Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease Virus2 (RHDV2) caused widespread mortalities of wild hares and domestic rabbits across the Northern, Western and parts of the Eastern Cape between October 2022 and February 2023. The Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) has received several reports confirming that the disease has re-emerged. Following the initial reports from the Sutherland-Middelpos … [Read more...]
Rabbit haemorrhagic disease outbreak hits South Africa
The disease causing widespread mortalities of wild hares and domestic rabbits in the Western and Northern Cape provinces in South Africa has been confirmed as Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease Virus (RHDV). The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development issued a media statement confirming the diagnosis following the testing of carcasses by the Onderstepoort … [Read more...]
Hand sanitisers: clearing up the confusion
It’s important to understand the difference between sanitising and disinfecting. Sanitising refers to cleaning one’s hands in order to reduce the number of potential pathogens that could be transmitted to others. Disinfecting refers to killing pathogens on surfaces, which may require chemicals harmful to humans, animals and the environment. Many manufacturers have … [Read more...]
EU must tackle forest destruction to reduce the risk of pandemics
While the world continues to grapple with the devastating consequences of Covid-19, WWF is calling for urgent action to address the key drivers it has identified which will cause future zoonotic disease outbreaks. In a new report Covid-19: Urgent Call to Protect People and Nature, WWF identifies a number of environmental factors which drive the emergence of zoonotic … [Read more...]
Healing in the time of Corona
Thanks to a clever little virus, our collective hamster wheel has come to an abrupt halt, throwing many of us off and spinning in the other direction, towards ourselves. My fear is that between the Vitamin C popping, baking and Zoom calls, we are avoiding the questions that lie beneath the conspiracy theories and that bring us face to face with our mortality. Questions that … [Read more...]
Covid-19: Cloth masks for public use
There has been much debate globally about whether it is recommended to make use of a facemask during the Covid-19 pandemic. A policy guideline developed by the Dept of Health for sectors other than Health indicates that, as the epidemic unfolds, the wider use of masks are indicated even for people who are not ill, especially if they move around in the public. The Western … [Read more...]
GOTG partners with government for covid-19 intervention
Gift of the Givers (GOTG) is a partner to the government's Covid-19 initiative, augmenting public health services by supporting medical professionals with protective wear, supplying relevant essential medical equipment and providing medical consumables to the institutions in urgent need. The National Health Minister is fully appraised of their intervention through the Deputy … [Read more...]
Response to climate change is critical as risk of disease outbreaks grows
Climate change threatens to significantly increase the health risk of people living in the East African Highlands. In addition, droughts have intensified. These have have both short-term and long term effects on human health. Yet there are no guidelines to inform health related decisions under climate change conditions. Nor has any mapping been carried out to indicate the … [Read more...]
SIMA celebrates best impact documentaries from around the world
The annual Social Impact Media Awards (SIMA) celebrate the best impact documentaries from around the world that inspire activism, compassion and social transformation. SIMA has announced the finalists for the 2016 edition of their unique initiative. The selected finalists will compete in the two categories Documentaries (Features, Shorts) and Impact Videos (Innovations, … [Read more...]
