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MercoPress, en Español

Montevideo, May 4th 2026 - 15:50 UTC

Health & Science

  • Friday, March 24th 2023 - 10:27 UTC

    Latin America and Caribbean: 37 million people lack drinking water

    Nearly 50% of the people in the region live in areas of “extreme” and “high” climate vulnerability, the OAS said. Photo: UNICEF

    The Organization of American States (OAS) denounced this week that some 37 million people in the region lacked drinking water and cited climate change as a possible cause.

  • Friday, March 24th 2023 - 02:33 UTC

    Crops revolution: England allows gene-edited food to be developed commercially

    The Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish governments have not permitted the commercial use of gene editing.

    Gene-edited food can now be developed commercially in England following a change in the law, reports BBC. Supporters of the technology say it will speed up the development of hardier crops that will be needed because of climate change.

  • Thursday, March 23rd 2023 - 10:35 UTC

    China's pork industry again faces an outbreak of African swine fever

    The disease has plagued China for years, with an initial wave during 2018 and 2019 killing millions of pigs and leading to a dramatic decline in meat output

    A surge in African swine fever infections in China is set to reduce hog output later this year, farm managers and analysts said this week, pushing up prices in the world’s top pork consumer as demand recovers.

  • Saturday, March 18th 2023 - 09:42 UTC

    WHO hopes to liken Covid-19 to seasonal flu this year

    Tedros was critical of China's withholding information on the virus

    According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Covid-19 might soon be similar to seasonal flu in terms of the threat it means to human life, it was announced as the global agency hopes to further reduce its maximum alert level this year.

  • Monday, March 13th 2023 - 11:38 UTC

    Technician with little political background to become Uruguay's new health minister

    Rando has received training in public health in London

    Anesthesiologist Karina Rando will take over from Daniel Salinas Monday as Health Minister of Uruguay, thus replacing the official who took center stage during the Covid-19 pandemic, it was reported in Montevideo. Salinas explained his resignation was for personal reasons to avoid further public exposure, particularly to anti-vaccine groups, and to devote himself to his profession as a neurologist.

  • Saturday, March 11th 2023 - 12:18 UTC

    Chikungunya: 43 deaths and 11,467 cases confirmed in Paraguay

    With 30% of healthcare staffers on sick leave, chikungunya is also creating a work overload for those still on call

    Paraguayan health authorities Friday confirmed 43 people had died nationwide of chikungunya, while the total number of cases rose to 11,467 over the past three weeks. Eight of the victims were children under one year of age, while 35 others were adults aged over 30, according to the latest epidemiological report released by the General Directorate of Health Surveillance. “The mortality rate is 0.6 per 100,000 inhabitants and the case fatality rate is 0.1 %,” the document read.

  • Wednesday, March 8th 2023 - 10:08 UTC

    Argentine-developed Covid vax ready to move on to trial phase

    The ARVAC Cecilia Grierson vaccine was named after the first Argentine female physician

    Argentine researchers are about to complete de development of the “ARVAC Cecilia Grierson” Covid-19 vaccine, which is why volunteers are needed for the 2/3 trial phase, it was reported in Buenos Aires. The new drug is expected to be cleared by mid-2023.

  • Tuesday, March 7th 2023 - 10:02 UTC

    Lugo discharged from Buenos Aires clinic

    Lugo was hospitalized at the Fleni clinic in Buenos Aires, Argentina, for six months

    Former Paraguayan President and current Senator Fernando Lugo has been discharged Monday from a Buenos Aires hospital where he was flown to after suffering a brain stroke last year, Presidential candidate Efraín Alegre announced.

  • Wednesday, March 1st 2023 - 10:25 UTC

    Argentina halts poultry exports after case of avian flu confirmed

    Bahillo insisted the disease is not transmitted through the consumption of poultry meat or eggs so exporters would be able to sell their products locally

    Argentine authorities Tuesday suspended poultry exports after the first case of avian flu was confirmed in the province of Río Negro. The South American country's poultry exports last year amounted to US$ 383 million, with China buying 75% of them. With 2.5 million tons of poultry meat produced annually, 10% are sold abroad.

  • Monday, February 27th 2023 - 09:58 UTC

    China to use Antarctica for ocean monitoring satellites

    By 2021, under the guise of civilian research, China reportedly began employing advanced military capabilities at its Zhongshan base in Antarctica

    Last week's announcement by China that it would build ground stations in Antarctica to back its increasing number of ocean monitoring satellites, has sparked some fears among western countries who believe it is in fact an espionage network, a comment Beijing has systematically rejected.