text:
[JURIST] Iranian-American scholar Dr. Haleh Esfandiari [WWC profile], currently detained by the Iranian government, is being denied access to counsel, according to her lawyer, 2003 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi [BBC profile]. Esfandiari, director of the Middle East Program at the DC-based Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars [think tank website], was formally charged last month [JURIST report] with plotting to overthrow the Iranian government by organizing a network "against the sovereignty of the country." Iranian state newspaper the Kayhan has accused Esfandiari [JURIST report] of acting in concert with the United States and Israel to topple the Iranian government.Ebadi said the Tehran Revolutionary Court told her Monday that Esfandiari was not in need of counsel and denied her access into the building. Ebadi told the Iranian Labour News Agency [official website] that the judiciary officials were ignoring the law and depriving Esfandiari of her civil rights. The US State Department has called for the release [transcript] of Esfandiari and several other Iranian-Americans held by the Iranian government, saying that they do not pose a threat to the Iran regime. Reuters has more.
[JURIST] The US Senate voted 53-38 [roll call] Monday on a cloture motion [Senate backgrounder] limiting debate on a joint resolution expressing its lack of confidence [JURIST report] in Attorney General Alberto Gonzales [JURIST news archive], effectively stopping the resolution from coming to a floor vote. The motion fell seven votes short of the 60 necessary to pass it and presumably adopt the much anticipated non-binding no-confidence resolution against Gonzales, who some had anticipated would resign before the Senate debate [JURIST report]. Despite harsh criticism from both Democratic and Republican lawmakers, Gonzales has steadfastly resisted calls for resignation and President Bush has repeatedly declared his support [JURIST report] for the beleaguered Attorney General. Congress does not have the power to force Gonzales from his post unless it votes to impeach him; the no-confidence vote was an attempt by lawmakers to nudge his resignation in the wake of longstanding controversy surrounding the allegedly-political firings of eight US Attorneys, as well as questions about his conduct as White House counsel [JURIST report] in the NSA domestic surveillance program. White House spokesman Tony Fratto has said that administration considers the no-confidence debate a political stunt [JURIST reports]. AP has more.
[JURIST] Thailand's Assets Examination Committee (AEC) ordered the assets of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] and his wife frozen on Monday, saying the $1.6 billion dollars should not be touched until a court determines if the money was legally obtained. Thaksin, who made his fortune after founding what is now the Shin Corporation [corporate website; Wikipedia backgrounder] in 1983, is estimated to be worth in excess of $2 billion, but much of that money is in accounts belonging to members of his extended family. Many of the funds now frozen were obtained following last year's $1.9 billion sale of the company. The AEC also froze all accounts held by Thaksin in Bangkok. The AEC has been investigating Thaksin and his family for allegations of corruption [JURIST report] and tax evasion.The Royal Thai Army [official website] seized power from Thaksin in a bloodless military coup [JURIST report] in September while Thaksin was out of the country. The new government has struggled to find evidence [JURIST report] of Thaksin's alleged corruption prior to the coup, but the AEC recommended charges which were ultimately brought [JURIST reports] against Thaksin's wife and other members of his extended family for failure to pay taxes on stock sales. Thaksin himself remains in exile. AP has more.
[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website; JURIST news archive] granted certiorari Monday in three cases [order list, PDF] to be heard next term, two of which deal with federal sentencing guidelines. In Kimbrough v. US (06-6330) [docket] the court will decide an appeal of a Fourth Circuit case stemming from a district judge refusing to order a higher sentencing range because the defendant was dealing both crack and powder cocaine. The Fourth Circuit vacated Kimbrough's lesser sentence [opinion, PDF] and remanded for resentencing. AP has more on Kimbrough. In Gall v. US (06-7949) [docket], the court will deal with another circuit court order resentencing of a defendant who was sentenced below guidelines. The Eighth Circuit ruled that it was unreasonable for an drug dealer selling MDMA, or ecstasy, to be sentenced below the guideline amount [opinion, PDF] without any special circumstances in the case. Finally in Sprint/United Management v. Mendelsohn (06-1221) [docket] the court will determine if testimony can be allowed in federal age discrimination cases from workers who suffered job bias but were not parties to the case. The Tenth Circuit ruled that Ellen Mendelsohn was deprived of a full opportunity [opinion, PDF] to present her Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) [29 USC 621-634 text] case to the jury when the trial court excluded evidence from other former Sprint employees. AP has more on Mendelsohn. SCOTUSblog has additional coverage.
[JURIST] Egyptian police reportedly prevented voters from entering polling stations and arrested approximately 100 members from the banned opposition Muslim Brotherhood [party website; FAS backgrounder] Monday as Egypt held elections for the Shura Council [Wikipedia backgrounder], the upper house of the Egyptian parliament. Some voters also reported the government pressured them to cast ballots for the National Democratic Party (NDP) [official website], which is headed President Hosny Mubarak [official profile]. Eighty-eight seats on the 265-member Council are open in the direct elections this year. One hundred seventy-six representatives are chosen by direct elections and another 88 representatives are appointed by Mubarak. The Muslim Brotherhood is fielding 19 candidates, who run as "independents" because of the Muslim Brotherhood's banned status.Egyptian police are estimated to hold over 800 Muslim Brotherhood members [JURIST report] in custody. The Brotherhood says that the government is trying to disrupt its campaign to elect members into the Shura Council, while the Egyptian government accuses the organization of trying to create an Islamic theocracy through violence. Last Monday, a military trial of 40 senior members of the Brotherhood resumed [JURIST report] despite criticism from Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website]. The 40 defendants were initially acquitted of all charges in January in a civilian criminal court, but were rearrested shortly following their release. AP has more.
[JURIST] The Supreme Court of Georgia [official website] Monday dismissed a challenge to Georgia's voter ID law [text; JURIST news archive], finding that the plaintiff lacked standing to mount the challenge [opinion, PDF; summary (pg. 4), PDF], without addressing the law itself. The court said that the plaintiff, as a first time Georgia voter, was entitled to use a non-photo ID, such as a copy of a paycheck or utility bill, at the time of filing the case. The court rejected her attempt to amend her complaint when her status later changed, saying that because the original complaint had an incurable jurisdictional defect, "there is no viable document to amend." The court additionally noted that she did have a qualifying government photo ID regardless, in the form of a MARTA [official website] transit pass, and therefore could not be harmed by the voter ID law.In September, State Superior Court Judge T. Jackson Bedford Jr. held that the controversial law was not required under the Georgia constitution [text, PDF] and would disenfranchise otherwise qualified voters [JURIST report], who generally have no use for a state-issued ID [GA Department of Driver Services information]. The law was passed by a Republican majority [JURIST report] in the Georgia legislature, who say it will fight voter fraud. Those against the law say it will likely have a negative impact on the turnout of poor, elderly and minority voters, who statistics show are less likely to have driver's licenses. A federal challenge [JURIST report] to the law is still pending. AP has more.
[JURIST] The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) [advocacy website] Monday accused [press release, PDF] the Zimbabwean government of "interfering with the proper functioning of the administration of justice, the role of lawyers and their independence," following a five-day mission in which the rights group found instances in which lawyers representing dissidents were repeatedly harassed, subjected to detention, or beaten by police. The ICJ also cited an incident in which a lawyer representing the Attorney-General of Zimbabwe [JURIST news archive] was physically assaulted by police as an example of the erosion to the rule of law, which the ICJ attributes to the government's failure to hold police responsible for "repeatedly and blatantly [ignoring] court orders." In May, Zimbabwean police refused to comply with a High Court ruling [JURIST report] requiring police officials to vacate a farm seized by police in March, and responded by ordering more police on to the property. In March, opposition leader and presidential hopeful Morgan Tsvangirai [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] was arrested and beaten [JURIST reports] while under police custody. Police officials have routinely ignored court orders and critics have alleged that Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe [BBC profile] has given tacit approval to their actions. South Africa's Mail & Guardian has more.
[JURIST] Yahoo! Inc. [corporate website] condemned the persecution of individuals for political expression in China Monday, saying it has informed the Chinese government of its position but reiterating that Yahoo! must comply with Chinese law if it is to do business in China. Yahoo! is currently facing legal challenges alleging it aided and abetted human rights violations [JURIST report] committed by the Chinese government by providing Chinese officials with information, including e-mail records and user ID numbers, that helped them to identify pro-democracy activists. The suits, filed by the World Organization for Human Rights USA [advocacy website] on behalf of imprisoned internet activists Wang Xiaoning [Wikipedia profile], Wang's wife Yu Ling, and journalist Shi Tao [Wikipedia profile] in the US District Court for the Northern District of California, rely on the Torture Victim Protection Act and the Alien Tort Statute [texts]. A 2006 Amnesty International report criticized [JURIST report] Yahoo! and other Internet companies for so-called "Internet oppression," alleging that they have been complicit in efforts by the Chinese government to silence government critics in violation of stated corporate policies. Amnesty urged the companies to petition the Chinese government for the release of "cyber-dissidents." AP has more.
[JURIST] A US federal appeals court ruled [PDF text] Monday that the military cannot seize and imprison civilians lawfully residing in the United States and detain them as "enemy combatants." The US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit [official website] rejected the government's contention that the president was authorized to order the military seizure of Illinois resident and Qatari native Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri [Brennan Center case materials] from civilian custody, and hold him indefinitely in a military jail without charge as an "enemy combatant" [JURIST news archive]. The court ruled that the Defense Department must release al-Marri from military custody within a reasonable amount of time, perhaps transferring him back to civilian authorities, or initiating deportation proceedings, just so long as military detention ceases.The Justice Department argued that the federal courts lacked jurisdiction [JURIST report] over al-Marri's claims under the Military Commissions Act of 2006 [PDF text; JURIST news archive], but the Court rejected that argument:
We hold that the new statute does not apply to al-Marri, and so we retain jurisdiction to consider his petition. Furthermore, we conclude that we must grant al-Marri habeas relief. Even assuming the truth of the Government's allegations, the President lacks power to order the military to seize and indefinitely detain al-Marri. If the Government accurately describes al-Marri's conduct, he has committed grave crimes. But we have found no authority for holding that the evidence offered by the Government affords a basis for treating al-Marri as an enemy combatant, or as anything other than a civilian.This does not mean that al-Marri must be set free. Like others accused of terrorist activity in this country, from the Oklahoma City bombers to the surviving conspirator of the September 11th attacks, al-Marri can be returned to civilian prosecutors, tried on criminal charges, and, if convicted, punished severely. But the Government cannot subject al-Marri to indefinite military detention. For in the United States, the military cannot seize and imprison civilians -- let alone imprison them indefinitely.
