Turistas podrían causar un desastre ecológico en la Antártida

Los ambientalistas advierten de que la creciente popularidad del turismo polar podría amenazar seriamente al ecosistema de la región: los visitantes traen bacterias patógenas, que pondrían en peligro la salud de los pingüinos de la Antártida.

Los científicos advierten que los turistas en la región polar, sin saberlo, pueden desempeñar un papel fatal en el futuro del ecosistema de la región. Junto con los visitantes, en el continente entran bacterias y virus contra los que la fauna local no tiene inmunidad, informa 'New Scientist'.

"El efecto de la creciente industria del turismo polar, así como de la presencia de los investigadores, no puede pasar desapercibida", afirma Ray Grimaldi, un investigador de la Universidad de Otago (Nueva Zelanda). Uno de los ejemplos sería la gripe aviar, que causó una epidemia y la muerte masiva en las colonias de pingüinos papúa en el 2006 y 2008.

En el verano del 2014 en la colonia de pingüinos de la costa del golfo de la Esperanza también se registró un brote de una enfermedad desconocida. A causa de esta, los pingüinos perdían las plumas y morían rápidamente.
  actualidad.rt.com/ciencias

21/12/14
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Todo sobre este tema:

• Una especie invasora destruye hasta el 95% de la biodiversidad en el Atlántico

• Invasive alien species: "The damage and costs continue to increase"

• Una operación eliminará ratas para conservar la biodiversidad de una isla

WHO experts to gather in Geneva to discuss use of experimental anti-Ebola drugs

GENEVA, September 04 /ITAR-TASS/. About 200 health experts will gather on Thursday in Geneva for a two-day conference to discuss all aspect of the use of experimental drugs that have not yet been tested on humans in anti-Ebola efforts. 

This meeting will be sequential to a mid-August conference of the World Health Organization (WHO), which gave green light to the use of anti-Ebola drugs tested only on monkeys.
This radical step was made in a bid to stop the unprecedented grave Ebola outbreak that have already claimed more than 1,500 lives in Western Africa. More than 3,000 people have been infected.

Since the first Ebola outbreak in 1976 in Zaire, now the Democratic Republic of Congo, no drugs capable of curing this disease have been officially registered.
However, the WHO’s permission to use experimental drugs failed to solve the problem. The matter is that there are no efficient vaccines against Ebola and experimental drugs are either scarce or underdeveloped. But, according to the WHO forecasts, the number of infected people in Western Africa may reach 20,000 in the next six months.
This situation poses lots of questions, such as: what the criteria of a drug efficiency are, what kind of restrictions on its use should be imposed, how to better organize data collection for analysis. Apart from that, the experts are to outline the priorities for the use experimental drugs and decide where such drugs should go in the first instance, bearing in mind the acute shortage of such drugs. Financial aspects are important too. It is yet to be decided who is to finance the production of such drugs in the long run.

Taking part in the conference will be representatives from pharmaceutical companies who will present their latest developments. In all, specialists will speak about 20 drugs that might be used to cope with Ebola outbreak. These preparations are divided into three groups: drugs derived from the blood of humans or animals who have had Ebola; anti-virus preparations, like the ones used to treat HIV/AIDS; and, finally, vaccines. 


By now, Ebola virus has spread across five countries in Western Africa, namely Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, and Senegal. Deaths from Ebola have been reported from all these countries, except Senegal. The most serious situation is in now in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. According to the WHO estimates, this outbreak will last from six to nine months and will require about 490 million U.S. dollars.

Apart from these countries, Ebola cases have been registered in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the death toll has reached 31. WHO experts however say this is an isolated outbreak not linked with the one raging in Western Africa.

The World Health Organization describes Ebola virus disease (formerly known as Ebola haemorrhagic fever) as “a severe, often fatal illness, with a case fatality rate of up to 90%.” Symptoms include sudden onset of fever, intense weakness, muscle pain, headache and sore throat. This is followed by vomiting, diarrhoea, rash, impaired kidney and liver function, and in some cases, both internal and external bleeding. The infection is transmitted by direct contact with the blood, body fluids and tissues of infected animals or people. People are infectious as long as their blood and secretions contain the virus. The incubation period is 2 to 21 days. There is no known cure or vaccine for the disease. The only treatment offered is “supportive intensive care.” During an outbreak, those at higher risk of infection are health workers, family members and others in close contact with sick people and deceased patients.
http://en.itar-tass.com
4/9/14
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• Ebola: cases, deaths ‘vastly underestimated,’ says UN health agency

• WHO Declares Ebola Outbreak a Global Health Emergency 

  • Statement by Commissioner Borg on the Ebola outbreak in West Africa....

