to blame it on somebody else shows management potential.**
LARGEST QUAKES -
Live Seismograms - Worldwide (update every 30 minutes)
This morning -
5.0 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS
Yesterday -
4/25/13 -
5.0 KURIL ISLANDS
5.0 KURIL ISLANDS
5.0 MARIANA ISLANDS REGION
VOLCANOES -
Volcano Webcams
TROPICAL STORMS -
No current tropical storms.
SEVERE STORMS AND DROUGHT -
Storms and drought conditions continue in North and Northeast Thailand - A tropical storm damaged over 50 houses in Phitsanulok province while drought continues to grip provinces across the country. The storm blew off roofs and destroyed rice fields and fruit orchards in many districts of of Phitsanulok.
Despite the heavy rains, water level at the province’s major dam continues to plummet as water is diverted to assist farmers in other drought-hit areas. The Kwae Noi dam currently holds 490 million cubic meters of water or only 52 percent of total capacity. In Chiang Rai, residents in Chiang Saen district have been experiencing severe water shortages for 4 months. Provincial authorities have been pumping water from a nearby waterfall into the district’s reservoir. Over 150 households have been affected by the drought conditions.
The northeastern province of Buriram, meanwhile, is experiencing severe drought which destroyed livestock feed for elephants. More than 100 elephants have been starved due to lack of food supplies. Local residents urged authorities to speedily remedy the worsening crisis.
HEALTH THREATS -
China reports three more H7N9 cases; total to 112 - Two of China's provinces Thursday reported three more H7N9 influenza infections, while another province awaits test results for what may be its first case.
Health officials said in a detailed account of H7N9 flu cases that about three fourths of patients had underlying medical conditions, and the same percentage had been exposed to animals, including chickens.
Taiwan reports first H7N9 case outside of China - Taiwan health officials announced that a 53-year-old man who had recently traveled to China is hospitalized in critical condition with a novel H7N9 infection, the first such case to be detected outside of China.
MRSA dropping in hospitals; elsewhere, not so much - The latest data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggest that hospitals have cut their incidence of invasive methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections in half since 2005, but the decline in community-associated MRSA infections has been far more modest.
Getting flu shot 2 years in a row may lower protection - Experts are puzzled by a new study in which influenza vaccination seemed to provide little or no protection against flu in the 2010-11 season; and in which the only participants who seemed to benefit from the vaccine were those who hadn't been vaccinated the season before.
RECALLS & ALERTS
Multistate 73-case Salmonella outbreak linked to cucumbers - Seventy-three people in 18 states have been infected with Salmonella Saintpaul linked to cucumbers, and 14 of them have been hospitalized. "Preliminary information indicates that consumption of imported cucumbers is the likely source of infection for the ill persons." The Food and Drug Administration placed Daniel Cardenas Izabal and Miracle Greenhouse of Culiacan, Mexico, on Import Alert, which means they may not ship cucumbers into the United States unless they can show they are not contaminated with Salmonella.
There is no evidence that contaminated cucumbers from these two suppliers are still on the market. Illness-onset dates for patients range from Jan 12 to Apr 6, and ages range from 1 to 80 years, with 60% female. Thirty of 45 ill patients (67%) reported eating cucumbers before they became sick. No deaths have been reported. California has confirmed the most outbreak cases, 28, followed by Arizona, with 9, and Minnesota, with 8.
