Who really feeds the world?

Vandana Shiva—Indian physicist, researcher, author, anti-globalist and world-renowned advocate for economic, food and gender justice—has written more than 20 books. Her latest, Who Really Feeds the World? The Failures of Agribusiness and the Promise of Agroecology, offers a scathing critique not only of industrial farming, but of the half-truths and outright lies employed to promote it around the world. It also presents us with an alternative. Shiva makes the case that not only is the dominant industrial paradigm not needed to feed the world, it’s doing a tremendous job of destroying it. The planet’s soil, water, biodiversity and human health are being compromised and exploited for profit by a relatively small pack of corporations operating on a worldwide scale: Over the last 20 years, the globalization of food and agricultural systems has been presented as a natural and inevitable phenomenon. However, there is nothing natural about globalization, and in particular, the globalization of food.

Farmer who fought off bear in bloody 3-hour battle shows horrific scars across face.

When a bear approached Jube Valanti Adveppache, he had no idea it would be a lengthy fight for survival against one of nature's killers.A brave farmer fought off a giant bear in a horrific three-hour battle that left him covered in blood with huge scars across his face. Jube Valanti Adveppache had been picking mushrooms in one of his fields in southern India when the bear attacked without warning. The 58-year-old later told wildlife officials and police how the animal, which was believed to be a sloth bear or Melursus ursinus, pounced on him without warning and would not let him go. The bear kept breaking off the attack and then starting again, and the recovering man says it was three hours before it seemed convinced it had killed him. After the attack, he moved off into the forests around Haliyal in Karnataka State. Mr Adveppache told officials he staggered nearly three miles, bleeding heavily, to get back to his village. Hospital officials say he has been transferred from an intensive care unit to another hospital to recover. A medic told local media: "He is out of immediate danger."Horrific photos of Mr Adveppache's injuries reveal horrific scars on the man’s head where the bear mauled him.One eye is closed and swollen, a thick scar from the bear's fearsome claws runs down the side of his nose.His face and his head are covered in other cuts and bruises. Despite their shambolic, sometimes comic appearance, sloth bears are seen as highly dangerous in India.contributed by mirror.co.uk

Bovine tuberculosis diagnosed in Indiana white-tailed deer.

Bovine tuberculosis (TB) has been diagnosed in a white-tailed deer in Franklin County, Ind. This marks the first time the disease (more formally known as Mycobacterium bovis) has been found in a wild animal in Indiana. This finding means significant changes in disease monitoring requirements for cattle owners and deer hunters in the area. Bovine tuberculosis is a chronic bacterial disease that affects primarily cattle, but can be transmitted to any warm-blooded animal. TB is difficult to diagnose through clinical signs alone. In the early stages of the disease, clinical signs are not visible. Later, signs may include: emaciation, lethargy, weakness, anorexia, low-grade fever and pneumonia with a chronic, moist cough. Lymph node enlargement may also be present. Cattle owners who notice these signs in their livestock should contact their private veterinarian. Indiana has officially held a bovine tuberculosis-free status since 1984 with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Under federal guidelines, that status remains. BOAH has found four individual cases of TB in three cattle herds and a cervid farm in this region between 2008 and 2016. The Indiana State Board of Animal Health (BOAH) has been working with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to test wildlife on a Franklin County cattle farm where TB was diagnosed in April. The 2-year-old doe that tested positive for TB was culled as part of the surveillance effort on the cattle farm. Under federal requirements, finding TB in a free-ranging wild animal means testing of all cattle must expand from 3 miles to 10 miles and surveillance in hunter-harvested deer will intensify. Hunters should take precautions to protect themselves, including wearing gloves when field dressing animals and fully cooking all meat. Deer can be infected without noticeable signs of disease, like the positive 2-year-old doe. contributed by ocj.com

MasterCard saving lives with data.

