Why food safety in Africa’s informal markets must be driven by consumers.

Listeria in processed meat products from South Africa, E. Coli in romaine lettuce in the US, Salmonella in eggs across Europe and Campylobacter in chicken liver pâté in Australia.

These are among the many pathogens and foods at the centre of recent food safety crises worldwide, estimated to impact as many people as infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS, malaria and TB.

 But while deaths and illnesses from unsafe food hit countries worldwide, the incidences of these illnesses and lost lives are disproportionately high in Africa.

 Across the continent, tainted food kills about 140 000 people every year, and leaves 91 million more suffering from diarrhoea, tapeworm, hepatitis and even dysentery and typhoid.

 This is on course to become even worse as income growth and urbanization in Africa are enabling better, more diverse diets.

 Ironically, these healthier foods – such as dairy, eggs, meat, fruits and vegetables – are more likely to be contaminated.

#beef #abattoir #Lagosmeatreform #foodbank

New Ebola outbreak in Congo raises alarm.

                 New Ebola outbreak in Congo raises alarm.

A new outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus has infected 100 people in a western province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a rapid spread that has health officials concerned about the chances of an uncontrolled epidemic.


 The outbreak in Equateur Province began in early June, when a cluster of cases were discovered in the provincial capital Mbandaka.


The number of cases has doubled in just the last five weeks.“The virus is spreading across a wide and rugged terrain which requires costly interventions, and with Covid-19 draining resources and attention, it is hard to scale up operations,” said Matshidiso Moeti, the WHO’s Africa regional director.

COVID-19: Research shows children are silent spreaders of SARS-CoV-2.

In the most comprehensive study of COVID-19 pediatric patients to date, researchers provide critical data showing that children play a larger role in the community spread of COVID-19 than previously thought.

 In a study of 192 children ages 0-22, 49 children tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, and an additional 18 children had late-onset, COVID-19-related illness.

 The infected children were shown to have a significantly higher level of virus in their airways than hospitalized adults in ICUs for COVID-19 treatment, according to Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Mass General Hospital for Children (MGHfC).

 The study, “Pediatric SARS-CoV-2: Clinical Presentation, Infectivity, and Immune Reponses,” was published in The Journal of Pediatrics.

Findings from nose and throat swabs and blood samples from the MGHfC Pediatric COVID-19 Biorepository carry implications for the reopening of schools, daycare centers and other locations with a high density of children and close interaction with teachers and staff members.

 The researchers note that although children with COVID-19 are not as likely to become as seriously ill as adults, as asymptomatic carriers or carriers with few symptoms attending school, they can spread infection and bring the virus into their homes.

New strain of coronavirus found in Malaysia could possibly be more infectious than COVID-19.

New strain of corona virus found in Malaysia could possibly be more infectious than COVID-19 .

A new strain of the corona virus, called D614G, is currently making its way across southeast Asia — and Malaysian health officials worry it may be more infectious than even COVID-19.

 Back in July, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the U.S. government’s top infectious disease expert, said that a new mutation of COVID-19 could help coronavirus replicate more easily .

 Here we are now, a new strain,the strain has been seen in several countries across the continent and was originally found in a Malaysian cluster of 45 cases, according to Bloomberg Quint, which follows international news out of India.

 Health officials say those 45 cases of D614G started after someone returned from India before completing his 14-day quarantine. Then, the strain was detected from several samples of COVID-19 in the Philippines.

Covid-19:The nano spray gun.

The Covid-19 pandemic has brought with it innovative solutions to stay safe.

 The normal protocols to curb spread of the virus are 1) Personal hygiene,washing hands with soap or alcohol based hand sanitizer.

2) Use of face covering, preferably a shield as this will prevent touching face and mouth.

 3) Maintain social distancing

4) Increased cleaning of surfaces ,floor and spraying of offices with chemicals that will stop the virus.

It is common now to see this sign outside offices, No face covering no entry. Many other companies are adding temperature checks, mandatory hand washing as part of protocols to stem the spread.

The use of disinfection tunnels are also used in many companies,but as in cases of emerging diseases the innovative solutions keep increasing daily.

