Is it possible to get the coronavirus more than once?  Scientists don’t know for sure yet, but they believe it’s unlikely.  Health experts think people who had COVID-19 will have some immunity against a repeat infection. But they don’t know how much protection or how long it would last.  There have been reports of people testing positive for the virus weeks after they were believed to have recovered, leading some to think they may have been reinfected. More likely, experts say, people were suffering from the same illness or the tests detected remnants of the original infection. There’s also the chance that tests could have been false positives.  Scientists say there has been no documented instance of a patient spreading the virus to others after retesting positive.  With similar viruses, studies have shown that people could fall sick again three months to a year after their first infections. It’s still …

The World Health Organization warns that the COVID-19 pandemic is threatening gains made in eliminating Hepatitis B and C, which cause liver damage and liver cancer.  In observance of World Hepatitis Day Tuesday, the WHO is calling for action to stop transmission of viral hepatitis from mother-to-child. Around 325 million people globally live with hepatitis B or C and an estimated one-point-three million people die of this viral disease each year.  The World Health Organization reports the proportion of children under age five chronically infected with hepatitis B has dropped from five percent to under one percent since the 1980s.  This, thanks to the availability of a safe and effective vaccine.WHO Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus considers this a big achievement.  He says progress toward the elimination of the disease is being made in Asia where childhood hepatitis B immunization coverage is high.“However, progress is being hampered by low coverage of hepatitis …

Healthcare workers in Cameroon are marking World Hepatitis Day (July 28), to raise awareness of the virus, which causes inflammation of the liver and kills about 300 people per day in Sub-Saharan Africa.  While global coverage of a birth dose vaccine for Hepatitis B is 43%, according to the World Health Organization, only 6% receive it in the WHO’s African Region, which does not include Egypt, Eritrea, Libya, Somalia, or Sudan.  In Cameroon, health officials have begun dispatching healthcare workers to find hep B patients who are avoiding treatment and getting the vaccine for their newborns.Farmer Valerie Mbappe, 52, said she was diagnosed with hepatitis in April.But she was reluctant to go to a doctor because her uncle told her she should be treated by a traditional healer.After going to the healer, Mbappe’s abdominal pain, fatigue and fever have gotten worse.She said now that she knows that she can be treated at the hospital, her …

Widescale testing began Monday in the United States on two potential COVID-19 vaccines to determine their safety and effectiveness.   A volunteer in Savannah, Georgia early Monday morning received the first dose of an experimental vaccine manufactured by U.S.-based biotech firm Moderna and developed by researchers at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.  The volunteer is the first of 30,000 healthy people around the country who will receive two doses of the vaccine over the next several weeks in a late-stage phase of the study to see whether people get infected or sick from COVID-19.   An earlier phase of the study discovered that while none of the volunteers experienced a serious side effect from the new vaccine, more than half reported mild or moderate reactions such as fatigue, headaches, chills, muscle aches and pain at the injection site.    Dr. Anthony Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told reporters Monday that …

Widescale testing began Monday in the United States on two potential COVID-19 vaccines to determine their safety and effectiveness.   A volunteer in Savannah, Georgia early Monday morning received the first dose of an experimental vaccine manufactured by U.S.-based biotech firm Moderna and developed by researchers at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.  The volunteer is the first of 30,000 healthy people around the country who will receive two doses of the vaccine over the next several weeks in a late-stage phase of the study to see whether people get infected or sick from COVID-19.   An earlier phase of the study discovered that while none of the volunteers experienced a serious side effect from the new vaccine, more than half reported mild or moderate reactions such as fatigue, headaches, chills, muscle aches and pain at the injection site.    Dr. Anthony Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told reporters Monday that …