[JURIST] The government of Pakistan has prepared a new complaint against suspended Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry [official website; JURIST news archive], Pakistan Minister of Law, Justice & Human Rights Muhammad Wasi Zafar [official profile] said Sunday. Zafar added that the new document will be filed at an "appropriate time," although he refused to provide details on the new charges. Last Thursday, three intelligence directors under Musharraf's government accused the suspended chief justice of wanting to head an interim government [JURIST report] and spying on fellow judges. The Supreme Court of Pakistan [official website] is expected to rule this week on whether it has jurisdiction [JURIST report] over the legal disputes involving Chaudhry's March 9 suspension [JURIST report] for alleged abuses of office after postponing a decision last Friday [JURIST report]. Legal observers say that the delay may have reflected internal disagreements amongst the thirteen justices that sit on the bench. Reuters has more. AFP has additional coverage.
[JURIST] Former US Secretary of State Colin Powell [official profile] said Sunday that he favors the immediate closure [transcript] of all detention facilities at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive], adding that he would also "get rid" of the framework created by the Military Commissions Act of 2006 (MCA) [PDF text] and instead prosecute terrorist suspects under existing federal law or military courts. In an appearance on NBC's "Meet The Press," Powell also criticized the denial of habeas corpus rights. Powell said:
And if it was up to me, I would close Guantanamo not tomorrow, but this afternoon. I'd close it. And I would not let any of those people go. I would simply move them to the United States and put them into our federal legal system. The concern was, "Well, then they'll have access to lawyers, then they'll have access to writs of habeas corpus." So what? Let them. Isn't that what our system's all about? And, by the way, America, unfortunately, has two million people in jail all of whom had lawyers and access to writs of habeas corpus. And so we can handle bad people in our system. And so I would get rid of Guantanamo and I'd get rid of the military commission system and use established procedures in federal law or in the manual for courts-martial. I would do that because I think it's a more equitable way to do it and it's more understandable in constitutional terms. I would alwaysI would also do it because every morning I pick up a paper and some authoritarian figure, some person somewhere is using Guantanamo to hide their own misdeeds. And so, essentially, we have shaken the belief that the world had in America's justice system by keeping a place like Guantanamo open and creating things like the military commission. We don't need it, and it's causing us far damage than any good we get for it. But, remember what I started in this discussion saying, "Don't let any of them go." Put them into a different system, a system that is experienced, that knows how to handle people like this.
[JURIST] At least one-third of the 37 immigration judges appointed by the Justice Department since 2004 are highly-connected Republicans or Bush administration insiders and half of those appointed lacked prior experience in immigration law, the Washington Post reported Monday. Immigration judges, who sit alone on cases, annually deport approximately 250,000 people from the United States. The Washington Post's review of DOJ appointments indicate political ties have played an increasingly important role in the selection of immigration judges, but DOJ spokesperson Dean Boyd told the Washington Post that political considerations may not be used in the employment decisions of civil service employees. The allegations come amid an ongoing internal investigation [JURIST report] by the DOJ's Inspector General and Office of Professional Responsibility [official website] into whether department aides illegally made hiring decisions based on considerations of applicants' political activities and connections. Last month, former DOJ aide Monica Goodling [JURIST news archive] testified before the House Judiciary Committee that she considered applicants based upon their politics, a violation of federal law.The immigration court system was criticized recently by a study [materials] published in the Stanford Law Review that found the courts were inconsistent in granting asylum to applicants [JURIST report]. The SLR study echoes another report [materials] conducted by Syracuse University, which found widespread complaints from lawyers, federal appeals court judges, and other immigration legal professionals concerning numerous instances of failures by immigration judges to provide a "fair, expeditious, and uniform application of the nation's immigration laws in all cases." The Washington Post has more.
[JURIST] Lebanon's Supreme Judicial Council convened Monday to discuss the nomination of 12 Lebanese judges to be considered by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for appointment to the Special Tribunal for Lebanon [UN materials], established under UN Security Council Resolution 1757 [PDF text; JURIST report] to investigate and try suspects in the February 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri [JURIST news archive]. The tribunal will include four Lebanese judges, one of whom will serve in the trial chamber with two international judges, two in the appellate chamber with three international judges, and a single judge will be reserved as an alternate. Ban will select the four Lebanese judges from the list submitted by the Supreme Judicial Council, which is normally responsible for judicial appointments, disciplinary actions, and other personnel decisions. Other details surrounding the tribunal, including where the court will be located and where suspects will be detained, remain unresolved. Lebanese National Assembly speaker Nabih Berri [official profile] has criticized [JURIST report] the Security Council's unilateral establishment of the Hariri tribunal as an infringement of Lebanese sovereignty and an impediment of the reconciliation process in Lebanon [JURIST news archive]. The resolution circumvented the Lebanese National Assembly at the request [JURIST report] of Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora [BBC profile] after Siniora said that "all possible means" to ratify a UN tribunal proposal [JURIST report] in the National Assembly had failed. The controversial proposal, also opposed [JURIST comment] by pro-Syrian Lebanese President Emile Lahoud [official profile], has been a source of major disagreement in Lebanon's deeply sectarian political arena. The Lebanese cabinet approved a draft plan [JURIST report] for the tribunal last November despite the resignation of all pro-Syrian cabinet members from the militant Hezbollah and Amal Movement [party website, in Arabic]. Reports from a UN commission probing Hariri's death have implicated Syrian officials in the assassination [JURIST report] and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has said that Syria will reject [JURIST report] "any cooperation requested from Syria that compromises national sovereignty." From Lebanon, the Daily Star has more.
[JURIST] South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun [BBC profile] criticized South Korea's election laws Sunday, saying that the country's political system with a single five-year presidential term was "underdeveloped" and should be reformed. Roh also criticized the country's political neutrality laws and rejected last Thursday's ruling by the National Election Commission [official website, in Korean] that Roh violated the neutrality laws [AFP report] by repeating criticism of the opposition Grand National Party (GNP) [official website, in Korea]. Roh was impeached in March 2004 by the National Assembly of South Korea for violating election neutrality laws and the Commission found last week that he violated the same law for openly criticizing the GNP and its presidential hopefuls. South Korea's next presidential election is slated for December 19, 2007.In May 2004, the Constitutional Court of South Korea [official website, in Korean] overturned the National Assembly's impeachment and reinstated Roh [JURIST report] despite finding Roh to have violated the election laws. The high court found that the violation was insufficient to warrant impeachment. Current South Korean election laws requires government officials to maintain neutrality before national elections. The Korea Times has more.
[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website; JURIST news archive] handed down decisions in five cases Monday, including Watson v. Philip Morris [Duke Law case backgrounder], where the Court held that a lawsuit against the tobacco company could not be removed from state to federal court solely based on an argument that the tobacco industry is regulated by the Federal Trade Commission. Philip Morris was sued in an Arkansas court for alleged violations of the Arkansas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, and the company sought to have the case heard in federal court instead. Both the federal district court and the US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit allowed the removal [8th Circ. decision] under 28 USC 1442(a)(1) [text], which allows a defendant to remove a case to federal court when the lawsuit is based on actions taken under direction of a federal officer. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that "the fact that a federal regulatory agency directs, supervises, and monitors a company's activities in considerable detail" does not permit removal under the federal officer removal statute. Read the Court's unanimous opinion [text] per Justice Breyer.In Long Island Care at Home v. Coke [Duke Law case backgrounder; JURIST report], the Court upheld a 30-year-old Department of Labor regulation [29 CFR 552.109(a) text] that eliminates overtime for home health care workers providing "companionship services" employed by outside agencies and not directly by families. The DOL regulation creates an exemption to the general requirement under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) [PDF text] that overtime workers be paid "time and a half" compensation. Evelyn Coke sued her former employer seeking compensation for more than 20 years of overtime, and the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit struck down the regulation [opinion, PDF] in 2004, finding it violated congressional intent for the FLSA to provide overtime compensation to employees. The Supreme Court reversed, saying the regulation is "valid and binding." Read the Court's unanimous opinion [text] per Justice Breyer.In United States v. Atlantic Research Corp. [Duke Law case backgrounder], the Court held that a party potentially liable under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) [text] for cleaning up areas contaminated by hazardous materials may sue under Section 107(a) [42 USC 9607 text] of the Act for contribution from other parties. Atlantic voluntarily cleaned up contamination caused by the company's work retrofitting rocket motors for the US government and later sought to recover some of its costs from the government. The US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit ruled [PDF text] that the company could pursue its lawsuit under Section 107(a), even if it was barred from bringing an action for contribution under Section 113(f) [42 USC 9613 text] of the law because the clean-up was not compelled by a CERCLA enforcement action. The Supreme Court affirmed the federal appeals court ruling. Read the Court's unanimous opinion [text] per Justice Thomas.In Beck v. PACE International Union [Duke Law case backgrounder; JURIST report], the Court held that Crown Vantage, Inc., a pension plan sponsor, did not breach its fiduciary duties by failing to consider a termination plan advocated by PACE International Union when Crown filed for bankruptcy. PACE proposed that Crown terminate pension plans by merging them with PACE's multiemployer plan, but Crown's directors instead opted for a standard termination by purchasing annuities. The Supreme Court reversed the Ninth Circuit's decision [PDF text] in the case, ruling that Crown did not breach fiduciary duties under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) [text] by not considering PACE's merger proposal because "merger is not a permissible method of terminating a single-employer defined-benefit pension plan" under ERISA. Read the Court's unanimous opinion [text] per Justice Scalia. Finally, in Fry v. Plilar [Duke Law case backgrounder; JURIST report], the Court held that a federal court must apply the "substantial and injurious effect" standard of Brecht v. Abrahamson [opinion] in a federal habeas proceeding when examining the prejudicial impact of constitutional error in a state court criminal trial. The Supreme Court affirmed the Ninth Circuit's decision [PDF text], ruling that federal courts must apply the Brecht standard whether or not a state appellate court recognized that there was a constitutional error and reviewed it under the "harmless beyond a reasonable doubt" standard found in Chapman v. California [opinion]. Read the Court's opinion [text] per Justice Scalia, along with a concurrence and dissent in part [text] from Justice Stevens and a second concurrence and dissent in part [text] from Justice Breyer.