MasterCard is one of the companies saving lives and making a change in the world by shortening the path between troubled populations and the aid they require.MasterCard is making it easier for charities to get help quickly to the people who really need it, and ensure that donations are actually being used for the stipulated purpose. The MasterCard Aid Network, launched last September, distributes a version of the company’s plastic cards similar to a gift or prepaid card that come loaded with points that can be redeemed at certain merchants for groceries, medicine, shelter and even building materials or business supplies. The chip-enabled system can be deployed in a day or two compared to the weeks required to create and import paper vouchers. The system doesn’t require an Internet connection—a boon in off-the-grid areas where many refugees and disaster victims are concentrated. Still, the transactions enable organizations to collect data on what card recipients redeem, allowing charities to protect against fraudulent use and gather insight into beneficiaries’ needs. Organizations including Save the Children, World Vision and Mercy Corps have distributed cards to more than 75,000 people, from earthquake victims in Nepal to those in war-torn Yemen. MasterCard, which charges the charities fees for the service, says the program is profitable. The United Nations also recently named MasterCard the leader of an initiative to improve the distribution of humanitarian aid in emergencies, with a focus on the data management and privacy aspect. contributed by time.com

Malaria-like parasite from ticks spreading to UK through dogs.

Babesiosis is a malaria-like parasitic disease transmitted by ticks ,it causes the immune system to destroy its own blood cells. This is very rare in humans but is quite common in mammals in some foreign countries. The symptoms include fever, weight loss, fast breathing ,lethargy ,jaundice and red colored urine.. Bites from ticks carrying babesia parasites infect red blood cells, damaging the cells directly, and also cause the dog’s immune system to attack its red blood cells. This leads to an anaemia which can be life-threatening. A tick typically needs to be attached to a dog for 24-48 hours to successfully transmit the disease. The prevention in pet travel restrictions is a major route of entry of the disease to the UK. It used to be compulsory for imported dogs to be treated for ticks before entering the UK and Ireland. This requirement was dropped in 2012 to comply with EU regulations. There are no vaccines for babesia available in the UK. Anti-tick medication can stop the spread of the ticks, also manual removal of ticks from dogs as soon as they are seen .This will prevent transmission of the parasite.

Pet-care stocks rises because of devotion of pet-owners.

Americans' attachment to their pets has fostered a $60 billion industry that is producing best-in-breed stock performance. Shares of a clutch of companies that sell pet food, develop diagnostic tests for animals and offer veterinary care have far outrun the wider market this year, delivering an average total return of nearly 35 percent versus around 8.3 percent for the Standard & Poor's 500 (SPX). Shares of animal health testing company Idexx Laboratories Inc (O:IDXX), for example, have skyrocketed more than 50 percent this year, while vet clinic operator VCA Inc (O:WOOF) is up 31 percent and pet food maker Blue Buffalo Pet Products Inc (O:BUFF) is up 40 percent. "What you see driving that growth is the humanization of pets and consumers' willingness to spend on their pets very heavily," said Joe Edelstein, an analyst at Stephens Inc. "Part of that is because pets are part of the family." Last year, U.S. pet-related spending totaled a record $60.3 billion, a 3.9 percent increase over the previous year, according to the American Pet Products Association. According to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. consumers' spending on their pets rose 5 percent in inflation-adjusted terms last year while overall consumer spending rose 3.2 percent. It was the fourth straight year that growth in spending on pet services and products exceeded growth of consumer spending overall. Blue Buffalo and Freshpet are representative of the success of pet food, the industry's leading source of revenue, and are making the most of the trend toward natural, locally sourced ingredients. "We see continued growth of 'better-for-them' pet food products in both cat and dog," said Phil Terpolilli, a Wedbush Securities analyst. "Adoptions in U.S. dogs continue to grow meaningfully."

Global Database Hosts Genetic Data Of Flu Viruses.

When a deadly influenza virus appears and threatens to become a pandemic, time is of the essence. The 1918 flu epidemic infected a large portion of the global population and killed millions of people. The next pandemic is inevitable, and surveillance of flu viruses is essential through the timely sharing of flu virus genetic data with the scientific and research communities. A collaborative database has become prominent in recent years. Some countries have been reluctant to share flu viruses in the past, over concerns about transparency and lack of return in terms of access to resulting vaccines and benefit-sharing. However, an initiative created in 2008 appeared to have won international trust, in part because it addresses basic protection of intellectual property rights. It now hosts nearly 600,000 flu virus sequences, from all over the world, freely accessible on the conditions to adhere to its sharing mechanism, according to the initiative database. The Global Initiative on the Sharing All Influenza Data (GISAID) was launched during the 61st World Health Assembly in May 2008. GISAID is an open collaboration comprised of experts worldwide. GISAID’s EpiFlu database, hosted by the government of Germany, is, according to the WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza (VIDRL) the most comprehensive database of flu viruses genetic sequence data.