Latest news with #MERS
Barnama
2 days ago
- General
- Barnama
Hoax Calls Disrupt Firemen's Duties, Jeopardise Real Emergencies
T he fire station bell rings loudly, piercing the silence of the night. The crew immediately jumps into action. Siren wailing and blue and red lights flashing, the red fire engine speeds out of the station. But upon arrival at the given address, everything is silent. No flames, no smoke. It is a hoax call. To the caller, it may be just a prank but to the firemen, every false alarm is a gamble with someone else's life as response teams may not be available should a real crisis arise. HOTLINE While hoax calls are quite common, not many know that some people use the emergency hotline for another purpose – to pour out their feelings. 'They don't call us to report a fire or accident. They just need someone to talk to,' Kelantan Fire and Rescue Department (JBPM) director Farhan Sufyan Borhan told Bernama, adding that these callers are usually heartbroken or plain lonely. Farhan Sufyan Borhan 'Sometimes, all we can hear at the other end of the line is laboured breathing or a trembling voice trying to hold back tears. Some callers don't speak a word… (maybe) they just want to feel there's someone there for them, even if it is only for a few minutes. 'To them, it might not feel wrong (to call the emergency number). But to us, it's still a false call because the station has to prepare regardless, and the fire engine remains on standby for dispatch.' Behind every emergency call, there is a price to be paid – in terms of the time wasted in attending to such calls, in the operational and fuel expenses of unnecessary fire truck deployments, and the physical and mental toll it takes on firefighters. In fact, before the Malaysian Emergency Response System (MERS) 999 was introduced in 2007, all emergency calls went directly to the fire station and JBPM had to bear the cost of the phone bills. 'The fire department had to cover the bills, even if the call was just a prank,' Farhan Sufyan said. STATISTICS JBPM Kelantan received 2,053 emergency calls this year as of July 7, out of which eight were hoax calls. In 2024, it recorded 6,099 calls (including seven false alarms); in 2023, there were 4,480 calls (seven false alarms); and in 2022, there were 4,213 calls (with two false alarms). As of July 7, Kelantan JBPM received 2,053 calls involving 796 fires; 1,173 rescues; 76 special tasks and eight false calls. At a glance, the number of false alarms may seem small but even a single hoax can drain the firemen's time and energy and disrupt their focus, potentially putting real emergencies at greater risk. Farhan Sufyan said the introduction of MERS 999, operated by Telekom Malaysia Bhd, brought some relief but it has not completely eliminated hoax calls. Under MERS 999, every emergency call is screened beforehand. The caller's name, location and other details are recorded, and the nearest fire station receives a call sheet simultaneously, even while the caller is still speaking to the operator. 'This system really helps. But we would still require more information… such as (in the case of fire reports) what type of fire and if there are victims, so that the commander can plan the best strategy,' said Farhan Sufyan. He said there are three main call centres – located in Cheras, Kuala Lumpur; Melaka; and Kuching, Sarawak – handling emergency calls and operating simultaneously. If one centre is busy, the call is automatically routed to another. 'Some people think if a call from Sabah is transferred to Sarawak, it will cause delays. That's not true. Our system is designed to ensure response time remains fast,' he said. However, even the best technology depends on one fundamental thing: accurate and complete information from the caller. 'Technology won't be of much help if the location given to us is not correct (or incomplete)… this is why we need accurate information,' he added. INCOMPLETE ADDRESS Farhan Sufyan then recalled an incident that still haunts him and which occurred when he was attached to JBPM Sabah. He said a caller, sounding breathless and frantic, phoned to report a fire. But the address given was incomplete, so the operations commander tried to ask more questions, such as the names of nearby landmarks or streets. However, in those crucial moments, the fire became bigger. Tragically, three people perished in that fire, not because the windows of the building they were trapped in were barred, but because it took too long for the firefighters to get to the correct location. For emergencies involving JBPM, the nearest fire station will receive the "call sheet" in real time, that is, while the caller is still on the line talking to the operator. 'Moments like that are what determine whether a life is saved or lost,' Farhan Sufyan said. That incident was a costly lesson: technology can speed things up, but lives still hinge on the information provided by the caller. 'In an emergency, that information is the very first lifeline,' he added. He also said JBPM Kelantan makes a police report each time a prank call is received. 'This is not about seeking revenge but to prevent the same thing from happening again,' he said, adding that in Sabah, the fire department has successfully traced and prosecuted several hoax callers. Members of the public who make false emergency calls can be charged under Section 233 (2) of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998, and upon conviction, they face a fine not exceeding RM50,000 or imprisonment of not more than one year, or both. Urging the public to use the MERS 999 line only for genuine emergencies, Farhan Sufyan said: 'Don't treat it like a joke. Because for the firemen getting on that truck, they don't know if the call is real or fake. But they'll go anyway because in that moment, they know someone's life might depend on it.