Much of Hawaii was spared when Hurricane Douglas passed just north of Oahu, Maui and the island of Hawaii, also known as the Big Island, early Monday. The Category 1 storm was on what forecasters had called a “dangerously close” path, but the islands managed to “dodge the bullet” as one police chief put it, when the storm veered slightly away from its forecast path. No severe damage has been reported from Douglas’ heavy rain and fierce winds. But the threat to Hawaii is not totally over. Hurricane warnings are out for some parts of the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument – a World Heritage site described as “cluster of small, low lying islands and atolls” – northwest of the main Hawaiian Islands. Tropical storm warnings and watches have been issued for other parts of Papahānaumokuākea, which is the largest contiguous fully protected conservation area in the U.S., and one of the largest marine conservation areas in the world, …

For the second time, U.S. President Donald Trump has been photographed wearing a mask amid the coronavirus pandemic.  Trump wore the face covering as he toured a North Carolina laboratory where key components are being manufactured for a COVID-19 vaccine developed by Novavax. “I trust all Americans to do the right thing, but we strongly advise everyone to especially, especially focus on maintaining a social distance, maintain a rigorous hygiene, avoid crowded gatherings and indoor bars and wear masks when appropriate,” Trump told a group of reporters traveling with him just before his tour of the Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies Innovation Center. “Nothing’s happened like this since the end of World War II,” the president said of the billions of dollars being spent in the global race to produce and mass deploy a vaccine in record time.  Before the tour of the plant, Trump spoke to several dozen North Carolina politicians, scientists, White House officials, journalists and Secret Service agents, Trump was the only person not wearing a mask.  The president who has faced criticism for what is …

Indonesia is set to move into the front ranks of countries pursuing a vaccine against the coronavirus next week with the launch of phase 3 clinical trials in Bandung, West Java. About 2,400 samples of an experimental vaccine have been shipped from China to Bandung for the trial, which will begin August 3. The vaccine, developed by the Chinese biopharmaceutical firm Sinovac Biotech, is one of only five out of 166 candidates to have reached such an advanced stage of testing. An American entrant in the race for a vaccine, developed by Moderna, entered phase 3 trials in the United States on Monday.  Phase 3 testing involves giving a vaccine to thousands of volunteers to see how many become infected, compared with others who are given a placebo. Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi announced the Bandung plan in a virtual press conference last week, saying the project is directed in Indonesia by the state-owned …

A new study suggests dry climates and dense human populations are key factors in how mosquitoes have evolved to bite people.Noting that only a handful of the 3,500 species of mosquito feeds on human blood, researchers at Princeton University set out to determine why certain mosquitoes feed on humans. The World Health Organization named mosquitoes one of the deadliest animals on Earth, citing their ability to carry and spread disease.The team studied a variety of mosquito — Aedes aegypti — known to carry ailments that include the Zika virus and dengue fever — and collected samples from 27 sites in sub-Saharan Africa. Through genetic analysis, they found mosquitoes became more likely to feed on humans as population grew denser or more urbanized. This was only in regions with a significant dry season.Authors of the study, published recently in the scientific journal Current Biology, found that during dry seasons, mosquitoes may …

 Kenya’s Ministry of Health says the number of mental health cases have jumped dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the country’s mental health taskforce, 25% of coronavirus outpatients and 40% of in-hospital patients suffer from mental health issues such as depression. But more Kenyans are seeking help and speaking up about it. Mohammed Yusuf reports.Camera: Mohammed Yusuf    Producer:  Rod James  …

The World Health Organization warns COVID-19 is continuing to accelerate globally at breathtaking speed but says basic public health measures – if followed — can control its spread and turn the pandemic around.The number of coronavirus cases globally has roughly doubled in the past six weeks.  More than 16 million cases of the virus have been reported to the World Health Organization, including more than 640,000 deaths.The Americas is the most seriously affected region, with the United States topping the number of infections at more than four million cases and over 143,000 deaths.WHO Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said many lessons have been learned since the pandemic was declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on January 30.The most important, he says, is that those countries that have applied basic health measures are containing the virus.  He said finding, isolating, testing and tracing contacts as well as social distancing and wearing masks …