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• Sierra Leone declares emergency as Ebola death toll hits 729...

• A West African Ebola outbreak is “out of control,” and the affected countries are struggling to contain the disease, Jason Cone, spokesman for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) aid group, told RIA Novosti....

• Ebola : la course contre la montre de MSF...

• Uganda refutes reports of Ebola outbreak

Ebola: cases, deaths ‘vastly underestimated,’ says UN health agency

UN,  15 August 2014 – Health workers at Ebola outbreak sites are seeing evidence that the numbers of reported cases and deaths “vastly underestimate” the magnitude of the crisis as they work around the clock to stop the disease from spreading, according to the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO).

WHO, in its latest update on the Ebola outbreak in West Africa dated August 14, said no new cases have been detected in Nigeria, attributing the outcome to extensive contact tracing and monitoring, implemented with support from the United States Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

“Elsewhere, the outbreak is expected to continue for some time,” WHO said.

The most recent statistics compiled by WHO show that the outbreak of Ebola in West Africa continues to escalate, with 1975 cases and 1069 deaths reported from Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone.

But WHO also said: “Staff at the outbreak sites see evidence that the numbers of reported cases and deaths vastly underestimate the magnitude of the outbreak.”

On the humanitarian side, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) is delivering food to the more than one million people locked down in the quarantine zones, where the borders of Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone intersect, and several countries have agreed to support the provision of priority food staples for this population.

The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), in a blog post from Sierra Leone on the “joys of survivors” of the deadly disease, says that “Ebola survivors can play a valuable role in dispelling myths and in gaining community support in the fight against Ebola.”

“Some people in Sierra Leone still have not accepted that Ebola is real. While many survivors fear stigma, some are now coming forward and telling their brave stories,” wrote UNICEF consultant Jo Dunlup.

WHO said it is mapping the outbreak in great detail, to pinpoint areas of ongoing transmission and locate treatment facilities and supplies.

“CDC is equipping the hardest-hit countries with computer hardware and software that will soon allow real-time reporting of cases and analysis of trends,” according to the UN agency’s update.

WHO Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan in Geneva regularly meets with ambassadors from United Nations missions based in the Swiss city to identify the most urgent needs within countries and match them with rapid international support.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has appointed Dr. David Nabarro as Senior United Nations System Coordinator for Ebola, in support of the work done by the WHO team. WHO has expressed its disappointment that some airlines have stopped flying to West Africa. It is “hard to save lives if we and other health workers cannot get in,” WHO has said.

• WHO has repeatedly said the Ebola virus is highly contagious – but not airborne. Transmission requires close contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person, as can occur during health-care procedures, home care, or traditional burial practices, which involve the close contact of family members and friends with bodies.

The incubation period ranges from 2 to 21 days, but patients become contagious only after the onset of symptoms. As symptoms worsen, the ability to transmit the virus increases. As a result, patients are usually most likely to infect others at a severe stage of the disease, when they are visibly, and physically, too ill to travel.
un.org
15/8/14
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Related:

• WHO Declares Ebola Outbreak a Global Health Emergency 

  • Statement by Commissioner Borg on the Ebola outbreak in West Africa....

  ------

• Sierra Leone declares emergency as Ebola death toll hits 729...

• A West African Ebola outbreak is “out of control,” and the affected countries are struggling to contain the disease, Jason Cone, spokesman for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) aid group, told RIA Novosti....

• Ebola : la course contre la montre de MSF...

• Uganda refutes reports of Ebola outbreak

First UN report on antibiotic resistance reveals ‘serious threat’ to global public health. - WHO said that people can help tackle resistance...

UN, 30 April 2014 – Antibiotic resistance – when bacteria change so antibiotics no longer work in people who need them to treat infections – is now a major threat to public health, says a new United Nations report released today.

The study, produced by the UN World Health Organization (WHO), is the first to look at antimicrobial resistance, including antibiotic resistance, globally, and provides the most comprehensive picture to date, incorporating data from 114 countries.