Global News
03-07-2025
- General
- Global News
Free B.C. course aims to protect whales by better educating boaters
A British Columbia research and conservation group has launched a new free course it hopes will reduce deadly conflicts between boaters and whales. The Marine Education and Research Society (MERS) says it created the Whalesafe Boating program because of the growing risk to whales and other marine mammals from boat strikes, fishing gear entanglements and stress from people getting too close. 'Even with all our knowledge about even who individual whales are, we have had close calls with humpback whales — we see every time we're on the water, close calls involving boaters,' said Jaicke Hildering, spokesperson and whale researcher with MERS. 'We see the (propeller) scars, we see the close calls, and the kind of human injury that is also involved here is that somebody is paralyzed on our coast, somebody has had to get reconstructive facial surgery as a result of a collision, kayaks have been flipped.' Story continues below advertisement The group says there are a number of points of conflict between whales and boaters that can be addressed through better education. Whales are often oblivious to both boats and fishing gear, raising the prospect of collisions or entanglements that can lead to painful injury or even death. 0:28 Man photographed disrupting orcas with motor boat Whales often travel in predictable patterns and can surface suddenly after long dives, or can be resting or nursing just below the surface and out of sight, it adds. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy It's critical education that MERS says is falling through the cracks because federal agencies are too siloed, with Transport Canada focused on boater safety and Fisheries and Oceans Canada focused on species at risk. 'We've done the work, 15 years of education, but also doing surveys of boaters, where we know that the average boater wants to do the right thing, but is having problems accessing the information to close the gap between boating knowledge and safety of marine mammals and boaters,' Hildering said. Story continues below advertisement 1:53 Whale protection program expanded Boaters should never position their vessel in the path of a whale or try to strategize how to make it come closer to them. They should also keep an eye out for signs a whale is around, such as splashes, blows and flocks of birds. Boaters should also stay on the offshore side of whales if the animals are travelling close to the shore. And if a whale surfaces near you while boating, you should stop immediately, put the engine in neutral, and move away slowly once the whale is more than 400 metres away. Anyone can sign up for the free course at the Marine Education and Research Society website.
Korea Herald
30-06-2025
- Health
- Korea Herald
Korea's softspoken COVID-19 hero poised to return as health chief
Jeong Eun-kyeong, trusted pandemic leader to face looming virus threat, aftermath of unresolved doctor-government conflict As a public health official, Jeong Eun-kyeong is a rare name that many South Koreans recognize. While Jeong had served in public health for decades prior to the pandemic, most came to know her from her leadership at the top of the country's main disease control agency as COVID-19 raged and eventually subsided. When President Lee Jae Myung named Jeong to lead the Health Ministry on Sunday, many of the public health experts who had worked with her cheered. For over two years from COVID-19's onset in February 2020, Jeong was the national doctor that South Koreans counted on for guidance as the country navigated through an unprecedented virus crisis. At least for the first year, she led briefings watched by the whole country, several times a week if not daily, on the COVID-19 situation and safety rules to follow. Jeong was the trusted face of the government's virus response, while politicians and non-experts in higher offices fumbled. The word in the community of infectious disease experts in South Korea at the time was that Jeong was the lonely voice of science in the government, while politicians attempted to meddle in efforts to fight the virus by trying to ease or drop measures too early. Aidedby high compliance with masking and other rules from the public, South Korea was, during its first few waves of infections at least, a model country to the world. Then-President Moon Jae-in and the politicians in the administration tried to claim the credit, but the true hero behind the scenes was Jeong, those with intimate knowledge of what went on agree. Jeong was so well-liked by South Koreans that she was spared by lawmakers of both sides from the annual National Assembly hearings throughout the time she was in charge of COVID-19. This bipartisan decision to let Jeong off the hook in parliamentary hearings scrutinizing the government's response to the pandemic was met by little protest at the time. When Jeong joined Lee's presidential campaign this April, it was a surprise. The softspoken COVID-19 leader, despite her level of public recognition, had made sure to keep a low profile. She rarely gave press interviews and avoided mixing with politics until she left office and disappeared from public sight in October 2022 to work at Seoul National University Hospital as a researcher. Jeong's nomination as health minister comes amid worries about the possible advent of a new virus. From the 2009 H1N1 flu to the 2015 Middle East respiratory syndrome to the 2020 COVID-19, past record shows that a novel virus outbreak tends to strike every five to six years. If