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Image: Government forces recently retook a power plant in Aleppo province from Islamic State militants.

BBC.com - March 3rd 2016

Syria has suffered a massive power blackout across the country due to "unknown reasons", state media said.

Officials were cited as saying power had been cut in all provinces and teams were trying to determine the cause.

The electricity ministry said power was being restored and service would resume by midnight (22:00 GMT), TV reported.

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Most people who survive an Ebola infection will have long-lasting health problems, say doctors from the US National Institutes of Health.

CLICK HERE - Press Release - American Academy of Neurology (AAN) - Most Ebola Survivors Examined in Study Experienced Brain Symptoms Six Months After Infection

CLICK HERE - Abstract - Survivors of Ebola Virus Disease Have Persistent Neurologic Deficits

nbcnews.com - by Maggie Fox - February 24, 2016

From headaches and memory loss to vision problems and infected semen, Ebola survivors are suffering serious, long-term effects from their battles with the deadly virus, new studies show.

The most high-profile patient may be Scottish nurse Pauline Cafferkey, who is back in a London hospital for the second time after her recovery from infection. But thousands of people in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone are also suffering, researchers say.

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Aedes mosquitoes can transmit Zika virus as well as dengue and other diseases. Now, the CDC says it may be connected to Guillain-Barré, a rare condition that can cause paralysis.  ISTOCKPHOTO

There are two cases of Guillain-Barré syndrome linked to Zika in the U.S., the CDC says

time.com - by Alexandra Sifferlin - February 18, 2016

Two confirmed cases of Guillain-Barré syndrome linked to the Zika virus have been reported in the U.S., health authorities told TIME on Thursday.

The link between Zika and the birth defect microcephaly has received much attention. But health experts are also concerned about the link between the virus and Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS), a condition where the immune system starts attacking the body’s nerves, which leads to weakness that can eventually result in temporary paralysis. In some cases, the disorder can interfere with breathing.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed to TIME that there have been two cases of GBS in the U.S. in people who also tested positive for Zika virus.

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Since 2014, the insecticide Pyriproxyfen has been used to kill mosquitos in water tanks in Brazil. Water tank in Bahia state, northeast Brazil. Photo: Francois Le Minh via Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND).

gmwatch.org - by Claire Robinson - February 10, 2016

A report from the Argentine doctors’ organisation, Physicians in the Crop-Sprayed Towns,[1] challenges the theory that the Zika virus epidemic in Brazil is the cause of the increase in the birth defect microcephaly among newborns.  

The increase in this birth defect, in which the baby is born with an abnormally small head and often has brain damage, was quickly linked to the Zika virus by the Brazilian Ministry of Health. However, according to the Physicians in the Crop-Sprayed Towns, the Ministry failed to recognise that in the area where most sick people live, a chemical larvicide that produces malformations in mosquitoes was introduced into the drinking water supply in 2014. This poison, Pyriproxyfen, is used in a State-controlled programme aimed at eradicating disease-carrying mosquitoes. . . .