BANGKOK — Thailand has detected an mpox case in a European man who arrived from Africa last week and is awaiting test results to determine the strain, a disease control official said on Wednesday.   Thai authorities were treating the case as if it were the Clade 1 form of mpox, as the person, a 66-year-old European man with residency in Thailand, had arrived on Aug. 14 from an African country where it was spreading, Thongchai Keeratihattayakorn, director-general of the Department of Disease Control, told Reuters.   “After he arrives from the flight there is very little time frame where he come into contact with others,” Thongchai said. “He arrives around 6 pm and on the next day, Aug 15, he went to see the doctor at the hospital.”  Thongchai said the man has undergone a test to determine whether the case was a Clade 1 variant, with the result expected …

Palestinian residents of a Jerusalem neighborhood have appealed to the Israeli Supreme Court demanding they be supplied with more water. The 120,000 residents of the area say they receive water only three hours a week. Linda Gradstein reports for VOA from Kufr Aqab. Camera: Ricki Rosen. …

Gaborone, Botswana — Health officials in Botswana have started screening travelers for mpox at the country’s entry points.  Neighboring South Africa has recorded three deaths as a result of the dangerous strain of mpox, and Botswana is anxious to keep out the rapidly spreading disease. “Although we have not recorded any case of mpox in Botswana, I want to take this opportunity to assure Botswana that we have significantly enhanced our broader surveillance systems,” the country’s minister of health, Dr Edwin Dikoloti, told the media Tuesday. “We are currently intensifying our surveillance at key entry points, which is borders and airports, focusing on high-risk areas.” South Africa shares a 1,900-kilometer border with Botswana and as of Aug. 5 had recorded three mpox deaths. In Africa, the disease has claimed the lives of more than 500 people since the beginning of the year. Botswana Public Health Institute Acting Director Dr. Thebeyame Matsheka …

Berlin — A World Health Organization official stressed on Tuesday that mpox, regardless of whether it is the new or old strain, is not the new COVID, as authorities know how to control its spread. “We can and must tackle mpox together,” said Hans Kluge, WHO regional director for Europe, in a U.N. media briefing. “So will we choose to put the systems in place to control and eliminate mpox globally? Or we will enter another cycle of panic and neglect? How we respond now and in the years to come will prove a critical test for Europe and the world,” he added. Mpox, a viral infection that causes pus-filled lesions and flu-like symptoms, is usually mild but can kill. The clade 1b variety has caused global concern because it seems to spread more easily though routine close contact. A case of the variant was confirmed last week in Sweden and …

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Cairo — Sudan has been stricken by a cholera outbreak that has killed nearly two dozen people and sickened hundreds more in recent weeks, health authorities said Sunday. The African nation has been roiled by a 16-month conflict and devastating floods.   Health Minister Haitham Mohamed Ibrahim said in a statement that at least 22 people have died from the disease, and that at least 354 confirmed cases of cholera have been detected across the county in recent weeks.   Ibrahim didn’t give a time frame for the deaths or the tally since the start of the year. The World Health Organization, however, said that 78 deaths were recorded from cholera this year in Sudan as of July 28. The disease also sickened more than 2,400 others between Jan. 1 and July 28, it said.   Cholera is a fast-developing, highly contagious infection that causes diarrhea, leading to severe dehydration and …

moscow — A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck off the coast of Russia’s far-eastern Kamchatka Peninsula early Sunday morning local time, according to the regional earthquake monitoring service. The local emergencies ministry said tremors were felt along the coast including in the region’s capital Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. “Operational teams of rescuers and firefighters are inspecting buildings,” the regional branch of Russia’s emergencies ministry in the Kamchatka region said on Telegram. The earthquake struck at a depth of nearly 50 kilometers just after 7 a.m. local time, some 90 kilometers east of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, the United States Geological Survey reported. The U.S. National Tsunami Warning Center had initially issued a tsunami threat, but later said the threat had passed. Local authorities never issued a tsunami alert. Several aftershocks were recorded after the initial quake, but of lower intensity, the Kamchatka branch of Russia’s Unified Geophysical Service reported on its website. “Most of the aftershocks are imperceptible,” …

SAN DIEGO — A rarely seen deep-sea fish resembling a serpent was found floating dead on the ocean surface off the San Diego coast and was brought ashore for study, marine experts said.  The silvery, 12-foot-long (3.6-meter) oarfish was found last weekend by a group of snorkelers and kayakers in La Jolla Cove, north of downtown San Diego, in the U.S. state of California, the Scripps Institution of Oceanography said in a statement.  It’s only the 20th time an oarfish is known to have washed up in California since 1901, according to institution fish expert Ben Frable.  Scripps noted that oarfish have a mythical reputation as predictors of natural disasters or earthquakes, although no correlation has been proven.  Oarfish can grow longer than 20 feet (6 meters) and normally live in a deep part of the ocean called the mesopelagic zone, where light cannot reach, according to the National Oceanic and …

KOLKATA/BHUBANESWAR, India — Hospitals and clinics across India turned away patients except for emergency cases on Saturday as medical professionals staged a 24-hour shutdown in protest over the rape and murder of a doctor this month in the eastern city of Kolkata. More than 1 million doctors were expected to join the strike, paralyzing medical services across the world’s most-populous nation. Hospitals said faculty from medical colleges had been pressed into service for emergency cases. The government, in a statement issued on Saturday after a meeting with representatives of medical associations, urged doctors to return to duties in the public interest. The government would set up a committee to suggest measures to improve protection for health care professionals, it said. In response, the Indian Medical Association said it was studying the government offer, but it did not call off the strike, which was due to end at 6 a.m. Sunday. The …

