| Contamination (289) |  |
| Epidemic (340) | |
| Contamination (289) | |
| Epidemic (340) | |
Last time I looked at the effect of a global pandemic, this time I'm looking at how we might change the agricultural landscape by hacking plants.
What if a pandemic strikes? Over the past century, humans have been transforming the planet so profoundly that we are pushing it into a new geological era, the Anthropocene (the Age of man.
what if our species were hit by a global pandemic? In the Anthropocene we are encroaching on wild lands,
Epidemics are certainly not new or unpredictable. A new strain of influenza virus occurs every 1-2 years, for example.
But the sudden global explosion of an epidemic that infects a large number of the population oe a pandemic oe is harder to predict.
We know a pandemic has occurred every 10-50 years for the past few centuries, and the last one was in 1968,
whether there will be a new pandemic, but of when it will occur. Pandemics, which kill a significant proportion of the population have acute and lasting effects on society.
The Black death, a bubonic plague during the Middle ages caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, killed 30%-60%of Europeans (80%of people in the south of France and Spain) and reduced global population from 450 million to around 350 million.
The impacts of this pandemic should have been especially severe because unusually, more than half of those who died were young working-age adults,
The HIV/Aids epidemic, which also disproportionately effects young, working age men and women, can give some idea of economic impact oe in hard-hit sub-Saharan African countries the economies were estimated to be on average 22%smaller in 2010
So what would be the result of a global pandemic in the 21st Century? The world's population in the middle Ages was just a few hundred million;
But what if the pandemic was really severe oe killing 80%-90%of our species?
Wouldn't it be great to achieve some of these desirable planetary outcomes without the horrific suffering of a global pandemic?
herbicides and other harmful chemical contaminants. At that point, vertical farming in tall buildings will replace less productive single-story greenhouses as the source of all city-grown produce.
Is China's flu pandemic the next big one? China's flu pandemic: The big one?
Laurie Garrett Foreign policy 24 april 2013 Ten years after Sars, a new virus strikes China, perhaps more deadly,
and to chronicle the experience in his book, An Epidemic of Absence. Once infected, he suffered diarrhoea and a dull, constant gut pain,
and much of the world seems to be in the grip of a shopping epidemic.
Planets, pandemics and powerthe vanishing groves Ross Andersen Aeon 16 october 2012 A superb essay on the world's oldest trees, the bristlecone pines of California,
Where will the next pandemic come from? And how can we stop it? David Quammen Popsci 15 october 2012 The best guess:
sufficiently virulent and transmissible to cause a pandemic capable of killing tens of millions of people?
The prospect of a new viral pandemic, for these sober professionals, looms large. They say it might happen anytime.
because the keratin oe a kind of biological plastic that encases the hair shaft-Â protects the DNA that it contains from the contamination
environmentalists and demographers predicting humanity's collapse through famine, wars and epidemics, if we don't check our population.
Should growing operations have guidelines to limit contamination, such as mildew and mold? oegiven the lack of USDA or other oversight of this agricultural industry, were at square one,
Dementia Epidemic South korea is at the forefront of a worldwide eruption of dementia from about 30 million estimated cases now to an estimated 100 million in 2050.
and vegetables separate to avoid cross-contamination, wash all produce thoroughly and wash platters and other surfaces that come into contact with raw meat and poultry.
and resolved in particular concerning biological contamination and weed resistance development. Agriculture Law reports that the district court agreed with the plaintiffs that the environmental assessment undertaken by the USDA was inadequate
The hearing also gave Justice Antonin Scalia an opportunity to share his decidedly unscientific assessment of the situation by stating oethis isnt the contamination of the New york city water supply, No, no its not.
But it has been overwhelmed in trying to prevent food contamination and fraud has remained on a back burner.
Limiting phytate production in the soybean could reduce a major environmental runoff contaminant from swine and poultry waste.
#Fukushima grows sunflowers to clean up radiation contamination A geiger counter is placed in front of sunflowers in full bloom in Fukushima.
they confided to Abe their worries about radioactive contamination of the soil in their gardens.
The detrimental impact that GMO cultivation has on our environment is widespread including creating dead zones where biodiversity is abolished all but and the contamination of heirloom and organic seeds with GMO varieties.
or got into milk through cattle feed or contamination on the farm. The Spanish-Moroccan team analysed 20 samples of cows milk bought in Spain and Morocco,
We believe the new methodology will help to provide a more effective way of determining the presence of these kinds of contaminants in milk or other products.
the epidemic of tobacco-related disease and death has begun just, THE WHO said. But by 2030, the annual death toll could reach 8 million.