[JURIST] A European Union human rights team expressed the EU's "deep concern" at the state of human rights in Bangladesh [JURIST news archive] under President Iajuddin Ahmed's interim government at the conclusion of a visit to the country Saturday, flagging reports of extra-judicial killings, torture and intimidation alleged to have taken place as part of the government's "anti-corruption campaign" [JURIST news archive]. The 10-member team headed by ambassador Andreas Michaelis urged the interim government, established in January following a declaration of a state of emergency [JURIST report], to proceed with the establishment of a promised human rights commission [JURIST report] and hold postponed elections as soon as possible.The interim military-backed government has promised to hold new elections, but no date has yet been set. Its "anti-corruption campaign" has so far involved the questioning and detention of at least 60 parliamentarians and former government ministers. AFP has more.
[JURIST] Egypt's Supreme Administrative Court ruled Saturday against an American University of Cairo (AUC) [official website] ban on women wearing the Muslim niqab [BBC backgrounder; JURIST news archive] on campus, finding that the private university could not require a plaintiff student to unveil her face because it was her constitutional right under Egyptian law to practice her religion. The court nonetheless said it would allow a mandatory identity check of veiled women by guards. AUC had enforced a complete ban by requiring students to check in their niqabs before being granted entry to the university for "security" reasons. AUC had allowed female students to wear the Muslim hijab [JURIST news archive], a headscarf leaving the face visible. The petitioner, Iman Taha al-Zainy, a doctoral student, filed a legal challenge to the AUC's policy after being denied entry to the library in 2001 because she refused to remove her niqab. Al-Zainy won a lower court ruling, which the AUC appealed. BBC News has more. AFP has additional coverage.
[JURIST] The lower house of the parliament of Rwanda [government website; JURIST news archive] voted Friday to abolish the death penalty [JURIST news archive] effective July 1, with the hope that the measure will prompt other countries to extradite defendants facing trial for the 1994 Rwandan genocide [BBC backgrounder; JURIST news archive] back to Rwanda. Although the final vote was 45-5, 30 members of the assembly were absent. The measure will commute death sentences to life in prison for 600-800 convicts who participated in the genocide. The Rwandan genocide saw almost a million people murdered over a time span of 100 days. Many countries, including Tanzania, the current site of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) [official website], would not extradite suspects back to Rwanda while the country retains the death penalty. Friday's parliament vote had the expected outcome, as Rwanda's ruling party approved abolition [JURIST report] of the death penalty in October and its cabinet did the same [JURIST report] in January. Reuters has more. BBC News has additional coverage.
[JURIST] The Zimbabwean government has published proposed amendments to the Constitution of Zimbabwe [PDF text] that would allow the simultaneous election of the president and both houses of legislature, reforms that critics allege to be an attempt by Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe [BBC profile] to weaken the opposition. The proposed amendments would end the existing assembly's term two years early in 2008, reduce the president's term from six years to five, and increase the number of legislators in the House of Assembly from 150 to 210 and the Senate from 66 to 84. In addition, the number of House of Assembly members appointed by the president would decrease from 30 to 10, but the number of senators appointed by the president would go from 16 to 34. The government also proposed Saturday the creation of a "Human Rights Commission," which will consist of 16 members appointed by Mugabe and the parliament, which Mugabe's party, the Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) currently controls. Critics believe that the proposed amendments are the latest efforts by Mugabe to weaken the opposition amid rising discontent with the government. Mugabe, who implemented a controversial white-owned farm seizure program, has been blamed for causing a nation-wide famine and the inflation of over 976.4 percent [CIA backgrounder] as previously productive farms have become barren under inexperienced owners. In May, the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE) [advocacy website] urged [JURIST report] the International Criminal Court [official website] to prosecute Mugabe for his role in Operation Murambatsvina [UN report, PDF], a coordinated effort by the government to remove unlicensed sellers and non-zoned homes from the streets of Harare in 2005. AFP has more.
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text:
SECTION 3. Meetings There shall be a meeting of the Board on the first and third Thursdays of each calendar month, at such hour as the Board may order. In each calendar month in which there are five Thursdays, there shall also be a meeting on the fifth Thursday at such hour as the Board may order. If a day upon which a meeting is to be held is a holiday, such meeting shall be held upon the preceding business day unless otherwise ordered by the Board. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this section, the Board shall meet as often as necessary to establish the primary credit rate as required in Section 14 of the Federal Reserve Act.
Meetings of the Board may be held in-person, or by means of conference call, video conference, or such other means that allow for each participant to hear and be heard by each other participant at the same time, and any business may be transacted at such a meeting that could have been transacted at any other meeting of the Board. The business conducted at any meeting held primarily by means of a conference call or video conference shall normally be limited to the establishment of the Bank's primary credit rate, but such other business may be transacted as the Board deems appropriate. Following at least one in-bank meeting of the Board each year, there shall be an executive session of the Board attended only by Directors and excluding all Bank officers and employees. The Chair or Deputy Chair of the Board may call a special meeting at any time and determine the time and manner of holding such meeting, and the Chair or Deputy Chair shall do so upon the request of any three Directors, or of the President, or of the First Vice President in the absence or disability of the President. In the absence or disability of both the Chair and the Deputy Chair, the President, or in the President's absence or disability the First Vice President, may call a special meeting at any time and determine the time and manner of holding such meeting.
The Executive Committee or the Board shall have power to fix the time and manner of holding regular or special meetings of the Executive Committee and the method of giving notice thereof. Unless otherwise prescribed, meetings of the Executive Committee may be called and held in the same manner and upon the same notice as provided in Section 3 of Article I of these Bylaws with respect to meetings of the Board of Directors. If a quorum of the members of the Board is not present at a meeting of the Board, and if a majority of the members of the Board present at such meeting so request, the Executive Committee shall meet immediately upon the adjournment of such meeting of the Board, and no notice of such meeting of the Executive Committee shall be required.
Minutes of all meetings of the Executive Committee shall be submitted to the Board at its next meeting. Such minutes, or a digest thereof, shall be read to the meeting if requested by any member of the Board.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
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Thread Tools |
October 3rd, 2012, 12:27 PM | #1 |
Got rocks?
Lowrider Ranger to "Prerunner" Ranger
I bought a 99 short bed regular cab 2wd Ford Ranger to drive back and forth to work so my TJ can go back to toy status. It's a lowrider, I have always wanted one, it's super cute, however it rides like complete feces.
My thought was that I would throw a 2wd Cherokee beam under the front, off the shelf Cherokee long arms - fab some mounts, track bar mount, coil/shock mounts, etc. Also throw some flexy leaves in the back. I'd still drive it back and forth to work but also be dual purpose where I could throw on some paddles on it and go to the dunes. As I am doing some research earlier today, it appears as if this bad boy has rack and pinion steering... Does this put a kabosh in my thoughts? Can a regular steering box be fabbed in?(i.e. compatible with the steering column) Any ideas, thoughts, questions, comments, concerns?
I heart Jeeps |
October 3rd, 2012, 01:56 PM | #3 |
Got rocks?
So I completely forgot about the ranger station. The one build I have seen so far a guy took a steering box from an FJ60 and mounted it on the outisde of the frame.
I heart Jeeps |
October 4th, 2012, 06:21 AM | #4 |
November 14th, 2012, 01:03 AM | #7 |
Senior Member
Last edited by gear_grinder; November 14th, 2012 at 01:08 AM. |
Thread Tools | |


text:
Poliomyelitis eradication
The global eradication of poliomyelitis is a public health effort to eliminate all cases of poliomyelitis (polio) infection around the world. The global effort, begun in 1988 and led by the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF and the Rotary Foundation, has reduced the number of annual diagnosed cases from the hundreds of thousands to 291 in 2012—a 99.9% reduction. Of the three types of polio, the last recorded wild case of type 2 was in 1999. The last recorded case of type 3 was on 11 November 2012. All reported cases since 11 November 2012 have been of type 1. If polio is the next disease to be successfully eradicated, this will represent only the third time this has ever been achieved, after smallpox[1] and rinderpest.[2] The goal of eradicating worldwide polio has attracted international and media attention, but since 2001 progress has been erratic in reducing the number of cases, which has led to getting rid of the last 1% being described as "like trying to squeeze Jell-O to death".[3] However, in 2011 incidence rates of the disease were dramatically reduced, and with large reduction again in 2012, hopes for eliminating polio have been rekindled. India is the latest country to successfully stop transmission of polio.[4]
Factors influencing eradication of polio[edit]
Eradication of polio has been defined in various ways—as elimination of the occurrence of poliomyelitis even in the absence of human intervention,[5] as extinction of poliovirus, such that the infectious agent no longer exists in nature or in the laboratory,[6] as control of an infection to the point at which transmission of the disease ceased within a specified area,[5] and as reduction of the worldwide incidence of poliomyelitis to zero as a result of deliberate efforts, and requiring no further control measures.[7]
In theory, if the right tools were available, it would be possible to eradicate all infectious diseases that reside only in a human host. In reality there are distinct biological features of the organisms and technical factors of dealing with them that make their potential eradicability more or less likely.[8] Three indicators, however, are considered of primary importance in determining the likelihood of successful eradication: that effective interventional tools are available to interrupt transmission of the agent, such as a vaccine; that diagnostic tools, with sufficient sensitivity and specificity, be available to detect infections that can lead to transmission of the disease; and that humans are required for the life-cycle of the agent, which has no other vertebrate reservoir and cannot amplify in the environment.
The most important step in eradication of polio is interruption of endemic transmission of poliovirus. Stopping polio transmission has been pursued through a combination of routine immunization, supplementary immunization campaigns and surveillance of possible outbreaks. The four key strategies outlined by the World Health Organization for stopping polio transmission are:[9]
- High infant immunization coverage with four doses of oral polio vaccine (OPV) in the first year of life in developing and endemic countries, and routine immunization with OPV and/or IPV elsewhere.
