A dog, whose owner was infected with COVID-19, in Hong Kong has tested 'weak positive' for the coronavirus. However, officials at the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department of Hong Kong are still unsure as to whether the dog is actually infected or if its a case of environmental contamination since the dog has not shown any 'relevant' symptoms. The dog's nasal and rectal samples were collected.&nbsp;Further tests will be conducted to ascertain the disease. The dog is now under quarantine as precautionary measure.The health department also stated that all pets of infected persons will be quarantined and tested.

A dog, whose owner was infected with COVID-19, in Hong Kong has tested 'weak positive' for the coronavirus. However, officials at the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department of Hong Kong are still unsure as to whether the dog is actually infected or if its a case of environmental contamination since the dog has not shown any 'relevant' symptoms. The dog's nasal and rectal samples were collected. Further tests will be conducted to ascertain the disease. The dog is now under quarantine as precautionary measure.The health department also stated that all pets of infected persons will be quarantined and tested.

PTI, UN: The number of undernourished people in India has declined by 60 million, from 21.7 per cent in 2004-06 to 14 per cent in 2017-19, according to a UN report.
The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report, released on Monday, said that there were less stunted children but more obese adults in India.
The report -- considered the most authoritative global study tracking progress towards ending hunger and malnutrition -- said that the number of undernourished people in India declined from 249.4 million in 200406 to 189.2 million in 201719.
In percentage terms, the prevalence of undernourishment in the total population in India declined from 21.7 per cent in 2004-06 to 14 per cent in 2017-19, it said.
The two subregions showing reductions in undernourishment -- eastern and southern Asia -- are dominated by the two largest economies of the continent -- China and India.
&ldquo;Despite very different conditions, histories and rates of progress, the reduction in hunger in both the countries stems from long-term economic growth, reduced inequality, and improved access to basic goods and services,&rdquo; it said.
The report is prepared jointly by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the UN World Food Programme (WFP) and the World Health Organization (WHO).
It further said that the prevalence of stunting in children under 5 years of age in India declined from 47.8 per cent in 2012 to 34.7 per cent in 2019 or from 62 million in 2012 to 40.3 million in 2019.
More Indian adults became obese between 2012-16, it said.
&nbsp; The number of adults (18 years and older) who are obese grew from 25.2 million in 2012 to 34.3 million in 2016, from 3.1 per cent to 3.9 per cent.
The number of women of reproductive age (1549) affected by anaemia grew from 165.6 million in 2012 to 175.6 million in 2016.
The number of infants 05 months of age exclusively breastfed grew from 11.2 million in 2012 to 13.9 million in 2019.
The report said that almost 690 million people globally were undernourished (or hungry) in 2019, up by 10 million from 2018.
The hungry are most numerous in Asia, but expanding fastest in Africa.
Across the planet, the report forecasts, that the COVID-19 pandemic could push over 130 million more people into chronic hunger by the end of 2020.
In percentage terms, Africa is the hardest hit region and becoming more so, with 19.1 per cent of its people undernourished.
At the current trends, by 2030, Africa will be home to more than half of the world's chronically hungry.
The COVID-19 is intensifying the vulnerabilities and inadequacies of global food systems - understood as all the activities and processes affecting the production, distribution and consumption of food.
&ldquo;While it is too soon to assess the full impact of the lockdowns and other containment measures, the report estimates that at a minimum, another 83 million people, and possibly as many as 132 million, may go hungry in 2020 as a result of the economic recession triggered by COVID-19,&rdquo; it said, adding that the setback throws into further doubt the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goal two, whose target is achieving zero hunger.
The latest estimates are that a staggering three billion people or more cannot afford a healthy diet.
In sub-Saharan Africa and southern Asia, this is the case for 57 per cent of the population - though no region, including north America and Europe, is spared.
In 2019, 191 million children under five were stunted or wasted - too short or too thin. Another 38 million under-fives were overweight.
Among adults, meanwhile, obesity has become a global pandemic in its own right.
The study calls on the governments to mainstream nutrition in their approaches to agriculture; work to cut cost-escalating factors in the production, storage, transport, distribution and marketing of food - including by reducing inefficiencies and food loss and waste.
It also urges them to support local small-scale producers to grow and sell more nutritious foods, and secure their access to markets; prioritise children's nutrition as the category in greatest need; foster behaviour change through education and communication; and embed nutrition in national social protection systems and investment strategies.
The report noted that generally, cash transfer programmes are considered an appropriate instrument to increase dietary diversity in well-connected urban or rural contexts, while in-kind transfers are more appropriate for remote areas, where access to markets is severely limited.
&ldquo;In India, for instance, the country&rsquo;s Targeted Public Distribution System represents the largest social protection programme in the world, reaching 800 million people with subsidised cereals that can be purchased from more than 500,000 fair price shops across the country.&rdquo;
In India, rural business hubs have facilitated linking smallholder farmers to rapidly growing urban markets.
Apart from procuring food products from the farmers, these hubs provide services such as farm inputs and equipment, as well as access to credit.
Having food processing, packaging and cooling facilities at the same location allows consumers to benefit from economies of agglomeration and, on the whole, reduce transaction costs throughout the food supply chain.
This model in India has given rise to rural supermarkets that provide cheaper staple food, it added.

