Nigeria reports two new polio cases: WHO
Geneva (AFP) – The Nigerian government has reported two new polio cases in the first reemergence of the disease since 2014, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Thursday.
Chinese guide stabs, kills tourist in Kenya’s Maasai Mara
A Chinese tour guide stabbed and killed a tourist who was visiting Kenya's famed Maasai Mara Game Reserve after an argument over the seating arrangement for dinner, police and a lodge manager said on Tuesday. John Kiruti, manager of Keekorok Lodge, which is within the park, said the woman, also a Chinese citizen, sustained serious chest injuries in the incident late on Monday and died as she was being transferred to another tourist camp for treatment. “The tour guide who had brought three clients from his country for two nights differed with the couple … over the sitting arrangement at dinner time,” Kiruti said.
FTC sues 1-800 Contacts over online search advertising
By Diane Bartz WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. antitrust enforcers filed a complaint against 1-800 Contacts on Monday, alleging that the online contact lens seller reached agreements with 14 rivals which would hamper consumers seeking to compare prices. The Federal Trade Commission alleged in an administrative complaint that 1-800 Contacts had reached agreements with 14 other online contact lens retailers that they would not advertise to customers who had searched online for 1-800 Contacts. “1-800 Contacts has aggressively policed the bidding agreements, complaining to competitors when the company has suspected a violation, threatening further litigation, and demanding compliance,” the complaint said.
London to offer alerts on air quality at bus stops
LONDON (AP) — Londoners will soon be able to get air quality reports when they check whether their bus is about to arrive.
GM mosquito trial will not significantly impact environment-FDA
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Friday that a field trial testing Intrexon Corp's genetically engineered mosquitoes, meant to be used in the battle against Zika, would not have a significant impact on the environment. The company wants to conduct a trial in the Florida Keys to assess the effectiveness of the genetically modified mosquitoes in reducing populations of Aedes mosquitoes, which can spread diseases including Zika, dengue, yellow fever and chikungunya. Florida began aerial spraying on Thursday to kill mosquitoes in a Miami neighborhood with the first U.S. spread of the Zika virus.
As Zika fears escalate, lawmakers point fingers from afar
WASHINGTON (AP) — As the Zika virus escalates into a public health crisis, members of Congress remain entrenched politically, with Republicans and Democrats pointing fingers over the failure to act as the number of mosquito-transmitted cases in the U.S. grows.
Eradicating Zika-spreading mosquito is proving difficult
MIAMI (AP) — The mosquitoes spreading Zika in Miami are proving more difficult to eradicate than expected, the nation's top disease-fighter said as authorities sprayed the ground-zero neighborhood, tipped over kiddie pools and handed out cans of insect repellent to the homeless.
GSK, Google parent company to make bioelectronic medicine
LONDON (AP) — Pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline is forming a joint venture with a unit of Google’s parent that will invest 540 million pounds ($714 million) in the relatively new field of bioelectronic medicine.
UK urges pregnant women to reconsider travel to Zika-hit Florida
British health officials have urged pregnant women to consider postponing non-essential travel to Florida after the southern U.S. state confirmed the first cases of the Zika virus that were not linked to travel. Florida, a popular holiday destination for Britons, reported four cases of local transmission on Friday. “Pregnant women should consider postponing non-essential travel to affected areas until after the pregnancy,” Public Health England, the government’s public health agency, said.
Stretching may ease women’s depression and menopause symptoms
(This June 30th story was refiled to fix link at the bottom of the story) By Reyna Gobel (Reuters Health) – Stretching just 10 minutes a day might help ease menopause and depression symptoms in middle-aged women, a small study suggests. “Light-intensity exercises such as stretching have not been previously evaluated for its impact on menopausal and depressive symptoms,” lead researcher Yuko Kai told Reuters Health by email. Forty Japanese women, ages 40 to 61 years, participated in the study at the Physical Fitness Research Institute, Meiji Yasuda Life Foundation of Health and Welfare in Tokyo.