February 4, 2016 - BRITAIN - Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) has banned travelers
from donating blood for 28 days after returning from countries hit by
Zika in order to prevent the virus from spreading.
Doctors have also blocked organ donations from donors who have recently traveled to countries with a high incidence of Zika. The NHS has banned transplanting organs from living donors carrying the disease, as well as those who died while infected.
“We are putting a deferral on people donating blood for 28 days after they have been to Zika infected countries,” a spokesperson for the NHS said.
“Most of the countries affected by Zika already have a similar deferral because of other diseases, so we are expecting it will have a minimal impact.
“There are reports of possible Zika virus transmission by blood transfusion and it is probably that infection may also be transmitted by organ transplantation.”
The World Health Organization (WHO) warned that the warmer spring and summer months may heighten the risk of Zika spreading to Europe.
So far six people in the UK have been diagnosed with the virus. Most people infected with Zika are asymptomatic, with just one in five developing any symptoms.Symptoms are generally mild and are characterized by the onset of fever, rash and conjunctivitis. However, the virus, which is primarily transmitted by mosquitoes, is believed to be responsible for thousands of birth defects in Brazil, which has been hardest hit by the virus.
Thousands of infants born to women carrying the disease suffer from microcephaly, a congenital condition associated with abnormally small heads and incomplete brain development.
Earlier this week, the WHO declared the Zika virus a global public health emergency. - RT.
February 4, 2016 - EARTH - The following constitutes the latest reports of unusual and symbolic animal behavior, mass die-offs, beaching and stranding of mammals, and the appearance of rare creatures.
Dead sperm whale washed ashore at Ganjam, India
The sight of dead body of a 35 feet long and 10 feet round sperm whale
washed ashore shocked locals on Tuesday near Kantiagada village that
under Ganjam block.
The whale is suspected to have died five days back.
Informing about the body that washed ashore, Khalikote Forest Ranger,
Dilip Kumar Martha, said, "We doubt that the whale died four or five
days back. Initial investigations suggest that the whale died after
being hit by a ship. The Odisha museum has also been informed about the
whale if they ever want to preserve it. If they don't, the whale will be
buried near the coast." - Iamin.
Blue whale rescued off Dapoli, India
The whale, weighing approximately 25 tonnes, was seemingly stranded
in the shallows during the night because of the high tide and was then
trapped in the sand.
Sightings of whales along the coastline of Maharashtra seem to
have become a common occurrence. Three days after a 45-feet-long Bryde's
Whale was found dead on the Juhu beach, another behemoth whale was
spotted around 200 km away from Mumbai.
A 40-feet-long blue whale was spotted stranded in the shallow waters of
Dapoli beach in Ratnagiri district by members of the Sahyadri Nisarg
Mitra on February 1,who successfully rescued it and sent it back into deeper seas.
According to the environmental group, on a chilly morning at around 6
am, a volunteer of the group saw the whale struggling to keep itself in
the waters, almost 100 metres from the shore.
The whale, weighing approximately 25 tonnes, was seemingly stranded in
the shallows during the night because of the high tide and was then
trapped in the sand.
"Immediately, the volunteer alerted other members of the group and we
informed the forest officials," Project Director, Mohan Upadhye from
Dapoli said. The distress call by the group was heeded by around 25 men
of the village, alongside a strong force of forest officials as well.
Upon reaching the spot, they saw that the whale stuck in the
sand. Efforts started to keep it in water, while a veterinarian checked
the mammal for any injury.
"The vet found that the whale was suffering from some infection, he
administered an injection and then the whale started beating water with
its tail," Upadhye added.
A herculean task involving watering the whale and checking its vitals was carried out for more than five hours.At
5 pm, during the high tide, the group brought two trawlers to tow the
whale back into deeper waters. They safely attached a thick rope to the
tail of the whale and started to tow it into the deep sea.
"The rope broke twice because of the sheer weight of the whale. However
on the third attempt, we were successful in putting it in deep waters," Upadhye told.
Swimmers untied the rope from the whale which gracefully dived in the Arabian Sea, before surfing up once. - DNA India.
Rare wild jaguar spotted living in U.S.
Researchers
in Arizona have released video showing jaguar living near Tucson. It is
thought to be the only living jaguar in the United States.
February 4, 2016 - AUSTRALIA - Australia's only two active volcanoes have both erupted - and
scientists on board a ship conducting research nearby caught the rare
event on film. The Big Ben volcano
on remote Heard Island in sub-Antarctica, almost 1800 kilometres north
of Australia's Antarctic base at Davis Station, erupted a combination of
poisonous gases and red-hot lava.
It was the first time it had done so in decades.
We witnessed the lava descending Big Ben interacting dramatically with the snow and ice cover of the mountain.
Richard Arculus, ANU volcanologist
The other volcano, on the neighbouring McDonald islands, erupted gas only. Scientists on board the CSIRO's RV Investigator were visiting the islands to conduct research into the concentration of iron in Antarctic waters.
"We witnessed the lava descending Big Ben as it interacted dramatically
with the snow and ice cover of the mountain," said ANU volcanologist
Professor Richard Arculus, who witnessed the eruption first hand.
"It is possible that a quenched carapace of glass is formed over
the lava allowing the flow to descend considerable distances downhill,
forming lava tubes."
Big Ben volcano is one of the most active in the world. Changes in
appearance of the lava flows on the summit of Big Ben during successive
days indicate active eruptions have been taking place over the past
week, Professor Arculus said.
