Toronto reports first two West Nile deaths of 2005
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Toronto on Tuesday reported two deaths related to the West Nile Virus, the first for three years in Canada’s largest city.
The city said a 63-year-old man and a 90-year-old man died over the weekend from West Nile, which is carried by birds and transmitted to humans by mosquito bites.
Eritea wants US help despite asking USAID to go
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Eritrea voiced hope on Wednesday that its request for the US government’s overseas development agency to leave the poor Red Sea state would not bring the end of aid from its biggest food donor.
In July, Eritrea asked the US Agency for International Development (USAID) to stop working in the drought-stricken country, one of the most food aid dependent nations in the world, saying it was uncomfortable with the agency’s activities.
Cholera kills 33 in remote northwest Nigeria
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At least 33 people have died and hundreds have been hospitalized following an outbreak of Cholera in the remote northwestern Nigerian state of Sokoto, officials said on Wednesday.
The victims, including women and children, died over the past three days in three villages in the Sabon Birni district, officials said.
British doctors’ performances beat expectations
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Britain’s family doctors are delivering a high quality service that beats expectations, health experts said after the launch on Wednesday of a new database providing details of how GP surgeries are performing.
The Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) measures general practitioners (GPs) performances on a range of issues such as appointment times and tackling common chronic diseases like Diabetes Mellitus or coronary Heart Disease.
S. Korea says it found carcinogens in Chinese fish
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South Korea officials said on Wednesday they were stepping up inspections of imported Chinese freshwater fish after finding cancer-causing chemicals in some fish sent from the country.
The Korea Food & Drug Administration (KFDA) said in a statement released on Tuesday it had found the carcinogens malachite green and leucomalachite in some imported Chinese carp available at a local wholesale market.
Chiron says British flu vaccine plant passes test
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Chiron Corp., which last year suspended U.S. sales of its flu vaccine because of contamination problems at its plant in England, on Wednesday said it hopes to supply the vaccine in the 2005-2006 flu season following a favorable inspection of the plant by U.S. regulators.
The U.S.-based company’s manufacturing license for its Fluvirin vaccine was withdrawn last October because of contamination problems at the factory in Liverpool, depriving the United States of almost half the nation’s anticipated flu vaccine supply.
Access to morning-after pill poor in hospital ERs
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The results of a new survey show that the availability of Emergency Contraception, also referred to as the “morning after pill,” to prevent unintended Pregnancy is limited in hospital emergency departments in the US, regardless of circumstances or affiliation with the Catholic Church.
Posing as female patients, trained interviewers telephoned emergency department staff at all 597 Catholic hospitals in the US and 615 non-Catholic hospitals to inquire about the availability of Emergency Contraception.
Poland says EU should help Russia fight bird flu
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Poland called on the European Union to help Russia stop the spread of deadly bird flu, which Polish veterinary services said on Tuesday could be brought to the country by wild birds within weeks.
Fears of a global outbreak of the highly pathogenic strain of bird flu have grown after the virus spread from Asia into eastern Russia and Kazakhstan. Health experts fear it could mutate into a form that spreads from person to person.
School-based program keeps girls active after class
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A school-based program designed to increase high-school girls’ physical activity levels may have benefits that extend beyond school hours, new study findings show.
Girls who participated in the school-based intervention were more likely to report engaging in vigorous physical activity in the months after the program ended than were girls who did not participate in the intervention.
