Saturday 6 September 2014

Pandemics over the centuries


As the Ebola virus ravages the west coast of Africa, scientists in Canada have reported promising new signs in the search for a cure. This could be a major step toward beating the dreaded disease. But the first such breakthrough was discovering that Ebola is spread through bats native to West Africa.

Throughout the history of pandemics, figuring out how a disease spreads has been key to controlling it. Without such knowledge, a population has scant means of defending itself.

In 1615, a French trading ship was wrecked off the coast of Massachusetts. One of the four survivors was carrying smallpox and passed it on to the Wampanoag Tribe. Time-honored Native American cures, such as sweating or bundling the sufferer, only helped spread the virus. Within 20 years, some nine-tenths of the New England tribes had disappeared.

In the 19th century, another deadly threat arrived from Europe: cholera. The U.S. had escaped the first eruption of the disease in 1817. But thanks to modern travel, the second eruption in 1829 became a trans-Atlantic pandemic. It started in India, then moved along the trade routes into Europe and China.

The German poet Heinrich Heine was in France on March 29, 1832, when cholera first appeared in Paris. He described the outbreak in a letter: "A masked ball was in progress…Suddenly, the gayest of the harlequins collapsed, cold in the limbs, and, underneath his mask, 'violet-blue' in the face. Laughter died out, dancing ceased, and in a short while carriage-loads of people were hurried from the redoute to the Hotel Dieu. Soon the public halls were filled with dead bodies, sewed in sacks for want of coffins."

Not realizing that cholera is spread by water infected with human sewage, the French tried any number of futile remedies. One magazine advised, "The best tea for protecting yourself against cholera is champagne." By the end of the outbreak, some 20,000 Parisians had died, of a population of 650,000.

Cholera reached New York three months later, on June 24. Many Americans had seen cholera as God's punishment on Europeans for their filthy habits and immoral behavior. Their surprise at the virulence of the disease was matched only by their terror. New Yorkers fled the city, making Cornelius Vanderbilt, the owner of the Hudson River steam line, rich in the process. The refugees took the cholera bacteria with them, gradually dispersing it all over the U.S. The disease continued unchecked until 1854, when John Snow, a London doctor, discovered that it was transmitted via water.

Ironically, ignorance of the way people catch yellow fever saved thousands of American lives during the Civil War. In 1864, a Confederate doctor named Luke P. Blackburn went to Bermuda, ostensibly to treat a yellow fever outbreak. In fact, he was there to collect the clothes and blankets of infected patients and use them as bioweapons against Northern civilians. He planned to put the materials into trunks and ship them to auction houses in the U.S. But Blackburn was unaware of one important fact: Yellow fever is spread by mosquitoes, not human contact or old clothes. The plot failed, and after the war, a chastened Blackburn went on to lead a far less dubious life, becoming governor of Kentucky in 1879.

Half a century later, Mary Mallon inadvertently revealed typhoid's deadliest secret after she infected more than 53 people without showing any signs of the illness herself. Typhoid Mary, as she became known, led a sad, lonely life in quarantine, but the discovery that carriers can be asymptomatic was a major medical advance. We can thank Mary for the food-sanitation laws on hand-washing. As Benjamin Franklin once said, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

Saturday 6 September 2014

http://online.wsj.com/articles/pandemics-over-the-centuries-1409955662

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Bodies from Nzoia boat mishap victims recovered


The bodies of nine people who drowned in River Nzoia last Saturday have been retrieved.

The ill-fated boat, which was overloaded, was carrying 18 passengers, two motorbikes, six bicycles and five sacks of maize.

The boat was headed for Mau Mau from Port Victoria shopping centre.

Leaders who visited the scene to condole the affected families, appealed to the Bunyala Subcounty Disaster Management Committee to ensure the safety of people using boats while crossing the river.

The rescue operation was carried out by marine officers in collaboration with the Kenya Red Cross team.

A team comprising Port Victoria Marine police, fisheries officers and local divers were also involved in the search.

Rescue team leader Stephen Osogo said the body of a middle-aged girl was recovered at Sango Delta, close to where the second body was retrieved on Monday.

Busia Governor Sospeter Ojamoong says his administration will meet the burial expenses of all the nine people who lost their lives in a boat tragedy in River Nzoia in Bunyala subcounty last weekend.

The pledge is a relief to the families who lost their loved ones.

Deputy Governor Kizito Wangalwa made the announcement when he visited the affected families in Bunyala yesterday.

The families had been camping at the scene for the past one week.

Wangalwa said Busia government will pay the mortuary fee for all the victims, the cost of all the nine coffins, and all the other expenses that will be forwarded to the government through the Bunyala subcounty deputy commissioner Joseph Magoha.

Wangalwa asked the families to hold a joint prayer meeting for the nine bodies.

He gave them a personal donation of Sh20,000.

He said he agreed with Ojamoong's decision to fund the construction of a bridge at Sigiri to reduce accidents.

Saturday 6 September 2014

http://allafrica.com/stories/201409051056.html

http://allafrica.com/stories/201409051319.html

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Rajouri bus tragedy: 25 bodies fished out, searches on for missing


Teams of Army and police today fished out 25 bodies from the Gambhir river while searches were on to find the remaining 38 passengers of the ill-fated bus which was carrying a marriage party and was washed away in the surging waters of the river yesterday in Rajouri district.

