Tag Archives: health

Influenza

H5N1: Bird flu kills more than 15,000 in Nepal, Hong Kong finds more victims, yet more human cases in Indonesia

Nepal’s Animal Health Directorate reported that bird flu is spreading like wild fire in their country.  So far 15,160 chickens have died on just one farm.

Test results have finally come in, and confirmed it was bird flu. Now officials will begin killing off the rest of the poultry on farms that have had cases of bird flu.

This is devastating to Nepal’s poultry industry, and could result in a food shortage.

In Hong Kong, another wild bird was found dead.  The crow tested positive for H5 avian influenza.  Hong Kong has seen a number of wild birds dying from the virus, normally it’s domesticated poultry.

The wild birds had not been found near poultry farms.  The crow was found in a planter at a gas station.

Indonesia continues to have more human cases.  According to the UN’s World Health Organization, 18 people have become sick, with ten dying in the 2011-2012 flu season.

The latest death was a 24 year old woman who got sick with fever on February 23.  She died on 01 March 2012.  She worked at a poultry farm where chickens were infected.

 

 

Fukushima

One Year Later: TEPCo finally looks inside Reactor 4 Fukushima Daiichi, strange white objects in reactor & spent fuel pool!

Tokyo Electric Power Company has finally looked inside GE designed reactor 4, using an underwater camera.

All they could see was “wreckage” and strange “floating white objects”.

Those same “floating white objects” have been observed in reactor 4’s spent fuel pool.  TEPCo said visibility in the spent fuel pool has decreased in the past month.

Visibility is down to one meter (about 3 & half feet), the month prior it was five meters (16 feet)!

Business/Economics, International, Technology

One Year Later: Cell Phones proved useless in Tsunami hit areas, news media critical for getting information out

An international telecommunication symposium was held in the quake/tsunami hit Japanese city of Sendai. The goal was to discover which form of telecommunications works best in a tsunami disaster.

Cells phones proved to be useless, as there was no way to charge the batteries.  Use of pay phones was limited because of tsunami damage.

It turns out that the best way to communicate with disaster victims is still the tried and true Radio!  A study found that most survivors, who knew what was going on, were listening to portable radios.

The boss of Japan’s NHK broadcaster (NHK actually won awards for their reporting on the disaster), said in the next disaster they will focus even more on getting useful information out for those survivors who might be listening on portable radios.

 

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

Government Incompetence: Foreign food making more people in the U.S. sick. Blame Republican budget cuts!

“The Food and Drug Administration is really only checking about 2% of the food that’s imported into the U.S., so a lot can go unchecked and problems may not be found.”-Erik Olson, Pew Health Group

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is warning that cuts to imported food inspections have resulted in increased illness, and it could get worse: “As our food supply becomes more global, people are eating foods from all over the world, potentially exposing them to germs from all corners of the world…”-Hannah Gould, CDC epidemiologist

From 2005 to 2010, 2,348 illnesses in the United States were linked to imported foods. Food poisoning caused by imported fish made up 45% of the cases!  In those cases the fish came from Asian sources.

The next highest cause of food illness was imported spices, most being dried peppers.

The number one cause of food poisoning is norovirus followed by salmonella. In 2008 there were 23,152 cases with 22 deaths.

To make things worse, the Republican controlled U.S. Congress has pushed new inspection rules on the FDA, yet has cut funding for inspections over the years.  Activists say that’s not going to work: “Our concern is that, with all the new requirements for imports and all the new protections that are envisioned, that unless FDA gets a bump-up in resources, it’s going to be very hard, if not impossible, for the agency to do its job.”– Erik Olson, Pew Health Group

 

Fukushima

Japan Modern Day Atlantis round 12: Land continues to shift, slow moving landslide devouring houses

A slow moving landslide, in Niigata Prefecture, has devoured eleven homes, so far.  Locals are trying to stop the Earthly sloth by building a mound of dirt.

The landslide is 150 meters (492 feet) wide and 750 meters (2,460 feet) long, and is moving at only 17 centimeters (6.7 inches) per hour! The next victims in its path are a hamlet of 20 people.

Niiagata Prefecture was hit with heavy snow recently, and officials say the landslide is being cause by melt-water deep in the ground.

They’re building a 5 meter (16 feet) high mound of dirt, and trying to pump out melt-water from the ground.  They think the landslide sloth will gain in size and speed as more snow melts.  At least 80 people have been evacuated.

JAPAN MODERN DAY ATLANTIS ROUND 11: MORE THAN 10,000 EARTHQUAKES HIT JAPAN IN THE PAST YEAR! JAPAN ISLANDS SHIFT EASTWARD!

Fukushima

Government Incompetence: Japan refused to co-operate with IAEA safety guidlines!

It’s been revealed that six years ago the Japanese Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) was asked to adopt the safety guidelines of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

The request was made in 2006 by Japan’s Nuclear Safety Commission.  Top NISA officials refused, saying things such as evacuation areas as recommended by the IAEA, would cause undue anxiety among the masses!

Hideaki Tsuzuku, of the Nuclear Safety Commission, blasted NISA, saying if they had followed the IAEA’s guidelines evacuations would have taken place sooner, and faster!

NISA official Yoshinori Moriyama, admitted they never thought such a nuclear accident, as Fukushima Daiichi, could happen!

Fukushima

Corporate/Government Incompetence: For the 1st time TEPCo tries to access #2 & #3 reactors. Big Fail! Radiation levels higher than thought, too high for humans!

