Alarm bells ring over bird flu threat

Alarm bells ring over bird flu threat

Recent cases of bird flu infecting humans in southeast Asia have raised fears about the possibility of a new strain of human flu that could spark a pandemic. The new outbreaks of the influenza virus (strain H5N1) in poultry in Asia were linked by sporadic reporting of human cases of infection with this virus in Vietnam and Thailand last year. By the end of last month, there had been 54 cases of...

Biologists’ alarm bells ring louder

climate change. It suggested that the action plan agreed in Scotland in July “fell far short of a strategy to stop the rise in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.” Frustration at the lack of action on climate change was expressed by John Lawton, head of Britain’s Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution who, in the wake of hurricane Katrina, criticised US policymakers and told journalists he...

Alarm bells ring: suicide among Chinese physicians

To our surprise, there were 2 Chinese doctors who committed suicide in the last 2 months. What are the reasons for more and more Chinese doctors to commit suicide?We present 18 cases of China's physicians who committed suicide.We summarized the main reasons for the suicide of Chinese doctors from 2004 to 2017, and the main causes included clinical working stress, Job title promotion requirement...

Alarm bells over Africa land deals

More than 50 heads of state gathered late last month to look at ways of policing the extraordinary 'land grab' that has seen richer countries buy up at least 20 million hectares of farmland in Africa in the last two years. The United Nations is drawing up a 'code of conduct' in an effort to slow what has been described as a new scramble for Africa, while agricultural experts are calling for a n...

[Bird flu: a real or imaginary threat?].