https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/science-and-disease/experts-scramble-understand-spike-human-cases-bird-flu-strain/?fbclid=IwAR1U_Ktm8tZHYAC5TjNByJNSoZewQya0h2wrlfdVzI1oDJuW3Lc9MpdJHAI

Global health bodies and Chinese researchers say the deadly strain, H5N6, could ‘pose a serious threat to poultry and human health’ByJennifer Rigby, GLOBAL HEALTH SECURITY CORRESPONDENT7 October 2021 • 4:23pm

The World Health Organization (WHO) has called on China to increase surveillance of a deadly strain of bird flu after a recent spike in human infections.

A third of all human cases of the H5N6 flu strain – which has a fatality rate of 50 per cent – have been reported in the last three months. Half of all the 47 known human cases have been reported in the last year. 

A WHO spokesperson said: “Wider geographical surveillance in the China affected areas and nearby areas is urgently required to better understand the risk and the recent increase of spill over to humans.” 

The Chinese Centre for Disease Control has been tracking the outbreak and last month reported in-depth on two new cases in Guangxi between February and July. They warned that the geographic spread and diversity of the virus “pose a serious threat to the poultry industry and human health.” 

“The increasing trend of human infection with avian influenza virus has become an important public health issue that cannot be ignored,” the researchers added, stressing that the virus was evolving and there needed to be more surveillance of “drug-resistant strains and novel variants”.

While the overall number of cases remains low and there is no evidence of human to human transmission of the virus, the fatality rate of H5N6 is high: it can cause serious illness in humans of any age and kills around half of those it infects. 

Bird flu strains circulate in poultry constantly, and spillover to humans only relatively rarely. However, they are considered a public health threat and closely monitored worldwide. There are occasional outbreaks of different strains, such as H5N1, which sparked unfounded pandemic fears in the early 2000s.https://cf-particle-html.eip.telegraph.co.uk/32e5dc59-c828-4db6-8056-b44032b6c272.html?i=0&ref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.telegraph.co.uk%2Fglobal-health%2Fscience-and-disease%2Fexperts-scramble-understand-spike-human-cases-bird-flu-strain%2F%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR1U_Ktm8tZHYAC5TjNByJNSoZewQya0h2wrlfdVzI1oDJuW3Lc9MpdJHAI&channel=globalhealth&id=32e5dc59-c828-4db6-8056-b44032b6c272&isapp=false&isregistered=false&issubscribed=false&truncated=false&lt=false

H5N6 was first identified in 2014 and the WHO said there was no evidence yet that it could spread between humans. 

“Currently available epidemiologic and virologic evidence suggest that [Avian H5N6] influenza viruses have not acquired the ability of sustained transmission among humans, thus the likelihood of human-to-human spread is low,” the WHO said.

In its most recent flu surveillance report, published in August, the WHO said it had not changed its overall risk level.

“The overall public health risk from currently known influenza viruses at the human-animal interface has not changed, and the likelihood of sustained human-to-human transmission of these viruses remains low. Human infections with viruses of animal origin are expected at the human-animal interface wherever these viruses circulate in animals,” the report said. 

However, one of the cases in China, a 61-year-old woman who was hospitalised in July, said she had had no contact with poultry ahead of her illness. 

Dr John McCauley, director of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Influenza at the Francis Crick Institute, stressed that there remained no evidence of human-to-human transmission of these or previous H5N6 viruses. 

“It is quite possible that increased surveillance and testing as a result of the Covid 19 pandemic has revealed more cases than usual.  The China Center for Disease Control and Prevention keeps a tight watch on these types of infection,” he told The Telegraph. 

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control is also keeping an eye on the spread. 

In a report published this week, it said the viruses to-date – including all the currently-identified strains – were still largely a risk to birds, although cases in other mammals, like seals and foxes, had been reported alongside human infections. 

