THE WILLIS UNIVERSITY

Welcome to the Willis University. This is a site dedicated mostly to the world's natural disasters. Also some random inserts of global news from credible sources and also a mixture of opinion. Some of the opinions are not suitable for all. Please remember this is my opinion only. Thanks to all for the guidance I've been given.

July 30, 2008

AIDS under control in Dominican Republic: UN report

SANTO DOMINGO, July 30 (Xinhua) -- The AIDS epidemic has been brought under control in the Dominican Republic, but follow-up strategies are required, the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) said Wednesday.

In its annual report, UNAIDS said the number of HIV/AIDS carriers in the country did not increase last year beyond the existing 0.8-1.2 percent of the population.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-07/31/content_8869833.htm

Five dead in disasters triggered by tropical storm Fung Wong

NANJING, July 30 (Xinhua) -- Disasters, triggered by tropical storm Fung Wong, have left four people dead in east China's Jiangsu Province, and one dead and four missing in the southern Guangdong Province.

A tornado, caused by the typhoon, hit Linze Town in north Jiangsu at about 3:15 p.m. on Wednesday. A clothing factory in Yangcha village was destroyed, with 18 workshops, covering more than 800 square meters, leveled, said a spokesman of the Yangzhou government.

South Korean Cat Had The H5N1 Bird Flu

News reports coming in from Korea have confirmed that a cat which was found dead in the city of Gimje about 150 miles south of the capital city Seoul died from the effects of the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus.

This is not the first time that a cat has died from the bird flu virus as scientists have been aware for some time now that they are particularly susceptible to the virus. There have been no reported cases of humans getting infected with bird flu transmitted through a cat though there has been speculation that should a full blown bird flu pandemic break out cats will be a major transmitter of the virus. There is also a possibilty that household pets such as dogs could also be infected and pass on the disease.

http://www.ukmedix.com/tamiflu/south_korean_cat_had_the_h5n1_bird_flu4038.cfm

July 23, 2008

Strong 6.8-Magnitude Earthquake Rocks Northern Japan

Japan's weather agency says an earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.8 struck off the northern Japanese coast.

The Meteorological Agency says there was no danger of a tsunami, or seismic waves, from the 12:26 a.m. Thursday (11:26 a.m. Wednesday EDT) quake, which occurred about 75 miles below the ocean's surface off the coast of Iwate in Japan's Eastern Honshu region.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,389341,00.html

July 22, 2008

Dolly becomes hurricane, churns toward Texas

HOUSTON (Reuters) - Dolly became a hurricane on Tuesday and bore down on southern Texas, but forecasters don't expect it to pack too much of a punch when it comes ashore near the Mexican border on Wednesday.

Dolly intensified from a tropical storm and became the second hurricane of 2008 Atlantic storm season after gathering strength over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico and reaching nearly 75 miles per hour (120 km per hour).

http://africa.reuters.com/world/news/usnN22278717.html

July 20, 2008

Human-to-Human Transmission of Bird Flu Discovered in China

China's National Disease Authority has confirmed that a man whose 24-year-old son died of the H5N1 strain of bird flu is also infected with the disease, raising concerns about human transmission of the virus.

H5N1 is a particularly virulent and lethal strain of the influenza virus that primarily infects domestic and wild birds. So far, it does not spread easily between birds and humans, but health officials fear that it could mutate into a form that is highly contagious from human to human. Given the intensely lethal nature of the disease, such a strain could easily lead to a global health crisis.

http://www.naturalnews.com/023664.html

Tropical Storm Cristobal rumbles off the Carolinas

CHARLESTON, South Carolina (AP): Tropical Storm Cristobal, the first tropical storm to menace the Southeast seaboard this hurricane season, continued to move along the North Carolina coast early Sunday, and was expected to dump several inches of rain in some areas of the drought-stricken state.

At 5 a.m. EDT (0900 GMT), the center of the storm was about 60 miles (98 kilometers) southwest of Cape Lookout, North Carolina, and about 130 miles (209 kilometers) southwest of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/7/20/apworld/20080720190048&sec=apworld

Hurricane Fausto stronger off Mexico, Bertha now a tropical storm

Mexico City (AP): Hurricane Fausto strengthened on Saturday far off Mexico's Pacific coast, while Hurricane Bertha weakened into a tropical storm over the Atlantic hundreds of miles (kilometers) from the coast of Newfoundland.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said neither storm is expected to threaten land.

Tropical Storm Cristobal formed off the southeastern United States and sent outer bands of intermittent rain lashing the eastern Carolinas late Saturday. It is the first storm to threaten the U.S. this hurricane season, the center said.

http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/003200807201055.htm