THE WHO said smoking is one of the biggest contributors to a worldwide epidemic of noncommunicable,
Citing an epidemic of childhood obesity, regulators are taking aim at a range of tactics used to market foods high in sugar,
because the risk of gene contamination in Oregons Willamette Valley was so great. According to Grist, Judge White warned that environmental impact statements on crops were being conducted too fast,
#Stink Bug Epidemic Spreads to 33 U s. States Stink bugs Stink bugs, the smelly scourge of the Mid-atlantic, are hitchhiking
Shiva belongs to a colony of monkeys who have been fattened up to help scientists study the twin human epidemics of obesity and diabetes.
demand for the overweight primates is growing as part of the battle against the nations obesity epidemic, according to Dr. Grove and other researchers working with such monkeys in Florida,
but to get in there and fight for safeguards against contamination and restitution for farmers whose fields are contaminated.
and wildlife. 2. Contamination of Non-GE Crops Alfalfa plants are pollinated by bees, most of which can travel
and no insurance policy against damages these farmers suffer as a result of GE alfalfa contamination. According to the Center for Food safety
a study of the past 200 GE contamination cases has found that farmers have suffered hundreds of millions of dollars in lost sales.
The dairy rule in question would require dairy owners install synthetic barriers to stop groundwater contamination from cow waste.
and causing deadly epidemics in humans. Scientists from Cambridge and Edinburgh universities said that while the transgenic chickens still got sick
and producing a pandemic in which millions of people could die. ECONOMIC AND FOOD SECURITY THREAT In Southeast asia, China and parts of Africa, bird flu is already a major economic and food security issue,
and health (quite ignoring the fact that we are all eating bugs already in foods meeting prescribed contamination limits).
fostering an obesity epidemic. Read on to see how one program is working to change Chicagos landscapes
These are ALSO the same foods that have created the obesity epidemic in this country. 2. Top foods keeping your ass wide.
it was mostly positive social contagions that were in circulation. Ask the very old on Ikaria how they managed to live past 90,
cold beer. 2. Pasteurization/sterilization Useful for the prevention of bacterial contamination in food, particularly milk. 3. Canning Developed in the early 19th century,
If there was a water contamination issue in Nunda, we could still operate here. We could truck in our own water here, potentially.
but are supplied by honey farms in New york. If the bee population decreases due to pollution and contaminants,
This study provides the first documented evidence that a vertebrate has adapted to the negative effects of roads apparently by evolving rapidly Salamanders breeding in roadside ponds are exposed to a host of contaminants from road runoff.
These animals are growing up in harsh environments where they face a cocktail of contaminants,
and still debated, is sugar s role in the obesity and chronic disease pandemic. From an evolutionary perceptive, sugar in the form of fruit was available only a few months of the year, at harvest time,
With the national obesity and diabetes epidemics of the 2010s a distant memory, fastfood chains are a thing of the past.
Additionally Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea virus, or PED, is taking down piglets in 15 states. And as of now, there s no vaccine in the US just yet.
suggesting that it could have been the result of a contamination, Witwer says.##oewe know that pollen has mirnas in it,
maybe we have more pollen contamination, even in our best labs, than at other times.#
and fruits grown without pesticides, herbicides and other harmful chemical contaminants. At that point, vertical farming in tall buildings will replace less productive single-story greenhouses as the source of all city-grown produce.
which may help reduce environmental contamination. And to cap it all the risk that insects may transmit zoonotic infections may well be less significant than the very real risk posed by cattle, pig and poultry, from
This obviously unsustainable course is causing the contamination of our fresh water supply. UN-Water, a non-governmental organization (NGO), controlled by UNESCO,
The extent of the obesity epidemic worldwide has been thrown into stark reality as a report from the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) puts the number of overweight and obese adults in developing countries at more than 900 million.
Other sources of contamination could include not washing hands before obtaining and storing milk or bacteria from other foods in the freezer where milk is stored she said.
and contamination with disease-causing bacteria could be dangerous to infants especially those who were born premature
It s also important for those with celiac disease to avoid cross-contamination in their own kitchens or at restaurants.
