Scientific American reports that fresh water supplies are unlikely to keep up with global demand by 2040, increasing political instability, hobbling economic growth and endangering world food markets. The report by the office of the Director of National Intelligence said that areas including South Asia, the Middle East and North Africa will face major challenges in coping with water problems that could hinder the ability to produce food and generate energy.
Twelve people have died of swine flu in India since the beginning of March, the country's health ministry says according to BBC News. Half of the deaths have been reported from the western state of Maharashtra. Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka have also reported deaths.
Nearly 130 others have been infected with the virus, and many of them admitted to hospitals. The cause of the sudden outbreak is not clear. The virus killed more than 450 Indians when it first emerged in 2009.
Schmallenberg virus (SBV) infection has been identified on 223 farms. Twenty of the positive cases have been diagnosed in cattle, 203 in sheep, and none to date in other species such as goats, camelids or deer. The numbers continue to rise with this devastating diseas.
The Telegraph reports that a study has shown that the first antibiotic to be licenced for the treatment of C.difficile in over 50 years, called Fidaxomicin, can reduce the relapse rate. Results, published in The Lancet, show only 13 per cent of patients treated with Fidaxomicin had a recurrent infection within 28 days. More than a quarter (27 per cent) treated with vancomycin developed one.
Schmallenberg virus (SBV) infection has now been identified on 190 farms. Fourteen of the positive cases have been diagnosed in cattle, 176 in sheep, and none to date in other species such as goats, camelids or deer. Currently, SBV infection has only been identified in areas predicted to be at risk of midge incursion from Northern Europe during summer / autumn 2011. It is likely that domestic midges have transmitted SBV within the affected areas.
I remember the incident in 1986 thinking about the cloud of radiation going over the UK and twenty six years later the Board of the Food Standards Agency has agreed to the lifting of the last of the ‘Mark and Release’ monitoring controls on sheep introduced in 1986 as a result of the Chernobyl nuclear accident.
Out of the 9,800 UK holdings, and more than 4 million sheep originally placed under restriction following the accident in 1986, there are only 327 farms in North Wales and 8 farms in Cumbria, England, still remaining under some form of restriction. All 'Mark and Release' controls were lifted in Northern Ireland in 2000 and in Scotland in 2010.
FAO Media Centre reports that the yearbook, the foremost collection and reference point for statistical data on food and agriculture, provides a snapshot of related economic, environmental and social trends and issues. It breaks down a myriad of numbers gathered from around the world into four broad thematic categories: the state of the agricultural resource base; hunger dimensions; feeding the world; and sustainability.
BBC News reports that poverty in India has dropped sharply between 2004 and 2009.
"From 2004-2005 to 2009-2010, the rate fell from 37.2% to 29.8%, which means around 360 million people currently live in poverty. Rural poverty has declined faster than urban poverty during this period. The Planning Commission said the main reason for the reduction in poverty was the government's increased spending on rural welfare programmes".
However the picture is mixed and different metrics give a range of statistics. I guess it depends how you define "poverty".