LOCAL

3M pays $850 million to settle drinking water lawsuit

Minnesota’s Attorney General had been seeking $5 billion in damages from 3M to help clean up the company’s disposal of industrial chemicals in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area over the past 40 years. The state accused 3M of contaminating groundwater with perfluorinated chemicals (PFCs).

The settlement will go to projects to improve aquatic habitats in the state’s east, which was hit hardest by the contamination. The company has also agreed to pay for bottled water and in-home water filtration systems for the owners of private wells contaminated by PFCs, for at least the next five years and for the remediation at three sites where the company disposed of these chemicals. The grant will be administered by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.

US Environmental Protection Agency research has found that PFCs can bioaccumulate in wildlife. They are also linked to developmental, reproductive and systemic effects. Luckily the Minnesota Department of Health has released a report that concludes that pollution from the 3M sites did not lead to any increase in cancer, low birth-weight babies or premature births.

NATIONAL

AVMA Antimicrobial Policy Established

The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) House of Delegates approved the profession's first-ever Definition of Antimicrobial Stewardship and Core Principles of Antimicrobial Stewardship in Veterinary Medicine in January by an unanimous vote. AVMA also provides some reference guides around antimicrobial use for veterinarians.

The policy is a response to the call to reevaluate how often antimicrobial drugs are prescribed in veterinary medicine and how the overuse or misuse of antimicrobials relates to increased instances of resistance. Unfortunately, it is likely that the amount of inappropriate use of antimicrobials in companion animal settings is close to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) most recent estimates in human medicine of 50%.

Several National Veterinary Associations around the world have formed policies, recommendations and guides around judicious use of antimicrobials and antimicrobial resistance, some of which are freely available in English online, like the Danish and Australasian companion animal guidelines

GLOBAL

Concerning Lassa fever outbreak in Nigeria

A larger than normal Lassa fever outbreak in Nigeria has roared into headlines after 73 reported deaths and 913 cases this year, where during the whole of year 2017 the country saw only 733 cases and 71 deaths. Lassa fever generally breaks out during the dry season, between October and early March. It's not clear why this year's outbreak is bigger than usual.

Lassa fever, also known as Lassa hemorrhagic fever (LHF), is a type of viral hemorrhagic fever caused by the Lassa virus. Often it is assymptomatic, but when symptoms occur they typically include fever, weakness, headaches, vomiting, and muscle pains. The disease is transmitted to humans through contact with food or items contaminated by infected rats or through contact with bodily fluids from an infected person. There is no vaccine or definitive cure for the disease. 

Fourteen health care workers have been infected and four have died in the outbreak so far. As with Ebola transmission between people often takes place in rural hospitals where protective gear is not available. WHO has sent a team and 40 boxes of personal protective gear to help fight the outbreak. It is also sending reagents for Nigeria’s laboratories to speed up diagnoses. 

Reuters
Minnesota Department of Health

American Veterinary Medical Association

National Public Radio
World Health Organization