Despite the contamination of the site and the inherent risks in operating a reactor with serious design flaws the Chernobyl nuclear plant continued operation for many years until its last reactor was shut down in December of 2000.
Many of the river's contaminants like cadmium and zinc are known to cause cancer. All the fish died even chickens
Binge drinking and alcohol-related hospitalizations have reached now epidemic proportions the Guardian reports and the Chinese who once enjoyed a relatively healthy diet
and ruled out several possible causes for the elk deaths including poachers anthrax lightning strikes epizootic hemorrhagic disease (an often-fatal virus known to affect deer and other ruminants) botulism poisonous plants
and a more extensive study is needed to investigate the widespread contamination rate in bully sticks.
This isn't the first time a pet treat has been linked with contamination. Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported in 2010 in the journal Pediatrics that an outbreak of salmonella in 79 people between 2006 and 2008 was caused by contaminated dry pet food.
One task she's been devoted particularly to is finding ways to keep her creations clean of debris and contaminants.
They then subjected the replicas to experiments designed to determine how efficiently they moved through air (drag) how well they got rid of contaminants (self-cleaning) how tightly contaminants stuck to the surface (adhesion)
The porcine epidemic diarrhea virus or PEDV was assumed long to be spread only by direct contact
but contamination of water and food (such as raw produce) with oocyst-containing fecal matter likely contributes to the dissemination.
Scientists are grappling with understanding the calorie imbalances causing the obesity epidemic which is fueled partly by eating too many sweets.
The central habitat of the grizzlies is among the hardest-hit in the beetle epidemic he said.
However it's unlikely the virus could cause a pandemic unless it undergoes genetic changes that allow it to spread more efficiently between people experts say.
Because H7n9 doesn't transmit very well through the air it doesn't look like it has the capacity to cause a pandemic
or contaminants the researchers said. 5 Key Nutrients Women Need As They Age Such unlisted ingredients may pose health hazards for consumers the researchers said.
DNA barcodes are short gene sequences that are indicative of a particular species.)About 50 percent of the products did contain the main ingredient but around 30 percent of these also contained contaminants or fillers.
With the financial rewards from illegal logging high and the odds of being caught low it's no surprise that illegal logging has reached epidemic proportions in the Russian Far east
days after returning to Taiwan according to Taiwan's Central Epidemic Command Center nd the fact that Chinese officials are publicly saying that at least some of the existing cases may have involved human-to-human transmission this new bird flu strain could spread nd fast.
epidemic is more than triple the mortality rate of tuberculosis in China today. Despite widespread fears among public health officials that the earlier bird flu strain years ago might become a human-to-human pandemic that didn't occur.
Nearly all reported cases of the earlier bird flu strain while deadly seemed to jump from poultry to humans who were handling them or in contact with them.
New Rules on Mutant Bird flu Research Stir Debate What's more it could reignite fears about the possibility of deadly global pandemics.
A decade ago several well-known virologists and public-health experts warned in published papers that the world was at risk for pandemics that could kill tens of millions of people or even more without adequate infectious disease monitoring and medical research.
The 2006 Chinese bird flu outbreak came on the heels of those global pandemic warnings. The good news is that China is more transparent about disease epidemics now than it was a decade ago
and that the number of reported cases with the new bird-flu strain has jumped not dramatically so far.
If the suspicions of human-to-human transmission potential is confirmed that alone makes the threat of a pandemic (as opposed to a series of local outbreaks that can be contained with efforts to close down poultry markets or the sale of infected birds) more likely.
In the case of a pandemic a vaccine would need to be developed and distributed quickly.
Another possibility is some sort of contamination of the well or water tanks but so far no toxins have been identified.
or vegetables cross-contamination with buns or marinades could be dangerous. I also suggest bringing a gluten-free bun with you to the cookout
And if squeeze bottles aren't being used try to be first in line to avoid contamination from knives that have touched bread containing gluten.
The new report does not mean that H7n9 is getting closer to causing a pandemic in people James Rudge
The contaminants in the water and sediments were ridiculously low Smalling said. The frogs may store up small exposures over time
When the local clinic ran out of supplies during a dysentery epidemic the healer was dismayed that her professionally trained young relatives didn't know that the plant growing all around the health care facility was an effective traditional treatment for diarrhea.
