The Covid Pandemic: Broadening the Discourse
Thailand’s COVID-19 response an example of resilience and solidarity: a UN Resident Coordinator’s BlogBy Asoka BandarageCOLOMBO, Sri Lanka, Nov 10 2020 (IPS) SARS-CoV-2, the corona virus that causes COVID-19, has been spreading exponentially across the world over the last ten or so months. As of November 6th, according to the Center for Systems Science at Johns Hopkins University, there have been 49,195,581 cases of COVID-19, including 1,241,031 deaths.
More than a third of the global population has been placed on lockdown. The global economy is experiencing the deepest global recession since World War 2 and massive n...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - November 10, 2020 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Asoka Bandarage Tags: Featured Global Headlines Health Human Rights Humanitarian Emergencies Peace TerraViva United Nations Source Type: news
Escaping the ‘ Era of Pandemics ’ : experts warn worse crises to come; offer options to reduce risk
By External SourceOct 29 2020 (IPS-Partners) Future pandemics will emerge more often, spread more rapidly, do more damage to the world economy and kill more people than COVID-19 unless there is a transformative change in the global approach to dealing with infectious diseases, warns a major new report on biodiversity and pandemics by 22 leading experts from around the world.
Convened by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) for an urgent virtual workshop about the links between degradation of nature and increasing pandemic risks, the experts agree that escaping the er...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - October 29, 2020 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: External Source Tags: Biodiversity Environment Health Humanitarian Emergencies Source Type: news
Are bushmeat hunters aware of zoonotic disease? Yes, but that's not the issue
(University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture) A recent paper published in the journal PLOS ONE, outlines how researchers with the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine and Department of Forestry, Wildlife and Fisheries, measured the attitudes, practices and zoonoses awareness among community members associated with the bushmeat trade in northern Uganda. (Source: EurekAlert! - Medicine and Health)
Source: EurekAlert! - Medicine and Health - October 22, 2020 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: news
Tufts University to lead $100M program to reduce risk of zoonotic viral spillover, spread
(Tufts University) Tufts University will lead a $100 million, five-year multi-institution program to understand and address threats posed by zoonotic viral diseases that can " spill over " from animals to humans, such as SARS-CoV-2, in an effort to reduce risk of infection, amplification, and spread, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) announced today. (Source: EurekAlert! - Infectious and Emerging Diseases)
Source: EurekAlert! - Infectious and Emerging Diseases - September 30, 2020 Category: Infectious Diseases Source Type: news
'Why wait for it?' How to predict a pandemic
Strides are being made towards an open access atlas that could predict where dangerous animal-borne viruses will next appearHow do you predict where a deadly tropical disease such as Ebola, possibly the most virulent in the world, will appear next? Since it first emerged in a small town on the edge of a Congolese forest, it has broken out in seven other African countries, often thousands of miles apart.Sometimes it has spilled out of remote rainforest and then disappeared for years. Other times it has turned up in cities, baffling world bodies and governments that can only try to respond as fast as possible. But actually, ...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - September 16, 2020 Category: Science Authors: John Vidal Tags: Infectious diseases Ebola Zika virus Coronavirus outbreak Microbiology Medical research Science World news Animals Farming Environment Climate change Source Type: news
Epidemiological profile of animal bite patients attending emergency department at a tertiary care health facility in a northern hilly Indian city - Kumar S, Gupta A, Sachdeva A, Chaudhary A, Chamotra S.
BACKGROUND: Rabies is a highly infectious zoonotic disease with a high case fatality rate. In India, approximately 20,000 deaths among 17.4 million exposed people occur every year. The data on animal bites is scarce and unreliable due to poor surveillance ... (Source: SafetyLit)
Source: SafetyLit - September 14, 2020 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Tags: Economics of Injury and Safety, PTSD, Injury Outcomes Source Type: news
A cross sectional study to assess the knowledge and response to dog bite among the urban and rural population of Hubballi taluk - Godbole M, Joshi AR, Bant DD.
