Major Veterinary Achievement – Cattle Plague Eradicated
The World Animal Health Organization (OIE) has declared that the cattle disease Rinderpest (also known as Cattle Plague) has been eradicated, which means that all 198 countries and territories with rinderpest-susceptible animals were free of the disease. The global disease freedom status is expected to be ratified by Ministers of Agriculture at the Food and…
Building a low-carbon world: the sixth industrial revolution
To avoid destroying our relationship with the planet, we'll need to make radical changes and revolutionise the way we use energy and the type of energy we use. Are policies and people in networks and communities what will ultimately make it happen? Read on to learn more about the Annual Dorchester Lecture, which was delivered…
Handwashing: harnessing the yuck factor to improve public health
The recent E. coli O104:H4 outbreak has set us thinking about handwashing again. (We've tackled it before in Now wash your hands) It’s very difficult to change people’s behaviour and to prove my point, just watch this video“Do Shocking Images Change Hygiene Behavior”. The video refers to a study from University of Denver "Using a…
Germany scores own goal…its not Spanish cucumbers!
It's not cucumbers, it might be beansprouts? E. coli O104 has killed 22 people so far, made over1400 ill and reached 11 countries. It has had a significant effect on two countries- damaging Spain’s economy and damaging the credibility of the German public health system. The fallout is broader still: the EU – and that…
Why Washing Your Vegetables and Hands May Not Protect You from E. coli, Staphylococcus, Salmonella…?
Following the recent outbreak of E. coli food poisoning in Germany that claimed at least 37 lives as of 14 June 2011 and still counting, numerous articles have been written, but many fundamental questions still remain unanswered. As you will remember, contaminated Spanish cucumbers were initially blamed for the outbreak of E. coli infection, which prompted the Spanish…
Recent developments in the world of biofuels
Opinions on the use of crops for biofuel and bioenergy continue to be polarized – are they a ‘good thing’ or not? When are they a ‘good thing’? Who benefits? How do you measure the impacts and their interactions at a local, national and international level on food security, land resources, water, greenhouse gas emissions,…
This song could go viral
Venezuelan equine encephalomyelitis (VEE) is not often referenced in song, but The Crab Hole Mosquito Blues has just been released online in text and audio in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases, charting the spread and control of the disease, which affects horses and people. An alphavirus, such as VEE (Center for Disease Control) The song…
Climate to exacerbate food insecurity in tropics: report
Areas where food supplies could be worst hit by climate change have been identified in a report from the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS). The report matches future climate change "hotspots" with regions already suffering chronic food problems to identify highly-vulnerable populations, chiefly in Africa and South Asia, but…
Outbreak of E. coli acronyms in Germany
Germany seems to be suffering an outbreak of acronyms alongside an unusual outbreak of foodborne E. coli. Reports list the culprit as STEC, EHEC, VTEC, shiga toxin producing E. coli, verotoxin producing E. coli….They are all talking about the same thing. Heres a quick guide to E coli diarrhoea acronyms and a summary of the…
Rising food prices could press the poor into hunger, warns Oxfam
This year, hardly a week seems to have gone by without the release of another report on global food systems and food security. Each has a different focus: earlier in May I reported on an FAO report highlighting the problem of food waste, while earlier in the year we published blog articles on reports arguing…