Free Republic

Americans’ confidence in the economy ticked up this month, despite the majority saying the country’s financial state is “getting worse,” according to a Gallup poll released Friday. Respondents who said the economy is “getting better” shot up by 7 percentage points to 31 percent. Still, the majority of poll respondents, 63 percent, said the economy is getting “worse.” Despite some respondents stating the economy is improving, their outlook on the current economic conditions remained the same, the survey found. Nearly half of Americans, 45 percent, said the current economic conditions were “poor.” About 31 percent said they were “only fair,”...

A small pilot study has found evidence of human co-infections from Bartonella and Babesia odocoilei, a protozoal tick-borne infection primarily found in deer, moose and other cervids. The co-infections were detected in six of seven patients suffering from chronic, non-specific illness, who were enrolled in a Bartonella study. The work presents some of the first definitive DNA evidence of this strain of Babesia infection in humans, and could impact treatments for patients with Bartonella, Borrelia or Babesia infections. Bartonella are a group of vector-borne bacteria transmitted primarily via arthropods like fleas, lice and potentially ticks, but also by the animals...

The Asian longhorned tick is rapidly gaining a foothold in the United States and “poses a serious threat to livestock” according to the USDA. Since its discovery and proper identification in 2017, the coverage area of the tick has spread to 19 U.S. states, the USDA reported. The deadly consequence of their expansion was shared by Ohio State University researchers in the Journal of Medical Entomology: Two cows and one large bull died from exsanguination by the ticks, meaning drained of blood to the point of death. Each unfortunate cow likely endured tens of thousands of bites. While only the...

Ukrainian soldiers are racing against time to achieve a breakthrough in the southeast before the rainy and cold weather kicks in and worsens fighting conditions, which could happen as soon as next month. The counteroffensive is unlikely to end just because of poor weather, but it is expected to complicate the fighting and slow down operations. Ukraine is stressing the weather will not impact the overall military operation, but some analysts expect the war could soon shift into a new phase. Mathieu Boulegue, a nonresident senior fellow with the Transatlantic Defense and Security Program at the Center for European Policy...

As alpha-gal syndrome (AGS), a tick-borne disease that triggers an allergic reaction to red meat, sees a steep rise in cases, eyebrows are being raised over a coincidental alignment with research funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.AGS, first reported in Virginia in 2008, has seen an alarming increase over the past few years. According to a recent press release from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an estimated 450,000 people in the U.S. have tested positive for alpha-gal since 2010.

Inflation ticked up to 3.2 percent year-over-year in July and 0.2 percent from June alone, according to new consumer price data released Thursday by the Labor Department. This marks the first increase after 13 months of falling inflation. But that doesn’t necessarily mean inflation is about to come roaring back. The so-called “core” consumer price index (CPI), which excludes volatile food and energy prices, dropped slightly from 4.8 percent year-over-year in June to 4.7 percent in July.

In 2022, doctors recorded the first confirmed case of tick-borne encephalitis virus acquired in the United Kingdom. […] For the past 30 years, the U.K. has become roughly 1 degree Celsius warmer (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit) on average compared to the historical norm. Studies have shown that several tick-borne illnesses are becoming more prevalent because of climate change. Public health officials are particularly concerned about TBE, which is deadlier than more well-known tick diseases such as Lyme, due to the way it has quickly jumped from country to country. Gábor Földvári, an expert at the Center for Ecological Research in Hungary,...

We are being warned of a new pandemic from CCHF, that is Crimean Congo Hemorrhagic Fever. Experts say cases are already in Europe and it has to do with climate change. Oh, handy because the WHO says that they can grab global powers to deal with climate change and also, guess what, a patent for an antibody treatment is pending in the U.S. Phew!

He became an involuntary vegan. A New Jersey man is now allergic to red meat after getting bitten by an invasive species of tick — which has left him unable to consume steak, pork or even dairy products without suffering a serious reaction. “It just flipped everything — turned my life upside down completely,” Craig Smith, 62, told NJ.com of his unwilling conversion to vegetarianism. “You get so frustrated. Food becomes an enemy to you.” The Cream Ridge retiree specifically suffers from Alpha-gal syndrome, a potentially life-threatening allergy that triggers an immune reaction to a sugar molecule (carbohydrate galactose-alpha-1,3-galactose) found...