- Organization of "National immunization days" to provide supplementary doses of oral polio vaccine to all children less than five years of age.
- Active surveillance for wild poliovirus through reporting and laboratory testing of all cases of acute flaccid paralysis[10] among children less than fifteen years of age.
- Targeted "mop-up" campaigns once wild poliovirus transmission is limited to a specific focal area.
Oral polio vaccine is highly effective and inexpensive (about US$0.10 per dose, or US$0.30 per child[11]) and its availability has bolstered efforts to eradicate polio. A study carried out in an isolated Eskimo village showed that antibodies produced from subclinical wild virus infection persisted for at least 40 years.[12] Because the immune response to oral polio vaccine is very similar to natural polio infection, it is expected that oral polio vaccination provides similar lifelong immunity to the virus.[13][14]
Contact immunity to polio can occur when attenuated poliovirus derived from the oral polio vaccine is excreted, and infects and indirectly vaccinates unvaccinated individuals.[15]
Herd immunity[edit]
Polio vaccination is also important in the development of herd immunity.[16] For polio to occur in a population, there needs to be an infecting organism (poliovirus), a susceptible human population, and a cycle of transmission. Poliovirus is transmitted only through person-to-person contact and the transmission cycle of polio is from one infected person to another person susceptible to the disease, and so on.[15] If the vast majority of the population is immune to a particular agent, the ability of that pathogen to infect another host is reduced; the cycle of transmission is interrupted, and the pathogen cannot reproduce and dies out. This concept, called community immunity or herd immunity, is important to disease eradication, because it means that it is not necessary to inoculate 100% of the population—a goal that is often logistically very difficult—to achieve the desired result. If the number of susceptible individuals can be reduced to a sufficiently small number through vaccination, then the pathogen will eventually die off.
When many hosts are vaccinated, especially simultaneously, the transmission of wild virus is blocked, and the virus is unable to find another susceptible individual to infect. Because poliovirus can only survive for a short time in the environment (a few weeks at room temperature, and a few months at 0–8 °C (32–46 °F)) without a human host the virus dies out.[17]
Herd immunity is an important supplement to vaccination. Among those individuals who receive oral polio vaccine, only 95 percent will develop immunity.[18] That means five of every 100 given the vaccine will not develop any immunity and will be susceptible to developing polio. According to the concepts of herd immunity this population whom the vaccine fails, are still protected by the immunity of those around them. Herd immunity can only be achieved when vaccination levels are high.[16] It is estimated that 80–86 percent of individuals in a population must be immune to polio for the susceptible individuals to be protected by herd immunity.[16] If routine immunization were stopped, the number of unvaccinated, susceptible individuals would soon exceed the capability of herd immunity to protect them.[19]
Among the greatest obstacles to global polio eradication are the lack of basic health infrastructure, which limits vaccine distribution and delivery, the crippling effects of civil war and internal strife, and the sometimes oppositional stance that marginalized communities take against what is perceived as a vertical (top down) intervention. Another challenge has been maintaining the potency of live (attenuated) vaccines in extremely hot or remote areas. The oral polio vaccine must be kept at 2 to 8 °C (36 to 46 °F) for vaccination to be successful.[13]
An independent evaluation of obstacles to polio eradication requested by the WHO and conducted in 2009 considered the major obstacles in detail by country. In Afghanistan and Pakistan, they concluded that the most significant barrier was insecurity; but that managing human resources, political pressures, the movement of large populations between and within both countries, inadequately resourced health facilities, also posed problems, as well as technical issues with the vaccine. In India, the major challenge appeared to be the high efficiency of transmission within the populations of Bihar district and Uttar Pradesh, set against the low (~80% after three doses against type 1) seroconversion response seen from the vaccine. In Nigeria, meanwhile, the most critical barriers identified were management issues, in particular the highly variable importance ascribed to polio by different authorities at the local government level, although funding issues, community perceptions of vaccine safety, inadequate mobilisation of community groups, and issues with the cold chain also played a role. Finally, in those countries where international spread from endemic countries had resulted in transmission becoming re-established—namely Angola, Chad, and South Sudan, the key issues identified were underdeveloped health systems and low routine vaccine coverage, although low resources committed to Angola and South Sudan for the purpose of curtailing the spread of polio and climatic factors were also identified as playing a role.[20]
Two additional challenges are found in unobserved polio transmission and in vaccine-derived poliovirus. In 99% of infections, polio is a mild condition that causes very few symptoms[21] and most infected people are unaware that they carry the disease, allowing polio to spread widely before cases are seen.[22] And since 2000, there have been a number of outbreaks of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus, following mutations or recombinations in the attenuated strain used for the oral polio vaccine, which have raised the necessity of eventually switching to the more expensive inactivated polio vaccine.[23]
In a 2012 interview with Pakistani newspaper Dawn, Dr. Hussain A. Gezari, WHO's special envoy on global polio eradication and primary healthcare, gave his views on obstacles to eradication. He said the biggest hurdle in making Pakistan polio-free was holding district health officials properly accountable—in national eradication campaigns officials had hired their own relatives, even young children. "How do you expect a seven-year-old thumb-sucking kid to implement a polio campaign of the government," said Dr Gezari. He added that, in spite of this, "the first national campaign was initiated by your government in 1994 and that year Pakistan reported 25,000 polio cases, and the number was just 198 last year, which clearly shows that the programme is working."[24]
Opposition and aid worker killings[edit]
One factor in the failure of polio immunization programs has been opposition by some Muslim fundamentalists.[25] This opposition has varied and is linked mostly to local political will rather than any religious orthodoxy. In Pakistan and Afghanistan, the Taliban have issued fatwas against polio vaccination.[citation needed]
After the September 11 attacks, a myth arose in Pakistan that the United States was using immunization campaigns to sterilize the local population. Health officials tried to dispel this story, but their efforts, in the opinion of Heidi Larson, writing in The Guardian, were marred by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), when it conducted a fake Hepatitis B immunization campaign in Bin Laden's residence in Bilal Town at Abbottabad with the help of Dr. Shakil Afridi.[26] The intention of the campaign was to confirm Osama bin Laden's presence in the city by obtaining DNA samples from children suspected of being his.[27] In a letter written to CIA director Leon Panetta, the InterAction Alliance, a union of about 200 U.S.-based Non-Government Organizations, deplored the actions of the CIA in using a vaccination campaign as a cover.[28] Pakistan reported the world's highest number of polio cases (198)[24][29] in 2011.[30] In early 2012, some parents refused to get their children vaccinated in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) but religious refusals in the rest of the country had "decreased manifold".[24]
Even with the express support of political leaders, polio workers have been kidnapped, beaten, and assassinated.[25]
In February 2007, physician Abdul Ghani, who was in charge of polio immunizations in a key area of disease occurrence in northern Pakistan, was killed in a terrorist bombing.[31]
In Pakistan in 2012, there was the killing of a polio worker in Gadap in October.[citation needed] In December 2012, a 3-day vaccination campaign sponsored by the United Nations agencies the World Health Organization and UNICEF in Pakistan was suspended following the murder of 9 vaccination workers.[32]
The killing of polio workers seen the previous year continued in 2013. Seven clinic workers whose duties included vaccination were killed in Swabi, Pakistan on New Year's Day. The Pakistani government began providing police and paramilitary protection to a renewed vaccination campaign,[33] but amid worries that this would inspire hostility, some escorts have been refused. Both escorting officers[34][35][36] and polio workers continue to be killed in Pakistan, where vaccination has been said to violate Islamic law.[37][38] In February a pair of similar attacks in Nigeria killed nine female polio vaccinators following a local cleric's condemnation of vaccination.[39] The security situation in Afghanistan improved in May when the Afghani Taliban announced it would support polio eradication, pledging to do nothing to hinder the campaign as long as no foreigners were involved in the vaccinations.[40] In December 2013, three polio workers were killed in northwest Pakistan and three more were killed in Karachi in January 2014.[41]
includes wild-virus and vaccine-derived cases (Current year gives cases to date for most recent update of source) |
Year | Estimated | Recorded | Countries |
1975 | — | 49,293 | |
1980 | 400,000 | 52,552 | |
1985 | — | 38,637 | |
1988 | 350,000 | 35,251 | |
1990 | — | 23,484 | |
1993 | 100,000 | 10,487 | |
1995 | — | 7,035 | |
1996 | — | 4,074[42] | |
1997 | — | 5,185[42] | |
1998 | — | 6,349[42] | |
1999 | — | 7,141[42] | |
2000 | — | 2,971[42][43] | |
2001 | — | 496[42] | 19 |
2002 | — | 1,922[42] | 10 |
2003 | — | 784[42] | 15 |
2004 | — | 1,257[42] | 19 |
2005 | — | 2,030[42] | 18 |
2006 | — | 2,022[42] | 19 |
2007 | — | 1,387[42] | 12 |
2008 | — | 1,732[42] | 19 |
2009 | — | 1,783[42] | 25 |
2010 | — | 1,413[42] | 22 |
2011 | — | 716[42] | 19 |
2012 | — | 291[42] | 9 |
2013 (26 November) | — | (404)[44] | (10) |
References:[13][45][46][47][48] |
Following the widespread use of poliovirus vaccine in the mid-1950s, the incidence of poliomyelitis declined rapidly in many industrialized countries.[18] Czechoslovakia became the first country in the world to scientifically demonstrate nationwide eradication of poliomyelitis in 1960.[49] In 1962—just one year after Sabin's oral polio vaccine (OPV) was licensed in most industrialized countries—Cuba began using the oral vaccine in a series of nationwide polio campaigns. The early success of these mass vaccination campaigns suggested that polioviruses could be globally eradicated.[50] The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), under the leadership of Ciro de Quadros, launched an initiative to eradicate polio from the Americas in 1985.[51]
Much of the work towards eradication was documented by Brazilian photographer Sebastião Salgado, as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, in the book The End of Polio: Global Effort to End a Disease.[52]
In 1988, the World Health Organization, together with Rotary International, UNICEF, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention passed the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, with the goal of eradicating polio by the year 2000. The Initiative was inspired by Rotary International's 1985 pledge to raise $120 million toward immunising all of the world's children against the disease.[51] The last case of wild poliovirus poliomyelitis in the Americas was reported in Peru, August 1991.[51]
On 20 August 1994 the Americas were certified as polio-free.[53] This achievement was a milestone in efforts to eradicate the disease.