Hyderabad-based biotech company Bharat&nbsp;Biotech has started phase 1 of the human trials of an&nbsp;indigenously&nbsp;developed Covid-19 vaccine, according&nbsp;to reports. The company is working on making an initial 200 vials of the vaccine candidate called Covaxin. Developed in collaboration with&nbsp;the&nbsp;Indian Council of Medical Research&nbsp;(ICMR), the vaccine will be given to volunteers at 14 different locations across the country after they have cleared the safety and screening parameters for the study. The trial is expected to include around 1,500 participants in the first phase.&nbsp;

Dysfunction of mitochondria, the powerhouse of the cell, might be one of the reasons for the decrease in platelets, a condition manifested in dengue patients, a study by researchers of the University of Hyderabad (UoH) has suggested.&nbsp;If mitochondria were damaged, most of the cellular functions would be affected. That was why platelet production also may be reduced because of the mitochondrial dysfunction in the dengue virus-infected patients, Professor Naresh Babu V Sepuri&nbsp;told PTI.&nbsp;Our finding is, one of the dengue virus protein entering the mitochondria causes damage to it. That may be leading to platelet reduction, he added.

Researchers from&nbsp;Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT-M) say that&nbsp;curcumin -- the active principle from turmeric -- may help in killing cancers cell. Analysing test-tube experiments, the team found that&nbsp;curcumin&nbsp;increased the sensitivity of leukaemia cells to a protein that causes the death of cancer cells. The team, however, warned that results in a human body may be different from their experiment.&nbsp;The results of this work have been published in journal&nbsp;Pharmacological Reports. According to the researchers,&nbsp;even small concentrations of curcumin could potentially enhance the sensitiveness of leukemic cells to&nbsp;a protein called &lsquo;TNF-Related Apoptosis-Inducing Ligand&rsquo; (TRAIL)

Biophore India Pharmaceuticals has got the approval&nbsp;from the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) to manufacture Favipiravir, a drug used in the finished formulation to treat mild to moderate cases of Covid-19.&nbsp;
Apart from the nod to produce the active pharmaceutical ingredient in India, it has been cleared for exports as well. It also received approval in Turkey to export the API in collaboration with a local partner. The company is also discussing&nbsp;commercialisation of&nbsp;the product in India.&nbsp;

According to researchers from the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom, there is 'compelling' evidence to show that air pollution increases&nbsp;Covid-19 infections, hospital admissions and deaths. Even a small increase in people's long-term exposure to pollution could increase infections and admissions by approximately 10% and deaths by 15%, suggests the study. The research also looked at other factors including obesity, population density and age. However, scientists&nbsp;have not proven a causal link between air pollution and worse coronavirus impacts. Conclusive evidence will only come with large amounts of data on individual people, which is not yet available. The paper is set to be published in the journal&nbsp;Environmental and Resource Economics and has been reviewed&nbsp;by independent scientists.&nbsp;

