Situation Report

fda.gov - October 10, 2019

Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration allowed marketing of a rapid diagnostic test (RDT) to detect Ebola virus antigens (proteins) in human blood from certain living individuals and samples from certain recently deceased individuals suspected to have died from Ebola (cadaveric oral fluid). The OraQuick Ebola Rapid Antigen Test is the first rapid diagnostic test the FDA has allowed to be marketed in the U.S. for the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD). The test provides a rapid, presumptive diagnosis that must be confirmed.

(CLICK HERE - READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

ALSO SEE ADDITIONAL INFORMATION WITHIN THE LINKS BELOW . . .

OraQuick Ebola Rapid Antigen Test (8 page .PDF document)
https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/cdrh_docs/pdf19/DEN190025.pdf

Smoke billows during a fire in an area of the Amazon rainforest near Porto Velho, Rondonia State, Brazil, September 17, 2019. REUTERS/Bruno Kelly

CLICK HERE - UN - Principles for Responsible Banking

reuters.com - by Matthew Green - September 22, 2019

Banks with more than $47 trillion in assets, or a third of the global industry, adopted new U.N.-backed “responsible banking” principles to fight climate change on Sunday that would shift their loan books away from fossil fuels.

Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE), Citigroup (C.N) and Barclays (BARC.L) were among 130 banks to join the new framework on the eve of a United Nations summit in New York aimed at pushing companies and governments to act quickly to avert catastrophic global warming.

“These principles mean banks have to consider the impact of their loans on society – not just on their portfolio,” Simone Dettling, banking team lead for the Geneva-based United Nations Environment Finance Initiative, told Reuters.

Greta Thunberg addresses thousands of demonstrators in New York. Photograph: Lucas Jackson/Reuters

Young and old alike took to the streets in an estimated 185 countries to demand action

theguardian.com - by Sandra Laville and Jonathan Watts - September 20, 2019

Millions of people demonstrated across the world yesterday demanding urgent action to tackle global heating, as they united across timezones and cultures to take part in the biggest climate protest in history.

In an explosion of the youth movement started by the Swedish school striker Greta Thunberg just over 12 months ago, people protested from the Pacific islands, through Australia, across-south east Asia and Africa into Europe and onwards to the Americas . . .

 . . . Trade unions representing hundreds of millions of people around the world mobilised in support, employees left their workplaces, doctors and nurses marched and workers at firms like Amazon, Google and Facebook walked out to join the climate strikes . . . 

U.S. government researchers found that vibrio cases could increase with changing climate conditions.

CLICK HERE - STUDY - Warming Climate Could Increase Bacterial Impacts on Chesapeake Bay Shellfish, Recreation

CLICK HERE - STUDY - Impact of Climate Change on Vibrio vulnificus Abundance and Exposure Risk

CLICK HERE - STUDY - Vibrio vulnificus Infections From a Previously Nonendemic Area

khou.com - by Melissa Correa - August 27, 2019

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report vibriosis causes 80,000 illnesses and 100 deaths in the U.S. annually. People become infected one of two ways -- either by consuming raw or under-cooked seafood, or by exposing a wound to seawater. The CDC reports a majority of the infections happen from May to October when water temperatures are warmer.