In 1994 the Indian Government launched the Pulse Polio Campaign to eliminate polio. The current campaign involves annual vaccination of all children under age five.[54]
In 1995 Operation MECACAR (Mediterranean, Caucasus, Central Asian Republics and Russia) were launched; National Immunization Days were coordinated in 19 European and Mediterranean countries.[55] In 1998, Melik Minas of Turkey became the last case of polio reported in Europe.[56] In 1997 Mum Chanty of Cambodia became the last person to contract polio in the Indo-West Pacific region.[57] In 2000 the Western Pacific Region (including China) was certified Polio-free.[57]
In October 1999, the last isolation of type 2 poliovirus occurred in India. This type of poliovirus appears to have been eradicated.[18]
Also in October 1999, The CORE Group—with funding from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)—launched its effort to support national eradication efforts at the grassroots level. The CORE Group initiated this initiative in Bangladesh, India and Nepal in South Asia, and in Angola, Ethiopia and Uganda in Africa.[58]
By 2001, 575 million children (almost one-tenth the world's population) had received some 2 billion doses of oral polio vaccine.[45] The World Health Organization announced that Europe was polio-free on June 21, 2002, in the Copenhagen Glyptotek.[59]
In 2002, an outbreak of polio occurred in India. The number of planned polio vaccination campaigns had recently been reduced, and populations in northern India, particularly from the Islamic background, engaged in mass resistance to immunization. At this time, the Indian state Uttar Pradesh accounted for nearly two-thirds of total worldwide cases reported.[60] (See the 2002 Global polio incidence map.) However, by 2004, India had adopted strategies to increase ownership of polio vaccinations in marginalized populations, and the immunity gap in vulnerable groups rapidly closed.
In August 2003, rumors spread in some states in Nigeria, especially Kano, that the vaccine caused sterility in girls. This resulted in the suspension of immunization efforts in the state, causing a dramatic rise in polio rates in the already endemic country.[61] On June 30, 2004, the WHO announced that after a 10-month ban on polio vaccinations, Kano had pledged to restart the campaign in early July. During the ban the virus spread across Nigeria and into 12 neighboring countries that had previously been polio-free.[51] By 2006, this ban would be blamed for 1,500 children being paralyzed and had cost $450 million for emergency activities. In addition to the rumors of sterility and the ban by Nigeria's Kano state, civil war and internal strife in the Sudan and Côte d'Ivoire have complicated WHO's polio eradication goal. In 2004, almost two-thirds all the polio cases in the world occurred in Nigeria (760 out of 1,170 total).
There were 1,979 cases of wild poliovirus (excludes vaccine derived polio viruses) in 2005.[46] Most remaining polio infections were located in two areas: the Indian subcontinent and Nigeria.
Eradication efforts in the Indian sub-continent have met with a large measure of success. Using the Pulse Polio campaign to increase polio immunization rates, India recorded just 66 cases in 2005, down from 135 cases reported in 2004, 225 in 2003, and 1,600 in 2002.[47]
Yemen, Indonesia and Sudan, countries that had been declared polio-free since before 2000, each reported hundreds of cases—probably imported from Nigeria.[62] On May 5, 2005, news reports broke that a new case of polio was diagnosed in Java, Indonesia, and the virus strain was suspected to be the same as the one that has caused outbreaks in Nigeria. New public fears over vaccine safety, which were unfounded, impeded vaccination efforts in Indonesia. In summer 2005 the WHO, UNICEF and the Indonesian government made new efforts to lay the fears to rest, recruiting celebrities and religious leaders in a publicity campaign to promote vaccination.[63]
The first case of the polio outbreak in Sudan was detected in May 2004. The reemergence of polio led to stepped up vaccination campaigns. In the city of Darfur, 78,654 children were immunized and 20,432 more in southern Sudan (Yirol and Chelkou).[64]
In the United States on September 29, 2005, the Minnesota Department of Health identified the first occurrence of vaccine derived polio virus (VDPV) transmission in the United States since OPV was discontinued in 2000. The poliovirus type 1 infection occurred in an unvaccinated, immunocompromised infant girl aged 7 months (the index patient) in an Amish community whose members predominantly were not vaccinated for polio.[65]
In 2006 only four countries in the world (Nigeria, India, Pakistan and Afghanistan) were reported to have endemic poliomyelitis. Cases in other countries are attributed to importation. A total of 1,997 cases worldwide were reported in 2006; of these the majority (1,869 cases) occurred in countries with endemic polio.[46] Nigeria accounted for the majority of cases (1,122 cases) but India reported more than ten times more cases this year than in 2005 (676 cases, or 30% of worldwide cases). Pakistan and Afghanistan reported 40 and 31 cases respectively in 2006. Polio re-surfaced in Bangladesh after nearly six years of absence with 18 new cases reported. "Our country is not safe, as neighbours India and Pakistan are not polio free", declared Health Minister ASM Matiur Rahman.[66] (See: Map of reported polio cases in 2006)
In 2007 there were 1,315 cases of poliomyelitis reported worldwide.[46] Over 60% of cases (874) occurred in India; while in Nigeria, the number of polio cases fell dramatically, from 1,122 cases reported in 2006 to 285 cases in 2007. Officials credit the drop in new infections to improved political control in the southern states and resumed immunisation in the north, where Muslim clerics led a boycott of vaccination in late 2003. Local governments and clerics allowed vaccinations to resume on the condition that the vaccines be manufactured in Indonesia, a majority Muslim country, and not in the United States.[62] Turai Yar'Adua, wife of recently-elected Nigerian president Umaru Yar'Adua, made the eradication of polio one of her priorities. Attending the launch of immunization campaigns in Birnin Kebbi in July 2007, Turai Yar'Adua urged parents to vaccinate their children and stressed the safety of oral polio vaccine.[67]
In July 2007, a student traveling from Pakistan imported the first polio case to Australia in over 20 years.[68] Other countries with significant numbers of wild polio virus cases include the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which reported 41 cases, Chad with 22 cases, and Niger and Myanmar, each of which reported 11 cases.[46]
In 2008, 19 countries reported cases and the total number of cases was 1,652. Of these, 1,506 occurred in the four endemic countries and 146 elsewhere. The largest number were in Nigeria (799 cases) and India (559 cases): these two countries contributed 82.2 percent of all cases. Outside endemic countries Chad reported the greatest number (37 cases).[46]
In 2009, a total of 1,606 cases were reported in 23 countries. 1,256 of these were in the four endemic countries, with the remaining 350 in 19 sub-Saharan countries with imported cases or re-established transmission. Once again, the largest number were in India (741) and Nigeria (388).[46] All other countries had less than one hundred cases: Pakistan had 89 cases, Afghanistan 38, Chad 65, Sudan 45, Guinea 42, Angola 29, Côte d'Ivoire 26, Benin 20, Kenya 19, Niger 15, Central African Republic 14, Mauritania 13 and Sierra Leone and Liberia both had 11. The following countries had single digit numbers of cases: Burundi 2, Cameroon 3, the Democratic Republic of the Congo 3, Mali 2, Togo 6 and Uganda 8.
According to figures updated in April 2012, the World Health Organization reports that there were 1,352 cases of wild polio in 20 countries in 2010. Reported cases of polio were down 95% in Nigeria (to a historic low of 21 cases) and 94% in India (to a historic low of 42 cases) compared to the previous year, with little change in Afghanistan (from 38 to 25 cases) and an increase in cases in Pakistan (from 89 to 144 cases). 460 cases (34% of the global total) were reported from an acute outbreak in Tajikistan, which was associated with a further 18 cases across Central Asia (Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan) and the Russian Federation, with the most recent case from this region being reported from Russia the 25th September. These were the first cases in the WHO European region since 2002. 441 cases (30% of the global total) were reported from an outbreak in the Republic of Congo (Brazzaville). At least 179 deaths were associated with this outbreak, which is believed to have been an importation from the ongoing type 1 outbreak in Angola (33 cases in 2010) and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (100 cases).[46][69]
Country | Wild Cases |
Circulating Vaccine- derived Cases |
Transmission Status |
Pakistan | 198 | 0 | endemic |
Chad | 132 | 0 | re-established transmission |
Democratic Republic of the Congo |
93 | 11 | importation |
Afghanistan | 80 | 1 | endemic |
Nigeria | 62 | 34 | endemic |
Côte d'Ivoire | 36 | 0 | importation |
China | 21 | 0 | importation |
Mali | 7 | 0 | importation |
Angola | 5 | 0 | re-established transmission |
Niger | 5 | 1 | importation |
Central African Republic | 4 | 0 | importation |
Guinea | 3 | 0 | importation |
Republic of the Congo | 1 | 0 | importation |
Gabon | 1 | 0 | importation |
India | 1 | 0 | endemic |
Kenya | 1 | 0 | importation |
Yemen | 0 | 9 | circulating vaccine- derived only |
Mozambique | 0 | 1 | circulating vaccine- derived only |
Total | 650 | 57 |
In 2011, cases were reported in the four endemic countries—Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nigeria and India—as well as in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Chad, Angola, Mali, Côte d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso, the Republic of Congo (Brazzaville), Niger, and Gabon. Almost 87 percent of all cases seen this year came from five countries: Pakistan, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Afghanistan and Nigeria. In India, only 1 case of wild poliovirus was reported—a remarkable feat in a country that in many recent years has had a plurality or majority of the world's polio cases.[71]
Since the start of 2010 there had been 14 outbreaks of polio, several continuing into 2011. Amid political instability, Côte d'Ivoire reported 36 cases of type 3 polio as part of an ongoing outbreak, with type 3 cases also in neighboring Mali and Guinea. Polio transmission recurred in Angola, Chad and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Kenya reported its first case since 2009, while China reported 21 cases, mostly among the Xinjiang Uygur of Hotan prefecture, the first cases since 1994. Although the situation in Northern Nigeria improved, concerns exist about further outbreaks there because of its central location.
