Lost Land of the Volcano
Last night on BBC television in the UK was the first of three programmes of the BBC’s jungle expedition, natural history discovery programmes “Lost Land of the ….” in this Volcano. This time the series, was filmed in the forests of the remote tropical island of New Guinea, primarily exploring the area around the giant…
We caught malignant malaria from chimpanzees — but when exactly?
Image: CDC/ James Gathany, Dr. Frank Collins, University of Notre Dame A couple of weeks ago I came across a news item entitled 'Scientists report original source of malaria', with a sub-headline to the effect that it jumped to humans from chimpanzees, possibly through a single mosquito. Reading the story indicated that it actually referred…
Please can I have some more?
Pets may be able to negotiate with their owners over what, when and how much they are fed. This is the view of Jon Day of the Waltham Centre for Pet Nutrition, based in part on evidence of how human babies “ask” for food before they can talk. Analysing these interactions may help avoid obesity…
Dangerous Squeals
A leaflet produced by the UK Health and Safety Executive warning of the dangers of squealing pigs has caught the attention of the British media. Apparently a large group of pigs in intensive housing can create noise levels of 100 decibels or above, especially just before they are fed. Farmers are advised to either wear…
Wild and Woolly 2009
I recently went llama trekking and thoroughly enjoyed it. Up close, the llama (Lama glama) not only sports rather glamorous long eyelashes but also has the most amazing fibrous coat. This reminded me that 2009 is the International Year of Natural Fibres (IYNF) – a year of all things wild and woolly! FAO have deemed…
Man Flu Really Exists, New Study Shows
Man flu is considered by large segments of society to be the psychological condition of men with colds. It is often said that when men have a cold they think it is a flu and as a consequence they moan more than women and stay longer in bed until they feel better. Man flu is…
H1N1 Flu Panic Hits Pigs and Producers Hard
More than a month since the first reports of influenza in humans in Mexico, the first case of the H1N1 influenza in pigs has been reported. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) announced on 2 May that a H1N1 influenza virus was found in a pig herd in Alberta. Since then, the CFIA has assured…
Pigs Escape Influenza, but They Get Slaughtered Anyway
Since the first reports of a new strain of H1N1 influenza virus causing human casualties in Mexico, and then in other countries there has been a deluge of news, special reports, opinions and interviews on the topic. Most of them erroneously refer to the disease as “Swine Flu”. However, according to the Centers for Disease…
Swine flu or North-American influenza?
A better name for the influenza virus causing alarm around the world may be 'North-American influenza' rather than 'swine influenza' the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) has suggested. The reason for this proposal is that the virus has not actually been isolated from pigs to date. OIE points out that in the past, many…
Ticks in a changing climate
My first venture into the world of blogging, nearly two years ago now, discussed tickborne diseases in the UK, and mentioned that as ticks flourish in warm wet climates, climate change might increase the risk of such diseases. A colleague recently drew my attention to a review article1 about the effects of climate change on…