Human Trafficking Report

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi of Italy, the difficulties involved in sex scandal is growing. Associated with human trafficking in a U.S. report that his name was included.
British newspaper Telegraph reports, U.S. State Department report this year linked to human trafficking is the name of Berlusconi. The involvement of the parties and the minor girl was referring to. Berlusconi is Italy's third most wealthy person.
In February this year the judges in sexual assault case against Berlusconi had decided to hear. Berlusconi with a minor girl to play with the money and using his influence to release him from custody charge. The prosecution claims that Berlusconi at his private house parties held several times a porn where the girls were called in paid sex. The Moroccan-born dancer called Ruby was then when her age was just 17 years. That in November, 2010 has been 18 years. U.S. State Department report on human trafficking issues each year.

Wrong Sexual harassment

While interacting with various channels Washigtn Ken Hermann said when he was president of the National Restaurant Association from 1996 to 1999, then was accused of sexual harassment.
He said the fact that more than 40 years of operation, the Corporation's business and I, not anyone's sexual harassment.
Ken told reporters at the National Press Club Restaurant Association had made false accusations of sexual abuse against me.
Kane said that during the examination to get a base because it was discontinued.

TB cases decline for first time

The number of people getting sick with tuberculosis has dropped for the first time, while the death toll from the disease reached its lowest level in a decade, helped by progress in countries like China, the World Health Organization said on Tuesday.

In 2010, 8.8 million people fell ill with TB and 1.4 million died, both marking a notable decline over prior years, the United Nations health agency said in releasing its 2011 Global Tuberculosis Control Report.
"The findings reflect a significant milestone for global health," said Dr. Mario Raviglione, director of the WHO's Stop TB Department, at a news briefing. "But history teaches that we cannot be complacent about TB. The international community therefore must not perceive these achievements as job done."
TB is a worldwide pandemic, with about a third of the world's population infected with the bacteria, although only a small portion ever develop the disease.
The WHO has revised its estimates to show that the absolute number of cases has been on a decline since 2006, not on a slight rise as previously reported. The number of people ill with TB peaked at 9 million in 2005.
The death toll from TB peaked at 1.8 million in 2003.
The WHO officials attributed the decline to better data collection around the world; increased funding in China for addressing TB; better prevention and care in the former countries of the Soviet Union and Latin America as their standard of living improves; and a drop-off of infection in Africa, which had peaked with the HIV epidemic.
The TB bacteria destroys patients' lung tissue, causing them to cough up the bacteria, which then spreads through the air and can be inhaled by others. If untreated, each person with active TB can infect on average 10 to 15 people a year.
TB is especially common in Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe and Russia.
The countries the WHO especially noted for progress in the fight against the disease were Kenya, the United Republic of Tanzania, Brazil and China, which saw a drop of nearly 80 percent to 55,000 TB deaths in 2010 since 1990.
Globally, the TB death rate dropped 40 percent in 2010 compared to 1990, and all regions except Africa were on track to reach a 50 percent mortality decline by 2015.
For full report from the WHO, see
CHALLENGE OF DRUG RESISTANCE
Some countries routinely vaccinate children with Bacillus Calmette-Guerin, made by several companies including Merck & Co Inc. The vaccine doesn't always protect against TB.
The infection is also treatable by antibiotics, such as isoniazid or Sanofi's Rifadin, but they must be taken daily for months to be effective.
Because people do not always take the drugs as directed, multidrug-resistant (MDR-TB) and extensively drug-resistant (XDR-TB) strains have emerged. Leaving them untreated increases the risk of drug-resistant strains of TB spreading.
In March of this year, the WHO warned that more than 2 million people will contract MDR-TB by 2015.
Drug-resistant TB strains remain one of the biggest challenges, as only about 16 percent of patients diagnosed with MDR-TB are actually getting treatment, said Dr. Katherine Floyd, coordinator of the TB monitoring and evaluation unit at the Stop TB department.
"There is little interest by the industry in developing new drugs in general for antibiotics, but when it comes to TB in particular ... they cannot count on making a lot of money off the drugs and therefore don't invest," Raviglione said.
Although many advances have been made in increasing access to diagnostic technology, clinics and treatment around the world, countries pay for some 86 percent of all anti-TB funding and continue to struggle with funding gaps.
With that in mind, global health experts warned against complacency about the reported improvement.
"We know from the past experience that as soon as you drop the guard, TB comes back," said USAID's Dr. Ariel Pablos-Mendez.

Death Toll From Cantaloupe

The death toll from an outbreak of listeria first linked to tainted cantaloupes has risen to 23, and a total of 116 people have been sickened across 25 states, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported late Wednesday.

The agency said that even though the cantaloupes in question were recalled Sept. 14, more cases might still emerge since Listeria monocytogenes infection has a long lag time between diagnosis and laboratory confirmation "and also because up to two months can elapse between eating contaminated food and developing listerosis."
The listeriosis-linked deaths have occurred in Colorado (5), Indiana (1), Kansas (2), Louisiana (2), Maryland (1), Missouri (1), Nebraska (1), New Mexico (5), New York (1), Oklahoma (1), Texas (2) and Wyoming (1), the CDC said. One pregnant woman who contracted the illness had a miscarriage, the CDC said.
On Sept. 14, the agency announced that Jensen Farms, of Granada, Colo., had voluntarily recalled its Rocky Ford-brand cantaloupes and the produce is "now off store shelves." Consumers -- especially older adults, people with weakened immune systems and pregnant women -- should discard this brand of cantaloupe if it is in their refrigerator, the agency said. Other brands of cantaloupe are safe to consume, however.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the death toll from the current outbreak is on track to exceed that of the nation's worst listeria outbreak, in 1998, which was linked to hot dogs and killed 21 people while sickening 100 more.
In a news conference recently, CDC director Dr. Thomas R. Frieden called the cantaloupe-linked outbreak "the deadliest outbreak of a foodborne disease that we've identified in more than a decade."
Unlike other bacteria, listeria can flourish in colder temperatures. So, "if you've got a contaminated cantaloupe in your refrigerator, the listeria will continue to grow," Frieden said. "That's one of the reasons why we may see continued cases from cantaloupe already in people's refrigerators in the days and weeks ahead."
Although listeria tends to infect fewer people, it is typically deadlier than other foodborne pathogens and inordinately affects the elderly, newborns, pregnant women and anyone with a weakened immune system. People can develop meningitis from the organism, but many people only experience milder diarrhea.
According to the CDC, some 1,600 cases are reported annually in the United States, resulting in 260 deaths.
The bacterium tends to grow in soil and water. But animals can also carry the organism and pass it on to humans through meats, dairy products and other foods of animal origins. Most listeria outbreaks are from animal products, not produce, the CDC said.