The key point in the various innovative solutions is the fact that the solutions are getting smaller and more handy.. This is the case of the Nano spray gun, will disinfect thoroughly and can be spread over a long distance. This can be used in banks,schools,offices,cars, malls and restaurants.

A school has added this protocol to ensure safety.

       

https://photos.google.com/u/1/photo/AF1QipOsqx3wz-G3LslSwqPSDhyX2pPG0o453EKgethb


 Ask the Covid -19 exterminators, order yours today.

Covid-19 and African swine fever(ASF)..

There are some striking similarities between the Covid-19 outbreak and African Swine Fever.

 A different virus has taken over the headlines now ,sharing the spotlight with African Swine Fever dominating the columns online and in the paper, the Corona virus disease 2019 (Covid-19).

 The Corona virus does not affect swine but indirectly affects the swine business. There is one major difference between ASF and Covid-19, this is the fact that ASF leads to the death of virtually all pigs whereas Covid-19 would in most cases not be lethal, meaning that proper health care can play a role as well.

   Learn all you need to  know about ASF from  experts. Join us.

                                     

Lessons learnt with regard to Covid-19 and ASF, lessons learnt are threefold.

First, it’s never too early to start thinking about a virus at the other side of the planet (look at this Danish example).

Secondly, let’s hope the millions pumped into the vaccine business to find a good Covid-19 vaccine somehow lead to a positive spin-off for pig vaccine development too.

 Thirdly, countries reporting many outbreaks are not the ones having the largest problem – they in fact are the ones sharing the most information.

 The striking similarities between Covid-19 and ASF. 1) The sudden panic . 2) The absence of a vaccine now. 3) Reporting of outbreaks.


  Reporting the outbreaks is very important as there is a link between countries reporting and number of cases in such  countries.

There are many websites around the world keeping us posted about the progress of the Covid-19 virus, about the number of people infected, the number of people that died of the virus and mortality percentages, showing interesting maps.

Interestingly, however concrete those numbers appear to be, it’s good to ask questions about the ‘why’ and ‘how’ behind those figures and that there is a parallel with African Swine Fever outbreaks which Pig Progress has been following intensively.


 For example – can people be infected with Covid-19 yet barely notice it? If so, that would mean that the virus could be much more widespread than is actually reported, meaning that the real mortality figure is much lower.

 Extremely interesting in this context I find is the way in which authorities have behaved in recent years with the reporting of ASF outbreaks.

 It is important to understand that accurately reporting ASF outbreaks depends on a gigantic mix of components, just to name a few: 1)Availability of test kits.

 2)Presence of necessary diagnostics infrastructure, including labs.

3)Availability of funding for affected farmers.

 4)Availability of educated manpower to process all information.

 5)Knowledge about the virus.

 6)Sense of responsibility for others.

 7)Cultural attitudes with regard to transparency in case of large problems.

 8)Corruption.

 9)Protection of export interests.

 As regard to ASF, some countries have reported more outbreaks than others, in different frequencies, in different intensity, on different levels as well. Some did not report anything at all – or only occasional outbreaks.

Using the history of reporting , to have a reliable idea as to what numbers might be credible beyond doubt with regard to reporting corona virus, I’d first look at the countries that have been reporting ASF frequently, swiftly and without hesitation.
     Adopted from pig progress.

Universal testing contains COVID-19 outbreak in nursing home..

A nursing home in Pennsylvania rapidly contained a COVID-19 outbreak by implementing a universal testing strategy for all residents and staff, according to study findings published in Clinical Infectious Diseases.


 “We chose to publish our experience managing a COVID-19 outbreak that occurred in a local nursing home because we think that our experience in controlling the outbreak could potentially help others that work in nursing homes or long-term care facilities if they are trying to develop action plans for managing a COVID-19 outbreak in their respective facilities,” Daniel J. Escobar, MD, an infectious diseases fellow at the University of Pennsylvania, told Healio.




 According to Escobar, recently published data showed there have been more than 142,000 COVID-19 cases in nursing homes across the United States, and more than 38,000 COVID-19-related deaths. He said having a plan for management of COVID-19 outbreaks in long-term care facilities or nursing homes is essential to protect an older and more fragile population.