It reveals that this serious threat is no longer a prediction for the future; it is happening right now in every region of the world and has the potential to affect anyone, of any age, in any country, WHO pointed out in a news release.

“Without urgent, coordinated action by many stakeholders, the world is headed for a post-antibiotic era, in which common infections and minor injuries which have been treatable for decades can once again kill,” said Keiji Fukuda, WHO’s Assistant Director-General for Health Security.

“Effective antibiotics have been one of the pillars allowing us to live longer, live healthier, and benefit from modern medicine,” Dr. Fukuda noted. “Unless we take significant actions to improve efforts to prevent infections and also change how we produce, prescribe and use antibiotics, the world will lose more and more of these global public health goods and the implications will be devastating.”

While the report notes that resistance is occurring across many different infectious agents, it focuses on antibiotic resistance in seven different bacteria responsible for common, serious diseases such as bloodstream infections (sepsis), diarrhoea, pneumonia, urinary tract infections and gonorrhoea.

The results are cause for high concern, according to WHO, which documented resistance to antibiotics, especially “last resort” antibiotics, in all regions of the world.

For example, resistance to one of the most widely used antibacterial medicines for the treatment of urinary tract infections caused by E. coli – fluoroquinolones – is very widespread. In the 1980s, when these drugs were first introduced, resistance was virtually zero. Today, there are countries in many parts of the world where this treatment is now ineffective in more than half of patients.

• WHO said that people can help tackle resistance by using antibiotics only when prescribed by a doctor; completing the full prescription, even if they feel better; and never sharing antibiotics with others or using leftover prescriptions.

Health workers and pharmacists can help tackle resistance by enhancing infection prevention and control; only prescribing and dispensing antibiotics when they are truly needed; and prescribing and dispensing the right antibiotic(s) to treat the illness.

The report, which is kick-starting a global effort led by WHO to address drug resistance, reveals that key tools to tackle antibiotic resistance, such as basic systems to track and monitor the problem, show gaps or do not exist in many countries. While some countries have taken important steps in addressing the problem, every country and individual needs to do more.

Other important actions include preventing infections from happening in the first place – through better hygiene, access to clean water, infection control in health-care facilities, and vaccination – to reduce the need for antibiotics. WHO is also calling attention to the need to develop new diagnostics, antibiotics and other tools to allow healthcare professionals to stay ahead of emerging resistance.

un.org30/4/14------------------------

• WHO warnt: Antibiotika bald wirkungslos....

Die Weltgesundheitsorganisation ist alarmiert. Resistenzen gegen Antibiotika nehmen zu. Dies gilt auch für keimtötende Arzneimittel, welche als "Reserve" bei sonst schlecht behandelbaren bakteriellen Infektionen verwendet werden. Dies stellt die WHO in einem aktuellen neuen Bericht fest. Auch Österreich wird darin genannt.

So stellte Keiji Fukuda, stellvertretender Generaldirektor für Health Security der WHO, fest: "Ohne eine schnelle und koordinierte Aktion vieler Beteiligter steuert die Welt auf eine post-antibiotische Ära zu, in der häufige Infektionen und auch kleinere Verletzungen, die Jahrzehnte lang behandelbar waren, wieder tödlich werden können."..................http://diepresse.com/home/leben/gesundheit/1600648/WHO-warnt_Antibiotika-bald-wirkungslos?from=rss
30/4/14 
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• Ένας ιός που θάφτηκε στον πάγο

Εφτιαξαν θανατηφόρα γρίπη στην Κίνα ....υβριδικό στέλεχος του ιού που δημιουργήθηκε από κινέζους ερευνητές

