Tag: epidemic

NC farmers start euthanizing 1.5M chickens amid pandemic

Associated Press – May 25, 2020

RALEIGH, Wake County — Coronavirus outbreaks at meat processing plants are forcing North Carolina farmers to euthanize 1.5 million chickens, according to a state official.

Assistant Agriculture Commissioner Joe Reardon told The News & Observer that this is the first time during the pandemic that North Carolina farmers have had to euthanize their animals. Roughly a third of the 1.5 million chickens already had been killed, Reardon said.

Agriculture officials said Thursday that 2,006 workers in 26 processing plants across the state have tested positive for coronavirus. Workers and their advocates said the meat industry was slow to provide protective equipment and take other coronavirus-related safety measures.

Chicken and hog farmers in other states also have been euthanizing millions of animals during the COVID-19 pandemic. In April, for example, the Baltimore Sun reported that coronavirus-related staffing shortages at chicken processing plants will lead farms in Maryland and Delaware to destroy nearly 2 million chickens.

North Carolina hog farmers have not taken steps to euthanize their animals, Reardon said.

https://wcti12.com

Pandemic Sparks Famines of Biblical Proportions Across the World

Strange Sounds – April 23, 2020

The world is at risk of widespread famines “of biblical proportions” caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

David Beasley, head of the World Food Programme (WFP), said urgent action was needed to avoid a catastrophe.

A report estimates that the number suffering from hunger could go from 135 million to more than 250 million.

Those most at risk are in 10 countries affected by conflict, economic crisis and climate change.

The fourth annual Global Report on Food Crises highlights Yemen, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Afghanistan, Venezuela, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Nigeria and Haiti.

In South Sudan, 61% of the population was affected by food crisis last year, the report says.

Even before the pandemic hit, parts of East Africa and South Asia were already facing severe food shortages caused by drought and the worst locust infestations for decades.

Addressing the UN Security Council during a video conference, Mr Beasley said the world had to “act wisely and act fast”.

https://strangesounds.org

Infectious And Fatal Bird Flu Outbreak In South Carolina – More Than 32,000 Turkeys Killed

Strange Sounds – April 14, 2020

As humans around the world scramble to fight a pandemic caused by a new virus, a separate infection has emerged that could wreak havoc on another population of creatures.

The US Department of Agriculture this week confirmed the presence of an infectious and fatal strain of avian influenza (H7N3) in a commercial turkey flock in Chesterfield County, South Carolina.

“State officials quarantined the affected premises, and birds on the property were depopulated to prevent the spread of the disease,” the department said in a statement, indicating the birds were killed en masse.

Meanwhile, more than 32,000 turkeys have been euthanized after the discovery of the deadly virus.

The detection of the virus was the first of its kind in several years, and any US farmer who remembers the last outbreak of bird flu knows the implications could be massive if the problem is left unattended.

More than 50 million chickens and turkeys across 15 states were killed between December 2014 and June 2015 in an attempt to stop the spread of the virus.

It was a devastating period for the poultry industry, as some 30 countries banned US chicken and turkey products to avoid accidental transmission.

While bird flu is generally not a threat to humans, it’s a nightmare for farmers as it can strike seemingly at random, sometimes from the sky.

It’s often transmitted by falcons or migratory birds who defecate mid-flight over farms.

It can also be tracked onto farms and into barns on the tires of trucks or the boots of farm workers — and once one bird gets sick, the entire flock is at risk.

https://strangesounds.org

New, larger wave of locusts threatens millions in Africa

RODNEY MUHUMUZA – April 10, 2020

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Weeks before the coronavirus spread through much of the world, parts of Africa were already threatened by another kind of plague, the biggest locust outbreak some countries had seen in 70 years.

Now the second wave of the voracious insects, some 20 times the size of the first, is arriving. Billions of the young desert locusts are winging in from breeding grounds in Somalia in search of fresh vegetation springing up with seasonal rains.

Millions of already vulnerable people are at risk. And as they gather to try to combat the locusts, often in vain, they risk spreading the virus — a topic that comes a distant second for many in rural areas.

It is the locusts that “everyone is talking about,” said Yoweri Aboket, a farmer in Uganda. “Once they land in your garden they do total destruction. Some people will even tell you that the locusts are more destructive than the coronavirus. There are even some who don’t believe that the virus will reach here.”

