Category Archives: Public Health/Safety

June 12, 2017

Syrian Refugees Spreading Flesh-Eating Disease, Polio, Measles, Tuberculosis, Hepatitis

Posted on June 12, 2017 by ifnm| Comments Off on Syrian Refugees Spreading Flesh-Eating Disease, Polio, Measles, Tuberculosis, Hepatitis

The Syrian refugee crisis has precipitated a “catastrophic outbreak” of a flesh-eating disease that is spreading across the Middle East and North Africa, according to research published on Thursday in the scientific journal PLOS.

Largely missing from news media coverage is that the same news-making scientific report warned the ongoing violence in Syria has “created a setting in which we have seen the re-emergence of polio and measles, as well as tuberculosis, hepatitis A, and other infections in Syria and among displaced Syrian refugees.”

Indeed, in 2013 the World Health Organization documented new cases of vaccine-preventable diseases such as measles, reporting that year alone the number of confirmed measles cases in Syria reached 139, as compared to no documented cases in 2010 and 2011.

The WHO reported that 2013 saw Syria’s first outbreak of polio since 1999. According to an April 2015 WHO report, 35 children were subsequently paralysed by polio before the start of a new vaccine campaign.

In November, 2014 PLOS documented the spread of measles from among the Syrian refugee population:

Measles has swept through Syria, including Aleppo and the northern regions, with over 7,000 confirmed cases. This epidemic has not spared refugees in neighboring countries, even among highly vaccinated populations. In Jordan, 24 cases of measles were reported in 2012, while over 200 cases were reported in 2013. In Lebanon, nine reported cases of measles in 2012 increased to 1,760 cases in 2013, only 13.2% of which were among Syrian refugees.

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Posted in Immigration, Middle East, Public Health/Safety

June 1, 2017

Navy SEALs Cancel Beach Training After Shore Became Tainted With Mexican Sewage

Posted on June 1, 2017 by ifnm| Comments Off on Navy SEALs Cancel Beach Training After Shore Became Tainted With Mexican Sewage

“As crude and nasty as this sounds, this is not American sewage, this is Third World sewage,” said Border Patrol agent Christopher Harris. “There’s whole areas now that are biologically and chemically impacted, just like if you had a biological or chemical attack. There are areas that are no-go zones.”

Thanks to President Donald Trump, Mexico has been at the forefront of American political discussion for over a year now, ever since then-candidate Trump announced his presidential run. While most of the debate surrounding Mexico has revolved around immigration and trade, that may be about to change.

In yet another despicable occurrence ignored by the Mexican government, Border Patrol agents and U.S. Navy SEALs have been adversely affected by massive sewage spills in Mexico that have spread to U.S. waters, the Washington Times reported.

The sewage spills have been so bad, and have gone on for so long, there are now “no go” zones on U.S. soil (primarily in California) where SEALs can’t train for risk of being infected, diseased or worse, because of the sewage.

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Posted in Military, Public Health/Safety

May 14, 2017

Casey’s Employee Tampers With Pizza For Police Chief, Which He Fed To His Daughters, Pissed Off Chief Ready To Sue

Posted on May 14, 2017 by ifnm| Comments Off on Casey’s Employee Tampers With Pizza For Police Chief, Which He Fed To His Daughters, Pissed Off Chief Ready To Sue

Chief Marlon Walker Is Ready To Sue Casey’s General Store After They Tampered With His Pizza.

When Chief Marlon Walker ordered a pizza from Casey’s General Store, he didn’t expect it to be tainted. Unfortunately, the chief didn’t find out about the incident until after he had shared the pizza with his two daughters.

At the end of December or early January, a Hermann police officer working the night shift had ordered a pizza from Casey’s general store. The store manager told him that an officer had his pizza “spat” on, but the manager refused to tell him which officer’s pizza was affected, according to KRCG.

Weeks later, Chief Marlon Walker confronted the store manager about the unidentified officer having their pizza spat on. The store manager then told the chief that it was his pizza that had been tampered with. Not only that, but employee Daniel Robinson had thrown his pizza toppings on the floor as well as spitting on the pizza.

The chief reported the incident to Gasconade County Health Department who confirmed that Robinson had been fired after the incident. Two other employees who witnessed the food tampering and refused to stop Robinson were also suspended and then later terminated.