The situation in Pakistan is complex. The lowest number of cases reported in one year was 32 in 2007. In 2011, Pakistan reported 198 cases. The remaining focuses lie in three parts of Pakistan: Balochistan Province, Karachi and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas.[72] About 25% of children in Karachi are unvaccinated against polio; in Balochistan ~50% are unvaccinated. In contrast in Afghanistan the unvaccinated rate is ~10%. The difficulty in Pakistan appears to be a lack of trust in the health workers trying to vaccinate the children, fueled partly by the CIA using fake vaccination campaigns as a cover to gather DNA samples from Osama Bin Laden's relatives.[73]
At end of 2011 the WHO recorded a total of 650 cases worldwide.[74] 310 of these were considered to be part of outbreaks. 16 countries recorded cases. Pakistan had the greatest number (198). Six other countries recorded numbers in double digits: Chad: 132 cases; Democratic Republic of Congo: 93; Afghanistan: 80; Nigeria: 61; Cote d'Ivorie: 36; and China: 21. The remaining countries were: Mali: 7; Angola: 5; Niger: 5; Central African Republic: 4; Guinea: 3; Congo: 1; Gabon: 1; India: 1; and Kenya: 1.
- Polio free
Several countries surpassed a year since their most recent reported case of polio. Most notably, the WHO reported that on January 13, India completed its first polio-free year and is now polio-free,[75] leaving only three countries worldwide that have remained afflicted by endemic poliomyelitis. Other countries that in 2012 surpassed a year since a reported case the previous year were Gabon and Congo (January), Mali (June), Côte d'Ivoire, Angola and Kenya (July) and Guinea (August), China (October), and Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of Congo (December). All those previously-infected countries did not report a case in 2012. Reported cases were limited to five countries, Nigeria, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Chad and Niger, four of which had fewer cases compared to 2011.[76]
- Africa
Nigeria remains the only polio-endemic country in Africa. By the end of the year, the number of confirmed cases in Nigeria was 122, of which 19 were type 3, well in excess of the 62 total cases reported in 2011. 90% of these cases were reported from eight persistently endemic northern states: Borno, Jigawa, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Sokoto, Yobe and Zamfara. The situation in northern Nigeria is complicated by ongoing security concerns, which are likely to hamper the polio eradication effort in this area. Nigeria also continues to represent the source of cases exported to neighboring countries.
Country | Wild Cases |
Circulating Vaccine- derived Cases |
Transmission Status |
Nigeria | 122 | 8 | endemic |
Pakistan | 58 | 16 | endemic |
Afghanistan | 37 | 9 | endemic |
Chad | 5 | 12 | re-established transmission |
Niger | 1 | 0 | importation |
Democratic Republic of the Congo |
0 | 17 | circulating vaccine- derived only |
Kenya | 0 | 3 | circulating vaccine- derived only |
Yemen | 0 | 2 | circulating vaccine- derived only |
Somalia | 0 | 1 | circulating vaccine- derived only |
Total | 223 | 68 |
Chad was one of only two non-endemic countries reporting polio cases in 2012, with 5 cases — all type 1. The last case was reported to have had onset on 14th June 2012. In 2011, Chad had reported 132 cases, representing a precipitous reduction in the Chad polio outbreak. A single instance of type 1 polio occurred in Niger in November. Characterization of the virus suggested importation from Nigeria, but it is thought to have circulated locally, undetected, for some time.
- Asia
Pakistan remains the Asian country with the highest number of cases, but also has seen a significant reduction. By the end of 2012, 58 cases were reported, compared to 198 at the same time in 2011. Pakistan is the last remaining locus of type 3 outside Nigeria, having two reported cases, plus one type 1/3 hybrid. Two-thirds of all cases occurred in Balochistan and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. In the previous year, 198 cases were reported, indicating an improvement in spite of July fatwas from several Pakistani Islamist groups prohibiting vaccination,
Afghanistan also saw a significant reduction in cases, with 37 cases reported by the end of the year, compared to 80 reported in 2011.
- End of year totals
The total number of wild-virus cases reported was 223. Of these Nigeria reported 122, Pakistan 58, Afghanistan 37, Chad 5 and Niger 1. Several additional countries, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia and Yemen, saw outbreaks of circulating vaccine-derived polio. In all there were 291 reported polio cases, the smallest number for any year on record.
Of the three countries in which polio is endemic, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria, the latter two have had significantly fewer cases in 2013 than reported by the same time the previous year. An ongoing outbreak centered on Bara in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan, where vaccination has been difficult, represents the major reservoir for the virus in Asia, affecting both Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan, where there have been no cases in the tradition endemic region in the south. A growing outbreak in the Horn of Africa, centered in Banadir, Somalia, represents more than half of the year's total cases, the only wild cases in non-endemic countries reported in 2013. These have overwhelmed the gains made in endemic countries and by September the total number of polio cases surpassed that of the entire previous year. There have also been cases in Kenya, Ethiopia and Syria. By 26 November, 347 wild-virus cases had been reported, compared to 202 cases in 2012 reported by 27 November. Of these, cases in endemic countries have dropped from 197 to 123 while those in non-endemic countries have risen from 5 to 224. Circulating vaccine-derived cases have also been reported in the three endemic countries, as well as Somalia, Chad, Cameroun and Niger.[42] India completed two years without a new polio case, needing one more year before it can be certified polio-free.
The sole remaining country in 2012 classified with reestablished transmission, Chad, has passed more than a year since its last wild-virus case, although it is still suffering from an outbreak of vaccine-derived virus. No type 3 cases have been reported in 2013. The last reported type 3 case of polio, world-wide, had its onset 11 November 2012 in Nigeria; the last wild case outside Nigeria was in April 2012 in Pakistan,[44] and its absence from sewage monitoring in Pakistan suggests that active transmission of this strain has ceased there.[77]
- Asia
An ongoing outbreak centered on Bara in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan represents the major reservoir for the virus in Asia. Vaccination was banned by local leaders in North Waziristan from June, 2012, and the situation has been called alarming. It is also affecting neighboring Afghanistan. Major progress there has resulted in no reported cases in the tradition endemic region in the nation's south. Rather, all cases in Afghanistan in 2013 have been in the northeast and represent spillover from the Pakistani outbreak.
Country | Wild cases |
Circulating vaccine- derived cases |
Transmission status |
Somalia | 185 | 1 | importation |
Pakistan | 91 | 44 | endemic |
Nigeria | 53 | 3 | endemic |
Syria | 17 | 0 | importation |
Kenya | 14 | 0 | importation |
Afghanistan | 13 | 3 | endemic |
Ethiopia | 8 | 0 | importation |
Cameroon | 4 | 4 | importation |
Chad | 0 | 4 | circulating vaccine- derived only |
Niger | 0 | 1 | circulating vaccine- derived only |
Total | 385 | 60 |
- Africa
The year's biggest setback came in the Horn of Africa. Somalia had been free of wild polio since 2007 but had low levels of vaccination that put the nation at risk of reintroduction, and in April a case of infantile paralysis in Mogadishu was found to be due to a wild polio strain of Nigerian origin.[79] This came in spite of successful local negotiations the previous year that had allowed access to some populations for the first time in three years and a vigorous vaccination campaign already underway in this area, stricken by an outbreak of circulating vaccine-derived polio ongoing since 2011 that had also spread to neighboring Kenya and Yemen.[44][80] The outbreak of wild polio spread to Dadaab, Kenya, home to a large camp hosting Somalian refugees.[81] Intensive targeted vaccination efforts in both Mogadishu and Dadaab,[82] as well as more broadly in Ethiopia, Djibouti and Yemen were instituted, but 48 cases caused by wild virus were reported in Somalia and Kenya by early July, and cases have begun to appear in south-central Somalia, where security considerations have compromised vaccination activities for three years. By October, over 170 cases had been reported in Somalia,[83] with more than a dozen in Kenya and cases in the Somali Region of Ethiopia.
- Middle East
Routine sewage monitoring has revealed the virus in another region that had been polio-free. In late 2012, a PV1 virus strain of Pakistani origin was detected in Cairo, raising fears of reintroduction that sparked a major vaccination push in the city in 2013.[84] No actual cases of polio were reported there,[85] but the Cairo strain was later detected in Rahat, Israel in April 2013, and subsequently in Beer Sheba, Kiryat Gat and Ashdod. It has subsequently been detected across the country, indicating a prolonged, widespread transmission. Again, no cases of the disease have been found, and while a large-scale outbreak in Israel is thought unlikely due to their program of routine vaccination and high immunity levels,[86][87][88] there is thought to be a moderate-to-high risk of further international spread.[89]
In October and November, World Health Organization confirmed 17 cases of polio in Syria, where immunization rates have dropped significantly because of the civil war. As many as a dozen additional cases await confirmation. It was the first outbreak there in 14 years.[90] DNA testing revealed the strain to be most closely related to that found in Egypt, and ultimately traces to Pakistan.[91]
- Ongoing programme announcements
In late April, the WHO announced a new $5.5 billion, 6-year cooperative plan (called the 2013-18 Polio Eradication and Endgame Strategic Plan) to eradicate polio from its last reservoirs. The plan calls for mass immunization campaigns in the three remaining endemic countries. It also dictates a switch to inactivated virus injections, to avoid the risk of the vaccine-derived outbreaks that occasionally occur from use of the live-virus oral vaccine.[85] In May, Bill Gates announced at the Global Vaccine Summit that total commitments to date stood at $4 billion or 73% of what is needed. This included pledges from Canada ($250 million), Britain ($457 million), Germany ($250 million), Norway ($240 million), Ireland ($6.65 million), Australia ($75.5 million),[92] the Islamic Development Bank ($227 million) as well as the Gates foundation ($1.8 billion) and other philanthropists ($335 million).[93]
See also[edit]
- Eradication of infectious diseases
- Population health
- Mathematical modelling of infectious disease
- Transmission risks and rates
- The Final Inch
- ^ "Smallpox [Fact Sheet]". World Health Organization. Archived from the original on February 3, 2011. Retrieved November 9, 2013.
- ^ "UN 'confident' disease has been wiped out". BBC News. 14 October 2010. Retrieved 14 October 2010.
