Belgian Authorities to Close More Farms - Belgian authorities have decided to temporarily close more farms, after they found traces of a carcinogenic chemical in animal feed, authorities said Monday [30 Jan 2006]. The food safety agency closed 96 pig and chicken farms on Friday [27 Jan 2006], as it traced the source of dioxins found by a Dutch firm last week back to a vat of Belgian pork fat. The fat is mixed with other feed for the livestock industry.
Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy - Deer muscle transmits prion disease to altered mice - Amy L. Becker * Staff Writer - Jan 31, 2006 (CIDRAP News) – Meat from deer infected with chronic wasting disease (CWD) has been shown to transmit the prion disease togenetically altered mice, according to a report published Jan 26 inSciencexpress, part of Science magazine.
The experimental findings "raise the possibility that dietary exposureto prions might occur through meat consumption," writes researcherGlenn Telling at the University of Kentucky, along with six othercolleagues.
http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidrap/content/other/bse/news/jan3106cwd.html
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5503a1.htm?s_cid=mm5503a1_e%0A
Rates of Cesarean Delivery Among Puerto Rican Women Puerto Rico and the U.S. Mainland, 1992--2002
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5503a2.htm?s_cid=mm5503a2_e%0A
Surveillance for Early Detection of Disease Outbreaks at an Outdoor Mass Gathering Virginia, 2005
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5503a3.htm?s_cid=mm5503a3_e%0A
Update: Influenza Activity United States, January 8--14, 2006
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5503a4.htm?s_cid=mm5503a4_e%0A
QuickStats: Percentage of Persons Aged >18 Years Reporting Severe Headache or Migraine During the Preceding 3 Months, by Sex and Age Group United States, 2004 - http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5503a6.htm?s_cid=mm5503a6_e%0A
2006 Annual Conference on Antimicrobial Resistance, June 26--28, 2006
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5503a5.htm?s_cid=mm5503a5_e%0A
Erratum: Vol. 55, No. 2 - http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5503a7.htm?s_cid=mm5503a7_e%0A
U.S. MORBIDITY AND MORTALITY UPDATE - Notifiable Diseases and Reported Deaths
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5503md.htm?s_cid=mm5503md_e%0A
CALIFORNIA IDENTIFIES SECONDHAND SMOKE AS TOXIC AIR CONTAMINANT - SACRAMENTO, California, January 27, 2006 (ENS) - Secondhand tobacco smoke causes an average 68 percent increase in breast cancer risk for women younger than 50, concludes a report by California Environmental Protection Agency staff that the state Air Resources Board voted Thursday to approve. Some women who have not reached menopause have a 120 percent higher breast cancer risk than women who are not exposed to secondhand smoke. http://www.ens-newswire.com
KENYANS STARVE AS DROUGHT DRAGS ON, FOOD AID RUNS OUT - NAIROBI, Kenya, January 27, 2006 (ENS) - People in Kenya are beginning to die of starvation as the drought that has parched the country for months shows no signs of easing. Poor rainfall has caused harvests to fail and now emergency supplies are running out. To date, 30 people in the east African country have been reported dead and officials say that the real number is probably higher as those in remote regions have not been accounted for. Many others are suffering from malnutrition. http://www.ens-newswire.com
ASIAN ELEPHANT COUNTRIES MEET TO SAVE THE ENDANGERED SPECIES - KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, January 27, 2006 (ENS) - The Asian elephant, once a symbol of a unique and sacred relationship between nature and humans, is now listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. The increase in human–elephant conflicts, which claim the lives of several hundred animals and people every year, was identified as a major cause of elephant decline at a meeting this week of the 13 Asian countries where wild elephants still remain. http://www.ens-newswire.com
DEBRIS DUMPING FROM QUAKE-SHATTERED CITY FOULS RIVER JHELUM - By Itrat Bashir - LAHORE, Pakistan, January 26, 2006 (ENS) - So many structures in the earthquake damaged city of Muzaffarabad are uninhabitable that either the entire population has to be relocated or all the houses must be rebuilt, touring journalists of Lahore learned during their trip to the Azad and Jammu Kashmir capital last week. More than 100,000 homes were destroyed in the severe earthquake that rattled the region on October 8, 2005. More than 100 buildings housing medical facilities were destroyed. http://www.ens-newswire.com
FIRST REPORT ON NORTH AMERICAN CHILDREN FINDS HIGH ASTHMA RATES - MONTREAL, Quebec, Canada, January 26, 2006 (ENS) - The first report on children's health and environment indicators in North America by a NAFTA Commission shows a rising number of childhood asthma cases across the region, but improvements in children's blood lead levels, and a decrease in deaths from waterborne diseases. It finds that North America's 123 million children remain at risk from environmental exposures. http://www.ens-newswire.com
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/23/opinion/23mon3.html?th&emc=th
http://ga3.org/ct/v7anfoF1TzrT/
US army changes execution rules - By Sarah Morris - BBC News in Washington. The rules technically allow executions at Guantanamo Bay New rules covering the death penalty in military courts suggest the US army may be preparing for its first execution since 1961.
