Disease

Mad Cow Disease Found In France

Authorities from the European Union have confirmed an isolated case of mad cow disease in Ardennes in Northern France, while promising that it poses no health risks.

Mad cow disease or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) was first discovered in the 1990s and is caused by a mutated or rogue protein called a prion. The outbreak of the disease in the United Kingdom in the 2000s was caused by cows that were being recycled into cattle feed who were infected by the disease. It’s for this reason that Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, which is the human equivalent is essentially limited to affecting the few remaining cannibalistic societies around the world.

Nigeria - Lassa Fever

Lassa fever has claimed a total of 80 lives in its latest outbreak in Nigeria, Africa's most populous country.

A total of 137 confirmed cases have so far been recorded since the disease broke out last November. "The total suspected case was 266 and 138 deaths in the whole country. But laboratory-wise, the centre for disease control recorded 137 cases and 80 deaths," according to a health department official.

The latest outbreak became worse in February but efforts have been intensified to tackle the threat and spread of Lassa fever and other hemorrhagic fevers in the country.