ABUJA, NIGERIA — Barely 48 hours after the World Health Organization declared mpox a global health emergency, Nigeria went on high alert Friday, announcing new mpox cases and raising concerns about the country’s ability to contain the outbreak. The Nigeria Center for Disease Control and Prevention, or NCDC, said it has recorded 39 cases of mpox so far this year amid a surge in infections across Africa. No deaths have been recorded in Nigeria. Bayelsa, Cross River, Ogun and Lagos states are the most affected by the outbreak. Speaking at a news conference, NCDC lead Dr. Olajide Idris said that the nation is ramping up its response to manage the spread of the virus and prevent the disease from being imported. Mpox is a rare viral zoonotic disease, meaning it is primarily an animal disease that can be transmitted to humans. It is endemic in several African countries, with over 2,800 …

GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo — Sarah Bagheni had a headache, fever, and itchy and unusual skin lesions for days, but she had no inkling that her symptoms might have been caused by mpox and that she might be another case in a growing global health emergency.  She also has no idea where to go to get medical help.  She and her husband live in the Bulengo displacement camp in eastern Congo, a region that is effectively ground zero for a series of mpox outbreaks in Africa. This year’s alarming rise in cases, including a new form of the virus identified by scientists in eastern Congo, led the World Health Organization to declare it a global health emergency on Wednesday. It said the new variant could spread beyond the five African countries where it had already been detected — a timely warning that came a day before Sweden reported its first …

Stockholm — Health authorities warned Friday that Europe must be ready for more cases of a deadly strain of mpox that has killed hundreds of people in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The World Health Organization urged pharmaceutical firms to ramp up vaccine production and China said it would screen travelers for the disease after the first cases of the more deadly strain to be recorded outside Africa were announced in Sweden and Pakistan. France’s Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said his country was on the “highest alert” and would implement “new recommendations” for travelers to risk areas. Mpox is caused by a virus transmitted to humans by animals but can also spread human-to-human through close physical contact. It causes fever, muscular aches and large boil-like skin lesions. The WHO on Wednesday declared the rapid spread of the new Clade 1b strain an international public health emergency — the agency’s highest alert. …

BANGKOK — Southeast Asia is among the regions most prone to natural disasters, but a new analysis released Thursday shows its people also feel the best equipped to deal with them. It seems logical that the countries in and around the Pacific Ring of Fire, vulnerable to earthquakes, typhoons, storm surges and other dangers, are also the best prepared, but the survey by Gallup for the Lloyd’s Register Foundation shows that’s not always the case in other regions. “Frequent exposure to hazard isn’t the only factor that determines how prepared people feel,” Benedict Vigers, a research consultant with Gallup, told The Associated Press. The report found the Association of Southeast Asian Nations has played a key role in disaster risk reduction, and Vigers said the region’s wider approach includes widespread and effective early warning systems, scaled-up community approaches and regional cooperation, and good access to disaster finance. “Southeast Asia’s success in …

BANGKOK — Southeast Asia is among the regions most prone to natural disasters, but a new analysis released Thursday shows its people also feel the best equipped to deal with them. It seems logical that the countries in and around the Pacific Ring of Fire, vulnerable to earthquakes, typhoons, storm surges and other dangers, are also the best prepared, but the survey by Gallup for the Lloyd’s Register Foundation shows that’s not always the case in other regions. “Frequent exposure to hazard isn’t the only factor that determines how prepared people feel,” Benedict Vigers, a research consultant with Gallup, told The Associated Press. The report found the Association of Southeast Asian Nations has played a key role in disaster risk reduction, and Vigers said the region’s wider approach includes widespread and effective early warning systems, scaled-up community approaches and regional cooperation, and good access to disaster finance. “Southeast Asia’s success in …

london — The World Health Organization declared Wednesday that the increasing spread of mpox in Africa is a global health emergency, warning the virus might ultimately spill across international borders.  The announcement by WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus came after a meeting of the United Nation health agency’s emergency committee. The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention declared mpox a public health emergency on the continent on Tuesday.  The WHO said there have been more than 14,000 cases and 524 deaths in Africa this year, which already exceeds last year’s figures.  So far, more than 96% of all cases and deaths are in a single country — Congo. Scientists are concerned by the spread of a new version of the disease there that might be more easily transmitted among people.  Here’s a look at what we know about mpox, and what might be done to contain it:  What is mpox?  …

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Abuja, Nigeria — Nigerian authorities on Thursday placed key entry points into the country on high alert following the outbreak of the mpox virus in Africa. Authorities have also put nine Nigerian states, including the commercial hub, Lagos, and the capital, Abuja, under serious surveillance. The Nigerian Center for Disease Control and Prevention told journalists that the action is in response to surging cases of the mpox virus in Africa and to intensify coordination to limit importation and spread of the virus. This week, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it had recorded 2,863 confirmed cases of mpox, with 517 deaths, across 13 countries this year. It said there are about 17,000 suspected cases of mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, in total. So far this year, Nigeria has recorded 39 cases of mpox, with no deaths. Jide Idris, head of the Nigerian CDC, said it’s best to be …

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