Bird flu detected in a US pig for the first time

Finding bird flu in a pig raises concerns that the virus may be a stepping stone to the virus becoming a bigger threat to humans, experts sa

euronews

Finding bird flu in a pig raises concerns that the virus may be a stepping stone to the virus becoming a bigger threat to humans, experts say. A pig at a farm in the US state of Oregon is infected with bird flu, raising concerns about the virus' potential to affect humans. The H5N1 case was the first time bird flu was detected in swine in the US. The infection happened at a backyard farm where different animals share water and are housed together. Last week, poultry at the farm were found to have the virus and testing this week found that one of the farm's five pigs had become infected. The farm was put under quarantine and all five pigs were euthanised so additional testing could be done. It's not a commercial farm, and US agriculture officials said there is no concern about the safety of the nation's pork supply. But finding bird flu in a pig raises worries that the virus may be hitting a stepping stone to becoming a bigger threat to people, said Jennifer Nuzzo, a Brown University pandemic researcher.

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Dutch airbases seriously polluted with PFAS for years - DutchNews.nl

The soil in the Gilze-Rijen air base and 11 other defence ministry locations is seriously polluted with PFAS, according to current affairs s

DutchNews.nl

The soil in the Gilze-Rijen air base and 11 other defence ministry locations is seriously polluted with PFAS, according to current affairs show Pointer. The pollution is worse than in the area around the Chemours chemical plant in Dordrecht or 3M in Belgium, which are thought to be responsible for a lot of the PFAS pollution in some parts of the country. Almost all the samples taken in Gilze-Rijen exceed the permitted levels for PFOS, a type of PFAS, and in one case was 56 times the maximum level. “These values are incredibly high” toxicologist Jacob de Boer. “This is the highest level of PFOS pollution in the Netherlands, apart from the Leeuwarden airbase.” The problem there was identified earlier. The findings date from 2019 and 2020 but Pointer says the defence ministry was aware of the problem as early as 2013. Officials did not report the finding to the regulators until 2022 and Gilze en Rijen local council did not inform its residents either. The PFOS originated from foam used to put out fires during training exercises. The clean up operation, which is now being planned, is expected to cost millions of euros.

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A Medical Nightmare - Longreads

An ob-gyn in Virginia performed unnecessary surgeries on patients for decades. When his victims learned the truth, they fought back.

longreads.com|Longreads

She requested her medical records and was stunned to find discrepancies with what Perwaiz had said to her during appointments. Most glaringly, she didn’t see any mention of precancerous cells on her cervix; the tests Perwaiz performed on her had come back normal. “If I was normal,” Debra said, “why did I have a surgery?”

New study finds stressed employees become too depleted to properly recover

In an ideal workplace, organizations should strive to protect employees from abusive supervisors, but for employees who experience this type

phys.org

In an ideal workplace, organizations should strive to protect employees from abusive supervisors, but for employees who experience this type of intense workplace stress, new research from the University at Buffalo School of Management offers insight and coping strategies. Available online ahead of publication in the Journal of Organizational Behavior, the study examines whether employees can recover from supervisory abuse during leisure time, and if individual personality traits impact the restoration process. "Abusive supervision is detrimental to employees' well-being. Victims experience increased emotional exhaustion, job stress, negative emotions, and physical symptoms like pain, weakness, fatigue and shortness of breath," says study co-author Min-Hsuan Tu, Ph.D., assistant professor of organization and human resources in the UB School of Management. "Our study clarifies why and under what conditions abused employees engage in certain activities to recover after work." Gathering data from 203 full-time employees in Taiwan, the researchers analyzed more than 1,500 daily responses over 10 consecutive working days to measure employee perception of nonphysical aggression from a boss or manager, such as humiliating or threatening subordinates or taking credit for their work.