It added: “The reports of transmission events of A(H5) viruses to mammals and humans in Russia, as well as the recent A(H5N6) human cases in China may indicate a continuous risk of these viruses adapting to mammals.”

In February, Russia reported the first human case of the H

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https://www.peta.org/action/action-alerts/washington-spring-black-bear-massacre/?utm_source=PETA::E-Mail&utm_medium=Alert&utm_campaign=1021::wld::PETA::E-Mail::URGENT%20Black%20Bears%20Are%20Threatened%20in%20Washington::::aa%20em

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) is considering proposed rules CR-101 and CR-102 to allow majestic black bears to be slaughtered once again in the spring.

© iStock.com/KeithBinns

Black bears are especially vulnerable in the spring, when they are desperately searching for food after a long hibernation and mothers are caring for cubs, and Washington is one of only eight states that still allows slaughter during this critical period. Wild families will be torn apart, and orphaned cubs will be left to starve. Furthermore, hunting has been proved to be ineffective at “managing” wild populations.

Please e-mail the WDFW at 2020SpringBear@PublicInput.com and let it know you oppose any rules allowing a spring bear hunt! Comments on this proposed rule will be accepted until October 21. If you can, please also register to attend the WDFW’s October 22 and 23 online public forum, during which you can speak out in opposition to this massacre.

By Brooke Singman| Fox News

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Fox News Flash top headlines for October 8

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President Biden on Friday is set to restore two national monuments in Utah and a separate marine conservation area in New England after former President Trump stripped all three of environmental protections under his administration. 

Biden is expected to sign three proclamations restoring protections for Bears Ears, Grand Staircase-Escalante, and Northeast Canyons and Seamounts national monuments. By doing so, Biden is “fulfilling a key promise and upholding the longstanding principle that America’s national parks, monuments, and other protected areas are to be protected for all time and for all people.”

The restoration of the Bears Ears National Monument brings back the boundaries set by former President Obama in 2016 and retains protections for an additional 11,200 acres added by Trump in 2017. This action will ensure that the total protected area of the Bears Ears National Monument covers 1.36 million acres.

NEW LAWSUIT CRIES CORRUPTION IN BIDEN’S EPA

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, a Republican, was disappointed in Biden’s decision to restore Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante monuments, which the Trump administration downsized significantly in 2017.

This July 15, 2016, file photo, shows “Moonhouse” in McLoyd Canyon, near Blanding, Utah, during U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell’s tour. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)

Grand Staircase-Escalante was first protected in 1996. Biden’s move restores protected area to 1.87 million acres. 

The monuments cover vast expanses of southern Utah where red rocks reveal petroglyphs and cliff dwellings and distinctive buttes bulge from a grassy valley. Trump invoked the Antiquities Act to cut 2 million acres (800,000 hectares) from the two monuments, calling restrictions on mining and other energy production a “massive land grab” that “should never have happened.”

CARGO SHIP NEAR CALIFORNIA PIPELINE MADE STRANGE MOVEMENTS: REPORT

His actions slashed Bears Ears, on lands considered sacred to Native American tribes, by 85%, to just over 200,000 acres (80,900 hectares). They cut Grand Staircase-Escalante by nearly half, leaving it at about 1 million acres (405,000 hectares). Both monuments were created by Democratic presidents.

The Upper Gulch section of the Escalante Canyons within Utah’s Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument features sheer sandstone walls, broken occasionally by tributary canyons. (AP Photo/Douglas C. Pizac)

The Trump administration’s reductions to Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante paved the way for potential coal mining and oil and gas drilling on lands that were previously off limits. https://0e0f41ce6782d4fb7c1c97b80a7cfdec.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html

And in New England, the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument in the Atlantic Ocean, southeast of Cape Cod, will return to its original protections under Obama in 2016. Under Biden’s order, recreational fishing “may continue.” Trump had made a rule change under his administration to allow commercial fishing at the marine monument. The monument is composed of 4,913 square horizontal miles.

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The restoration of the protections for the monuments is consistent with recommendations of Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland. 