More than one million people in Phnom Penh face the risk of increased flooding and loss of livelihoods as wetlands in the Cambodian capital are destroyed to build apartments and industries, human rights groups warned on Monday. Developments – including the ING City township – will reduce the Tompoun wetlands to less than a tenth of its 1,500 hectares (5.8 sq miles), and lead to the eviction of more than 1,000 families who live on its edge, activists said in a report. It would also impoverish thousands of families who farm and fish in the wetlands in the city of 1.5 million people. “The wetlands sustain local communities and play a vital role in Phnom Penh’s waste management and flood prevention,” said the report from Equitable Cambodia, LICADHO, the Cambodian Youth Network and land rights group Sahmakum Teang Tnaut (STT). “Millions of Cambodians will likely be affected by the potentially devastating impacts of destroying the wetlands.” Phnom Penh, situated on the banks of …

Scientists warn record Siberian temperatures and the rapid melting of the Arctic sea ice along the Russian coast indicate that climate change is occurring and may be irreversible. Siberia, famous for its bitterly cold weather, has been experiencing a tropical heat wave, with temperatures reaching a record 38 degrees Celsius June 20 in the Russian town of Verkhoyansk.  This week alone, the World Meteorological Organization reports some parts of Siberia have been warmer than the U.S. states of Florida and California, with temperatures going above 30 degrees Celsius.    It says the exceptional and prolonged heat is fueling devastating Arctic fires and causing a rapid decrease in the Arctic sea ice coverage.WMO spokeswoman Clare Nullis says the Arctic is heating more than twice the global average, and that is having a major impact on local populations and ecosystems.“We always say what happens in the Arctic does not stay in the Arctic,” said Nullis. …

Wildfires continue to burn in parts of Siberia this summer as a heatwave has continued to spread in areas north of the Arctic Circle.The World Metrological Organization (WMO) has raised the alarm, saying official figures show record warming in the Arctic.”In general, the Arctic is heating more than twice the global average,” said Clare Nullis, WMO spokesperson. “It’s having a big impact on local populations and ecosystems, but we always say that what happens in the Arctic doesn’t stay in the Arctic, it does affect our weather in different parts of the world where hundreds of millions of people live.”More than 180 fires are burning in the Siberian region, with many in the northern Sakha Republic, on the Arctic Ocean.”Some parts of Siberia this week have again topped 30 degrees Celsius — so it’s been warmer in Siberia than many parts of Florida,” said Nullis.The wildfires are having effects far …

Russian scientists are digging out fragments of a well-preserved woolly mammoth skeleton found by reindeer herders a few days ago at a lake in northern Siberia.The herders initially found parts of the animal’s skull, lower jaw, several ribs and foot fragments with sinews still intact on the shores of Pechevalavato Lake.Scientists are excavating for the remaining fragments of the prehistoric animal in lakeside silt, which is likely to take a significant amount of time and special equipment.“According to the first information we have, the whole skeleton is there,” said Dmitrii Frolov, director the Arctic Research Center of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District, in a report by The Siberian Times.”Judging by the pictures, this was a young mammoth, but we’ll have to wait for tests to give the exact age,” he said.Finding the complete skeleton of a mammoth is relatively rare, Yevgeniya Khozyainova of the Shemanovsky Institute in Salekhard said in televised …

U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday signed four executive orders aimed at lowering the prices Americans pay for prescription drugs, as he faces an uphill reelection battle and criticism over his handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Trump has previously proposed most of the changes made by the executive orders he signed Friday, but this was the first time they had made it into signed executive orders. One order would allow for the legal importation of cheaper prescription drugs from countries like Canada, while another would require discounts from drug companies now captured by middlemen to be passed on to patients, Trump said. Another measure seeks to lower insulin costs, while a fourth, which may not be implemented if talks with drug companies are successful, would require Medicare to purchase drugs at the same price that other countries pay, Trump said. Executives of top drug companies have requested a meeting to discuss how they can …

A few weeks ago researchers at Oxford University announced promising results from early trials of their version of a COVID-19 vaccine. In early trial results on just over 1,000 volunteers, the vaccine appeared to be safe and triggered an immune response. VOA spoke with one volunteer who is participated in phase two trials. VOA’s Anna Rice reports.  …