http://spewingforth.blogspot.com/2006/01/trench-collapses-and-murder-anyone.html
Worker Safety Under Siege: Read All About It -
http://spewingforth.blogspot.com/2006/01/worker-safety-under-siege-read-all.html
Workers: The Secret Weapon In The Fight For Real Homeland Security -
http://spewingforth.blogspot.com/2006/01/workers-secret-weapon-in-fight-for.html
Mine Disasters On T.V. - http://spewingforth.blogspot.com/2006/01/mine-disasters-on-tv.html
Graniteville, SC: One Year Later - http://spewingforth.blogspot.com/2006/01/graniteville-sc-one-year-later.html
The Romance Of Blogging - http://spewingforth.blogspot.com/2006/01/romance-of-blogging.html
Federal and State Legislative Activity Around Mine Safety -
http://spewingforth.blogspot.com/2006/01/federal-and-state-legislative-activity.html
Nursing Homes: When the worker's safe, the resident's safe
http://spewingforth.blogspot.com/2006/01/nursing-homes-when-workers-safe.html
The Loss Of A Great Man - http://spewingforth.blogspot.com/2006/01/loss-of-great-man.html
Jackson Lewis: One Stop Shopping for Union Busting Lessons and OSHA Directors
http://spewingforth.blogspot.com/2006/01/jackson-lewis-one-stop-shopping-for.html
Study Confirms Dangerous Conditions and Exploitation of Immigrant Day Laborers
http://spewingforth.blogspot.com/2006/01/study-confirms-dangerous-conditions.html
Weekly Toll - http://spewingforth.blogspot.com/2006/01/weekly-toll_22.html
What We've Learned From The Miners' Deaths
http://spewingforth.blogspot.com/2006/01/what-weve-learned-from-miners-deaths.html
The Story Behind The Latest Mine Deaths: Bush Regulations To Blame?
http://spewingforth.blogspot.com/2006/01/story-behind-latest-mine-deaths-bush.html
Bush Administration Had Withdrawn Regulation Prevent Conveyor Belt Fires
http://spewingforth.blogspot.com/2006/01/bush-administration-had-withdrawn.html
Yet Another Mine Disaster? http://spewingforth.blogspot.com/2006/01/yet-another-mine-disaster.html
Bush's MSHA: Talk Is Cheap - http://spewingforth.blogspot.com/2006/01/bushs-msha-talk-is-cheap.html
MSHA Delays Diesel Regulation That Protects Miners From Cancer
http://spewingforth.blogspot.com/2006/01/msha-delays-diesel-regulation-that.html
Hospitals: Worker Safety = Patient Safety - http://spewingforth.blogspot.com/2006/01/hospitals-worker-safety-patient-safety.html
http://spewingforth.blogspot.com/2006/01/good-riddance-wal-mart-labor-dept.html
GENETIC STUDY SHOWS DIRECT HUMAN LINK TO ORANGUTAN DECLINE - By J.R. Pegg - WASHINGTON, DC, January 24, 2006 (ENS) - Human deforestation has caused the catastrophic collapse of orangutan populations, according to a new genetic study. The research shows that the population decline has occurred within the past century - much of it within the past few decades - coinciding with massive deforestation of orangutan habitat. http://www.ens-newswire.com
CANADA FINDS FIFTH MAD COW, JAPAN BANS U.S. BEEF AGAIN - WASHINGTON, DC, January 24, 2006 (ENS) - The United States has decided not to change the status of beef imports from Canada in response to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency announcement Monday that confirmed mad cow disease in a six year old cow born and raised in Alberta. News of the case comes days after Japan suspended U.S. beef imports when a shipment of U.S. veal containing bones arrived in Tokyo. http://www.ens-newswire.com
FUTURE OF OCEANS, COASTS, SMALL ISLAND STATES IN CONFERENCE SPOTLIGHT - PARIS, France, January 24, 2006 (ENS) - Coral reefs and mangroves are fast disappearing, according to a United Nations report released today at an oceans conference that takes place just once every three years. Close to a third of corals have gone, with 60 percent expected to be lost by 2030. More than a third of all mangroves have disappeared, with the rate of loss greater than that of tropical rainforests. http://www.ens-newswire.com
EL NINO EVENTS AFFECT SOUTHERN RIGHT WHALE BREEDING SUCCESS - CAMBRIDGE, UK, January 24, 2006 (ENS) - Global climate processes are affecting the number of calves produced by southern right whales in the South Atlantic, according to a newly published 30 year study by an international team of scientists. Southern right whales migrate from the South Atlantic to the Southern Ocean to feed. Following an El Niño event, changes in sea temperatures affect the availability of krill, a shrimp-like crustacean, which is the main diet of these whales. http://www.ens-newswire.com
GLOBAL ECOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT CALLS FOR HUMANITY TO VALUE NATURE - By J.R. Pegg - WASHINGTON, DC, January 23, 2006 (ENS) - The first major global assessment of the state of the world’s ecosystems offers an optimistic outlook for humanity amid stark warnings about how humans are abusing the ecological systems that enable life on Earth. "Despite what looks like steady global decline, this is a story of hope," said Dr. Steve Carpenter, professor of limnology at the University of Wisconsin and a lead author of the research effort. http://www.ens-newswire.com