Την έντονη αντίδραση επιστημόνων από όλο τον κόσμο προκάλεσε η δημιουργία ενός νέου θανατηφόρου στελέχους της γρίπης που κατασκεύασαν προσχεδιασμένα στο εργαστήριο κινέζοι ερευνητές. Αν και το πείραμα που έκαναν δεν ξέφυγε από τα επιστημονικά όρια, όπως ισχυρίζονται οι ίδιοι, οι συνάδελφοί τους προειδοποιούν πως «η δημιουργία και μόνο ενός τόσο επιθετικού στελέχους θέτει το πείραμα εκτός των ορίων ασφάλειας για τον παγκόσμιο πληθυσμό».
Η κατασκευή νέων ιών στο εργαστήριο είναι μια συνήθης τακτική και χρησιμοποιείται ώστε να «προβλεφθεί η φύση». Η τακτική που ακολουθείται σε τέτοιου είδους πειράματα είναι να προσπαθήσουν να προβλέψουν την εξελικτική πορεία ενός στελέχους ιού μέσα στη φύση για τα επόμενα πέντε χρόνια, να δημιουργήσουν το αντίστοιχο στο εργαστήριο, ώστε ακολούθως να φτιάξουν και το αντιιικό φάρμακο ή εμβόλιο για να αποφευχθεί πανδημία με πολλούς νεκρούς. Ο τελικός στόχος δηλαδή είναι η πρόληψη.


Οι Κινέζοι, ορμώμενοι από τα δύο πιο πρόσφατα και επικίνδυνα στελέχη του ιού της γρίπης, αυτό της νέας γρίπης (Η1Ν1) και της γρίπης των πτηνών (Η5Ν1), αποφάσισαν να τα συνδυάσουν και να δημιουργήσουν ένα πολύ ισχυρό και εύκολα μεταδοτικό νέο ιό της γρίπης. Ποιο ήταν το σκεπτικό τους;
Το στέλεχος Η1Ν1 μεταδίδεται πολύ εύκολα από άνθρωπο σε άνθρωπο, αλλά δεν είναι ιδιαίτερα θανατηφόρο και τα υπάρχοντα φάρμακα το σκοτώνουν. Από την άλλη, το Η5Ν1 δεν μεταδίδεται από άνθρωπο σε άνθρωπο, αλλά μόνο από πτηνό σε άνθρωπο. Οταν όμως κάποιος το κολλήσει, έχει 60% πιθανότητες να πεθάνει.
Οι κινέζοι επιστήμονες δημιούργησαν ένα νέο στέλεχος που έχει τη μεταδοτικότητα του Η1Ν1 και την επικινδυνότητα του Η5Ν1, σύμφωνα με τις δοκιμές που έκαναν σε γουρούνια και τα αποτελέσματα που δημοσίευσαν στην επιστημονική επιθεώρηση «Science».
Επιδημιολόγοι και ιολόγοι υποστηρίζουν ότι τέτοιου είδους πειράματα χρειάζονται πολύ καλύτερο σχεδιασμό και μέτρα ασφαλείας λόγω των «επιθετικών ιών που δημιουργούνται στο εργαστήριο» και δεν μπορούν να φυλάσσονται απλώς σε ένα κτηνιατρικό εργαστήριο. «Απόλυτη ανευθυνότητα» καταλογίζει στους Κινέζους ο λόρδος Μέι της Οξφόρδης και πρώην πρόεδρος της Βασιλικής Ιατρικής Ακαδημίας. «Ισχυρίζονται ότι δημιούργησαν τον επιθετικό ιό για να αναπτύξουν φάρμακα και εμβόλια. Η πραγματικότητα όμως είναι ότι τους ώθησε η τυφλή φιλοδοξία που έχουν, δίχως καμία αίσθηση του τι δύνανται να προκαλέσουν», εξηγεί ο ίδιος.
Για τον Σιμόν Γουάνι-Χόμπσον από το Ινστιτούτο Παστέρ και άλλους σημαντικούς ερευνητές, το παγκόσμιο πεδίο της έρευνας ιών δεν υποστηρίζεται όπως θα έπρεπε, γι' αυτό και ακόμη δεν έχουν καταφέρει οι ειδικοί να παρασκευάσουν εμβόλιο πριν από την εμφάνιση κάποιου ιού με τη μορφή επιδημίας.
Χρειάζονται πιο αυστηρά μέτρα
«Δεν σκέφτονται τι κάνουν; Πώς θα επιτευχθεί η επιτήρηση του ιού στον χώρο όπου φυλάσσεται; Χρειάζονται πιο αυστηρά μέτρα. Δεν σχεδιάζονται τόσο απλά οι υβριδικοί ιοί», λέει ο Σιμόν Γουάνι-Χόμπσον, καθηγητής του Ερευνητικού Τμήματος Ιολογίας του γαλλικού Ινστιτούτου Παστέρ.
.tanea.gr
7/5/13
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