Earlier, the authorities said that there were a total of 50 people in the bus, however, kin and the villagers today claimed that over 63 passengers including the bride and the groom were on the bus, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Rajouri, Mubasir Lattifee said tonight.

"The bodies of 25 passengers have been found from flooded Gambir Nallah," the SSP said, adding of these, 15 were recovered from the bus and 10 bodies were recovered from the river.

According to the sarpanch and residents of the village from where the marriage party belonged, there were over 63 people, including children, on board when the bus was washed away in flash floods.

"We have put up nets at different places to fish out the remaining bodies," he said.

The bus was washed away in the flash floods in the Gambhir river when it was crossing the Laam-Darhal-Moushera Road.

An Army unit, which immediately reached the spot after the mishap, rescued four people who had jumped off the bus, he said, adding that those rescued include the driver and conductor of the bus.

The Army had immediately rushed a rescue column with specialist engineering staff, recovery vehicle, medical van to retrieve individuals almost all of whom are feared dead, the officer said in a statement here, yesterday.

Saturday 6 September 2014

http://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/Rajouri-Bus-Tragedy-25-Bodies-Fished-out-Searches-on-for-Rest/2014/09/05/article2416413.ece

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193 disaster victims of flight MH17 identified [translated]


193 victims of flight MH17 identified have now been identified according to Dutch media. It was announced on Friday that ten more victims have been identified this week. Six of the ten victims are of Dutch nationality reports the Ministry of Security and Justice.

The relatives of the victims of the plane crash in Ukraine have been informed. In consultation with the family the mayor of the town have been informed. br>
Last week ten victims were already identified. A team of specialists is working to identify the remains, but has been emphasized that it may take months to identify every victim. br>
Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 crashed on July 17, with 298 passengers, including 196 Dutch, in the east of Ukraine. br>
Saturday 6 September 2014 br>
http://www.nu.nl/binnenland/3870593/in-totaal-193-slachtoffers-rampvlucht-mh17-geidentificeerd.html

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Jammu and Kashmir flood situation worsens, death toll mounts to 100


The flood situation in Jammu and Kashmir continued to worsen on Saturday with the death toll mounting to 100 while rescuers struggled to evacuate thousands of people to safety as major rivers and streams were in spate due to incessant rains.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh held a meeting with Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to take stock of the flood situation soon after he arrived this morning in Srinagar but could not undertake an aerial survey due to inclement weather.

In Jammu region, 11 more deaths were reported today, including seven in two house collapse incidents in Udhampur. Four more bodies were recovered from Thursday's bus mishap in which 63 members of marriage party were washed away in Rajouri district, SSP Rajouri Mubasir Latiffe said adding a total of 29 bodies have been recovered so far.

"The situation is very bad. It is becoming more critical as rains have not stopped making the rescue and relief operation difficult," officials said.

At least nine Army personnel including an officer were today trapped in strong water current as their boat capsized during a rescue operation in Pulwama district, where River Jhelum has breached embankment prompting authorities to issue a red alert for people living in low lying areas of south Srinagar.

"We have launched an operation to rescue the missing personnel," an army official said, adding, "Despite facing dangers to personal safety, the army personnel are out there to provide relief to the civilian population of Kashmir."

With today's deaths, a total of 100 people have died in the state hit by floods and land slides due to incessant rains since Wednesday. While 89 people have been killed in Jammu, 11 have died in the Kashmir Valley so far.

In Jammu, authorities have closed four bridges connecting two parts of city after they suffered damage due to River Tawi flowing above the danger mark.

"The situation is very bad. It is becoming more critical as rains have not stopped making the rescue and relief operation difficult," officials said.

As many as 7000 people were rescued in various areas in Jammu by teams of Army and IAF teams till now with 85 columns (75-100 personnel each) of troops and Air Force helicopters taking part in the operations in the state.

Several rivers have been flowing above the danger mark and most parts of south Kashmir, including Pulwama, Anantnag and Kulgam districts have been submerged.

"Operation Megh Rahat in Jammu and Operation Sahayata launched by Army in Jammu and Kashmir regions has moved on to next phase where Army plans extensive deployment in support of flood relief," Defence Spokesman Col S D Goswami said. The deployment of helicopters, special divers, heavy engineering machinery and more personnel on ground will be the focus of army to assist locals in critical situations, that may arise due to heavy rains that are lashing the region, the spokesman said.

Saturday 06 September 2014

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/jammu-and-kashmir-flood-situation-worsens-death-toll-mounts-to-100/articleshow/41853523.cms

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10 killed in house collapse due to landslide in Rajouri


Ten people were killed and some others feared missing after a house collapsed due to landslide in Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir on Friday.

A house collapsed due to landslide from mountain top triggered by heavy rains in Thana Mandi belt of Rajouri district.

Ten people have died and their bodies have been recovered and some are feared missing, he said.

The police and Army besides locals have launched operation to rescue people buried under debris. So far they have recovered ten bodies, he said.

One each person in Sunderbani and Darhal areas have also been killed in flash-floods on Friday, he said.

Saturday 6 September 2014

http://www.hindustantimes.com/punjab/jandk/10-killed-in-house-collapse-due-to-landslide-in-rajouri/article1-1260408.aspx

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