Bird Flu Alarm
An almost daily rise in the death toll from ongoing outbreaks of
avian influenza in Asia’s human population continues to alarm world
health experts, who say that a deadly influenza pandemic could be
imminent.
Bird Flu Alarm
An almost daily rise in the death toll from ongoing outbreaks of avian influenza in Asia’s human population continues to alarm world health experts, who say that a deadly influenza pandemic could be imminent. Health officials in Thailand warned that bird flu could kill up to 2 million people in that country as it announced an emergency plan to combat the disease. Vietnam also ordered hospitals to prepare for a larger epidemic after recording its ninth bird flu death this year. A report in the New England Journal of Medicine says that the stockpile of anti-viral drugs being amassed across Southeast Asia has the potential to stall or even stop a pandemic if used effectively. A pandemic would arise if the bird flu virus mutated within someone infected with traditional influenza to a strain that could be passed between humans. All cases of bird flu in humans have so far been due to transmission from infected birds, except for two suspected cases of human transmission last year in Thailand.
Winter’s Worst
Severe winter storms brought blizzards and Arctic chills deep into the United States, as well as a wide stretch of Europe and North Africa. One of the worst blizzards in the past 100 years killed at least 18 people as it swept from the Midwest to New England before finally blasting the Canadian Maritimes. Winds of up to 120 mph accompanied the blinding snow, which disrupted air, rail and highway transportation over a wide area. Europe shivered in a bitter chill left by a winter storm that snarled traffic and eventually brought rare snowfalls to countries along the Mediterranean, and in North Africa.
Killing Drought
The worst drought to parch Portugal in more than 10 years is causing significant damage to agriculture, and has been responsible for the starvation deaths of many head of livestock each day. The meager supplies of expensive hay and dry food farmers can afford to feed the animals is not enough to offset the loss of pasture during the winter drought. A spokesman for the Federation of Agriculture Associations of the Lower Alentejo says that winter crops of wheat, barley and oats will be completely lost if rain doesn’t fall by early February.
Saudi Inundations
Western Saudi Arabia’s heaviest rainstorms in 20 years killed at least 20 people as nearly 2.5 million pilgrims to the annual hajj performed rituals in the city of Mecca. Two pilgrims reportedly died and 196 others suffered fractures from falls during unusually heavy rains that swamped the Muslim holy city. Runoff from the downpours also caused the Al-Yatama dam to collapse. Many villages outside Medina were isolated due to the storm, and several motorists on the Medina-Mecca highway became trapped by high water.
Tropical Cyclones
A large portion of Madagascar was drenched as Cyclone Ernest passed down the western coast of the Indian Ocean island. Widespread flooding was reported in some western areas, but there were no fatalities or significant damage to structures.
n Minimal Cyclone Tim formed briefly over the open waters to the northwest of Australia.
Earthquakes
At least two people were killed and 22 injured when a magnitude 5.9 earthquake struck southeastern Turkey’s mountainous Hakkari province.
n A strong earthquake that jolted Indonesia’s Central Sulawesi province left at least one person dead and four others seriously injured in wrecked buildings.
n The strongest in a swarm of more than 80 coastal quakes that rocked Ecuador unleashed landslides and cause damage to several homes.
n Earth movements were also felt in western Turkey, northern Pakistan, China’s Yunnan province, the Nicobar Islands, the southern Philippines, New Zealand’s North Island, Taiwan, the Kuril Islands and southern Greece.
Birds of the World
A new study by the British Antarctic Survey, published in the journal Science, reveals that albatross make rapid, round-the-world flights on a regular basis when they are not breeding. A team led by John Croxall tracked one gray-headed albatross from its nesting site on the island of South Georgia, deep in the Southern Ocean, as it flew almost 14,000 miles in 46 days. More than half of the birds the team observed circumnavigated the globe, with three of them going around the world twice — all in an easterly direction. Since the species breeds only every second year, that leaves them 18 months between breeding seasons to go on extended sight-seeing trips, according to the researchers.
– By Steve Newman