another such public health emergency should occur, Korea would be in experienced hands with Jeong. COVID-19 isn't the first infectious disease Jeong had battled in public office. During the 2015 outbreak of MERS, a deadlier if less contagious coronavirus than COVID-19, she headed the disease prevention division at the public health agency. There are also warning signs of a COVID-19 resurgence in the summer. According to a government report published June 10, COVID-19 cases were on the rise for two consecutive weeks in wastewater surveillance. She also inherits an unresolved standoff between doctors and the government over the medical school admissions quota and a series of reforms introduced by former President Yoon Suk Yeol. How the Health Ministry under Jeong will navigate the aftermath of a conflict that partially disrupted the medical system remains unclear. Jeong is a preventive medicine specialist trained at Seoul National University. She first set foot in the public health agency in 1995. arin@
Time of India
30-06-2025
- Health
- Time of India
Why bats are a global concern for pandemics: A look at their role in past and emerging viruses
Source: YouTube Bats, the winged mammals, are essential to ecosystem pollination, to give just one example, and control of insects, among others. And in addition to their utility to ecosystems, they are also the bearers of a dark reputation: as reservoirs for an impressive variety of deadly viruses that have caused a number of human pandemics. In the past half-century, there has been a foreboding trend—most leading-impact viruses like SARS, MERS, Ebola, Nipah, COVID-19, and more have their origin in bats directly or indirectly through intermediate hosts. Bats are not villains but their unmatched viral diversity, asymptomatic shedding, and growing contact with humans position them at the heart of emerging infectious disease threats. 20 new bat viruses discovered in China Researchers have found 20 new bat viruses previously unknown to science, including two that are closely related to the lethal Nipah and Hendra viruses. Experts say this finding may pose critical global public health consequences. The viruses were found in six bats from fruit orchards in Yunnan province, which is in southwest China. The researchers discovered that the bats had unidentified pathogens in their kidneys, which was of concern for possible zoonotic transmission. Released in the PLOS Pathogens journal, the research identified that of the 20 new viruses discovered, two are part of the henipavirus family and have similar genes to Nipah and Hendra viruses both recognised to inflict extreme and usually deadly diseases on people. Why are bats linked to so many viral outbreaks Source: YouTube Tremendous species diversity and global distribution Bats represent over 22% of all mammalian species, with over 1,400 known species worldwide as per the research published in Nature. Such diversity allows for a wide range of viruses to thrive and evolve within bats. Because they occupy all continents except Antarctica, their extensive global presence increases the possibility of viruses jumping across species to humans or pets. Immune tolerance to viruses in a special way Unlike other mammals, bats have evolved an extremely specialised immune system that enables them to carry viruses without exhibiting disease symptoms. Studies show that bats often demonstrate a dampened inflammatory response, allowing viral replication without the lethal immune response. This creates bats as excellent 'incubators' of viruses to evolve, mutate, and in some cases, become more virulent or transmissible to humans. High levels of viral diversity and co-infection According to the research, thousands of novel viruses have been discovered in bats, including members of at least 28 viral families, including: Coronaviruses (SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV, SARS-CoV-2) Henipaviruses (Nipah, Hendra) Filoviruses (Ebola, Marburg) Lyssaviruses (Rabies and related lyssaviruses) A single bat can be infected with multiple viruses, increasing the potential for viral recombination; the principal mechanism for the emergence of new pathogens infecting humans. Bat-origin viruses that changed the world Bats have been directly or indirectly responsible for many of the deadliest viral outbreaks of the 21st century: Virus linked to bats SARS (2002): Had its origins in horseshoe bats; civets were an intermediate host. MERS (2012): Traceable back to bats via camels. Ebola Virus: Evidence suggests fruit bats were the natural hosts. Nipah Virus: Spread by consuming contaminated date palm sap in Bangladesh. COVID-19 (2019): Close relative of bat-borne SARS-related coronaviruses. These serial spillovers strongly suggest that bats are not only passive vehicles, but active sources of high-risk viruses with the ability to adapt to infect humans. Ecological triggers behind bat-borne virus outbreaks Habitat loss and urban expansion Urbanisation and habitat loss compel bats to have increased contact with humans, increasing the risk of cross-species transmission. For instance, as forests are cleared, bats may roost in houses, fruit plantations, or agricultural fields causing the increased contact of humans with bat saliva, urine, or feces. Farming practices and livestock interactions Modern farming systems, especially high-density livestock ones, are generating "spillover hotspots." Intermediate hosts of bat-borne viruses are animals such as pigs and horses that harbor such viruses such as Nipah and Hendra viruses. Seasonal patterns and nutritional stress Bats are seasonally