The health department of Balkh province reported that in the past week 10 positive cases of Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF) have been recorded in north region of the country, and two people have died. Local Balkh officials said that incidents of this illness were rising in the country's north, and they urged religious leaders and the media to warn people about the dangers associated with the disease’s spread. "10 positive cases of Congo have been recorded; sadly, we had two deaths. The Abu Ali Sinai regional hospital in Balkh has its own particular preparations, and the 50-bed Antani hospital is...

You may just be one tick bite away from never being able to eat a ham sandwich again. The lone star tick is making its way into Massachusetts from the southeastern part of the United States. People will find them on Nantucket and the coast. The tick's bite can cause some people to develop an unexpected food allergy. "The reason we are seeing more coastal areas is because there is a substantial difference when it comes to temperature in coastal regions than inlands," explained Dr. Goudarz Molaei, Chief Scientist at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station. "In some municipalities it has...

VIDEO AT LINK..... A pest management specialist from the University of Maine explains how to safely remove ticks. BY UNIVERSITY OF MAINE South Carolina meat lovers may want to do all they can to prevent bites from the lone star tick. It’s tick season in South Carolina until the end of September and while all these blood-sucking insects can potentially transmit different diseases, the lone star is known for causing alpha-gal syndrome — a type of food allergy to red meat. According to Clemson University Public Service and Agriculture, the lone star tick is the most collected species in South...

This is a 12 minute video of some guys testing Sawyer brand permethrin spray for tick protection.

recorded the highest-ever concentration of ticks carrying a variant of potentially fatal Powassan virus called deer-tick virus (DTV). This rare virus has the potential to cause deadly infections with lasting neurological effects, and officials fear it and other serious tick-borne illnesses may become more common in the future. While many cases of Powassan virus are asymptomatic, those that are symptomatic can be deadly, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)(opens in new tab). Initial symptoms include headache, fever and vomiting, with the most severe cases involving neurological complications such as encephalitis (inflammation of the brain) and meningitis....

Scientists in Japan have discovered yet another tick-borne virus that can make people sick. The Yezo virus is transmitted by tick bites, and triggers fever and a reduction in blood platelets and white blood cells. "At least seven people have been infected with this new virus in Japan since 2014, but, so far, no deaths have been confirmed," said Keita Matsuno, a virologist at Hokkaido University International Institute for Zoonosis Control. "It's very likely that the disease is found beyond Hokkaido, so we need to urgently investigate its spread," Matsuno said in a university news release. In 2019, a 41-year-old...

HEALTH bosses have confirmed they are facing an outbreak of the “eye-bleeding fever” after four people died of the suspected disease in weeks. Uganda’s health ministry has today finally admitted it is facing the risk of a large-scale explosion of the viral hemorrhagic fever (VHF). VHF causes victims to suffer a burning fever before beginning to bleed from orifices including their eyes, anuses and mouths. It comes after a girl, nine, was reportedly killed by the infection Uganda, and three people died in neighbouring South Sudan of similar symptoms. Uganda health minster Sarah Opendi confirmed emergency response teams are now...

President Biden’s approval is hovering just above 60 percent more than four months into his presidency, buoyed by his handling of the coronavirus pandemic and improving views of the U.S. economy, according to a new Harvard CAPS/Harris poll released exclusively to The Hill. Overall, 62 percent of respondents said they either strongly or somewhat approve of the job Biden is doing in the White House, while 38 percent said they disapprove. By comparison, former President Trump scored 45 percent approval in a May 2017 Harvard CAPS/Harris poll. Biden gets his highest marks for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, with...

A Massachusetts doctor may have discovered a shot that will prevent Lyme disease in humans. The drug received federal approval from the Food and Drug Administration to be tested on people at the end of 2020. The Phase 1 clinical trial on 66 human subjects began last week. If effective, the shot will be available in the Spring of 2023.

AMARILLO, Texas State health officials are looking into how a Panhandle man contracted a rare bacterial disease typically tied to the livestock industry. The Texas Department of State Health Services says the Moore County man doesn't work around livestock or in a laboratory or slaughterhouse. Department veterinarian James Alexander also says the man isn't a veterinarian. He says it's possible the man might have caught the disease from contaminated soil. Alexander says the disease can spread from animals to humans. The patient says he has a friend with livestock but that he had no contact with the animals. Common symptoms...

Dozens of dogs saved from slaughterhouses in China will meet their new fur-ever families in California this weekend thanks to a Big Apple-based rescue group. The 27 lucky pooches — including 18 adorable beagles — will be flown 14 hours from Beijing to Los Angeles by No Dogs Left Behind, which rescues pups from the dog meat trade. “These families are bringing home survivors,” Kristine Wallace, a rep for the group told The Post.