- ^ McNeil, Donald (February 1, 2011). "In Battle Against Polio, a Call for a Final Salvo". The New York Times. Retrieved 1 February 2011. "...getting rid of the last 1 percent has been like trying to squeeze Jell-O to death. As the vaccination fist closes in one country, the virus bursts out in another.... The [eradication] effort has now cost $9 billion, and each year consumes another $1 billion."
- ^ Mahr, Krista (13 January 2013). "How India Fought Polio — and Won". TIME. Retrieved 28 February 2013.
- ^ a b Barrett S (2004). "Eradication versus control: the economics of global infectious disease policies". Bull World Health Organ 82 (9): 683–8. PMC 2622975. PMID 15628206. Retrieved 2007-04-13.
- ^ Cockburn T (1961). "Eradication of infectious diseases". Science 133 (3458): 1050–8. Bibcode:1961Sci...133.1050C. doi:10.1126/science.133.3458.1050. PMID 13694225.
- ^ [No authors listed] (1993). "Recommendations of the International Task Force for Disease Eradication". Morbidity and mortality weekly report 42 (RR-16): (RR–16):1–38. PMID 8145708. Retrieved 2007-04-13.
- ^ General: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Global disease elimination and eradication as public health strategies. MMWR 1999;48(Suppl). Specific: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Principles of Disease Elimination and Eradication. In: Global disease elimination and eradication as public health strategies. MMWR 1999;48(Suppl).
- ^ World Health Organization (2003). Global polio eradication initiative: strategic plan 2004-2008 (PDF). Geneva: WHO. ISBN 92-4-159117-X.
- ^ Acute Flaccid Paralysis (AFP) is a clinical manifestation of poliomyelitis characterized by weakness or paralysis and reduced muscle tone without other obvious cause (e.g., trauma). AFP is also associated with a number of other pathogenic agents including enteroviruses, echoviruses, and adenoviruses, among others. ("Acute Flaccid Paralysis" (PDF). Public Health Notifiable Disease Management Guidelines. Alberta Government Health and Wellness. 2005. Retrieved 2007-07-31.
- ^ According to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) Supply Division. The price per dose of OPV is US$0.089–0.097.
- ^ Paul J, Riordan J, Melnick J (1951). "Antibodies to three different antigenic types of poliomyelitis virus in sera from North Alaskan Eskimos". Am J Hyg 54 (2): 275–85. PMID 14877808.
- ^ a b c Mastny, Lisa (January 25, 1999). "Eradicating Polio: A Model for International Cooperation". Worldwatch Institute. Retrieved 2007-02-02.
- ^ Robertson, Susan. (1993) The Immunological Basis for Immunization Series. Module 6: Poliomyelitis. World Health Organization. Geneva, Switzerland.
- ^ a b Nathanson N, Martin J (1979). "The epidemiology of poliomyelitis: enigmas surrounding its appearance, epidemicity, and disappearance". Am J Epidemiol 110 (6): 672–92. PMID 400274.
- ^ a b c Fine P (1993). "Herd immunity: history, theory, practice". Epidemiol Rev 15 (2): 265–302. PMID 8174658.
- ^ Minor PD, Bel EJ (1990). Picornaviridae (excluding Rhinovirus). In: Topley & Wilson's Principles of Bacteriology, Virology and Immunity (volume 4) (8th ed.). London: Edward Arnold. pp. 324–357. ISBN 0-7131-4592-7.
- ^ a b c Atkinson W, Hamborsky J, McIntyre L, Wolfe S, eds. (2007). Epidemiology and Prevention of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases (The Pink Book) (PDF) (10th ed.). Washington, D.C.: Public Health Foundation. ISBN.
- ^ Duintjer Tebbens R, Pallansch M, Kew O, Cáceres V, Sutter R, Thompson K (2005). "A dynamic model of poliomyelitis outbreaks: learning from the past to help inform the future". Am J Epidemiol 162 (4): 358–72. doi:10.1093/aje/kwi206. PMID 16014773.
- ^ "Polio Eradication Evaluation". Retrieved 2008-02-19.[dead link]
- ^ "Symptoms of Polio". NHS choices.
- ^ "The disease and the virus". Global Polio Eradication Initiative. Retrieved 2010-04-27.[dead link]
- ^ John F Maudlin. "The Bumpy Road to Polio Eradication". NEJM (362): 2346–2349
- ^ a b c Imran Ali Teepu (26 February 2012). "WHO rejects polio rumours". Dawn. Retrieved 3 June 2012.
- ^ a b Warraich HJ (2009). "Religious opposition to polio vaccination". Emerg Infect Dis 15 (6): 978. doi:10.3201/eid1506.090087. PMC 2727330. PMID 19523311.
- ^ Heidi Larson (27 May 2012). "The CIA's fake vaccination drive has damaged the battle against polio". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 June 2012.
- ^ "Bin Laden death: 'CIA doctor' accused of treason". BBC News. 6 October 2011. Retrieved 8 October 2011.
- ^ Imran Ali Teepu (2 March 2012). "American NGOs assail CIA over fake polio drive". Dawn. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
- ^ Orla Guerin (24 May 2012). "'Emergency plan' to eradicate polio launched". BBC News. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
- ^ Saeed Shah (2 March 2012). "CIA tactics to trap Bin Laden linked with polio crisis, say aid groups". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
- ^ Gall C (2007-02-17). "Bomb Kills Doctor in Pakistani Border Area". The New York Times. Retrieved 2007-07-31.
- ^ Declan Walsh (December 19, 2012). "U.N. Suspends Immunization Work in Pakistan". The New York Times. Retrieved December 19, 2012.
- ^ http://reliefweb.int/report/pakistan/pakistan-resumes-polio-vaccines-under-tight-security Pakistan Resumes Polio Vaccines Under Tight Security
- ^ http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jan/29/pakistan-polio-vaccines-gunmen-shooting Gunmen kill police officer protecting polio workers in Pakistan
- ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-21585291 Pakistan 'policeman killed' guarding anti-polio worker
- ^ http://www.rferl.org/content/pakistan-polio-attack/24991562.html Gunmen Attack Pakistani Polio Team, Kill Policeman
- ^ http://www.rferl.org/content/polio-eradication-pakistan-electricity-politics/25012852.html Pakistani Villagers Vow 'No Electricity, No Polio Vaccinations'
- ^ http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/17/world/middleeast/2-polio-workers-killed-in-pakistan.html?_r=0 2 Polio Workers Killed in Pakistan
- ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-21381773 Nigeria polio vaccinators shot dead in Kano
- ^ CBC News (14 May 2013). "Taliban pledge support for Afghan polio campaign". CBC News. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
- ^ Pakistan polio workers shot dead in Karachi, BBC News, 21 January 2014
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r WHO Polio Case Count
- ^ Due to the large increase in the number of vaccinators and field workers since 1998, the number of estimated cases is thought to be reasonably close to the actual reported number of cases in recent years. Aylward, Bruce, Jennifer Linkins. "Polio Eradication: mobilizing and managing the human resources". World Health Organization. Retrieved 2007-02-01.
- ^ a b c Global Polio Eradication Initiative
- ^ a b "PolioPlus Timeline". Rotary International. Retrieved 2011-03-11.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Wild Poliovirus Weekly Update". Global Polio Eradication Initiative. Retrieved 2010-02-19.[dead link]
- ^ a b "WHO Vaccine Preventable Diseases: Monitoring system" (PDF). World Health Organization. 2006. Retrieved 2007-02-02.
- ^ Lee, Jong Wook (1995). "Ending polio – now or never?". The Progress of Nations. Unicef. Retrieved 2007-02-02.
- ^ Slonim D (2005). "Global eradication of poliomyelitis. On the 80th anniversary of the founding of the National Institute of Health". Epidemiol Mikrobiol Imunol 54 (3): 99–108. PMID 16173520.
- ^ Hinman A (1984). "Landmark perspective: Mass vaccination against polio". JAMA 251 (22): 2994–6. doi:10.1001/jama.251.22.2994. PMID 6371280.
- ^ a b c d Fujimura SF (2005). "The Man Who Made Polio History". Pan American Health Organization. Retrieved 2007-02-02.
- ^ "The End of Polio: Photographs of Sebastião Salgado Opens to Public" (Press release). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. August 24, 2007. Retrieved 2008-06-02.
- ^ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (1994). "International Notes Certification of Poliomyelitis Eradication – the Americas, 1994". Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) 43 (39): 720–722. PMID 7522302.
- ^ "Pulse Polio Immunsation". Government of India; Department of Family Welfare. 2001. Retrieved 2007-02-02.
- ^ "Operation MECACAR". WHO Regional office for Europe. 2 June 2006. Archived from the original on 2007-07-29. Retrieved 2007-02-02.
- ^ WHO Regional Office for Europe (2001-11-30). "WHO European Region celebrates three polio-free years: certification within reach in 2002". Press release 13/2001. Retrieved 2007-07-31.[dead link]
- ^ a b Yamazaki, S.; Toraya, H. (2001). "(General News) Major Milestone reached in Global Polio Eradication: Western Pacific Region is certified Polio-Free". Health Educ. Res. 16 (1): 110. Bibcode:2001PDiff..16..110Y. doi:10.1154/1.1351153.
- ^ "CORE Group Polio Eradication Initiative". Retrieved 2009-03-10.[dead link]
- ^ "Europe achieves historic milestone as Region is declared polio-free". Press release (European Region of the World Health Organization). 21 June 2002. Retrieved 2007-02-02.[dead link]
- ^ "WHO Director-General calls India 'number 1' polio eradication priority". News release. 2003-04-07. Retrieved 2007-07-31.
- ^ Jegede, A. S. (2007). "What Led to the Nigerian Boycott of the Polio Vaccination Campaign?". PLoS Medicine 4 (3): e73. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.0040073. PMC 1831725. PMID 17388657. Retrieved 1 June 2012.
- ^ a b Balint-Kurti D (2005-05-04). "Polio Spreads From Nigeria After Claims". Associated Press. Retrieved 2013-01-19.[dead link]
- ^ Aglionby J (2005-09-02). "Indonesia faces polio challenge". Guardian Unlimited. Retrieved 2007-02-07.
- ^ "Sudan: Bulletin No. 28". International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). 2005-05-11. Retrieved 2007-02-07.
