WASHINGTON – Rising global temperatures are linked to increasing waterborne food poisoning, particularly from eating raw oysters, along with other nasty infections, a new study shows.
About a dozen species of vibrio bacteria make people sick from eating raw or undercooked seafood or drinking or swimming in tainted water. It also causes cholera.
Lab-confirmed vibrio infections in the United States have increased from an average of about 390 a year from the late 1990s to an average of 1,030 in recent years.
The study, published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, highlights an unprecedented wave of vibrio illnesses from swimming in northern Europe during heat waves in 1994, 1997, 2003, 2006 and 2010.
KABUL, Afghanistan – Five gunmen wearing Afghan military uniforms abducted an American and an Australian in Kabul, a security official said Monday. No group immediately claimed responsibility.
The two foreigners were taken from their SUV while driving on Sunday night on a main road near the American University of Afghanistan, according to Sediq Sediqqi, spokesman for the Afghan Interior Ministry. They are believed to be employees of the university and were traveling between the university and their residence in the Afghan capital, he said.
CABO SAN LUCAS, Mexico – Tropical Storm Javier strengthened as it pushed closer to the resort city of Cabo San Lucas on the tip of Mexico’s Baja California Peninsula on Monday, while the death toll from former Hurricane Earl rose to 45 in the country’s eastern mountains.
Communities in two states were digging out from weekend mudslides during heavy rains brought by remnants of Earl, which hit Mexico’s Gulf coast as a tropical storm. Three more bodies were found amid the mud and floodwaters in central Puebla state, bringing the toll there to 32. Two more dead were found in neighboring Veracruz, raising the death toll in that state to 13.
The storm was centered about 35 miles southeast of Cabo San Lucas at midafternoon, with maximum sustained winds of 65 mph. The U.S. National Hurricane Center said hurricane conditions were possible for the southern part of the peninsula as early as Monday night.
BERLIN – A British mountaineer who climbed Switzerland’s Matterhorn says he is the first quadruple amputee to reach the iconic peak.
The claim couldn’t be verified with certainty, but was backed by the warden of the Hoernli Hut base camp, who said he knew of nobody else who’d achieved the feat.
Jamie Andrew lost his hands and feet to frostbite after becoming trapped in a snowstorm while mountaineering in France 17 years ago.
He spent five years training to reach the 14,692-feet Alpine summit last Thursday with two guides from a mountaineering school.
Associated Press
