Malaysia Airlines hunts for missing plane carrying 239

Via AFP :

" Malaysia Airlines said a flight carrying 239 people from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing went missing early Saturday, and the airline was notifying next of kin in a sign it feared the worst.

The airline said flight MH370 disappeared at 2:40 am local time (1840 GMT Friday), about two hours after leaving Kuala Lumpur International Airport. It had been due to arrive in Beijing at 6:30 am local time (2230 GMT Friday).

A statement posted on the official Vietnamese government website said the flight disappeared in Vietnamese airspace.

"The plane lost contact in Ca Mau province airspace before it had entered contact with Ho Chi Minh City air traffic control," it said.

The plane was meant to transfer to Ho Chi Minh City air traffic control at 1722 GMT but never appeared, the statement said, citing a senior Ministry of Defence official.

Vietnam's Ministry of Defence has launched rescue efforts to find the plane, working in coordination with Malaysian and Chinese officials, the statement added.

The Boeing 777-200 was carrying 227 passengers, including two infants, from 13 different nationalities, and 12 crew members.

China's state television said 158 of the passengers were Chinese. Some 160 Chinese had been due to be on the flight but two missed it, according to Xinhua, quoting China's Civil Aviation Administration.

"We deeply regret that we have lost all contacts with flight MH370 which departed Kuala Lumpur at 12.41 am earlier this morning bound for Beijing," Malaysia Airlines Group Chief Executive Officer Ahmad Jauhari Yahya said in a statement.

The statement said the Malaysian flag carrier was working with authorities, who had launched an effort to locate the aircraft."

Man dies from bird flu in Indonesia: officials

An AFP report hosted by Google News, excerpt :

" A 24-year-old Indonesian man infected with bird flu died in the capital Jakarta, the health ministry said, in the country's third fatal case in three months.

"Test results from the man who died confirmed that he was infected with bird flu," health ministry head of communicable diseases Tjandra Yoga Aditama told AFP.

The man likely contracted the H5N1 avian influenza virus from birds living around his house, Aditama said.

"We have taken samples from birds around his home and are waiting for lab results to determine if they were infected with the virus," he said.

The Jakarta Post reported that the man died Saturday after being rejected by a hospital specialising in bird flu, and had on New Year's Eve been misdiagnosed by two other hospitals with a gastric infection and dengue fever.

The man died on on his way to another hospital on the capital's northeastern outskirts, reports said."

Somalia famine deaths to spiral, agencies warn

An AFP report, excerpt :

" Drought and famine-blighted Somalia is at a "turning point" as conditions decline with hundreds of thousands more people likely to die in coming months, 20 aid agencies warned on Wednesday.

The situation was the worst ever seen by the group of international and Somali non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and was expected to deteriorate further, they said.

"As NGOs who have worked in Somalia for decades, we are accustomed to the daily struggle to survive that is the reality for most Somalis," they said in a letter released on Wednesday, warning upcoming rains would add to the misery.

"However, never before have we faced such acute suffering with so many lives at stake. Somalia is at a turning point."

International agencies that signed the letter included Oxfam, International Rescue Committee, ACF International, Caritas Switzerland, World Vison, Medecins du Monde France, Danish Refugee Council and Mines Advisory Group.

The United Nations has declared six regions in south Somalia famine zones.

The letter also repeated an earlier United Nations' warning that 750,000 people faced death from starvation in the next four months."

Red Cross reopens Haiti cholera centre

A Google hosted AFP News :

" GENEVA : The Red Cross has reopened a cholera treatment centre near Port-au-Prince to fight a resurgence of a disease that killed thousands last year, said a statement on Thursday.

According to Haitian health authorities, at least 10 people died in recent days of a new cholera spike in areas near the Haitian capital.

About 1,000 cholera cases were admitted to the Carrefour hospital, south of the capital, they said.

The Red Cross "centre was originally established last year at the height of the epidemic and we have further stocks of medical equipment... ready to be released," said Gerhard Tauscher, cholera operation coordinator for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) in a statement.

Reports of cholera in Haiti's urban areas had been trailing off since the beginning of the year, even if isolated cases were reported in rural areas."

Cholera outbreak 'covered up' in China

An AFP report hosted by Google, excerpt :

" BEIJING : Authorities in eastern China covered up an outbreak of cholera for 12 days out of fears that publicising the often fatal disease would shock the local population, state press said Sunday.

According to the website of the Anhui province health department, 38 people have contracted cholera since August 16 and the outbreak was under preliminary control with the numbers of cases diminishing.

Five patients remain hospitalised, it said.

Cholera causes serious diarrhoea and vomiting, leading to dehydration, and can be fatal if not treated quickly. It normally breaks out in impoverished regions with poor sanitation.

Although health authorities have not reported any deaths, Internet chatrooms were abuzz with rumours that several people have died from the disease.

At the same time state media criticised the government for covering up the epidemic and refusing to alert the local population.

"On August 16, the Anhui centre for disease control had confirmed the outbreak of cholera, but it was not until August 28 that it was publicised," the Beijing News said in an editorial.

"The government covered up the outbreak for 12 days."

The paper quoted Wang Jianjun, the vice director of the Anhui centre for disease control as saying that local officials were powerless to publicise disease outbreaks and had to wait for approval from more senior officials."

Cholera outbreak hits eastern China

Via AFP, excerpt :

" BEIJING : At least 30 people in eastern China have been stricken by cholera in recent weeks, with unsanitary food conditions believed to be behind the outbreak, state press said Sunday.

Twenty people remain hospitalised with the disease, which has spread in Mengcheng county of Anhui province over the past two weeks, the Beijing Times reported, citing local health officials.

Ten other patients have already left hospital, the report said. No deaths have yet been reported in the region.

Cholera causes serious diarrhoea and vomiting, leading to dehydration, and can be fatal if not treated quickly.

The Anhui outbreak is believed to have been caused by unsanitary food, the report said.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), cholera is surging again in parts of the world, especially in Africa as well as in impoverished nations like Afghanistan, Nepal and Papau New Guinea.

"Cholera, contrary to other illnesses, can generate panic because the death can take place in several hours," Claire-Lise Chaignat, of the WHO, said earlier this month."

Health alert in Bolivia after teen dies from plague

Via AFP (hosted by Google) :

" LA PAZ : Bolivia declared a health alert Tuesday in northern La Paz department after a 14-year-old boy died from bubonic plague, the Health Ministry said.

An emergency plan will "increase health controls and prevention programs... in communities where an increase of rodents and fleas has been reported," regional Health Minister Rene Barrientos said.

So far, eight cases of bubonic plague, including the death of the teenager, have been reported in Apolo, a town with 5,000 inhabitants bordering Peru, where three people have died after an outbreak of plague in the past two months."