A research group from UK's&nbsp;Rosalind Franklin Institute, Oxford University and others says that&nbsp;antibodies derived from llamas have been shown to combat the new&nbsp;coronavirus in lab tests.&nbsp;The research published in Nature Structural and Molecular Biology involved engineering llama antibodies or nanobodies, named due to their small size. These nanobodies, either alone or in a Covid-specific mix could be the key towards&nbsp;passive immunisation of critically ill&nbsp;Covid-19 patients. Rosalind Institute's&nbsp;director said, 'These nanobodies have the potential to be used in a similar way to convalescent serum, effectively stopping the progression of the virus in infected patients.'&nbsp;

Researchers from Banaras&nbsp;Hindu University's&nbsp;Institute of Medical Sciences are going to study&nbsp;the use of Ashwagandha as a test drug for preventative use among frontline health workers and Yashtimadhu for supplementary therapy as a standard treatment of Covid-19 patients with mild to moderate symptoms. The project aims to test the efficacy of&nbsp;ayurvedic interventions in Covid-19 patients.&nbsp;BHU&nbsp;is among 15 institutions of the country contributing to this project, that is led by the Ministry of AYUSH, Indian Council of Medical Research and Council of Scientific and Industrial Research.&nbsp;

Chinese vaccine maker&nbsp;CanSino Biologics&nbsp;has initiated discussions with Russia, Brazil, Chile and Saudi Arabia to launch phase 3 trials of its experimental Covid-19 vaccine candidate. The announcement came from CanSino's&nbsp;co-founder who revealed the trial with start 'pretty soon' at&nbsp;an anti-viral drug development conference in China.&nbsp;
CanSino's&nbsp;Ad5-nCov&nbsp;vaccine candidate was the&nbsp;first in China to start human testing in March but has lagged behind its local competitors since then. Two other Chinese vaccine candidates developed by Sinovac&nbsp;Biotech and Sinopharm&nbsp;are already approved for phase 3 clinical trials.&nbsp;

Scientists analysing the immune response of Covid-19 patients and health workers in the UK say that immunity from Covid-19 may only last for a few months. Researchers from King's College London have found that 60% of patients showed a potent antibody response at the height of their infection but&nbsp;only 17% retained the same potency three months later. These findings, which are yet to be peer-reviewed, could have an impact on vaccine development as well as the pursuit of herd immunity. The level of antibodies also differed based on the severity of the infection, researchers said.&nbsp;

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals has announced that it has commenced a Post Marketing Surveillance study on its&nbsp;drug&nbsp;FabiFlu to closely monitor its efficacy and safety in 1,000 Covid-19 patients. The company also shared that it is reducing the price of the oral antiviral by 27%.&nbsp;The new MRP&nbsp;has come down to ₹75 per tablet from the earlier ₹103 per tab.&nbsp;Glenmark has managed to keep the pricing of FabiFlu lower as compared to its price in other countries. The price reduction has been made possible through benefits gained from higher yields and better scale as both the active ingredient and formulations are made at Glenmark's&nbsp;facilities in India, shared the company.&nbsp;

According to a new scientific paper by the University of Rochester, bats are immune to the Covid-19 virus. The research credits their ability to control body inflammation that gives them their rock-solid immunity. Bats are able to prevent the multiplication of the virus in their bodies, the report states. The research adds that their ability to fly gives them the perfect immuno-response. The mammals are able to get used to 'sudden ups and downs' and metabolism changes in their bodies. The researchers have also attributed their environment as a reason for their stronger immunity. Bats' immunities are at a 'never-ending' war with various viruses and pathogens that exist in the environment, say experts. The review was published in the journal&nbsp;Cell Metabolism.&nbsp;

Russia has become the first nation in the world to successfully complete the clinical trials of a&nbsp;Covid-19 vaccine. The trials were held at the Center for Clinical Research on Medications at Sechenov University. According to Russian news agencies, the trial proved that the vaccine is safe and the volunteers will be discharged on the 15th and 20th of July. However, it has not been ascertained yet when the vaccine will enter its commercial production stage. According to the World Health Organisation, currently there are 21 vaccines under key trials.&nbsp;

Billionaire businessman and SpaceX and Tesla CEO&nbsp;Elon Musk has spilled some details about Neuralink, his startup that is developing a brain-machine interface technology. Founded in 2016, Neuralink is focused on creating a neural interface, an Artificial Intelligence symbiosis through a chip implanted in the brain. Musk claims that the technology could be used to treat addiction and depression and is both great and terrifying. In a tweet, he said that more details about Neuralink will be revealed on August 28th.