The White House said Biden’s protection of monuments is just one among a series of steps the Biden administration has taken to restore protections to some of America’s “most cherished lands and waters, many of which are sacred to Tribal Nations.” 

Kitty Block and Sara Amundson

October 8, 2021 0 Comments

The Biden administration righted a terrible wrong to migratory birds by restoring the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Christopher Tompkins/iStock.com

https://blog.humanesociety.org/2021/10/biden-administration-restores-migratory-bird-treaty-act.html?credit=blog_em_100821_id12531&utm_source=feedblitz&utm_medium=FeedBlitzRss&utm_campaign=humanenation

North American bird populations have declined by three billion birds since 1970, which is just one of the reasons why the Migratory Bird Treaty Act has been such an important source of protection for birds for decades. So, it felt like a terrible threat when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, during the last days of the previous administration, weakened the Act so that it would exempt industries from being prosecuted or penalized if their actions resulted in migratory bird deaths.

Thankfully, this week, the Biden administration righted this terrible wrong by restoring the Migratory Bird Treaty Act’s authority over businesses responsible for incidental deaths of migratory birds caused as an indirect result of their operations. Consequently, businesses once again have a legal incentive to take actions to prevent such deaths, such as covering oil waste pits to prevent birds from mistaking them as ponds or marking power transmission lines to prevent birds from flying into them.

This victory ends what was a dangerous concession to the private sector that would cause birds suffering and cost them their lives. The FWS will resume enforcing the Migratory Bird Treaty Act as it had for decades previously, prohibiting incidental and purposeful killings alike. Underscoring the point, the FWS also issued an order providing instruction to its staff about implementing and enforcing the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.

The FWS went further in its efforts to encourage better protections, too, and announced it is seeking input to develop regulations concerning the incidental killing of migratory birds. This is expected to pave the way for a permitting program that will more actively engage businesses in migratory bird protection at all stages of their operations. Such a permitting program will further the development and adoption of best practices and technologies to prevent bird deaths.

The Migratory Bird Treaty Act was originally designed to combat threats associated with the hunting of migratory birds in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, but today’s world poses an altogether different set of hazards. The Act cannot address all the dangers to bird life, including climate change, loss of vital wetlands or overdevelopment. That’s why it’s critical that the statute maintain its authority over the everyday practices of industrial actors like energy companies, so that they internalize and implement operational strategies that better protect animals and nature. As these businesses become more engaged partners, they’ll help raise the bar for all of us in our efforts to design, build and manage infrastructure that minimizes harm to animals and the environment. The more our planning and design of communities, structures and landscapes takes animals and nature into account, the better off we’ll all be.

Stronger enforcement of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act is also essential to the restoration of waterways, wetlands and other environments birds inhabit. Following the death of more than one million birds after the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010, BP paid $100 million in fines, which went to environmental remediation and improvement. The recent California oil spill has already produced a terrible impact on birds, and as always raises the question of how society will pay for the restoration of their habitat.

It’s estimated that industry sources kill an average of 709 million birds each year, and up to 1.1 billion. Oil pits alone kill up to one million birds yearly. This mortality poses a significant challenge to the survival of bird populations, especially when combined with the myriad other threats to birds. For instance, roughly 600 million birds die each year in collisions with buildings, and climate change threatens two-thirds of U.S. birds.

The restoration of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act’s incidental killing protections is welcome news, and we will urge the FWS to see the permitting program through to realization. We’re also pressing Congress to pass the Migratory Bird Protection Act—H.R. 4833, which is led by Reps. Alan Lowenthal, D-CA, and Brian Fitzpatrick, R-PA—intended to safeguard the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and to develop a permit program to ensure we keep building a world that’s safer for our fellow creatures.

Sara Amundson is president of the Humane Society Legislative Fund.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/08/us/seahawks-hawk-lands-on-fan-trnd/index.html

By David Williams, CNN

Updated 1:23 PM ET, Fri October 8, 2021Seahawks’ mascot lands on a fan and stands on his head.

