Pangolins carry a 99% identical coronavirus, report Chinese scientists GUANGZHOU, China––Will the Wuhan coronavirus, newly linked to pangolins, save one of the world’s most endangered animals? Headlines over the weekend of February 8-9, 2020 amplified global panic that the number of confirmed Wuhan coronavirus deaths had soared beyond the 2003 toll from severe acute […]
Rabies plummets in India while “experts” ignore the data
Global Alliance for Rabies Control still says there are at least 120 times more rabies deaths than found by 14 years of annual body counts NEW DELHI––New national rabies survey data from the Central Bureau of Health Intelligence, the Indian equivalent of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, shows for the 15th […]
Philippine mad dogs claim deadly revenge for being eaten
Eradicating rabies requires ending dog-eating too CAUAYAN, Philippines––For the second time in three years a rabies outbreak linked to eating dogs has hit the western Philippines, underscoring the importance of ending dog meat consumption if canine rabies is to be eradicated. The rabies outbreak was declared by the Negros Occidental provincial department of health […]
Why the Oregon Zoo euthanized Packy the elephant
Antibiotic-resistant asymptomatic TB strain had epidemic potential PORTLAND, Oregon––Oregon Zoo veterinary staff on February 9, 2017 euthanized Packy, 54, the oldest male elephant in the U.S., after a multi-year losing battle against an antibiotic-resistant strain of the lung disease tuberculosis which had already killed two other Oregon Zoo elephants and infected seven zoo staff […]
Pigs investigated as possible Ebola vectors
Pigs can get Ebola, but do they spread it? KAMPALA, Uganda; NAIROBI, Kenya––Domestic pigs may already be among the vectors transmitting deadly Ebola viruses to humans, though no one knows for sure yet, warns a five-member International Livestock Research Institute team in a soon-to-be-published edition of the peer-reviewed scientific journal Transboundary and Emerging Diseases. The […]
Did botched pre-Ramadan sheep shipment start an epidemic?
TBILISI, Georgia––How many sheep were casualties of a botched pre-Ramadan live transport from the nation of Georgia to Saudi Arabia and Jordan in late May 2015? The authentic toll might never be known. Exported for ritual sacrifice, the sheep instead fell ill in transit, were refused at several ports, and reportedly died in large numbers upon […]