Friday, 23 November 2012

coronavirus

Second coronavirus death reported

CoronavirusThe source of the virus is uncertain

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A second person has died from a new respiratory illness similar to the Sars virus, according to the World Health Organization.
The WHO said three fresh cases had also been reported bringing the total to six.
All are linked to either Saudi Arabia or Qatar. However, one man has been transferred to the UK for treatment.
Doctors say the virus does not appear to readily spread from person to person.
Both reported deaths were in Saudi Arabia.
Coronaviruses are a group of viruses ranging from the common cold to the Sars (severe acute respiratory syndrome) virus. They infect a wide range of animals.
In 2002 an outbreak of the Sars coronavirus killed about 800 people after it spread from Hong Kong to more than 30 countries around the world.
The WHO is still trying to work our where the infection came from. Studies show that the virus it is closely related to one found in some species of bats.
It said in a statement: "Until more information is available, it is prudent to consider that the virus is likely more widely distributed than just the two countries which have identified cases."

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elephant circus abuse


Anne the elephant circus abuse: Bobby Roberts guilty

Bobby Roberts and his wife MoiraBobby Roberts was found guilty of causing suffering to Anne the elephant

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A circus owner has been found guilty of three counts of causing unnecessary suffering to a performing elephant.
Bobby Roberts, 69, was given a three-year conditional discharge for mistreating 58-year-old elephant Anne.
Roberts was also convicted of failing to prevent groom Nicolai Nitu, who is believed to have returned to Romania, from repeatedly beating the animal.
His wife Moira, 75, was found not guilty of the same charges at Northampton Crown Court.
The court had been shown secretly-filmed footage of the animal being struck with a pitchfork by a groom.
The video was recorded by welfare group Animal Defenders International (ADI) between 21 January and 15 February 2011.
It showed the Asian elephant being kicked and struck with a pitchfork several times by Nitu at the Bobby Roberts' Super Circus' winter quarters in Polebrook, Northamptonshire.
Legs buckled
Roberts, from Oundle, Northamptonshire, told the court he would never have condoned the behaviour of Nitu.
He said: "I can't tell you what I would have done. The police would have been involved.

Animal Defenders International secretly filmed abuse at the circus between 21 January and 15 February 2011, as the BBC's Ben Ando reports
"Still now when I think about it, it goes through me, I just can't believe it."
Roberts also failed to ensure the elephant's needs were met by not giving her medication for her arthritis.
In the footage, the elderly animal could be seen chained by one foot and one hind leg in a barn.
The legs of the elephant could also be seen to buckle several times.
Roberts claimed he was unaware Anne had been constantly chained and the groom had not followed his instructions.
He admitted the elephant would be chained up at times but said his instructions were that she be let loose behind an electric fence in a cordoned-off area.
But the court rejected his claims and found him guilty of all charges.
'Lost everything'
District Judge David Chinery told Roberts he accepted Anne's treatment did not represent his normal level of care for animals under his control.
Anne the elephantAnne is now being cared for at Longleat Safari Park
"You are a man who has not previously been convicted of any offence and it is to your credit that you have cared for and managed animals for the greater part of your 70 years without criticism from any quarter," he said.
He said Roberts' offences had been at the lower end of the scale, and he had not personally been cruel to the elephant.
The judge said he regarded the chaining of Anne as serious, but said the real cruelty had been inflicted by the groom.
He did not impose a fine or order Roberts to pay costs.
Explaining his sentence, he said Roberts had an exemplary record of animal husbandry, had suffered enough punishment since his offences came to light, and was unlikely to appear in court again.
"As a result of what has happened your business is effectively at an end. You have lost everything which you have built up over the last five decades. I am told that you have no funds at all," he said.
The judge said it would be "disproportionate" to ban Roberts from keeping animals.

Start Quote

If they don't have the people to look after their animals properly, then they shouldn't be keeping them”
Jan CreamerAnimal Defenders International
'Derisory sentence'
Following the hearing, ADI, which covertly filmed the abuse over a three-week period, criticised the sentence.
Jan Creamer, chief executive, said: "Despite the considerable suffering caused to Anne the elephant, the sentencing meted out to Mr Roberts is derisory and provides no faith that the Animal Welfare Act can protect animals in circuses."
She said people should be held responsible for the day-to-day experiences of their animals.
"If they don't have the staff or they don't have the people to look after their animals properly, then they shouldn't be keeping them," she said.
Anne, who has been at Longleat Safari Park in Wiltshire since April 2011, was now receiving proper treatment for her arthritis and building muscle, she said.
"How well she is now in comparison shows you that she suffered over a long period of time and this is entirely the wrong message."
'Appalling treatment'
Following the verdict, Richard Crowley, deputy chief prosecutor at CPS East Midlands, said footage of Anne's treatment had upset many people across the country.
"Bobby Roberts had clear responsibilities for this elephant's welfare, which he wilfully neglected when he treated her appallingly," he said.
"Anne was kept chained up, beaten regularly and suffered significantly as a result."
He said not only had Roberts breached his professional obligations towards Anne, but his neglect and abuse was criminal.
"He gave instructions for Anne to be chained and took no action to prevent the beatings she had received, failing to provide any training or supervision for the staff member responsible for her," he said.

