Siddu should quit, not you; we could have fought together: Poojary to Krishna

Washington, Jun 30: Researchers in China have discovered a new type of swine flu that is capable of triggering a pandemic, according to a study published Monday in the US science journal PNAS.

Named G4, it is genetically descended from the H1N1 strain that caused a pandemic in 2009.

It possesses "all the essential hallmarks of being highly adapted to infect humans," say the authors, scientists at Chinese universities and China's Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

The researchers then carried out various experiments including on ferrets, which are widely used in flu studies because they experience similar symptoms to humans -- principally fever, coughing and sneezing. 

G4 was observed to be highly infectious, replicating in human cells and causing more serious symptoms in ferrets than other viruses.

Tests also showed that any immunity humans gain from exposure to seasonal flu does not provide protection from G4.

According to blood tests which showed up antibodies created by exposure to the virus, 10.4 percent of swine workers had already been infected.

The tests showed that as many as 4.4 percent of the general population also appeared to have been exposed.

The virus has therefore already passed from animals to humans but there is no evidence yet that it can be passed from human to human -- the scientists' main worry.

"It is of concern that human infection of G4 virus will further human adaptation and increase the risk of a human pandemic," the researchers wrote.

The authors called for urgent measures to monitor people working with pigs.

"The work comes as a salutary reminder that we are constantly at risk of new emergence of zoonotic pathogens and that farmed animals, with which humans have greater contact than with wildlife, may act as the source for important pandemic viruses," said James Wood, head of the department of veterinary medicine at Cambridge University.

A zoonotic infection is caused by a pathogen that has jumped from a non-human animal into a human.

Bengaluru, July 14: Ahead of the week-long lockdown in Bengaluru starting from Tuesday night, around 35,000 people have left the city and grocery stores and liquor shops are witnessing a rush with customers thronging to stock up on for the shutdown.

According to transport department officials, labourers from other parts of the state migrated in good numbers from Bengaluru ahead of the lockdown fearing that they would have to face similar challenges as they had to confront during the previous shuttering. 

"Yesterday 35,000 passengers left Bengaluru. The number is big given the fact that we are allowing a limited number of passengers in the buses to maintain social distancing," a KSRTC official said.

Tipplers made a beeline for liquor shops and a senior State Excise official said liquor worth Rs 230 crore was sold on Monday alone.

"There was apparently a mad rush yesterday.India Made Foreign Liquor worth Rs 215.55 crore and 14.83 crore worth beer was sold...," the officer said.

In view of the rising coronavirus cases in the city at an alarming proportion, the government decided to impose lockdown from Tuesday 8 pm till 5 am on July 22.

Later, Dharwad and Dakshina Kannada districts too decided to impose a lockdown for nine days and seven days respectively from Wednesday.

"For the past two days there is an unusual rush of customers in our store," an executive of the Metro Cash and Carry said.

According to him, people are buying grocery items and vegetables with long shelf life such as onion, potato, radish, carrot and beetroot.

A salesperson at the Star Bazaar too said people were thronging the store for the past two to three days.

During the Sunday curfew, Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai said the week-long lockdown will be stringent one and government has made all arrangements to address all concerns ahead of the shutdown.

As many as 19,702 people in Bengaluru have tested positive, of which there are 15,052 active cases, while 4,328 have been discharged.

The number of fatalities as of Monday is 321.

Across Karnataka, 41,581 people have tested positive for coronavirus including 24,572 active cases, 16,248 discharges and 757 deaths since the outbreak of the pandemic in the state.
 

Kochi, Jan 22: Rail passengers from Kerala are a happy lot as the state’s traditional food items such as appam and eggcurry, puttu and kadala curry have found their way back to the revised menu of the Railways in the wake of protests over reports that they were replaced by north indian delicacies.

The popular Kerala dishes were reinstated to the list following social media backlash over the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation’s reported decision to replace the favorite cuisine of Malayalis from its menu with north Indian dishes such as Kachori and Chole Bhature.

Ernakulam MP Hibi Eden, who had shot off a letter to Railway Minister Piyush Goyal raising the issue of alleged discrimination against Keralites, got an assurance from the IRCTC officials that popular items, including snacks such as unniyappam and sukhiyan will be served through its outlets in the state.

Eden said the IRCTC officials who visited him at his home on Wednesday morning have presented him with the list of delicacies to be served by its local vendors in Kerala. In his letter to the minister, the MP had stated that dishes which are very important to Malayalis for breakfast such as appam, egg curry, porotta, dosa, steam cake (puttu) were excluded along with snacks such as banana fry (pazham pori), kozhukkatta, unniyappam, neyyappam and sukhiyan.  He had also raised the issue of hike in price of food items.

According to him, price of meals has been increased from RS 35 to 70 and that ofsnacks such as vada from Rs 8 to 15.  While the price of vada has not been reduced, the fare of snack meal like parotta, chappathi, idiyappam, appam and puttu with kadala curry or egg curry will be served at Rs 50.  According to IRCTC, a passenger will have to shell out Rs 20 for unniyappam/sukhiyan/neyyappam, 2 numbers each.  Informing Goyal of the changes in menu, he said Malayalis are discriminated in trains and railway refreshment rooms by the food which is the right of every passenger.

He had sought urgent intervention of the Minister and speedy action in the matter.