Urban gardeners can also take steps to separate their crops from lead contamination. Planting produce in raised beds with store-bought soil will keep plant roots from coming into contact with contaminated earth.
Before planting a food garden Langley-Turnbaugh recommends testing the soil for contamination. Most states offer low-cost soil testing through their agricultural cooperative extensions.
In regions of the world where rice is an important food staple entire communities are vulnerable to the negative impacts of arsenic contamination.
or it may be a result of environmental contamination. Despite the health risks arsenic in rice poses to millions of people around the world there are currently no effective agricultural methods in use to reduce arsenic levels.
or parties variety is a significant factor contributing to overeating and the obesity epidemic. Bottom line:
Amphetamine risks The relatively high levels of beta-methylphenethylamine found in nine of the supplements indicate that the ingredient was not an accidental contaminant Cohen said.
and contamination of fish with mercury is established oewell. The area studied is called the Yuba Fan built up around the Yuba River that runs out of the Sierra nevada mountains north of Sacramento not far from California s verdant wine country. oethe Yuba fan is created totally artificial by humans said Singer
but the contamination in the Yuba fan is hundreds of times greater. Scientists believe trees do not absorb mercury
Mercury contamination from gold mining is a worldwide problem. Two yearsâ ago scientists discovered that gold mining in the Amazon had contaminated already the food supply in the Madre de dios area of Peru in that case from burning off the mercury in the amalgam.
In another paper published this week scientists at the Carnegie Institution for Science mapped the contamination at Madre de dios using space satellites.
The chemicals involved in making gold soluble also induce the plants to take up other soil contaminants such as mercury arsenic
Ignorance to those simple details has had broad implications helping to accelerate ridiculous myths that may be partially responsible for Americans'obesity and the diabetes epidemic.
The solution to the obesity epidemic begins with eating more fresh fruits and vegetables not re-engineering processed foods.
This has driven an epidemic of poaching especially of elephants for ivory and rhinos for rhino horns that appears to be said worsening Hannah.
Superfoods are healthful for the most part aside from possible contamination added sugars or over-consumption of them.
The team then introduced the bee groups into the test chambers to determine how the contamination affected smell recognition which they gauged based on
Though the researchers focused on the effects of nitrogen oxide gases on floral odors other highly reactive contaminants such as naturally occurring ozone gas
Together they aid all steps of the body's detoxification process from activation to neutralization and elimination of contaminants.
Stricter policies to reduce antibiotic contaminants in foods will not only help to fight antibiotic resistance
Pesticides and other environmental contaminants are suspects and researchers have turned their attention to how pesticides might affect the honeybee navigation system memory and brain function.
They knew the diapers did not contain any contaminants or parasites since the diapers were sterilized.
The worldwide adoption of the hazard analysis critical control points system HACCP originally developed by NASA to protect astronauts from food poisoning makes it less likely that the world food supply could lead to a major epidemic
which includes contaminants such as sulfides as on pure methane. Now the company is setting out to achieve the same yields at a commercial scale.
However the normalization of hookah use could result in a potential epidemic of a lethal habit Weitzman said.
The United states'Department of agriculture s website is a good source of advice for dealing with mold contamination on a wide variety of foods.
The following in alphabetical order) are some possible food contaminants: Campylobacter Clostridium botulinum Clostridium perfringens Escherichia coli (E coli) Giardia lamblia Hepatitis a Listeria noroviruses rotavirus Salmonella Shigella Staphylococcus aureus and Vibrio vulnificus.
With support from the U s. National Science Foundation (NSF our company Ecolyse Inc. based in College Station Texas is working to address this issue by developing products to treat bacterial contamination.
This is partly due to a general lack of awareness of industrial contamination. Certain industrial sectors however experience chronic detrimental effects of bacterial contamination.
For example the oil and gas industry faces staggering revenue losses due to product degradation by hydrogen sulfide consuming bacteria and the industry spends an estimated $7 billion per year for chemical biocide treatments.
and the cholera epidemic in the 19th century the long-lasting denial of the harm of tobacco smoking in the 20th century global warming and climate change in the 21st century) when the translation of science into practice clashes with vested interests.
The work in the Peru Trench used environmental RNA sequencing to guarantee that sequences observed were from environmental samples and not contaminants from human skin.