American pharma&nbsp;company Gilead Sciences Inc has said that&nbsp;additional data from a late-stage study shows that its antiviral drug&nbsp;remdesivir significantly improved clinical recovery of critically ill Covid-19 patients. The company said&nbsp;74.4% of remdesivir-treated patients recovered by Day 14 versus 59% of patients on standard care Dr. Susan Olender from Columbia University said in the Gilead statement to Reuters that the analysis 'draws from a real-world setting and serves as an important adjunct to clinical trial data even though it is not as vigorous as a randomized controlled trial.'&nbsp;In contrast, a University of Pittsburgh&nbsp;medical professor said it is a 'joke' to compare&nbsp;clinical trial data with observational data and conclude anything definitive about death risk.&nbsp;

Nearly 5.5 crore unintended pregnancies, 18 lakh unsafe abortions and 30,000 maternal deaths were prevented thanks to the use of contraceptives in India in 2019, said Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan.&nbsp;In a virtual meeting on World Population Day, Vardhan&nbsp;also credited&nbsp;substantial investment in the family planning programme for this feat.&nbsp;
India's crude birth rate has reduced from 21.8 in 2011 to 20 in&nbsp;2018, while the total fertility rate has declined from 2.4 in 2011 to 2.2 in 2018, Vardhan&nbsp;said in a statement.&nbsp;The health minister emphasised that family planning provides dignity to women, especially who are poor and marginalised.

Chinese researchers have found a link between elevated blood sugar levels without a previous diabetes&nbsp;diagnosis with higher Covid-19&nbsp;death risk in a study. A team including scientists from Tongji&nbsp;Medical College China examined fasting blood glucose (FBG) level of Covid-19 patients at the time of admission in reference to their 28-day mortality. Publishing their results in the journal&nbsp;Diabetologia, the team found that patients in the highest FBG group were 2.3 times more likely to die than those in the lowest. Based on the findings, they recommend&nbsp;blood sugar testing and control for Covid-19 patients, even those who don't have a history of diabetes.&nbsp;

India's drug regulator has approved itolizumab, used to treat skin condition psoriasis, for restricted&nbsp;emergency use for the treatment of Covid-19 patients facing moderate to acute respiratory problems.&nbsp;
The drug is manufactured and marketed by India's Biocon Ltd and has now been repurposed for Covid-19, the indigenous pharma&nbsp;company said.&nbsp;The firm presented the phase II clinical trial results to the drug regulator which were deliberated upon by the Subject Expert Committee of the DCGI's office.&nbsp;The use of the medicine is subject to some conditions including the requirement of informed consent of patients, a risk management plan and usage restricted to a hospital setup.

A new study on over 92,000 patients in Brazil suggests that an&nbsp;inactivated trivalent flu shot could help prevent people from getting infected with severe Covid-19 by improving immunity. However, the study has not been peer reviewed yet and is still in its pre-print phase. The researchers found that the flu shot can reduce mortality by 20 percent when taken before the onset of Covid-19 and by 27 percent when a vaccine was given after the onset of the infection.&nbsp;This non-specific&nbsp;immunity has been seen with other vaccines like&nbsp;MMR and BCG. The study also mentions certain similarities between the coronavirus and the flu virus.&nbsp;So, chances are that our immune system recognises both these viruses through similar receptors.

Two experts from the World Health Organisation (WHO) are spending two days in the Chinese capital to kick off a larger mission to investigate the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic.&nbsp;A health and an epidemiology expert are setting the&nbsp;scope and terms of reference' for the mission which aims to understand how the virus jumped from an animal host to a human body, said a UN statement.
Experts believe that the virus may have originated from bats, before possible being carried by a civet cat or an armadillo-like pangolin and then made its way to the human population in the Wuhan&nbsp;fresh food market.&nbsp;More than 120 nations called for an investigation into the origins of the virus at the World Health Assembly in May.&nbsp;

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Pet dog in Hong Kong tests 'weak positive' for coronavirus

Feb 29, 2020 11:04 IST

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