BACKGROUND: Rabies is a fatal zoonotic disease of the central nervous system, most commonly caused by the bite of rabid dogs. Globally canine rabies causes 59,000 human deaths, over 3.7 million DALYs and 8.6 billion USD economic losses annually. These loss... (Source: SafetyLit)
Source: SafetyLit - September 14, 2020 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Tags: Economics of Injury and Safety, PTSD, Injury Outcomes Source Type: news
More Covid-19-like viruses to come, warns Oxford professor
Sarah Gilbert, the lead expert behind Oxford University's Covid vaccine, said modern lifestyles, intense farming and deforestation drove up the risk of outbreaks of zoonotic infections. (Source: the Mail online | Health)
Source: the Mail online | Health - August 31, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
Using surveillance of animal bite patients to decipher potential risks of rabies exposure from domestic animals and wildlife in Brazil - Benavides JA, Megid J, Campos A, Hampson K.
Direct contact with domestic animals and wildlife is linked to zoonotic spillover risk. Patients presenting with animal-bite injuries provide a potentially valuable source of surveillance data on rabies viruses that are transmitted primarily by animal bite... (Source: SafetyLit)
Source: SafetyLit - August 31, 2020 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Tags: Home and Consumer Product Safety Source Type: news
Rise in Babesiosis Cases, Pennsylvania, USA, 2005-2018 Rise in Babesiosis Cases, Pennsylvania, USA, 2005-2018
In light of the emergence of babesiosis in the state of Pennsylvania, clinicians should be aware of the signs and symptoms of this zoonotic disease.Emerging Infectious Diseases (Source: Medscape Pathology Headlines)
Source: Medscape Pathology Headlines - August 12, 2020 Category: Pathology Tags: Infectious Diseases Journal Article Source Type: news
Disrupted Habitats Have More Zoonotic Disease Hosts: Study
Animals that can host pathogens dangerous to humans, such as rodents, birds, and bats, are proportionately more common in human-occupied spaces than in remote areas. (Source: The Scientist)
Source: The Scientist - August 6, 2020 Category: Science Tags: News & Opinion Source Type: news
Africa: The One Health Approach to Preventing the Next Pandemic
[AfricaFocus] Editor's Note: "COVID-19 is just one example of the rising trend of diseases - from Ebola to MERS to West Nile and Rift Valley fevers - caused by viruses that have jumped from animal hosts into the human population. ... The rising trend in zoonotic diseases is driven by the degradation of our natural environment - through land degradation, wildlife exploitation, resource extraction, climate change, and other stresses." - Press release from UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and International Livestock Re (Source: AllAfrica News: Health and Medicine)
Source: AllAfrica News: Health and Medicine - August 3, 2020 Category: African Health Source Type: news
Inside the Global Quest to Trace the Origins of COVID-19 —and Predict Where It Will Go Next
It wasn’t greed, or curiosity, that made Li Rusheng grab his shotgun and enter Shitou Cave. It was about survival. During Mao-era collectivization of the early 1970s, food was so scarce in the emerald valleys of southwestern China’s Yunnan province that farmers like Li could expect to eat meat only once a year–if they were lucky. So, craving protein, Li and his friends would sneak into the cave to hunt the creatures they could hear squeaking and fluttering inside: bats.
Li would creep into the gloom and fire blindly at the vaulted ceiling, picking up any quarry that fell to the ground, while his companion...
Source: TIME: Health - July 23, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Charlie Campbell/ Yuxi, Yunnan and Alice Park Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 feature Magazine Source Type: news
Clear strategies needed to reduce bushmeat hunting
(Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology) Extensive wildlife trade not only threatens species worldwide but can also lead to the transmission of zoonotic diseases. An international research team led by the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology and the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research shed new light on the motivations why people hunt, trade or consume different species. The research shows that more differentiated solutions are needed to prevent uncontrolled disease emergence and species decline. (Source: EurekAlert! - Biology)
Source: EurekAlert! - Biology - July 17, 2020 Category: Biology Source Type: news
Africa: Africa Can Lead Fight Against Future Pandemics
[UNEP] Nairobi -- As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to take lives and disrupt economies across the world, a new report warns that further outbreaks will emerge unless governments take active measures to prevent other zoonotic diseases from crossing into the human population, and sets out ten recommendations to prevent future pandemics. (Source: AllAfrica News: Health and Medicine)
Source: AllAfrica News: Health and Medicine - July 10, 2020 Category: African Health Source Type: news