Volcanoes erupt when the Earth's magma, which is lighter than
surrounding rock, rises and collects in subterranean chambers.
Eventually some of the magma pushes through vents and fissures and
erupts as lava on the surface.
"The lava types erupting from Big Ben are the end-products of extensive
processes of selective crystal withdrawal from alkali-rich basalts
within crustal magma chambers," he explained.
The end-product of this process is a lava type characteristic of other
hot-spot volcanoes like Mt Erebus, Kilimanjaro and Gran Canaria.
"The eruptions were once-in-a-lifetime events for scientists on board," said Monash University geologist Associate Professor Steven Micklethwaite.
"Although it was difficult to do much more than watch and observe, the
insights gained into the eruption behaviour of such a furiously remote
volcano are important.
"Monitoring these types of eruptions tells us about how lava interacts
with ice, which can be quite spectacular," Associate Professor
Micklethwaite said.
WATCH: Big Ben erupts.
Expeditioner Jodi Fox, whose doctoral thesis is on Heard Island
volcanism, said observing lava flowing down the flank of Big Ben over a
glacier was incredible.
"Given persistent cloud cover and generally foul weather, I didn't think
we'd observe much of the volcano on this voyage," she said.
The team spotted the eruption while circling the islands to map the sea
floor to identify hydrothermal systems driven by underwater volcanoes.
Scientists believe these are driving the Southern Ocean ecosystem from the bottom-up.
They are testing the hypothesis that hydrothermal systems release iron, a
fertiliser for planktonic blooms, which create half of the planet's
oxygen.
The research sheds light on global fluctuations in nutrients. It will
also help determine the merits of artificially seeding the oceans with
iron in order to increase the uptake of atmospheric carbon dioxide, the
main driver of climate change. - Brisbane Times.
The elephant is said to have attacked its handler
first, before turning on Mr Crowe. This is another elephant on the same
park where Mr Crowe was killed
February 4, 2016 - THAILAND - Thai authorities said Tuesday that a Scottish tourist was gored by an
enraged elephant and trampled to death during a trekking tour on the
resort island of Koh Samui.
Gareth Crowe, 36, and his stepdaughter, Eilidh Hughes, 16, were riding the adult elephant when they were thrown from the animal, police told Agence France-Presse. Crowe's
stepdaughter and the elephant's handler were able to escape, but Crowe —
who had a prosthetic leg, police said — could not outrun the elephant,
Samui District Chief Paiboon Omark told AFP.
Crowe was wounded by the elephant's tusk and trampled. He died after being transported to a local hospital.
According to Thai news reports, the elephant — named Rambo but also
known as Golf — became upset when his handler, called a mahout, climbed
down to take a picture for the tourists.
"We suspect that the hot weather made the elephant angry and that he was not accustomed to his mahout," Paiboon told AFP.
Crowe's stepdaughter was injured in the fall and the mahout was gored; both were treated at a hospital, according to the Associated Press.Jonathan
Head, a South Asia correspondent for BBC News, told "Good Morning
Scotland" that police said the elephant apparently became upset when the
handler got down. Crowe and his stepdaughter were thrown from its back —
"it's quite high up on an elephant," Head noted — and then the animal "attacked Mr. Crowe on the ground, where he was apparently gored and trampled."
Police told reporters the elephant may have been in heat. But one Thai
official — Cherdchai Jaroenwech, with the Office of Livestock
Development — told the Associated Press that those claims were not accurate.
Whatever the case, once the animal became enraged, the BBC's Head
reported, its handler "was clearly having some trouble controlling the
elephant. They have a sort of iron spike that they use — it looks rather
brutal — but they use it to strike the elephant's head, not usually
very hard, but at least to let it know what to do. He was struggling a
bit with that, so there were indications that things were wrong."
After the incident, Rambo was given a tranquilizer and taken to his
corral, officials said. The animal will be given a 15-day rest from
tours and will then be moved to another branch in the trekking company,
Island Safari, either in Krabi or Phang Nga.
Crowe's death spotlighted the controversial and often dangerous world of animal tourism in Thailand.
About 4,000 domesticated elephants — and fewer than 3,000 wild elephants
— work in the industry, according to reports. The use of animals for
tourism "is under increased scrutiny following a string of scandals and
investigations by rights groups," AFP noted.
BBC News reported that there have been "about a dozen incidents similar" to Monday's deadly attack in the past 15 years.
Conservationists are set to meet Wednesday with the Thai government to talk about animal rights in the tourism trade.
"In my view, male elephants should not be in the tourism industry,"
Edwin Wiek, of Wildlife Friends of Thailand, told AFP. "They're simply
too unpredictable."
WATCH: British tourist killed by rampaging elephant.
Last year, a wild elephant rammed a car at Khao Yai National Park near the Thai capital, Bangkok, according to BBC News. Soon
after, another elephant invaded a nearby shop and a restaurant. No one
was injured in those incidents. Park chief Kanchit Srinoppawan told BBC
News at the time that the animal's behavior could be blamed on the
mating season.
Following Crowe's death, Britain's Foreign Office said it was providing help for the man's family.
"We are offering support to the family of a British national who has
sadly died following an incident in Koh Samui, Thailand," a spokesman
told BBC News, "and are making contact with the local authorities to
seek further information." - The Washington Post.