(CNN)Taima the Hawk is a fixture at Seattle Seahawks home games, swooping through Lumen Field to the delight of thousands of football fans.The 16-year-old Augur hawk mascot made a particularly dramatic entrance at Thursday night’s game against the Los Angeles Rams — flying into the stands and landing on a fan’s back of the neck.Video shows the bird flapping wings as it appeared to be catching its balance on the hood of the sweatshirt the fan was wearing under his highlighter-green jersey.

https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&features=eyJ0ZndfZXhwZXJpbWVudHNfY29va2llX2V4cGlyYXRpb24iOnsiYnVja2V0IjoxMjA5NjAwLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X2hvcml6b25fdHdlZXRfZW1iZWRfOTU1NSI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJodGUiLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X3NwYWNlX2NhcmQiOnsiYnVja2V0Ijoib2ZmIiwidmVyc2lvbiI6bnVsbH19&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1446278517595934725&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2F2021%2F10%2F08%2Fus%2Fseahawks-hawk-lands-on-fan-trnd%2Findex.html&sessionId=e3b8188c82afc5e9abdd0d129a015fc82966fed7&theme=light&widgetsVersion=fcb1942%3A1632982954711&width=550pxTaima’s foot slid across the fan’s head several times before it was able to get a steady perch on the fan’s neck and head.

The bird has a 4.5-foot wingspan, according to the Seahawks website, and talons on each foot.

“Get that guy season tickets,” announcer Joe Buck said during the broadcast.

Here’s why college football teams use live animals as mascots“Give him a helmet,” Troy Aikman replied.There have been some high-profile incidentson the field involving live animal mascots.The animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has called for sports teams to stop using big cats, bears and other exotic animals as mascots and criticized the US Air Force Academy for having live falcons at football games and other events.

Neither the fan nor Taima appeared to be injured in the awkward encounter, but it looked like it was an uncomfortable experience for them both.Unfortunately for Seahawks fans, the incident was one of the highlights of the game, or a harbinger of what was to come in their 26-17 loss to the Los Angeles Rams.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/08/us/california-oil-spill-friday/index.html

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By Dakin Andone, CNN

Updated 9:55 AM ET, Fri October 8, 2021

Source: CNNHuntington Beach Mayor: It’s ‘all hands on deck’ to mitigate oil spill 06:30

Huntington Beach Mayor: It’s ‘all hands on deck’ to mitigate oil spillCNN01:03/06:30And there are crews right
now that are cleaning
Now PlayingHuntington Beach…

(CNN)Tar balls that may be linked to the oil spill off the coast of Orange County, California, are washing up on San Diego beaches, county officials said Thursday, highlighting concerns about the widening environmental impact days after tens of thousands of gallons of crude oil spilled into the ocean.”While it is not impossible for this to occur naturally, the quantity is highly unlikely, highly unusual, and it is very likely that these tar balls are in fact the result of the oil spill,” San Diego County Board of Supervisors Chair Nathan Fletcher said in a news conference Thursday.”We do not know that for certain yet,” he added. Officials have collected samples, which are being tested.

A timeline of the California oil spill, from the first report to the clean-upSan Diego County will declare a state of emergency if the tar balls are tied to the Orange County oil spill, Fletcher said. Booms — floating barriers used to contain an oil spill — have been deployed out of an abundance of caution, he said.

The news comes days after the first reports of the spill off the coast of Southern California, which forced the closure of beaches and threatened coastal habitats after oil leaked into the ocean from a split, or partial tear, in a pipeline several miles offshore.

According to Fletcher, lifeguards from the cities of Carlsbad and Oceanside saw the tar balls on their beaches Wednesday night, and officials have also received reports of tar balls in Encinitas and Del Mar, some 70 miles south of the beaches initially impacted in Orange County.Enter your email to subscribe to the CNN Five Things Newsletter.

