What to know about avian influenza in dairy cows and the risk to humans
Why is H5N1, or bird flu, a concern, how does it spread, and is there a vaccine? Here are the answers to some frequently asked questions about avian influenza.
More than 100,000 children in Ethiopia's embattled Tigray region could face the most extreme and life-threatening form of malnutrition in the next year, the United Nations children's agency warned on Friday, as humanitarian aid remains blocked from the region of some 6 million people.
The UN estimate, a tenfold increase over the usual caseload in Tigray, is based on “essentially the scenario we're seeing now, in which the conflict escalates and food access is restricted,” Marixie Mercado with UNICEF's emergency response team told The Associated Press.
The warning comes as high-level officials from the UN and United States visit Ethiopia over the next several days to press the government to lift what the U.S. has described as a “siege” of Tigray and as some 200 food-laden UN trucks are stuck on the only remaining road into the region.
The world's worst hunger crisis in a decade is unfolding in Tigray, where the U.S. says up to 900,000 people now face famine conditions and international food security experts say the crucial planting season “has largely been missed” because of the war.
The UNICEF estimate, based on screenings of more than 430,000 children during the nine-month conflict, comes after a rare visit to two districts in Tigray that had been “virtually inaccessible,” Gijet and Wajirat. While the AP has reported on scores of people dying of starvation in another inaccessible Tigray district, Mercado said she did not hear of any starvation deaths on her visit.
But she warned of “horrifying numbers of acutely malnourished” people and expressed frustration as food, fuel, cash and other supplies are in short supply. While access inside Tigray has improved after a dramatic turn in the war in June as Ethiopian soldiers withdrew and the government declared a unilateral cease-fire, the UN has said aid workers are running out of the means to help.
“You can't bring services to people without fuel,” an exasperated Mercado said, adding that during the visit to the previously inaccessible districts “we were just overwhelmed by the numbers of mothers and children who showed up and desperately wanted some help.”
UNICEF also said screening data shows that 47% of all pregnant and breastfeeding women in Tigray are acutely malnourished, meaning more risk to both mothers and children.
Ethiopia's government has blamed the aid blockade on the resurgent Tigray forces who have retaken much of the region and crossed into the neighboring Amhara and Afar regions, but a senior official with the U.S. Agency for International Development this week told the AP that is “100% not the case.” USAID administrator Samantha Power is set to visit Ethiopia next week to press for access.
Meanwhile, new UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths is visiting Tigray as part of a six-day tour in Ethiopia meant to spotlight the crisis, while there is little sign of negotiations in sight between Ethiopia's government and the Tigray forces who had long dominated Ethiopia's government and military before being sidelined by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.
A UN humanitarian update on Friday spelled out some of the latest aid challenges, including harassment and intimidation: No aid convoys have reached Tigray since July 12, even as up to 600 supply-laden trucks are needed weekly. Aid workers on the first UN passenger flight to Tigray on July 22 were “extensively searched” and not allowed to bring some essential medicines. And no such flight has received government clearance since then.
Why is H5N1, or bird flu, a concern, how does it spread, and is there a vaccine? Here are the answers to some frequently asked questions about avian influenza.
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
Royal commentator Afua Hagan writes that when King Charles recently admitted Catherine to the Order of the Companions of Honour, it not only made history, but it reinforced the strong bond between the King and his beloved daughter-in-law.
A Massachusetts man who told police he was exorcising a demon and performing a baptism when he shoved his father's head under water multiple times has been convicted of involuntary manslaughter in his death.
American troops will be spending more time training in the Far North, the new commander of Norad says, a strategy that fits 'hand-in-glove' with Canada's renewed focus on Arctic defence.
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
A new survey by Dalhousie University's Agri-Food Analytics Lab asked Canadians about their food consumption habits amid rising prices.
It was evident to the federal government as early as last fall that Loblaw and Walmart might be holdouts to the grocery code of conduct, jeopardizing the project's success.
Charlie Woods failed to advance in a U.S. Open local qualifying event Thursday, shooting a 9-over 81 at Legacy Golf & Tennis Club.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.