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Health Alert Rio de Janeiro Brazil: Attending Olympics, lack of health and emergency services

telegraph.co.uk reported Olympic fans have been warned there will be no hospital beds for them if they get sick during Rio 2016 after a cash shortage plunged the city into a healthcare crisis.

Some major hospitals have been forced to close their doors while even the most seriously ill patients cannot be admitted because of a funding shortfall that has meant a daily deficit of 150 beds. Union leaders said the state of Rio de Janeiro was not prepared for the extra burden of the Olympics Games in seven months’ time, which could bring as many as an extra million people to the city. Jorge Darze, president of SinMed, the doctors’ union in Rio, said: “We are really in a very serious situation in which there is not the slightest possibility of a short-term solution. Read Article

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PAHO reports Zika Virus transmitted in 17 countries in Latin America

Local Zika Transmission in the Americas Region paho.org/ reported countries and territories with autochthonous transmission reported. Epidemiological Week (EW) 17 of 2015 to EW 2 of 2016 Brazil Colombia Ecuador El Salvador French Guiana Guyana Guatemala Haiti Honduras Martinique Mexico Panama Puerto Rico Paraguay Saint Martin Suriname Venezuela Read Article

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55,000 deaths per year worldwide due to bites from dogs with rabies

This past spring, a street dog and her puppy were captured in Cairo, Egypt. Her vaccination certificates were forged, and she was shipped to the United States by an animal rescue organization in a shipment that included seven other dogs and 27 cats. Days later, following her placement in a Virginian foster home housing several […]

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Central, South America: Zika Virus Alert

biprepwatch.com reported the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued travel notices this week regarding recent outbreaks of the Zika virus in Mexico, and parts of Central and South America. The CDC reports that the virus has been reported in the following countries as of Thursday: El Salvador, Panama, Guatemala, Mexico, Paraguay, Suriname, […]

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Italy: Police order Peruvian tea off shelves, significant levels of cocaine

Cocaine tea bags on sale for years in Italy telegraph.co.uk reported a bus driver who appreciated a Peruvian coca tea for keeping him awake found out he was actually consuming cocaine Italian police have ordered that a Peruvian coca tea be removed from the shelves, after it was found to contain significant levels of cocaine. […]

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Emergency Declared in Santiago Chile due to Smog

dw.com reported Chilean authorities have declared an environmental emergency in response to dangerously high pollution levels in the capital, Santiago. The city last resorted to such a measure 16 years ago. Santiago regional governor Claudio Orrego said the emergency measures, to come into force Monday, would require 3,000 factories and other businesses to shut down. […]

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Chinese tourists cancel trips to South Korea due to recent MERS deaths

Despite no official travel warning from the government, Chinese travelers are feeling jittery over visits to the Republic of Korea (ROK) after the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) claimed nine lives there. Travel agencies are predicting a 70-percent drop or more in summer travel to the ROK as fearful tourists urgently book alternative destinations. Read […]

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Phillippines: HIV infections increase 25 per cent

channelnewsasia.com reported according to a UNAIDS report, new incidents of HIV infections around the world halved between the years 2001 and 2011. But in the Philippines, the number of new infections has risen by 25 per cent. Official data from the Philippines’ Department of Health also shows that the number of reported cases has ballooned […]

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New Diagnostic Paper Strips test for Ebola, Yellow Fever, Dengue Fever, in ten minutes

thenewsreports.com reported early diagnoses of deadly diseases holds a vital key in ability of doctors to try and fend off the virus behind the disease and a new paper strip test developed by MIT researchers does just that. The new test can diagnose deadly Ebola, as well as other viral hemorrhagic fevers such as yellow […]

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Chagas Disease making inroads into the U.S. from Latin America

Chagas has largely slipped under the world’s radar because symptoms often don’t show up for months and years after a person has been infected. digitaljournal.com reported while much of the world’s attention has been focused on Ebola, another disease with equally devastating implications is surging. The CDC estimates that some 300,000 people throughout the U.S. […]

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