To kill fecal contamination on chicken flesh factories typically drench bird carcasses in chlorine. It is a practice so unappetizing that the nation's trading partners like Russia
To understand why U s. poultry companies would rather risk export markets than stop dipping birds in chlorine it's helpful to understand how bad the fecal contamination is.
To make matters worse just in time for grilling season the U s. Department of agriculture (USDA) was proposing rules that could have increased further contamination.
while conscious resulting in more fecal contamination and as the Washington post described more potential for animal suffering and food safety problems at chicken slaughter plants.
and the obesity epidemic in the US#he said. The article concludes that while diets low in saturated fat can lower bad#LDL cholesterol switching to carbohydrates may increase another type of LDL cholesterol In a study that compared two low-calorie diets one low-fat and one low
If we can persuade the Department of health that this programme is very likely to help considerably with the obesity epidemic
which has resulted in theories that this allergy epidemic has been driven by environmental changes: fewer infections in childhood living away from environments such as farms
The degree of decay was proportional to the degree of radioactive contamination at each site according to the study published in the journal Oecologia.
and other contaminants via smoke into populated areas Mousseau said. This litter accumulation that we measured
and consequences of this diet and how the U s. industrialized food system could be a major contributor to the national obesity epidemic.
But in Spisak s case the analysis involved tiny amounts of DNA which made Lusk think that contamination
In a follow up study uploaded few weeks ago on arxiv he concludes that Spisak must consider contamination as the source of PLANT DNA.
or chemical contamination as the most likely reason for CCD. In short waves of either chemical contamination
or viral infections are overwhelming the honeybees and the hives. Last summer for instance researchers from the University of Maryland and the USDA collected pollen from seven major types of crops along the East Coast where CCD has been especially destructive where bees had been in serious decline and fed
Wheat genes could help fight fungal epidemics: Nature Newsas farmers around the world anxiously monitor the march of a deadly orange fungus across their wheat fields,
The results are welcome news as plant pathologists race to arm themselves against an ongoing epidemic of stem rust (P. graminis) caused by a recently emerged fungus called Ug99 (see'Wheat fungus spreads out of Africa'.
'The epidemic was isolated first in Uganda and has since spread eastwards into Iran. From there, pathologists believe wind currents may sweep Ug99 spores into India and, eventually, China.
Meanwhile, new types of stripe rust that can overcome the defences bred into commercial varieties have sparked a separate epidemic in the United states. It is amazing that we are still fighting this battle,
The influenza pandemic policies and responses recommended and taken by WHO were influenced not improperly by the pharmaceutical industry,
Researchers from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warn that pregnant women might be increased at risk for complications from pandemic H1n1 in a research paper in eventid=login>The Lancet (hithardbyswi. html>more on this story.
At this time, there is no evidence to indicate the development of widespread antiviral resistance among pandemic H1n1 viruses.
The world is in a full-blown influenza pandemic for the first time in 41 years. 9 june 2009: THE WHO reports that Inuit communities in Canada may be particularly hard-hit.
It continues to face questions as to why a full-blown pandemic has not been declared. 8 june 2009:
THE WHO says it is 6swineflupandemic get. html>inching closer to moving its pandemic alert status to phase 6,
which would denote official global pandemic status. 1 june 2009: June opens with 17,410 cases reported in 62 countries,
and declaring a pandemic, that the global extent of a pandemic should be described objectively and should be just one factor in decisions about how to respond.
22 may 2009: Australia raises its alert level to'Contain, 'even as the Mexican government relaxes its restrictions in Mexico city.
However the pandemic alert level is still at five today, one level below a full pandemic.
A modeling study in Science suggests that the virus spreads at a rate comparable to that of previous influenza pandemics.
THE WHO raises pandemic level alert to phase 5, a strong signal that a pandemic is imminent.
First swine-flu death outside Mexico reported as a baby dies in Texas. 161/nn200120/DE/Content/Service/Presse/Pressemitteilungen/2009/082009. html>Germany joins European countries with H1n1
THE WHO 0427/en/index. html>raises pandemic alert level to 4 having confirmed human-to-human transmission able to cause'community-level outbreaks'.
'Phase 4 indicates a significant increase in risk of a pandemic but does not necessarily mean that a pandemic is a forgone conclusion,
says the organisation. 25 april 2009: WHO director-general, Margaret Chan calls the flu problem a public health emergency of 0425/en/index. html>international concern.
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