Isolation of cases and contacts crucial as response to Ebola in Congo continues; Israel says its intercepted all 50 boats in an aid flotilla attempting to reach Gaza; and in football, more big European-based names join the Socceroos' pre-World Cup training camp.
Listen to Australian and world news and follow trending topics with SBS News Podcasts.
TRANSCRIPT
- Isolation of cases and contacts crucial as response to Ebola in Congo continues
- Israel says its intercepted all 50 boats in an aid flotilla attempting to reach Gaza
- More big European-based names join the Socceroos' pre-World Cup training camp
The World Health Organisation's representative in Democratic Republic of Congo says isolation of people infected with a rare sub-type of Ebola will be crucial to controlling the spread of the disease.
Health experts say the virus spread undetected for weeks after the first known death, as authorities tested for a more common type of Ebola, with the results coming back negative.
There's been a sharp increase in suspected deaths to 134 and more than 500 suspected cases in eastern Congo.
Speaking to SBS News, Dr Anne Ancia, says without a vaccine or specific medicine, contact tracing and isolation will be crucial and the WHO is building specific medical centres for Ebola cases.
"For the time being the people are still in the routine facilities so they're in contact, even the health professionals are going from Ebola suspected case to normal patient, so we are stopping that, we are asking them to have dedicated health professionals who are just looking at the Ebola suspected cases but we are now starting to build the specific health facilities that will only take care of Ebola patients so there is no contact with other patients."
.
In response to the outbreak, the United States has implemented enhanced public health screening for people arriving in the US from areas with Ebola outbreaks.
It's also introduced restrictions on non-US passport holders if they've been in Uganda, DRC, or South Sudan in the previous 21 days.
An American doctor working in DRC who contracted the virus has been taken to Germany for treatment.
Speaking to Channel 9, infectious diseases physician, Dr Peter Griffin, says the risk of global spread is low.
“The risk of it spreading at the moment is very, very low, it's terrible that we've had healthcare acquisition that highlights we need to do more to contain it where it is, that person is being treated somewhere where we expect the outcome to be much better, the risk of this being across other borders other than locally is extremely low, it’s actually something that's quite hard to transmit, it's not like a respiratory virus and again if we get the WHO and other collaborators in there to contain this then the risk of it spreading further should be very low."
.
Federal Health Minister Mark Butler says the current diphtheria outbreak in parts of central and northern Australia is the biggest seen in many years.
He says the Federal Government is working on a support package including vaccination and a workforce surge to be finalised later today.
Mr Butler says the outbreak is overwhelmingly affecting Indigenous Australians.
Most of the cases are respiratory diphtheria which is very serious and about a quarter of cases are being hospitalised.
Mr Butler says there are 220 known cases at the moment.
"We've been recording case numbers nationally for about 35 years and this by a very big distance is the biggest outbreak of diphtheria we've ever seen, it's about 30 times the average number of diphtheria cases we've seen over the last five years or so, so it's a very, very concerning outbreak. About 60 per cent of those cases are in the northern territory, the vast majority of the rest of those cases are in the northern part of Western Australia."
.
Australia’s Special Envoy to Combat Islamophobia, Aftab Malik, is calling on the Federal Government to respond to his recommendations to combat Islamophobia in Australia, following a shooting at a mosque in the United States.
Three people were killed at a mosque in San Diego, with the teenage attackers described as expressing broad hatred towards different religions and races.
Mr Malik says since stepping into his role he's consistently warned the rhetoric directed against Muslim communities is dangerous and carries real-life consequences, today saying Australia can not wait for a Christchurch-style attack to take action against Islamophobia.
.
New research has found what we've previously thought of as gentoo penguins are actually four distinct species.
A study published in Nature’s Communications Biology journal provides detailed genetic, ecological and anatomical evidence of the four distinct species.
Dr Jane Younger from the University of Tasmania says birds from different regions differ in size, bill and body measurements, breeding habitat, ecology and genetics.
She says it means they face different threats and will require individual conservation assessments.
.
In sport,
The Socceroos have intensified their World Cup preparations in the United States, with a dozen more players added to their pre-tournament training camp in the state of Florida.
10 of the 12 new faces are players who have just finished their European club seasons, including the likes of Jackson Irvine, Conor Metcalfe, Cam Devlin, Martin Boyle, and Jacob Italiano.
Key midfielder Aiden O'Neill, who plies his trade with New York City F-C in the United States, is also amongst those joining.
But Portsmouth defender Hayden Matthews has left the camp, due to an injury.
Coach Tony Popovic will announce his final 26-man squad for the World Cup on the June 1st, just after a warm-up match against Mexico in Los Angeles.