March 15, 2012, workers at the damaged GE designed Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, tried to enter the basements of reactors 2 and 3.  It was the first attempt since the March 2011 disaster!

FAIL! Radiation levels are still too high for humans, and, on top of that, they discovered the basement doors for reactor 3 are jammed shut!

Tokyo Electric says they need access to the reactor suppression chambers, in order to assess the damage.  They have not been able to do so for a year!

Radiation levels emitted from the suppression chamber of reactor 2 hit 160 millisieverts per hour!  Radiation levels outside the basement door of reactor 3 are 75 millisieverts per hour.  The radiation levels are too high for workers to continue with anymore work around those reactors!

Radiation levels must be lower in order for TEPCo’s plan to remove melted fuel can work.

 

Business/Economics, International, Technology, U.S.

Oil & Gas Prices: Despite glut of oil, U.S. demands Saudi Arabia increase oil output, sign of coming World War 3 in July? Iran says U.S. government has no concern for average consumer

“There were talks held between Saudi and the U.S., and the U.S. asked if Saudi could be accommodating once the sanctions take effect in July. And the Saudi response was that it was ready to meet demand in the market if required, but would not like to take part in the politics.”-unnamed Saudi Arabian official

The U.S. demand came at the current IEF meeting in Kuwait. It was at the beginning of that meeting that IEF officials confirmed there was a glut of oil on the markets.  So why would the U.S. demand Saudi Arabia increase oil production?

One clue comes from Edward Markey, the top Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee: “If Iran won’t stop saber rattling, and the Saudis won’t eliminate Iran’s leverage by producing more oil, then it’s time to release oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to send these countries a message that the U.S. economy won’t be held hostage for months.”

But wait, I though the U.S. oil industry is being flooded with oil from Canada and the U.S. state of North Dakota? And why is there this talk of “months”, and “July”?

The European Union’s oil sanctions go into effect in July.  But that shouldn’t be too big of a deal, considering Iran has already stopped oil shipments to at least two European countries, and threatens to cut off more oil shipments.

Now, just one day after the U.S. made its demands on Saudi Arabia, the Saudis say they will comply: “…Saudi Arabia and others remain poised to make good any shortfalls, perceived or real, in crude oil supply.”-Ali al-Naimi, Oil Minister of Saudi Arabia

Notice he added “perceived or real”.  This means if the U.S. tells them there’s a shortage, even if there isn’t they’ll increase production. This is significant because just days before Saudi officials told Reuters’ reporters that they would increase oil production only if there was an true oil shortage!

Reuters reported that the West vs Iran tensions are getting little attention at the IEF meeting.  However, the Iranian representative indicated that the U.S. was using oil simply as a weapon, with no concern about how it affects the average person: “Unfortunately some big countries who are among the major energy consumers, view oil as one of the basic constituents in their military, security and political strategies and use it as a political tool against oil producing countries. Exerting unilateral economic constraints of political instigations is a threat, which jeopardizes free trade and continuity of oil supply in the world.”-Rostam Ghasemi, Oil Minister of Iran

Business/Economics, International

One Year Later: Abandoned Japanese fishing boat makes it way back home

A ghostly reminder of the March 11, 2011, Mega Quake and tsunami that hit north eastern Honshu, Japan, made its way back home.

The boat belonged to a fisherman from Otsuchi in Iwate Prefecture.  Otsuchi is one of the coastal towns devastated by the tsunami.  The fisherman did not survive the monster tidal surge, but his boat amazingly did.

Nearly one year after the disaster the ravaged boat was found drifting, more than 1,200 kilometers (745 miles) away, on the other side of Japan, in the Sea of Japan (aka East Sea).  It was returned to the fisherman’s son, who lives in Kamaishi City.

The son said he intends to repair the boat and go fishing.

Influenza

Pale Green Horse & H5N1: Korea hit by bird flu, wild birds die in Hong Kong, more cases in Vietnam, more human deaths in Indonesia, can be transmitted through your eye

South Korea officials reporting that bird flu has hit their country.  45 chickens died from bird flu, however, they are conducting more thorough tests to determine which strain of bird flu it was.

In Vietnam, officials thought they got things under control after more than 400 poultry died in February, but now, a new outbreak has been reported to the UN’s World Health Organization.

Bangladesh is reporting a fourth case of human H5N1 infection. The man was found to be infected, on February 26, after government mandated testing for live poultry market workers.  So far no deaths.

Indonesia has seen another human death from H5N1.  A 12 year old boy died on 21 February 2012.  He was in contact with poultry, but investigators say none of the birds are showing any sign of H5N1.

As of the beginning of March, farmers in Bhutan have killed off more than 1,300 poultry to stop the spread of H5N1 there.

Officials in Hong Kong are reporting an increase in the number of wild birds dying from H5N1.  Normally H5N1 attacks domestic birds.  It’s believed that wild birds can get it from eating contaminated chicken feed.  However, most of the dead wild birds in Hong Kong were not near any poultry farms.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says H5N1 can be spread by rubbing your eyes after handling sick birds.  The CDC said several types of flu viruses can travel through your eye and cause upper respiratory infection.

I looked and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him.  They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.

PALE GREEN HORSE & H1N1: MEXICO HAS 166 DEATHS SO FAR FOR 2012, COSTA RICA SAYS FLU “UNUSUAL” THIS YEAR