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Sunday, 21 October 2012

Savile


Edwina Currie - 'nothing to hide' on Savile

Jimmy SavileMore than 200 potential victims of sex abuse by Savile have come forward
Former health minister Edwina Currie has said she has "nothing to hide" over her involvement in giving Sir Jimmy Savile a role at Broadmoor in 1988.
The Sunday Telegraph reports she appointed him to the taskforce at the hospital where he has been accused of sexually assaulting patients.
His appointment is being investigated by the Department of Health (DoH).
Police say they have identified 200 potential victims of the late BBC presenter.
Mrs Currie, who was a health minister in 1988, said notes on the links between Savile and Broadmoor were in the archives.
She told the BBC: "The Department of Health is currently digging them out... It goes back at least 25 years, even 30 years and isn't just to do with me at all.
"But as and when documents do surface, they should be published in full. I have nothing to hide."
'Prolific offender'
A former barrister, Kate Lampard, has been appointed to oversee the DoHs' investigation into Savile's involvement with Stoke Mandeville Hospital, Leeds General Infirmary, Broadmoor and inside the DoH itself.
It comes after the Sun newspaper said Savile assaulted a 17-year-old patient during a visit to Broadmoor as a hospital fundraiser in the 1970s.
Savile died on 29 October 2011, at the age of 84.
On Friday, the Metropolitan Police announced it had started a formal criminal investigation into Savile and other living people after a "staggering" number of victims had come forward.
The police involvement began after ITV broadcast an investigation in Savile's behaviour called Exposure, the Other Side of Jimmy Savile, on 3 October, 2012.
In it, several women alleged he sexually abused them when they were under-age. Other alleged victims then came forward after the broadcast.
The NSPCC children's charity said he may have been "one of the most prolific sex offenders" it had come across.
Meanwhile, the BBC is to air a special edition of Panorama, looking into the issues surrounding the allegations about Savile, on BBC One at 20:30 BST on Monday.
The corporation has launched an internal review into Savile's time at the BBC - it is being led by former Court of Appeal judge Dame Janet Smith.
A second inquiry will examine Newsnight's shelving of an investigation into why police dropped a sexual abuse inquiry, while a third will look at sexual harassment claims and practices.

Saturday, 20 October 2012

EU acts against harm from biofuel crops


EU acts against harm from biofuel crops

Biofuel production in Gross-Gerau, Germany - file picPulped maize is used for biofuel production in Gross-Gerau, Germany

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The EU is changing its policy on biofuels to encourage energy production from waste rather than from food crops.
The European Commission says clearing land in order to plant biofuel crops can often cancel out the environmental benefits of biofuel. In some cases forests are chopped down.
The EU is putting a cap of 5% on the food-based biofuel allowed in the renewable energy used in transport.
The EU's total renewable energy target for transport fuel is 10% by 2020.
The Commission will change the 2009 Renewable Energy Directive and the 1998 Fuel Quality Directive.
New biofuel installations will have to meet a minimum 60% threshold in terms of their efficiency in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
BBC environment analyst Roger Harrabin says some environmentalists had supported the biofuel laws in the first instance, before the side-effects became understood.
The UN has appointed a special rapporteur on biofuels who has sharply criticised the direct and indirect effects of biofuels on the poor.
Now the EU is trying to shift biofuel production from food crops to farm waste, algae and straw.
Clearing land to plant food for biofuel releases the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2) through ploughing and can involve deforestation, which reduces the "carbon sinks" - the trees that absorb CO2.
'End support for biofuels'
A spokeswoman for the poverty action group Oxfam, Tracy Carty, welcomed the EU's new 5% cap but said the proposal would not go far enough.
"The cap is higher than the current levels of biofuels use and will do nothing to reduce high food prices," she said.
"The British government must up the pressure on other European member states to scrap its current targets and end all support for biofuels. With close to 900 million people going hungry every day, we cannot continue diverting valuable food into fuel."
Earlier, the EU Commissioner for Climate Action, Connie Hedegaard, said: "We must invest in biofuels that achieve real emission cuts and do not compete with food.
"We are of course not closing down first generation biofuels, but we are sending a clear signal that future increases in biofuels must come from advanced biofuels."
The European Renewable Ethanol Association (ePURE) rejected the suggestion that biofuel crops were putting too much pressure on food production.
"Global grain use for biofuels is minuscule and nowhere near enough to inflate prices significantly. Singling out biofuels for blame for rising food prices is simply reckless and only serves to damage public confidence in good biofuels", said ePURE's Secretary General Rob Vierhout.
"Europe has enough grain to produce both its food and fuel needs," he added.