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Posted in Crime, Law & Courts, Public Health/Safety

March 24, 2017

New research identifies a ‘sea of despair’ among white, working-class Americans

Posted on March 24, 2017 by ifnm| Comments Off on New research identifies a ‘sea of despair’ among white, working-class Americans

Princeton economists Angus Deaton and Anne Case continue to report on sickness and early death among white, middle-aged, working-class Americans.

Sickness and early death in the white working class could be rooted in poor job prospects for less-educated young people as they first enter the labor market, a situation that compounds over time through family dysfunction, social isolation, addiction, obesity and other pathologies, according to a study published Thursday by two prominent economists.

Anne Case and Angus Deaton garnered national headlines in 2015 when they reported that the death rate of midlife non-Hispanic white Americans had risen steadily since 1999 in contrast with the death rates of blacks, Hispanics and Europeans. Their new study extends the data by two years and shows that whatever is driving the mortality spike is not easing up.

The two Princeton professors say the trend affects whites of both sexes and is happening nearly everywhere in the country. Education level is significant: People with a college degree report better health and happiness than those with only some college, who in turn are doing much better than those who never went.

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Posted in Public Health/Safety

March 23, 2017

Lead Poisoning In “Dozens Of California Communities” Worse Than Flint, Michigan

Posted on March 23, 2017 by ifnm| Comments Off on Lead Poisoning In “Dozens Of California Communities” Worse Than Flint, Michigan

California, a state infamous for its environmental protections, including a $65 billion tunnel project being pushed by Governor Jerry Brown so as not to disrupt the habitat of a tiny, non-native fish species, may be facing a lead poisoning crisis more severe than Flint, Michigan.

According to blood test data obtained by Reuters, rates of childhood lead poisoning in several California cities surpass those measured in Flint, Michigan, with one Fresno locale showing rates nearly three times higher.

In fact, in Fresno’s downtown 93701 zip code, nearly 14% of children tested showed lead levels at or above 5 micrograms per deciliter of blood, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s current threshold for an elevated reading. As the CDC noted, no level of lead exposure is safe, but children who test that high warrant an immediate public health response.

In all, per the map below, Reuters found at least 29 California neighborhoods where children had elevated lead tests at rates at least as high as in Flint. “It’s a widespread problem and we have to get a better idea of where the sources of exposure are,” said California Assembly member Bill Quirk, who chairs the state legislature’s Committee on Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials.

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Posted in California Story, Infrastructure, Public Health/Safety

March 17, 2017

Six out of 10 People in France ‘Don’t Feel Safe Anywhere’

Posted on March 17, 2017 by ifnm| Comments Off on Six out of 10 People in France ‘Don’t Feel Safe Anywhere’

Fearing terror attacks, the majority of people in France are pessimistic about the nation’s security situation, with six in 10 saying they no longer feel safe anywhere according to an IFOP-FIDUCIAL poll.

The survey found that 93 per cent of French believe the threat of more terror attacks is high, and 71 per cent feel the security situation in France has got worse over the last five years.

More broadly, 59 per cent of those polled said they did not feel safe anywhere, with almost one in four (24 per cent) opting to “strongly agree” with the statement.

Reflecting the insecurity respondents said they felt, 69 per cent think the police and gendarmerie are understaffed, and the survey found the French overwhelmingly have a positive view of law enforcement.

The vast majority of respondents (88 per cent) believe France should deport foreigners sentenced to prison for serious offences, and 84 per cent want the country to create more prison places.

A slight majority (55 per cent) would like to see France exit the European Union’s open borders Schengen zone.

With security a major issue in this year’s presidential elections, the survey found Marine Le Pen was judged the candidate with the best policies in both keeping property and people safe (32 per cent) and in the fight against terror (35 per cent).

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Posted in Europe, Immigration, Islam, Multiculturalism, Public Health/Safety, Radicals, Terrorism

March 3, 2017

‘Tsunami of sewage spills’ at Mexican border ‘deliberate,’ says California mayor (Video)

Posted on March 3, 2017 by ifnm| Comments Off on ‘Tsunami of sewage spills’ at Mexican border ‘deliberate,’ says California mayor (Video)

“It saves (the Mexican agencies) a lot of money in pumping costs, and ultimately, they can get away with it and do it all the time, just on a much smaller scale,” Dedina said.

The massive sewage spill in Tijuana, Mexico that polluted Southern California beaches last month appeared to be a deliberate move, a local official said.

More than 140 million gallons of sewage spilled into the Tijuana River in Mexico that flowed into the Pacific Ocean on the U.S. side of the border.