We’ve got the day’s biggest headlines summarized for your busy schedule.Sign Me UpBy subscribing you agree to ourprivacy policy.There is no immediate threat to public health, Fletcher said, and the beaches will remain open until further notice. But officials have asked that people be on the lookout for the tar balls.A cleanup crew works on the beach on Thursday, October 7, 2021 in Huntington Beach, California.Meantime, officials continue their own cleanup efforts in Orange County, where nearly 1,500 people are expected to help out this weekend, Orange County Second District Supervisor Katrina Foley said on Twitter.People should not approach any oiled animals, she added, but call the Oiled Wildlife Care Network (OWCN).According to OWCN, as of Thursday evening, the number of wildlife recovered in the response totaled 35, including 10 birds that have been recovered dead.The oil spill has been designated a “Major Marine Casualty,” the US Coast Guard announced Thursday, the highest level of severity. In this case, it’s been designated as such “due to the potential involvement of a vessel and the resulting damages estimated in excess of $500,000,” the Coast Guard said in a statement.A class action lawsuit was filed against Amplify Energy and affiliated corporations Thursday on behalf of business owners impacted by the oil spill, claiming the companies failed to safely maintain the pipeline.CNN has contacted Amplify Energy, which operated the pipeline believed to be the source of the spill, for comment on the lawsuit, and is awaiting its reply.Workers in protective suits clean the contaminated beach after an oil spill in Newport Beach, California, on Wednesday, October 6, 2021.

US Coast Guard boards German cargo ship

While the exact number is not known, officials said in a news conference Thursday they estimate at least 24,000 gallons and possibly as much as 131,000 gallons of crude oil were released into the Pacific Ocean. US Coast Guard Captain Rebecca Ore said the worst case scenario would put the figure at a maximum of 131,628 gallons, or 3,134 barrels.A joint investigation between the US Coast Guard and other officials continues to move forward, Ore said.Authorities said earlier this week that the source appeared to be a 13-inch split found in a 4,000-foot section of pipe owned by Amplify Energy. The pipe had been pulled about 105 feet to the side, authorities said.A team of biologists from the University of California Santa Cruz and Tenera Consulting firm assess the overall biological habitat by gauging the biodiversity of the Little Corona del Mar tide pools on Wednesday, October 6, 2021 in Newport Beach, California.A preliminary report indicated the partial tear could have been caused by a vessel’s anchor that hooked the pipeline, the US Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration said in a notice to Amplify Energy. The incident remains under investigation.The US Coast Guard this week boarded a German cargo ship that was anchored in waters off Southern California when the pipeline began spilling crude oil into the ocean.Coast Guard officials boarded the Rotterdam Express Wednesday in Northern California, according to Roberto Bernardo, a spokesperson for the Port of Oakland. The ship was in port for about a day to unload its cargo, which is typical, Bernardo said, and is now headed for the Port of Manzanillo in Mexico.A spokesperson for Hapag-Lloyd, the German company that runs the ship, confirmed to CNN in an email Thursday that the ship had been boarded the day prior by the US Coast Guard.A boat checks on one of two oil containment booms at the entrance to Newport Harbor in Newport Beach Wednesday.The ship had anchored in an area of the Pacific Ocean on September 21, as directed by San Pedro Marine Traffic, Nils Haupt, the spokesperson, said in an email to CNN. The ship remained in the same position for 12 days before heading for Oakland.

“During the period in question the vessel has not moved from anchorage and has not passed over the pipeline,” Haupt said. “During anchorage no oil in the water has been spotted. Hapag-Lloyd is fully cooperating with all authorities involved.”The Unified Command responding to the oil spill declined to comment on the Rotterdam Express Thursday, saying in a statement, “We do not discuss ongoing investigations, but we are analyzing electric charting systems from our vessel traffic service to see what ships were anchored or moving over the spill area.”

CNN’s Sarah Moon contributed to this report.