By: D.K Choudhary
Mers, Lassa, Nipah Virus May Cause Next Global Health Emergency
i. Scientists have discovered three new lesser known diseases namely Mers, Lassa fever and Nipah virus that could cause the next global health emergency.
ii. To overcome this to happen, Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) has contributed a sum of $460 million for the development of the vaccine against these would-be deadly disease. Besides, CEPI has also asked help of $500 million from World Economic Forum Davos.
iii. The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) is a group consisting of government representatives, private sector representatives, civil societies/NGOs and individual members.
iv. CEPI aims to have two new experimental vaccines ready for each disease within five years. New vaccines usually take about a decade to develop and cost hundreds of millions of dollars.
v. Earlier Ebola outbreak in West Africa and Zika epidemic in Latin America lead to global health emergency.
New Species of Moth Named after Donald Trump
i. A Canadian Biologist named Dr. Vazrick Nazari, has discovered a new species of moth in a densely populated part of southern California and named it after US President-elect Donald Trump.
ii. The moth, Neopalpa donaldtrumpi, has been named in honor of Donald J. Trump who is to be sworn in as the 45th President of the United States on January 20, 2017 because of the resemblance of the scales on the head of the moth to Mr Trump’s hairstyle.
iii. The researcher believes that naming the species after the 45th US President would create public awareness about its conservation. It is an endangered species and some of still contains some undiscovered species.
2016 hottest year on record : WMD
i. According to World Meteorological Organisation’s ,recent report 2016 was the hottest year with an average temperature 1.1 degrees Centigrade (2 degrees Fahrenheit) higher than in pre-industrial times.
ii. The World temperature was analyzed from the data collected from NASA, the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the British Meteorological Office and the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts are combined to analyze the world temperatures.
iii. The long-term indicators of human-influenced climate change also reached their highest levels in 2016.
iv. The high temperatures have also resulted in the lowest registered amounts of ice in the Arctic and Antarctic and the destruction of large areas of coral.
World Meteorological Organisation :
♦ Formation: 1950
♦ Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland
♦ Head: Petteri Taalas
