By Steve Newman
Bird Flu Update
Vietnamese health authorities announced they were carrying out
tests to see if the recent deaths of four people were caused by
bird flu or Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).
By Steve Newman
Bird Flu Update
Vietnamese health authorities announced they were carrying out tests to see if the recent deaths of four people were caused by bird flu or Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). The deaths involved severe respiratory infections and occurred in the southern province of Hau Giang. A global outbreak of SARS last year killed five people in Vietnam, and bird flu has been spreading rapidly across the region in recent weeks.
lGovernment teams in South Africa began culling thousands of ostriches after an outbreak of avian influenza was discovered on two farms. Some 6,000 of the birds had already died since the disease was first detected in July. The European Union and others imposed a ban on all poultry from the country until the outbreak is eradicated.
Desert Swarms
The worst plague of desert locusts in 15 years spread farther across western and northwestern Africa, reaching Chad and threatening to worsen a humanitarian catastrophe. Chadian Foreign Affairs Minister Nagoum Yamassoum warned the locusts could soon reach the impoverished eastern regions of Ouaddai and Wadi Fira, where some 180,000 unsheltered refugees have fled unrest in neighboring Sudanís Darfur region. The insects are rapidly devouring vital food crops in several countries, and raising the specter of famine in a region where most people live by subsistence farming. Desert locusts are the most destructive insects on the planet.
French Whirlwind
A small twister roaring across an island off Franceís Atlantic coast tossed several people into the air, including a young man who sustained fatal injuries. The mini tornado struck just before dawn on Houat, lifting some people off the ground while they were still in their sleeping bags. The freak whirlwind struck during the peak of Franceís summer holiday period.
El Niño Advisory
Expanding warm water across the surface of the equatorial Pacific in recent weeks has caused U.S. meteorologists to predict that El NiÒo may be returning. Scientists at the U.S. Climate Prediction Center announced that analysis of computer model data had led them to believe there is about a 50 percent chance the ocean-warming phenomenon could return by the end of the year. El NiÒo can produce major shifts in weather around the world, often with catastrophic results. In 1982, the phenomenon killed 2,000 people and was responsible for $15 billion in damage.
Earthquakes
A powerful temblor rocking an impoverished area of Chinaís Yunnan province killed four people and injured 600 others as it wrecked nearly 5,000 houses in Ludian county.
lEight people were injured by a strong quake centered near the eastern Turkish city of Elazig. Several buildings in the area sustained damage.
lEarth movements were also felt across a wide area from northern India to eastern Afghanistan, and in metropolitan Tokyo, northern Japan, southeastern Iran, northern Israel, southern Mexico and central Bolivia.
Tropical Cyclones
More than 22 people were killed and 1,000 were injured as Typhoon Rananim roared ashore in Chinaís Zhenjiang province. The storm earlier knocked out power and injured about a dozen people in Japanís Okinawa chain.
lTyphoon Meranti and Tropical Storm Malakas were a threat mainly to shipping lanes in the western Pacific.
lTropical Storm Bonnie brought storm surge tides and high winds to the Florida Panhandle.
lHurricane Charley drenched Jamaica and the Cayman Islands with torrential rainfall before taking aim on western Cuba and Florida in the week.
‘Workaholic’ Gene
Researchers at the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health announced they have located a specific gene that, when turned off, can transform lazy primates into ìworkaholics.î By suppressing the gene, located in a brain circuit, scientists were able to cause monkeys to lose their sense of balance between reward and the effort required to get it. ìNormal monkeys and people procrastinate ó tend not to work very well when they have a lot of time to get the job done,î said lead researcher Barry Richmond. His team observed that blocking the gene caused the monkeys to become extreme workaholics, sustaining a low rate of errors while performing tasks, no matter how distant the reward was. About 10 weeks after the the effects of gene-blocking had worn off, the monkeys were back to their usual unmotivated selves.
Distributed by: Universal Press Syndicate E-mail: fe******@ea*******.com
©2004 Earth Environment Service
