumption of milk in Latin America averaging between 225 and 230 liters. This compares favorably with Argentina’s 220 liters, Brazil’s 110 and Chile’s 100.

• Tuesday, February 8th 2011 - 21:00 UTC

  Russian chartered polar vessel supports Argentine Antarctic 2010/11 campaign

  

  Argentina in this 2010/11 campaign has been supplying Antarctic bases and stations with support from a Russian polar vessel equipped with an icebreaking bow and its own Navy units.

• Tuesday, February 8th 2011 - 16:25 UTC

  Argentina recovers free of FMD status along the “border belt”

  

  Argentina recovered the status of free of foot and mouth disease with vaccination in the “high vigilance” area along the so called “border belt” which limits with Bolivia, Brazil and Paraguay.

• Tuesday, February 8th 2011 - 15:43 UTC

  As FMD ravages Korea, US beef and pork exports soar

  

  United States beef is enjoying a huge turnaround in Korea with exports making a sharp leap thanks to the devastating foot-and-mouth (FMD) outbreak in the Asian peninsula, according to industry data released this week.

• Monday, February 7th 2011 - 21:43 UTC

  Antarctica’s Lake Vostok keeps its secret sealed for another year

  

  A Russian team drilling toward Lake Vostok, a pristine freshwater lake buried 3,750 meters under the Antarctic ice had to conclude its task and will have to wait for the next season to finish off the job.

• Monday, February 7th 2011 - 18:13 UTC

  Chile, Venezuela and Argentina among the three most overweight in South America

  

  A recent international study found that Chile is among the three most overweight countries in South America and that Chile’s women have the second highest body mass index (BMI) on the continent. Chile’s men have the third highest.

• Sunday, February 6th 2011 - 08:33 UTC

  One in three adults worldwide overweight and one in nine obese

  

  “Obesity rates have doubled worldwide since 1980,” according to a study published Friday as part of a series in the Lancet that also looked at global blood pressure and cholesterol trends.

• Friday, February 4th 2011 - 23:13 UTC

  Paraguay recovers full status of free of foot and mouth disease with vaccination

  

  Paraguay recovered full status of “country free of foot and mouth disease with vaccination” following the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) decision to lift the “high vigilance zone” over 1.2 million cattle.