Global Health

Cuban government stays mum on new cholera reports

mcclatchydc.com - The Miami Herald - by Juan O. Tamayo - September 25, 2012

MIAMI — Four weeks after the Cuban government announced that an outbreak of cholera in the eastern part of the island was over, there are unconfirmed reports of new cases popping up in two small towns.

Twenty-seven cases were reported in the municipality of San Luis, in the eastern province of Santiago de Cuba, and 19 more in the Bahia Honda municipality 35 miles west of Havana.

Roberto Gonzalez, a dissident living in San Luis, said that area public health workers and residents have told him of the more than two dozen confirmed cases and 102 suspected cases of cholera in the municipality over the past two weeks.

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Image: Because regulation is light, the industry can kill off the only effective system for telling us how much fat, sugar and salt food contains. Photograph: Brownstock Inc/Alamy

guardian.co.uk - September 10th, 2012 - George Monbiot

When you raise the subject of over-eating and obesity, you often see people at their worst. The comment threads discussing these issues reveal a legion of bullies who appear to delight in other people's problems.

When alcoholism and drug addiction are discussed, the tone tends to be sympathetic. When obesity is discussed, the conversation is dominated by mockery and blame, though the evidence suggests that it may be driven by similar forms of addiction.

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vaccinenewsdaily.com - by Paul Tinder - August 28, 2012

The United Kingdom is activating a $3.16 million emergency plan to stop the cholera epidemic from spreading in the African state of Sierra Leone after more than 200 people have died.

The Department for International Development is using a network called the Rapid Response Facility to deliver sanitation, water and emergency medical assistance to the country. Charities such as the British Red Cross, Care International, Concern, Oxfam, International Rescue Committee and Save the Children are mobilizing as part of the response to the water-borne disease, BBC reports.

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thepigsite.com - August 8, 2012

ANALYSIS - The spread of African Swine Fever from the Caucasus to the east coast of the Crimean peninsula in Ukraine presents an alarming and concerning situation, writes Chris Harris.

The latest outbreak, discovered at the end of July and confirmed through PCR tests on samples taken from back yard pigs in the Zaporozhye region, is worrying because it represents not so much a gradual spread of the disease, but a dramatic jump.

The outbreak has occurred 170 kilometres from the Russian border.

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African Swine Fever in Ukraine

[DEFRA's International Disease Monitoring Preliminary Outbreak
Assessment "ASF in Ukraine" (Reference: VITT/1200 ASF) of 2 Aug 3012 ,
including a map and references, is available at
<http://www.defra.gov.uk/animal-diseases/files/poa-asf-ukraine-20120802.pdf>. - (3 page .PDF file)