breeding and most often have food shortages due to climatic variations. These are stressors that can weaken their immunity and enhance viral shedding. In fact, seasonal surges of virus shedding in bat populations have been coincident with mass outbreaks of Hendra in Australia and Nipah in South Asia, as reported. Why studying bat viruses remains a scientific challenge Even with rising awareness, it remains hard to grasp how viruses interact among bats through several obstacles: Limited longitudinal data: Most studies track individual bats infrequently, making it hard to examine viral persistence or reinfection. Shortage of bat-compatible laboratory models: Human- or monkey-derived cell lines predominate that are utilized, and they are not supportive for the replication of bat viruses. Mysteries of bat immunity: Why bats can tolerate, suppress, or shed viruses is yet to be known. Until these problems are solved, the ability to anticipate or control the next bat-origin pandemic is in question. Do bats get sick from these viruses Perhaps the biggest enigma is the fact that bats rarely show signs of sickness, even when infected with viruses that kill humans. Facts suggest: Innate immunity: Bats have interferon pathways in baseline activation, which allows them to quell viruses early on without inflammation. Reduced pathological immune response: Bats, unlike humans, do not experience the pathological "cytokine storms" typically leading to acute disease during viral infection. Heterogeneity of adaptive immunity: Antibodies in bats are transient or non-neutralizing. Viral clearance in most cases is via cell-mediated immunity, rather than by long-term antibodies. These immune responses possibly facilitate chronic viral infections and asymptomatic transmission—virus persistence and spillover risk absolutely relying on these. Also Read | NASA's James Webb Space Telescope discovers new planet TWA 7b orbiting a young star 111 light-years away
India Today
25-06-2025
- Health
- India Today
Scientists discover 20 new viruses in Chinese bats, could spread to humans
In a new study, scientists have discovered 20 new viruses in bats from China's Yunnan of these viruses are genetically similar to deadly viruses called Hendra and Nipah, which have caused serious disease outbreaks in humans and animals in the research was published in the peer-reviewed journal PLOS Pathogens. It involved collecting kidney tissue samples from 142 bats between 2017 and The scientists used genetic testing to identify viruses, bacteria, and even a new parasite -- all previously unknown to THESE FINDINGS MATTERSome of the newly found viruses were present in the bats' kidneys. This is especially worrying because the kidneys produce urine, which can contaminate fruit or water if bats urinate near orchards or water or animals who eat or drink the contaminated items could then be at risk of infection. The scientists used genetic testing to identify viruses, bacteria, and even a new parasite -- all previously unknown to science. () "These viruses are particularly concerning because they were predominantly found in bat kidneys, raising alarm about potential human exposure via contaminated fruits or water," said molecular virologist Professor Vinod Balasubramaniam from Monash University in two newly discovered henipaviruses have been named Yunnan bat henipavirus 1 and 2. They share about 52% to 57% of their genetic material with the known and deadly Hendra and Nipah past outbreaks, these viruses have caused severe brain infections and high death rates in both people and WERE THESE BATS FOUND?The bats in this study were discovered roosting near fruit orchards close to villages in rural Yunnan. This raises the risk that their urine could contaminate fruits that people or farm animals could eat, increasing the chance of a virus jumping from bats to humans, a process called STUDY BAT KIDNEYS?Earlier research on bat viruses focused on bat feces. But this study looked inside the bats, especially their kidneys, to find out what kinds of viruses and microbes live there. Two new viruses found share about 52% to 57% of their genetic material with the known and deadly Hendra and Nipah viruses. () Scientists say that this area of bat biology is not well studied, even though kidneys could play a big role in how diseases are are known to carry many viruses that can infect people. In fact, bats have been linked to the spread of diseases like Ebola, SARS, MERS, and even viruses can reach humans either directly or through other animals, often through food or water contaminated by bat NEW ORGANISMS FOUNDIn addition to the 22 viruses (20 of them completely new), the scientists also found:A new single-celled parasite, now named Klossiella yunnanensisTwo common bacterial species, including one that has never been described before, now called Flavobacterium yunnanensis Bats are known to carry many viruses that can infect people. These discoveries show that bats can carry a wide mix of micro-organisms many of which we still don't THIS MEANS GOING FORWARDThe scientists say their findings show why it's important to study the full range of microbes inside bats, not just the ones in their what lives in bat organs like kidneys can help scientists better predict and prevent future disease said the Yunnan region has a climate similar to areas where Nipah outbreaks have happened before, like Malaysia. This makes it even more important to keep a close watch on wildlife in the believe more studies like this are needed to monitor the spread of new viruses in animals before they have a chance to reach humans.- Ends
