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Johannesburg (AFP) May 24, 2011 An avian flu outbreak that has halted ostrich meat exports from South Africa has spread to a total of eight farms despite the preventive slaughter of 10,000 birds, officials said Tuesday. The outbreak, which was first detected on April 9 in South Africa's Western Cape province, has affected the entire Klein Karoo Valley, home to about 70 percent of the country's ostrich industry, the agriculture department said in a statement. "The impact in the Klein Karoo Valley is quite serious as this is the hub of ostrich production and the economy of the area is based on this," the department said. Some 10,000 ostriches have been culled to stop the spread of the virus, highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), and preventive slaughter will continue until the outbreak is contained, the department said. The South African Ostrich Business Chamber has said the strain of the virus is not dangerous to humans but is threatening the country's ostrich industry, which represents some 65 percent of the world's ostrich meat production. South Africa suspended exports of the product on April 14. The European Commission last week sent a team of animal health experts to the country to help contain the outbreak. South Africa experienced HPAI outbreaks in 2004 and 2006, but like the current cases they were not caused by the H5N1 strain of the virus, which can be fatal to humans, the EU executive said.
WHO reaffirms commitment to AIDS fight At the WHO's 64th general assembly, member-states reaffirmed their desire to increase access to prevention options and treatment. "Two millions lives could be saved between now and 2015 if the strategy plan is fully implemented," said Andrew Ball, an official with the WHO's HIV/AIDS programme. The assembly adopts a new strategy to curb HIV/AIDS every five years. The policy agreed Tuesday is similar to a 2006-2010 plan in emphasising increased access to treatment, prevention, and reducing deaths among mothers and children. It aims to halve the infection rate among people aged 15 to 24, a 90 percent reduction of infections among children, and a 25 percent cut in HIV-related deaths. There are 33.3 million people living with HIV, including 22.5 million in sub-Saharan Africa, according to UNAIDS.
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Sandia unlocks secrets of plague with stunning new imaging techniquesAlbuquerque NM (SPX) May 23, 2011 Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories have developed a super-resolution microscopy technique that is answering long-held questions about exactly how and why a cell's defenses fail against some invaders, such as plague, while successfully fending off others like E.coli. The approach is revealing never-before-seen detail of the cell membrane, which could open doors to new diagnostic, p ... read more |
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