Some farmers in Abokat’s village near the Kenyan border bang metal pans, whistle or throw stones to try to drive the locusts away. But mostly they watch in frustration, largely barred by a coronavirus lockdown from gathering outside their homes.

A failed garden of cassava, a local staple, means hunger. Such worries in the village of some 600 people are reflected across a large part of East Africa, including Kenya, Ethiopia and South Sudan. The locust swarms also have been sighted in Djibouti, Eritrea, Tanzania and Congo.

https://apnews.com

Covid-19 cases reach 1 MILLION worldwide, 50,000 dead as pandemic continues to ravage the globe

RT – April 2, 2020

The coronavirus pandemic has passed its landmark moment, as over one million people worldwide have tested positive for the disease, according to figures from multiple sources.

The total number of confirmed Covid-19 cases hit the 1 million mark on Thursday, according to tallies by both the AFP news agency and Johns Hopkins University in the US. Over 51,000 people have died worldwide from the virus.

The novel coronavirus outbreak was first recorded in December 2019, in the city of Wuhan in China’s central Hubei province. The number of infected people in Wuhan skyrocketed, prompting a lockdown by the government. The virus then quickly spread abroad, hitting nearly every country.

On March 11, the World Health Organization declared Covid-19 a pandemic. Two weeks later, the US became the most-affected nation, surpassing China. In Europe, Italy, Spain, Germany and France were hit the hardest, with each having more than 40,000 cases.

By April 1, close to half the world’s population – most of North America, Europe and India – had been ordered to stay at home, in hopes of slowing or stopping the spread of the contagion.

In many places, the rapidly-spreading virus has overwhelmed local healthcare systems. Doctors have struggled with shortages of hospital space and medical equipment, including testing kits and protective gear.

China said it had turned the tide on the spread of Covid-19 by late March, as the number of new domestic cases decreased significantly, prompting officials to gradually ease travel restrictions in Hubei.

https://www.rt.com

Double Whammy In India: Bird flu Comes Knocking In Times Of Lockdown

Strange Sounds – March 25, 2020

Two localities in Patna have been tested positive for bird flu.

Thousands birds have been culled in Kerala. A patient has also been confirmed positive for swine flu in Bihar. Several died from Monkey fever. What’s more for India?

While 1.3 billion people went under “total lockdown” for 21 days to combat the spread of the contagion in India, several states are reporting avian influenza in parallel.

Samples in Bihar and Kerala have tested positive for H5N1 virus. A patient has also been confirmed positive for swine flu in Bihar.

In Bihar, samples of dead crows were sent to the National Institute of High-Security Animal Diseases (NIHSAD) at Bhopal, where the results confirmed the worst fears.

In Kerala, the state government has decided to destroy the disease at the source and mass culling have already started since a week to contain a possible outbreak.

Avian influenza A (H5N1) is contagious among birds and can be fatal. There have been instances of human beings getting infected with the virus:

“In most of the cases, people having direct or close contact with H5N1-infected poultry or H5N1-contaminated surfaces contracted the disease.

“The H5N1 strain of bird flu is regarded as highly pathogenic and can also cause disease and death in humans.

https://strangesounds.org

Trump Announces National Emergency, More Tests, More Nimble Pandemic Response

Newsmax – March 13, 2020

President Donald Trump declared a coronavirus national emergency in a speech from the Rose Garden on Friday afternoon, invoking the Stafford Act for disaster relief and emergency assistance. The step will mean billions of dollars in additional federal cash for testing, resources and the shoring up of the flailing national economy.

In no uncertain terms, Trump also addressed the lack of sufficient testing capabilities, an issue that has inflamed critics who’ve deemed the administration’s pandemic response haphazard. He said that going forward, there would be a partnership with the private sector “to vastly increase and accelerate our capacity to test for the coronavirus” — including providing drive-through sites that will be able administer the tests and a way to self-screen online.

Trump assured the nation, “We will get through this together.”

In recent days, the Trump administration has been under intense fire for conflicting messages, a sluggish national response and insufficient testing for the COVID-19 virus, which began in China and has since afflicted tens of thousands of people around the world. (Vice President Mike Pence said the virus has now been detected in 46 states.)