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Friday, 12 October 2012

Disease ... London Zoo said the penguins' deaths were a 'very sad occasion' SIX penguins have died after contracting deadly malaria at London Zoo. The birds got the avian strain of the disease from mosquitoes this summer and died in August, despite extra precautions to prevent the killer infection. A London Zoo spokeswoman said avian malaria is “endemic” in the UK’s wild bird population and described their penguins’ deaths as a “very sad occasion”. Zookeepers had increased the anti-malaria medication for the Humboldt penguins – a South American species – after fears that the wet weather would create the perfect mosquito breeding ground. Avian malaria cannot be passed on to humans, nor can it be passed from bird to bird, and the zoo says the remaining penguins are “healthy and well”. Precaution ... the penguins died even after zookeepers boosted their anti-malaria medication Phil Hannaford /The Sun The spokeswoman


Malaria kills six London Zoo penguins

'Wet and muggy' summer created perfect mosquito breeding ground

An image of a pengiun and it's offspring in the water
Disease ... London Zoo said the penguins' deaths were a 'very sad occasion'

SIX penguins have died after contracting deadly malaria at London Zoo.

The birds got the avian strain of the disease from mosquitoes this summer and died in August, despite extra precautions to prevent the killer infection.
A London Zoo spokeswoman said avian malaria is “endemic” in the UK’s wild bird population and described their penguins’ deaths as a “very sad occasion”.
Zookeepers had increased the anti-malaria medication for the Humboldt penguins – a South American species – after fears that the wet weather would create the perfect mosquito breeding ground.
Avian malaria cannot be passed on to humans, nor can it be passed from bird to bird, and the zoo says the remaining penguins are “healthy and well”.
The penguins died even after zookeepers boosted their anti-malaria medication
Precaution ... the penguins died even after zookeepers boosted their anti-malaria medication
Phil Hannaford /The Sun
The spokeswoman said: “They have it all the time as a daily dose, given it with their breakfast. We put a tablet in their fish and every single penguin gets one in the morning.
“The keepers also spray lavender oil in the penguins’ nest boxes which is a natural deterrent.
“We plant lavender around the enclosure and the penguins use that to build their nests. We do a lot to stop this from happening so obviously it’s a very sad occasion.”
The washout summer – the wettest in England and Wales for 100 years – created the “perfect conditions for mosquito numbers”, therefore increasing the risk of penguins contracting the disease.
Describing the remaining birds, the spokeswoman added: “All the penguins appear healthy and well. Obviously our keepers are keeping a close eye on them, working with the vets, and just making sure we watch them carefully.”
Although it was Humboldt penguins which died, the spokeswoman said no particular species is more at risk than another.

The spokeswoman


Malaria kills six London Zoo penguins

'Wet and muggy' summer created perfect mosquito breeding ground

An image of a pengiun and it's offspring in the water
Disease ... London Zoo said the penguins' deaths were a 'very sad occasion'

SIX penguins have died after contracting deadly malaria at London Zoo.

