European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) - Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association

Rise of drug-resistant superbugs rings alarm bells in Europe

Reuters — Tue, 26 Feb 2019 09:35:00 +0000

LONDON – The spread of superbugs resistant to antimicrobial drugs shows no sign of slowing in Europe, health officials said on Tuesday, making food poisoning and other infections more difficult to treat.

Releasing data on the growth of antimicrobial resistance, the European Union’s commissioner for health and food safety said it should “ring alarm bells” across the region.

“The report released today…shows we are entering into a world where more and more common infections become difficult – or even sometimes impossible – to treat,” Vytenis Andriukaitis said in a statement.

Drug resistance is driven by the misuse and overuse of antibiotics and other antimicrobials, which encourages bacteria to evolve to survive by finding new ways to beat the medicines.

The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) report analyzed 2017 data on antimicrobial resistance collected from 28 EU states.

It found that in a bacteria known as Campylobacter which can cause food poisoning in people, resistance to antibiotics called fluoroquinolones is so high in some countries that these drugs no longer work for the treatment of severe cases.

Most countries also reported that Salmonella in humans is increasingly resistant to fluoroquinolones, the report said, and multidrug resistance – classified as resistance to three or more antimicrobial medicines – is high in Salmonella found in humans and animals.

Mike Catchpole, the ECDC’s chief scientist, said the report’s findings on combined resistance were particularly worrying. “Even low proportions mean that many thousands of patients across the EU have limited treatment options for severe infections,” he said.

Source: https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/02/26/19/rise-of-drug-resistant-superbugs-rings-alarm-bells-in-europe

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The new report of the world’s most common pesticides harm the global bee population, confirmed

News Today — Thu, 01 Mar 2018 09:31:10 +0000

The post The new report of the world’s most common pesticides harm the global bee population, confirmed first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

European Union Likely to Ban Common Insecticides to Save the Bees

Futurism — Thu, 01 Mar 2018 08:59:07 +0000

The European Food Safety Authority has released a new assessment reasserting the dangers of the most widely used pesticide in the world. This is likely to influence future policies.

Bees all over Europe may soon be just a little safer, after new evidence reinforces the case against harmful neonicotinoids, the world’s most used pesticides.

A new report from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) explored in unprecedented detail the risk posed to honeybees and wild bees alike by the exposure to the compound.

Neonicotinoids affect pollinators’ central nervous systems, paralyzing and killing them even in small doses. Previous studies have shown how these pesticides also damage the bees’ memory and reduce the number of queens. The assessment found that bees that contact nonflowering crops as well as soil and water sources were also at risk — while previous assessments had focused mainly on flowering crops, more attractive to bees.

These important findings, which for the first time included data on bumblebees and solitary bees, are likely to prompt countries in the European Union (E.U.) to strengthen the measures already in place against neonicotinoids. E.U. member nations will meet in March to discuss a proposal to extend the ban.

Image credit: Francis Chung/Flickr

Chances are high for the proposed ban to pass given the influence of past EFSA assessments. In January 2013, the EFSA’s found that neonicotinoids posed an “unacceptable” risk to bees. A few months later, the E.U. passed a partial ban on the pesticide’s use on flowering crops. The expanded ban could see the pesticide barred from use on all open fields but still allow for use in closed greenhouses.

Scientists and environmentalists are enthusiastic about the assessment. Professor Christopher Connolly, at the University of Dundee, U.K., told the Guardian, “This is an important announcement that most uses of neonicotinoids are a risk to all bee species.” Sandra Bell, Nature Campaigner for Friends of the Earth International, a global network of environmental organizations, was even more enthusiastic, saying: “We have been playing Russian roulette with the future of our bees for far too long. E.U. countries must now back a tougher ban.”

Source: https://futurism.com/european-union-ban-insecticides-bees/

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The post European Union Likely to Ban Common Insecticides to Save the Bees first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.