In 1987, 20 million people across the world were plagued by a debilitating, painful and potentially blinding disease called river blindness. This parasitic infection caused pain, discomfort, severe itching, skin irritation and, ultimately, irreversible blindness, leaving men, women and children across Africa unable to work, care for their families and lead normal lives. But the recent … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — After a three-month delay, the Senate is acting on President Barack Obama’s request for money to combat the Zika virus. The Senate is slated to vote Tuesday, February 16 on three competing plans to battle the virus, with a bipartisan plan that cuts Obama’s $1.9 billion request to $1.1 billion having the … Continue reading
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — The head of Michigan’s health agency said Monday, April 25, there was an eight-month gap between when he was made aware of an investigation into a Legionnaires’ disease outbreak in the Flint area in January 2015 and when the issue rose to his level again around the time the city’s lead-tainted … Continue reading
TORONTO (AP) — Canada on Thursday, April 14, introduced a new assisted suicide law that will apply only to citizens and residents, meaning Americans won’t be able to travel to Canada to die. Canadian government officials said a person would have to be eligible for health services in Canada to take advantage of the law, … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Zika virus may be linked to a wider variety of “grave outcomes” for developing babies than previously reported — threats that can come at any stage of pregnancy, researchers reported Friday, March 4. The findings are preliminary results from the first study tracking pregnant women in Brazil from the time they … Continue reading
HONOLULU (AP) — On a farm in the heart of Hawaii’s ongoing dengue outbreak, coffee grows wild among the ferns, and vanilla vines climb guava trees. It’s hard to know where nature ends and the farm begins, and that’s the way organic farmers there like it. But state efforts to combat the outbreak … Continue reading
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Federal wildlife officials recommended Friday that three fox subspecies native to California’s Channel Islands be removed from the endangered species, saying their populations have made an historic recovery. The foxes on islands lying just off the state’s southern coast were once on the brink of extinction. “We’ve been able to stop … Continue reading
Zika virus continues to rage in the Americas, and the World Health Organization has declared it a global health emergency. Taiwan has recently issued a travel advisory for Thailand, warning expectant mothers or women trying to get pregnant to postpone their trips there. But how big of a concern is Zika virus for Asia? Here’s … Continue reading
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt says he knew concussions were a risk when he decided to play football, so he’s not any more alarmed by the studies of prolonged head trauma suffered by NFL players. “I think there’s this big perception that players have been shocked by the concussion news … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — The mosquito behind the Zika virus seems to operate like a heat-driven missile of disease. The hotter it gets, the better the mosquito that carries Zika virus is at transmitting its buffet of dangerous illnesses, scientists say. Although it is too early to say for this outbreak, past outbreaks of similar diseases … Continue reading
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) — When medical marijuana became available this month in New York, Brittany Barger was one of the first patients to navigate the state’s rules and make it through a dispensary door. “When you’re as sick as I am, you’ll try anything,” said Barger, who has ovarian cancer that has spread through … Continue reading
NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — Five years after U.S. Sen. Mark Warner’s mother died of Alzheimer’s, he is still haunted by what he might have done differently for her — if only he had known her wishes. When the disease first took hold of Marjorie Warner in about 2000, her son was already a wealthy, self-made … Continue reading
MONROVIA, Liberia (AP) — Large-scale human testing of two potential Ebola vaccines got under way in Liberia’s capital Monday, part of a global effort to prevent a repeat of the epidemic that has now claimed nearly 9,000 lives in West Africa. The studies in Liberia are taking place after smaller tests determined that the … Continue reading
NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — A parasite-borne disease has killed seven wallabies at the Virginia Zoo over the past 11 months and the remaining wallabies have been quarantined. The wallabies that died were among 10 that the zoo brought in from New Zealand in 2014. Zoo officials confirmed the deaths on Monday, January 26th, The … Continue reading
GLENDIVE, Mont. (AP) — Eastern Montana residents rushed to stock up on bottled water Tuesday after authorities detected a cancer-causing component of oil in public water supplies downstream of a Yellowstone River pipeline spill. Elevated levels of benzene were found in water samples from a treatment plant that serves about 6,000 people in the … Continue reading
Spartan Echo 