- ^ Bahta L, et al. (2005). "Poliovirus infections in four unvaccinated children—Minnesota, August–October 2005". MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 54 (41): 1053–5. PMID 16237378.
- ^ "Bangladesh begins new polio drive". BBC News. 2007-03-02. Retrieved 2007-07-31.
- ^ "First Lady of Nigeria inaugurates vaccination campaigns". The Global Polio Eradication Initiative. 30 July 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-12-09. Retrieved 2008-01-24.
- ^ Yusufzai A (2007-07-30). "Pakistan polio case in Australia". BBC News. Retrieved 2007-08-08.
- ^ a b c "WHO Wild Poliovirus List". Retrieved 03 Feb 2013.
- ^ a b http://www.polioeradication.org/Dataandmonitoring/Poliothisweek/Circulatingvaccinederivedpoliovirus.aspx Circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus (cVDPV) 2000-2013
- ^ Global Polio Eradication Initiative Monthly Reports http://www.polioeradication.org/Mediaroom/Monthlysituationreports.aspx
- ^ Arie S (2011) BMJ 343:d5465
- ^ CIA organised fake vaccination drive to get Osama bin Laden's family DNA http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jul/11/cia-fake-vaccinations-osama-bin-ladens-dna
- ^ http://www.polioeradication.org/Dataandmonitoring/Poliothisweek.aspx
- ^ Thomson, William (7 February 2012). "India Winning Polio Fight". The Diplomat. Retrieved 24 April 2013.
- ^ Global Polio Eradication Initiative
- ^ http://dawn.com/2013/01/27/pakistan-close-to-getting-rid-of-a-polio-virus-who/ Pakistan close to getting rid of a polio virus: WHO
- ^ "Polio Case Count". World Health Organisation. 16 January 2014. Retrieved 24 January 2014.
- ^ [1] Ewen Callaway, "Somalia records its first wild polio case since 2007", Nature News Blog, 13 May 2013 (update 15 May)
- ^ http://www.polioeradication.org/Dataandmonitoring/Poliothisweek/Circulatingvaccinederivedpoliovirus.aspx Circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus (cVDPV) 2000-2013
- ^ http://www.polioeradication.org/tabid/488/iid/299/Default.aspx Wild poliovirus in Kenya: Emergency response planned
- ^ Doucleff, Michaeleen (22 May 2013). "Polio Outbreak In Kenya: A Threat To Global Eradication". National Public Radio. Retrieved 27 May 2013.
- ^ Polio in Somalia: UN warns of 'explosive' outbreak, BBC News, 16 August 2013
- ^ McNeil Jr., Donald G. (23 January 2013). "Egypt: Polio Virus Is Found in Cairo's Sewers". The New York Times. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
- ^ a b http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2013/04/26/178993960/a-5-5-billion-road-map-to-banish-polio-forever Jason Beaubien, "A $5.5 Billion Road Map To Banish Polio Forever", National Public Radio, 26 April 2013
- ^ http://www.who.int/csr/don/2013_06_03/en/index.html "Poliovirus detected from environmental samples in Israel"
- ^ Sterman, Adiv; Winer Jr., Stuart (12 June 2013). "More polio virus traces detected in Israel". Times of Israel. Retrieved 13 June 2013.
- ^ McNeil Jr., Donald G. (7 June 2013). "Polio Virus Discovered in Sewage From Israel". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 June 2013.
- ^ "Poliovirus detected from environmental samples in Israel - update"
- ^ Syria polio outbreak confirmed by WHO, BBC News, 29 October 2013
- ^ Nebehay,, Stephanie (11 November 2013). "Polio strain in Syria originated in Pakistan, WHO confirms". NBC News. Retrieved 12 November 2013.
- ^ Cohen, Bryan (June 10, 2013). "Australia commits $75.5 million to end polio". VaccineNewsDaily. Retrieved 10 June 2013.
- ^ "Global Vaccine Summit: The Roadmap to Polio Eradication". 20 May 2013. YouTube. Retrieved 13 June 2013.
External links[edit]
- Global Polio Eradication
- Rotary International: PolioPlus
- Brief Video: Battling Polio on India's Streets Catholic Relief Services


text:
An emergency manager in northwestern Oklahoma says one person is dead after heavy snow brought down part of a roof at a Woodward home.
Matt Lehenbauer of the Woodward County Emergency Management office says a house partially collapsed on the city's south side. The area was under a blizzard warning all day Monday and received more than a foot of snow. At times, winds gusted to around 50 mph.
Lehenbauer says other collapses have been reported around the community and that firefighters and emergency medical technicians have been caught out in the weather.
The death at Woodward is the second reported in the winter storm that rolled into the Plains. A motorist at Kansas died in a traffic accident on a slick road.
2/25/2013 Related Story: Winter Storm Leads To State Of Emergency In 56 Oklahoma Counties
The Oklahoma Highway Patrol has closed all highways in the Panhandle, and several in northwest Oklahoma due to the blizzard conditions. OHP says all roads in Troop I area have been closed. Troop I covers Cimarron, Texas, Beaver, Ellis, Woodward and Harper counties.
2/25/2013 Related Story: Oklahoma Highway Patrol Closes Highways In Panhandle, NW OK
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text:
I will not be surprised if this study was paid for by the salmon industry.
I will not be surprised if this study was paid for by the salmon industry.
Only a failure would refer to the bare minimum as success.
Subbed for the source and more info. There's plenty about this on the news at the moment but I'd like to see the actual published paper to see how the study was conducted, etc.
Oh god.
Serious Nutrition Solutions Representative
Send Your SNS Barcodes Back in to Earn Free Product! More Info --> goo.gl/51Ccuh
Curious if we can get some of our more knowledgeable members, maybe coop, to weight in on this. Anyone seen/read the full paper?
Looks like a prospective cohort study, so it's unable to demonstrate cause-and-effect. However, the results of this study and previous studies are pretty constitent re: n-3 fatty acids and prostate cancer risk, so there is definitely cause for concern.
On a related note, I really liked the quote from the FHCRC researchers in the DailyMail article:
''There is really no evidence that taking dietary supplements is beneficial to health, and there is increasing evidence that taking high doses is harmful.''
This can't be stressed enough.
What I don't like (and what makes me question this study) is saying that there is no evidence that taking any dietary supplement can benefit health. The 'any' isn't said but very clearly implied. It reminds me of a study I saw on the 'dangers of taking vitamins' piece where if you actually saw the study you see the only problem was people consistently supplementing with iron, but then writing it up like it generalised to every vitamin.
Also you can talk about outcomes like disease, or being alive or dead, but there is also quality of life to be considered. If taking omega-3 improves your quality if life, like for example your joints does it really make sense to stop using and maybe have to resort to using ibuprofen because you might have an increased chance of cancer? Also there's plenty of medical research showing benefits of omega-3 so I'm curious about this.
Men who eat a lot of oily fish or consume omega supplements should watch out, new research reveals that males with high blood concentrations of omega-3 fatty acids are at a higher risk of developing prostate cancer.
The finding comes from a large prospective study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
A 71 percent increased risk of high-grade prostate cancer and a 43 percent increase for all prostate cancers were associated with high concentrations of EPA, DHA, and DPA.
These results are consistent with a 2011 study carried out by the same research team which found that high concentrations of DHA more than doubled the risk of high-grade prostate cancer.
The researchers were shocked to find that higher blood levels of omega-3 fatty acids, usually promoted as good for the heart, were associated with a higher risk of aggressive prostate cancer.
The consistency of these findings could mean that "these fatty acids are involved in prostate tumorigenesis and recommendations to increase long-chain omega-3 fatty acid intake, in particular through supplementation, should consider its potential risks."
The paper's senior author and member of the Fred Hutch Public Health Sciences Division, Alan Kristal, Dr.P.H, said: "we've shown once again that use of nutritional supplements may be harmful."
Theodore Brasky, Ph.D., a research assistant professor at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Cente, added:
"What's important is that we have been able to replicate our findings from 2011 and we have confirmed that marine omega-3 fatty acids play a role in prostate cancer occurrence. It's important to note, however, that these results do not address the question of whether omega-3's play a detrimental role in prostate cancer prognosis."
The study compared the blood level concentrations of omega-3 fatty acids in 834 men who had been diagnosed with prostate cancer with samples from 1,393 men from the Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention Trial (SELECT).
The lowest risk group for developing prostate cancer had a 3.2 percent blood level concentration of omega-3 fatty acids, compared to 5.7 percent in the high risk group.
The results may come as a surprise to some, considering the number of positive health benefits that are associated with omega-3 fatty acids.
It remains uncertain why high concentrations of these fatty acids are associated with a heightened risk of prostate cancer.
Researchers say it is possible that omega-3 fatty acids are harmful because of they convert into compounds that can damage cells and DNA.
In conclusion, the finding suggests that high levels of omega-3 fatty acids can increase a man's risk of developing prostate cancer.
Written by Joseph Nordqvist
But studies also show that ejaculating more than 5 times a week lowers your risk of prostate cancer. My wife says she's helping prevent me from getting cancer.
I'm not sure to which article you're referring, but news articles in the lay media reporting about science in general are notorious for their exaggerations and wrong conclusions. Heck, even journal and university press releases have a hand in it these days.
In this case the researchers are right though. The evidence base of dietary supplements to prevent or treat diseases is often very low and while the forum bros like to ninja studies to prove their point they have no idea what actually constitutes a strong evidence base.
Honestly I can't think more than a handful of popular dietary supplement that have a strong evidence base to prevent or treat specific diseases (e.g. pregnant women taking folic acid to reduce the risk of spina bifida)
Vitamin D? We mainly have preliminary (observational) data.
Antioxidants and folic acid? They might actually increase cancer risk and mortality in the general population.
Omega 3? Insufficient evidence of efficacy in the secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease. The evidence base in psychiatric disorders and cancer is very low at best.
Glucosamine? Strong placebo.
And the list goes on and on. Obviously absence of evidence =/= evidence of absence, but the majority of dietary supplement claims or conjecture at best and fraud at worst.
In4 the forum brigade and their burning torches.
Life can cause an increased risk of cancer and death...


text:
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