The birds got the avian strain of the disease from mosquitoes this summer and died in August, despite extra precautions to prevent the killer infection.
A London Zoo spokeswoman said avian malaria is “endemic” in the UK’s wild bird population and described their penguins’ deaths as a “very sad occasion”.
Zookeepers had increased the anti-malaria medication for the Humboldt penguins – a South American species – after fears that the wet weather would create the perfect mosquito breeding ground.
Avian malaria cannot be passed on to humans, nor can it be passed from bird to bird, and the zoo says the remaining penguins are “healthy and well”.
The penguins died even after zookeepers boosted their anti-malaria medication
Precaution ... the penguins died even after zookeepers boosted their anti-malaria medication
Phil Hannaford /The Sun
The spokeswoman said: “They have it all the time as a daily dose, given it with their breakfast. We put a tablet in their fish and every single penguin gets one in the morning.
“The keepers also spray lavender oil in the penguins’ nest boxes which is a natural deterrent.
“We plant lavender around the enclosure and the penguins use that to build their nests. We do a lot to stop this from happening so obviously it’s a very sad occasion.”
The washout summer – the wettest in England and Wales for 100 years – created the “perfect conditions for mosquito numbers”, therefore increasing the risk of penguins contracting the disease.
Describing the remaining birds, the spokeswoman added: “All the penguins appear healthy and well. Obviously our keepers are keeping a close eye on them, working with the vets, and just making sure we watch them carefully.”
Although it was Humboldt penguins which died, the spokeswoman said no particular species is more at risk than another.

Boy, 17, died when bungling doctors misdiagnosed his blood poisoning FOUR times thinking it was flu


Boy, 17, died when bungling doctors misdiagnosed his blood poisoning FOUR times thinking it was flu

  • Greg Bear's condition was dismissed by three doctors and a paramedic six days before he died
  • Mother was told his condition did not warrant a hospital visit, even when he began coughing up blood
  • Paramedic told Elizabeth Bear: If I was to take every 17-year-old boy coughing up blood, the system would grind to a halt'

Tragic: Greg Bear, 17, had been examined by three doctors and a paramedic six days before he died of septicaemia. They all dismissed his condition
Tragic: Greg Bear, 17, had been examined by three doctors and a paramedic six days before he died of septicaemia. They all dismissed his condition
A teenager died of blood poisoning after medics dismissed his illness as flu four times, an inquest has heard.
Greg Bear, 17, had been examined by three doctors and a paramedic six days before he died.
After he began coughing up blood - a key symptom of septicaemia - his mother Elizabeth begged one paramedic to rush the teen to hospital.
But she was told his condition was not bad enough and that he should take some paracetamol.
The paramedic added: 'If I was to take every 17-year-old boy coughing up blood, the system would grind to a halt,' the inquest heard.
Mr Bear's condition worsened the following day, but when his mother phoned trainee GP Dr Christopher Cope for help he also dismissed her concerns.
Hours later Mrs Bear dialled 999 and the teen was finally taken to Kings Mill Hospital in Nottingham on December 21, 2010, by another paramedic. He died the following morning. 
Mr Bear, from Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottingham, had first gone to his GP on December 16 - the day after his 17th birthday - and was told he had a 'nasty cold, possibly flu'.
Days later he developed 'uncomplicated septicaemia' which could have been cured by a course of antibiotics, but was again wrongly diagnosed with flu.
Mrs Bear told Nottingham Coroners Court she had been left frustrated by the medics who examined her son.
 
The day before he died she said it was clear her son needed urgent medical attention.
'Greg was red and had pain in his groin and bottom, he was burning up, he was coughing up blood and bile,' Mrs Bear said.
'He was in excruciating agony, his fingers were blue, his face was red and hot. We were told to keep giving him paracetamol and to come in if he got worse.
Death: The teen was finally taken to Kings Mill Hospital in Nottingham on December 21, 2010, but died the following morning
Death: The teen was finally taken to Kings Mill Hospital in Nottingham on December 21, 2010, but died the following morning
'I thought I wasn’t getting anywhere, I was left not knowing what to do.'
Recording a narrative verdict, deputy coroner for Nottinghamshire, Heidi Connor, said: 'To Greg’s family there aren’t enough words in the dictionary to describe what you have been through.
'As a family your dignity throughout these proceedings has been nothing short of inspirational. You have done your son proud, if he was anything like his parents, he must have been quite a lad.'
After the hearing Mr Bear's parents Gary and Elizabeth said they hoped lessons had been learned.
'Hopefully we can take something positive away from the tragic catalogue of errors which took our son away from us,'” Mr Bear's father said.
'We hope medical professionals can become better at spotting the early signs of sepsis so it can be spotted early and lives can be saved. We don’t want anyone to go through what we’ve been through.
'Something as simple as asking when someone last passed urine can save lives. If it’s a long time it’s more than likely they need to go to hospital. Greg was inspirational to his friends. He was well liked by everyone. He would literally do anything for anyone.'
Dr Jim Grey, medical director of East Midlands Ambulance Service, said all staff have been given new guidance on recognising early signs of Sepsis.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2216660/Boy-17-died-bungling-doctors-misdiagnosed-blood-poisoning-FOUR-times-thinking-flu.html#ixzz2956nZppg
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