The spill, which spanned from Feb. 4 to Feb. 23, was caused during repairs to a major sewer pipe, the International Boundary and Water Commission said

Serge Dedina, the mayor of Imperial Beach which is located about 10 miles outside Tijuana, told the Los Angeles Times the spill looks like it was “deliberate.”

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Posted in Mexico/Central America, Public Health/Safety

November 28, 2016

Fake News: NYT Blames U.S. for Overweight California Farmworkers

Posted on November 28, 2016 by ifnm| Comments Off on Fake News: NYT Blames U.S. for Overweight California Farmworkers

In one of its most inaccurate “fake news” Thanksgiving stories this year, the New York Times blamed America for migrant California farmworkers from Mexico having bad diets.

In an article titled “In a California Valley, Healthy Food Everywhere but on the Table,” Times reported that Mexican farm workers in the Salinas Valley do not have antioxidant healthy items like “tossed salads, broccoli casseroles or steaming bowls of roasted brussels sprouts” on their Thanksgiving dinner table.

The Times did report correctly that Salinas Valley has “more than doubled its output of produce in recent decades and now grows well over half of America’s leaf lettuce.” And it was right that the Mexican migrant workers who harvest “America’s Salad Bowl” prefer sugary drinks and have “cultural preferences for filling but high-calorie foods like tacos and tamales contribute to the obesity of farmworkers and their families.”

But the Times is blatantly wrong in blaming America for Mexican immigrants’ bad eating habits making them obese. The only nation on the planet, based on a “body mass index” (BMI = kg/m2), that has even worse eating habits than the United States is Mexico, according to a recent report from the United Nations.

Mexico has surpassed the U.S. in terms of both obesity and overweight residents. About 32.8 percent of Mexican citizens are obese, versus 31.8 percent of Americans, while 70 percent of Mexican adults are overweight, compared to 69 percent of Americans.

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Posted in Immigration, Journalism, Public Health/Safety

November 25, 2016

Researchers have found a troubling new cause of death for middle-aged white Americans

Posted on November 25, 2016 by ifnm| Comments Off on Researchers have found a troubling new cause of death for middle-aged white Americans

The researchers, Justin Pierce and Peter Schott, found evidence that trade with China has resulted in greater rates of suicide and poisonings (including fatal drug overdoses) after 2000, when President Clinton and Republican lawmakers allowed a major increase in imports.

White Americans without a college degree are becoming more likely to die in middle age, reversing decades of progress toward better health.

Researchers first noticed this worrisome trend last year. They pointed to increases in opioid abuse, obesity and suicide among the causes of death, but what caused these increases has remained something of a mystery.

This week, a pair of economists have advanced a new theory. They suggest that, for many workers, a major shift in the structure of the U.S. economy may have been fatal.

The researchers, Justin Pierce and Peter Schott, found evidence that trade with China has resulted in greater rates of suicide and poisonings (including fatal drug overdoses) after 2000, when President Clinton and Republican lawmakers allowed a major increase in imports.

Pierce and Schott suggest that as competition with Chinese manufacturing forced U.S. factories to close, many of the Americans who were laid off never got their lives back together. Instead, they fell into depression or addiction. White adults, in particular, suffered from the change in policy.

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Posted in Public Health/Safety, Suicide

October 2, 2016

Migrants Bringing Rare Diseases Strain Health Service

Posted on October 2, 2016 by ifnm| Comments Off on Migrants Bringing Rare Diseases Strain Health Service

Incoming migrants are bringing long-eradicated diseases to Germany and are putting the medical system under extreme stress.

As well as bringing a rising tide of crime and attitudes towards women that many consider incompatible with modern European values, the over one and a half million migrants who flowed into Germany last year have also brought unheard-of and rare strains of diseases to the continent. The new arrivals and their illnesses are putting pressure on the German health care system, reports Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

All migrants upon arrival in Germany are required to undergo medical screening. German doctors have been struggling with the high number of post-traumatic stress disorder cases amongst migrants, but are also finding it increasingly difficult to diagnose diseases that have been wiped out in Germany but are still prevalent in the Middle East and Africa.

Gastrointestinal and liver diseases, scabies, and tuberculosis (TB) are common amongst migrants. Henning Mothes from the Jena University Hospital in Hamburg said that German doctors are struggling to diagnose TB as the symptoms that the migrants are displaying are not typical, and the disease often goes undiagnosed. Doctors are now advised that any migrant with abdominal pain now be tested for the disease.

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Posted in Europe, Immigration, Public Health/Safety