Health authorities from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the government of Angola have revealed that bromide poisoning may be the source of a mystery illness first reported in early October.
The outbreak of over 400 reported cases of a neurological disorder was centred in the Cacuaco district of Angola's capital city Luanda. A majority of the afflicted have been children under the age of 15. There have been no deaths attributed directly to the disorder.
According to a statement in the state-run AngolaPress, symptoms have included "sleepiness, blear-eyedness, dizziness and difficulty to speak, walk and extreme tiredness." WHO described the drowsiness as being so severe that the patient would require "painful stimuli" to be awoken.
Results from laboratory tests carried out in London and Munich indicated elevated levels of bromide present in the blood and kitchen salt samples examined. It is suspected that sodium chloride (table salt) may have been contaminated with ... Go to Complete Coverage
Current Global News Add Your News to Free News Source (Wednesday, October 17, 2007)
Methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), a drug-resistant strain of bacteria, killed nearly 19,000 Americans in 2005 alone, according to a new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association. That is more people than ... Go to Complete Coverage
Current Global News Add Your News to Free News Source (Sunday, October 7, 2007)
Researchers at Duke University believe that they have found the purpose of the vermiform appendix, long thought to be useless. The theory, published in the Journal of Theoretical Biology this week, is that the appendix creates and ... Go to Complete Coverage
Current Global News Add Your News to Free News Source (Thursday, September 20, 2007)
On Saturday a local villagers claimed a meteorite slammed into a field outside of Carancas, near Lake Titicaca in the Puno region of Peru on the border of Bolivia. It emitted a sweet but noxious odor. It has now been blamed for a mass ... Go to Complete Coverage
Current Global News Add Your News to Free News Source (Sunday, September 16, 2007)
The World Health Organization (WHO), non-governmental aid organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have sent experts to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to assist ... Go to Complete Coverage
Current Global News Add Your News to Free News Source (Saturday, September 8, 2007)
United States First Lady Laura Bush underwent elective surgery on Saturday at George Washington University Hospital and is now "resting comfortably at the White House," according to spokeswoman Sally McDonough. Last month, the First Lady ... Go to Complete Coverage
Current Global News Add Your News to Free News Source (Friday, September 14, 2007)
At least four people in Peru have contracted HIV, the virus that causes AIDS after receiving blood transfusions that were infected with the deadly virus.
As a result, all of Peru's 240 blood banks have been closed pending further ... Go to Complete Coverage
Current Global News Add Your News to Free News Source (Wednesday, September 5, 2007)
The source of a recent outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in Surrey, UK has been discovered by investigators at the Pirbright laboratory where investigations began in August. The Health and Safety Executive informed the BBC that they had ... Go to Complete Coverage
19 August 2008 -- Rising flood waters across West Africa are intensifying health risks for millions of people, and adding to the impact of the food ...
5 August 2008 -- At the XVII International AIDS Conference in Mexico City, WHO launched a package of priority interventions designed to help low- and ...
1 August 2008 -- WHO is pleased to join the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action in celebrating World Breastfeeding Week from 1 to 7 August 2008. ...
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