climate change which is where this link belongs. Just decided to post it here.


Long-dormant bacteria and viruses, trapped in ice and permafrost for centuries, are reviving as Earth's climate warms

Throughout history, humans have existed side-by-side with bacteria and viruses. From the bubonic plague to smallpox, we have evolved to resist them, and in response they have developed new ways of infecting us.

We have had antibiotics for over a century, ever since Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin. In response, bacteria have responded by evolving antibiotic resistance. The battle is endless: because we spend so much time with pathogens, we sometimes develop a kind of natural stalemate.

Scientists have discovered intact 1918 Spanish flu virus in corpses buried in mass graves in Alaska's tundra !

My grandmother told me stories about it:(
Between 50 and 100 million people died, making Spanish sickness the pandemic that harvested most lives in human history in such a short period of time. The number of deaths corresponds to 3-6% of the world population, which then consisted of 1.6 billion people.

Aunt Jemima Products Recalled Due to Possible Listeria Contamination

PARSIPPANY, N.J. — A New Jersey-based food company is recalling Aunt Jemima frozen pancakes, waffles and French toast because they might be contaminated with Listeria.

Pinnacle Foods Inc. said Friday the safety of its customers is its top priority and no illnesses have been reported. It says it initiated the recall when testing indicated the presence of Listeria monocytogenes in the plant environment.

Listeria monocytogenes can cause fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people and people with weakened immune systems. Healthy people can suffer fevers and diarrhea. Pregnant women can suffer miscarriages and stillbirths.

Pinnacle Foods says it's working with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on the recall, which applies only to frozen products with "Best By" dates, not dry mixes or syrups.

Distributors and retailers are being notified so they can remove products from U.S. and Mexican store shelves.

Janne. Scary stuff you posted.

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I see Wakefield has been causing problems again.
Anti-vaccine activists spark a state’s worst measles outbreak in decades

The young mother started getting advice early on from friends in the close-knit Somali immigrant community here. Don’t let your children get the vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella — it causes autism, they said.

Suaado Salah listened. And this spring, her 3-year-old boy and 18-month-old girl contracted measles in Minnesota’s largest outbreak of the highly infectious and potentially deadly disease in nearly three decades. Her daughter, who had a rash, high fever and cough, was hospitalized for four nights and needed intravenous fluids and oxygen.
...
The activists repeatedly invited Andrew Wakefield, the founder of the modern anti-vaccine movement, to talk to worried parents.

Immunization rates plummeted, and last month the first cases of measles appeared. Soon there was a full-blown outbreak, one of the starkest consequences of an intensifying anti-vaccine movement in the United States and around the world that has gained traction in part by targeting specific communities.

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Mystery illness in Liberia appears to be meningitis -minister

Medical samples from four of the victims of a disease in Liberia that initially baffled scientists have tested positive for a type of bacteria that causes meningitis, the minister of health said on Monday.

So far a total of 31 cases of the so-called mystery illness have been reported, including 13 deaths in an outbreak linked to the attendance of a religious leader's funeral.

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Study:


'Heart attack risk' for common painkillers

A fresh study suggests there may be a link between taking high doses of common anti-inflammatory painkillers - such as ibuprofen - and heart attacks.

The paper, published in The BMJ, builds on a previous body of work linking these drugs to heart problems.

This research suggests the risk could be greatest in the first 30 days of taking the drugs.

But scientists say the findings are not clear cut. They say other factors - not just the pills - could be involved.

In the study an international team of scientists analysed data from 446,763 people to try to understand when heart problems might arise.

They focused on people prescribed non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (such as ibuprofen, diclofenac, celecoxib and naproxen) by doctors rather than those who bought the painkillers over the counter.

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Cholera 101: An Ancient Disease Keeps Cropping Up

Cholera can kill a person in a matter of hours.

It's a severe gastrointestinal disease, and it can trigger so much diarrhea and vomiting that patients can rapidly become dehydrated. They lose so much fluid that their internal organs shut down.

The water-borne disease has been around for centuries, and it remains a global health risk. According to the World Health Organization there are roughly 3 million cases a year and 90,000 deaths. The worst outbreak right now is in Haiti, linked to cholera brought by U.N. peacekeepers in 2010. Outbreaks are also flaring in South Sudan and Somalia. In countries that have long been grappling with cholera, such as Bangladesh, India and the Democratic Republic of Congo, tens of thousands of people are sickened every year.

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Minnesota measles outbreak linked to anti-vaccine rhetoric hits 50 cases

A measles outbreak in Minnesota that has been linked to anti-vaccine rhetoric in an immigrant community has surpassed 50 cases — the largest in the state in almost three decades, according to state health officials.


https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/anti-vaccine-activists-spark-a-states-worst-measles-outbreak-in-decades/2017/05/04/a1fac952-2f39-11e7-9dec-764dc781686f_story.html?tid=pm_national_pop&utm_term=.9c05ddbb9d78

Thanks Nick for the previous story.

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Cholera 101: An Ancient Disease Keeps Cropping Up
Cholera can kill a person in a matter of hours.

Calling Cholera an ancient disease is perhaps not the right term.
My GF got it in Rome, Italy in the 70's.
She drank some tap water that is usually ok in Italy but apparently the pipes were infected due to some archaeological excavations nearby...

Cholera 101: An Ancient Disease Keeps Cropping Up
Cholera can kill a person in a matter of hours.

Calling Cholera an ancient disease is perhaps not the right term.
My GF got it in Rome, Italy in the 70's.
She drank some tap water that is usually ok in Italy but apparently the pipes were infected due to some archaeological excavations nearby...

I worked in Italy, not too far from Rome, from 1978 until 1992, and I never drank the tap water.

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Ebola Outbreak In Congo:


Ebola kills at least one person in Democratic Republic of Congo, WHO says

(CNN)An outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo that began April 22 has resulted in at least one death and possibly two others, according to the World Health Organization.
The Congo Ministry of Health notified the WHO of nine suspected cases of Ebola in the Aketi territory, in the northeastern province of Bas-Uele, WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier said. Three people with the hemorrhagic fever have died, but only one death has been confirmed by the Congo's National Institute of Biomedical Research as resulting from the Zaire strain of Ebola.

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