In his speech, Trump touted Americans’ response thus far, compared to that seen in other parts of the world. But then he somberly declared, “I am officially declaring a national emergency,” saying that doing so would open up access to $50 billion.

He also urged every state to set up emergency operations, and hospitals to invoke their emergency preparedness plans.

https://www.newsmax.com

New ‘Puzzling’ Virus of Unknown Origin Discovered in Brazil

Strange Sounds – February 12, 2020

The new unknown virus has been discovered in Lake Pampulha, an artificial lake in the city of Belo Horizonte, Brazil in January.

Named after the mythological mermaid Yara, the Yaravirus has left scientists baffled because it doesn’t appear to be related to any other viruses in the world.

The new virus contains 74 genes in total, from which only six had already been recorded in literature. In other words, 90 per cent of Yaravirus genes have never been seen before, making it wholly unique.

The discovery comes amid the outbreak of a new killer virus across the world which started in China.

Yaravirus was taken from a single-celled creature called amoeba and scientists already speculate it represents the first isolated case of an unknown group of amoebal virus, describing the Yayavirus as a ‘new lineage of amoebal virus with a puzzling origin and phylogeny.’ in a published paper on the server bioRxiv.

For now, Yaravirus doesn’t appear to pose any threat to humans. It can only transfer between amoeba.

https://strangesounds.org

US coronavirus evacuees headed to Texas, Nebraska, may be on last chartered flights: State Department

Madeline Farber – February 6, 2020

Two flights carrying American evacuees from Wuhan, China — the epicenter of the deadly coronavirus outbreak — that are slated to land sometime Friday in Texas and Nebraska, respectively, are likely to be the last State Department-chartered flights out of the city, an official told Fox News.

“At this time, we do not anticipate staging additional flights beyond those planned to depart February 6,” a State Department spokesperson told Fox News, adding any U.S. citizens still in China “should attempt to depart by commercial means.”

The two flights are scheduled to depart from Wuhan on Thursday and are expected to land at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio and Eppley Airfield in Omaha. Some 250 passengers are reportedly on the flight to Texas while an estimated 70 passengers are on the one to Nebraska.

The news comes after two planes chartered by the State Department arrived in the U.S. on Wednesday at Travis Air Force Base in Solano County, Calif., with one later traveling onto Miramar Marine Corps Air Station in San Diego. An estimated 350 Americans were on the two flights. All passengers are subject to a 14-day quarantine —  they remain in temporary housing units where they will be monitored by medical teams with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for possible symptoms of the coronavirus.

At least four evacuees — three adults and one child — who are being temporarily housed at Travis Air Force Base in San Diego were transported to area hospitals after showing signs of coronavirus, which have been reported to include fever, shortness of breath and a cough. In an update on Thursday, officials from U.C. San Diego Health and Rady Children’s Hospital-San Diego said all four patients are stable, and that test results were expected as early as Saturday.

https://www.foxnews.com

China’s Viral Death Toll Hits Grim New High as World Health Agency Declares a Global Crisis

Newsmax – January 30, 2020

The World Health Organization declared the outbreak sparked by a new virus in China that has spread to more than a dozen countries a global emergency after the number of cases spiked more than tenfold in a week, including the record number of deaths in 24 hours reported Friday.

China counted 9,692 confirmed cases with a death toll of 213, including 43 new fatalities. The vast majority of the cases have been in Hubei province and its provincial capital, Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak. No deaths have been reported outside China.

The U.N. health agency defines an international emergency as an “extraordinary event” that constitutes a risk to other countries and requires a coordinated international response.

China first informed WHO about cases of the new virus in late December. Eighteen other countries have since reported cases, as scientists race to understand how exactly the virus is spreading and how severe it is.

Experts say there is significant evidence the virus is spreading among people in China and have noted with concern instances in other countries — including the United States, France, Japan, Germany, Canada, South Korea and Vietnam — where there have also been isolated cases of human-to-human transmission.

Speaking to reporters in Geneva on Thursday, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus noted the worrisome spread of the virus between people outside China.

“The main reason for this declaration is not because of what is happening in China but because of what is happening in other countries,” he said. “Our greatest concern is the potential for this virus to spread to countries with weaker health systems which are ill-prepared to deal with it.”

https://www.newsmax.com