PARIS, France (AFP) — More than 14 percent of the world’s population has had Lyme disease, the most common tick-borne illness, according to a major review of the available research published on Tuesday. Central Europe had the highest rate of infection with 20 percent, while men over the age of 50 living in rural areas were most at risk, the study in the journal BMJ Global Health found. The condition is rarely fatal, but people […]
Tag: health
URGENT: Canada PM Trudeau says contracted Covid a second time
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has tested positive for Covid-19 for a second time in less than five months, he said Monday, adding that he feels fine but is isolating. “I’ve tested positive for Covid-19. I’ll be following public health guidelines and isolating,” the Canadian leader said on Twitter, adding: “I feel okay.” Trudeau, who has received three doses of the Covid vaccine, also tested positive for the virus at the end of January. I’ve […]
The age of outbreaks: Experts warn of more animal disease threats
by Daniel Lawler and Isabelle Tourne Agence France Presse With the spread of monkeypox across the world coming hot on the heels of Covid-19, there are fears that increasing outbreaks of diseases that jump from animals to humans could spark another pandemic. While such diseases — called zoonoses — have been around for millennia, they have become more common in recent decades due to deforestation, mass livestock cultivation, climate change and other human-induced upheavals […]
Brazil confirms its first monkeypox case
BRASÍLIA, Brazil (AFP) — Brazil has confirmed its first case of monkeypox in a 41-year-old man who had traveled to Europe, the health ministry announced Thursday. Monkeypox is a rare disease generally confined to western and central Africa. It is related to but less severe than smallpox, causing a rash that spreads, fever, chills, and aches, among other symptoms. The World Health Organization (WHO) has already registered nearly 1,000 cases of the illness in […]
Monkeypox outbreak tops 1,000 cases, WHO warns of ‘real’ risk
The risk of monkeypox becoming established in non-endemic nations is real, the WHO warned Wednesday, with more than a thousand cases now confirmed in such countries. World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the UN health agency was not recommending mass vaccination against the virus, and added that no deaths had been reported so far from the outbreaks. “The risk of monkeypox becoming established in non-endemic countries is real,” Tedros told a press conference. […]
World Bank slashes China growth forecast over Covid damage
by Beiyi Seow Agence France-Presse BEIJING, China (AFP) — The World Bank has sharply slashed its annual growth forecast for China, warning in a report Wednesday that Covid disruptions could further slow recovery in the world’s second-largest economy. China is the last major economy wedded to a zero-Covid policy, using rapid lockdowns, mass testing and strict movement restrictions to eliminate outbreaks — but it has tangled supply chains and dragged economic indicators to their […]
10 more cases of more transmissible Omicron subvariant found; 114 new Omicron cases detected- DOH
(Eagle News) – Ten more cases of the two more transmissible Omicron variant sub-lineages have been detected recently, the Department of Health (DOH) announced on Tuesday, June 7. There were seven more BA2.12.1 cases and three BA.5 cases in the latest sequencing run of 190 samples, where 114 are Omicron cases. “Among the 114 new Omicron cases, additional emerging Omicron sublineages were detected: BA.2.12.1 – 7 cases; BA.5 – 3 cases,” the DOH said. […]
Relief, caution in Beijing as city lifts Covid dine-in curbs
BEIJING, China (AFP) — After staying home for more than a month, Chen Chunmei joined a long line of customers at a popular Beijing restaurant where diners tucked into massive bowls of crayfish following an easing of Covid restrictions in the Chinese capital. Last month, the city of 22 million stopped people from eating out, closed gyms and sealed off dozens of subway stations to try and stamp out a coronavirus outbreak. The curbs are […]
WHO: 780 monkeypox outbreak cases
GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The World Health Organization said Sunday that 780 laboratory-confirmed monkeypox cases had been reported to it from 27 non-endemic countries, while maintaining that the global risk level was moderate. The WHO said the 780 figure, for cases from May 13 to Thursday, was probably an underestimate due to limited epidemiological and laboratory information. “It is highly likely that other countries will identify cases and there will be further spread of the […]
More than 700 monkeypox cases globally, 21 in US: CDC
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said Friday it was aware of more than 700 global cases of monkeypox, including 21 in the United States, with investigations now suggesting it is spreading inside the country. Sixteen of the first 17 cases were among people who identify as men who have sex with men, according to a new CDC report, and 14 were thought to be travel […]
Vietnam develops new African swine fever vaccine: official
HANOI, Vietnam (AFP) — Vietnam has developed an African swine fever vaccine for pigs in partnership with the United States, and is aiming to become the first global commercial exporter, an official said. The virus, harmless to humans, decimated hog populations in Asia after it was detected in Vietnam in 2019, with millions of the animals culled following outbreaks in Mongolia, Cambodia, Hong Kong and mainland China. Pork prices rose dramatically as a result, […]
Estimated 2 million have long Covid in UK: official data
LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — An estimated two million people in the UK, which represents around three percent of the population, have reported experiencing so-called long Covid, official statistics showed Wednesday. Around 1.4 million of them said they first had Covid-19, or suspected they had the virus, at least 12 weeks previously, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). It also found 826,000 of them first had coronavirus at least a year earlier, […]





