Author: Théophile Niyitegeka

Ebola kills 3 in DRC, WHO says; scores more linked to deaths

{Three people have died from an Ebola outbreak in a remote northern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo, as health officials travel to the central African country in response to a rising number of suspected cases, the World Health Organization says.}

Last week, WHO reported one Ebola-related death and the possibility of two others. On Saturday, the organization confirmed the other two deaths were also Ebola-related.

The first case, which came April 22, involved a 45-year-old man. The taxi driver who took the man to the hospital and a person who cared for the man both became sick and later died, WHO said.

All three deaths came in the Likati health district of Bas-Uele province, which borders the Central African Republic.

Bas-Uele province, with a population of 900,000 in 2007, is mostly inhabited by the Boa tribe, which subsists through farming and hunting and conducts some trade by way of the Uele River.

Health officials are investigating 17 other suspected cases, Dr. Ernest Dabire, WHO’s health cluster coordinator, said Sunday in Kinshasa. He further estimated that 125 people had been linked to the confirmed Ebola cases and urged the public to be vigilant and visit their doctor if they experience fever or other symptoms.

Symptoms such as fever, headache, muscle pain, fatigue, diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal pain and hemorrhaging can begin two to 21 days after exposure.

Though the scope of the outbreak is not yet known, WHO is not recommending any restrictions on trade with or travel to DRC.

{{Team heads to epicenter}}

Ebola is a highly infectious virus spread through contact with bodily fluids, and testing shows the latest outbreak involves the Zaire strain, the most dangerous of the viruses known to cause the disease.

A 2007 outbreak of this strain in Congo had a fatality rate of 74 percent, claiming 200 lives.

On Saturday, Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO’s regional director for Africa, met with national authorities in Kinshasa to discuss ways to mount a response to the outbreak.

“WHO has already mobilized technical experts to be deployed on the ground and is ready to provide the leadership and technical expertise required to mount a coordinated and effective response,” Moeti said.

Three days prior, a team led by the DRC’s Health Ministry began the trek to the Likati health zone to begin an investigation. The 1,400-kilometer (870-mile) route from Kinshasa to Likati is remote and isolated with limited transportation networks, requiring two to three days of travel.

The team included epidemiologists, biologists and specialists in the areas of social mobilization, risk communication, community engagement and water, hygiene and sanitation, said Dr. Allarangar Yokouidé, a WHO representative.

There is no approved vaccine to prevent the virus, and there is no approved treatment or cure. Clinical trials of an experimental vaccine are ongoing in West Africa.

{{DRC’s past experience important}}

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been briefed on the outbreak and stands ready to provide epidemiological or laboratory support, if necessary, said spokeswoman Amy Rowland. The CDC has a team in the country working on a monkeypox vaccine trial, she said.

Médecins Sans Frontières, the United Nations Children’s Fund and other international organizations are standing by as well, WHO said last week.

Rowland pointed out that DRC has extensive experience with Ebola, this being the country’s eighth outbreak since the virus was discovered near the Ebola River in 1976.

The last outbreak in 2014 in DRC’s Boende region — an event unrelated to the 2014 West Africa outbreak that killed thousands — was short-lived, as a team of field epidemiologists quickly stopped the spread of the disease, limiting it to 66 cases, 49 of them fatal.

These “disease detectives” are in a good position to help with the current outbreak, Rowland said.

Aside from the 1976 outbreak in DRC, which killed 280 people in Yambuku, the deadliest outbreak came in 1995, when Ebola killed 250 people in Kikwit.

In 2014, more than 11,300 people were killed in the worst-ever outbreak of the virus in West Africa, most of them in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia. During that outbreak, which WHO declared a “public health emergency of international concern,” the Western Hemisphere also saw its first Ebola patients.

Seven Americans who had been working in Africa became infected and were transported to the United States for treatment. In addition, two American nurses were infected after caring for a Liberian man who died from the virus in the hospital where they worked in Texas.

Source:Fox 61

May 16, 2017
Kenya:Jubilee warns Raila Odinga, Kalonzo Musyoka on polls

{The Jubilee Party has warned that the opposition coalition’s threat to boycott August elections could plunge the country into turmoil.}

Jubilee Secretary-General Raphael Tuju on Tuesday said utterances by Nasa flagbearer Raila Odinga and his running mate Kalonzo Musyoka should not be taken lightly.

{{Appeal }}

Speaking at the party’s headquarters in Nairobi, Mr Tuju said such threats amount to incitement.

“That a former prime minister and a former vice president are demonstrating flagrant disregard for the rule of law, hinting at mass action, is irresponsible and dangerous, and seriously undermines public and investor confidence in our country,” he said, referring to Mr Odinga and Mr Musyoka respectively.

During a public rally in Nakuru on Sunday, the two had reiterated that Nasa would keep off boycott the polls should the Court of Appeal reverse High Court decision that presidential results announced at the constituency level are final.

{{Respect }}

The Independent Elections and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) filed the appeal.

Mr Tuju said Jubilee would respect the decision of the appellate court even if it upholds the lower court’s decision.

Separately, Jubilee senators and MPs accused Mr Odinga of cultivating a climate of violence by intimidating independent institutions ahead of the polls.

The leaders warned that threats by the National Super Alliance (Nasa) leader were “uncivilised, illegal and attack” on the rule of law.

“Mr Odinga has bewitched Nasa and misled them into embracing his default mode of engagement, which is inherently sinister and dangerous,” the leaders, who included Senate Majority Leader Kithure Kindiki and his deputy Kipchumba Murkomen, said.

{{The law }}

Others who spoke at a news conference at Parliament Buildings were Kericho Senator Aaron Cheruiyot, Machakos Town MP Victor Munyaka, Nominated MP Johnson Sakaja and Roysambu’s Waihenya Ndirangu.

On Sunday, the opposition coalition asked IEBC to withdraw an application it has filed in the Court of Appeal.

Mr Odinga accused IEBC of advancing the interests of the ruling party and warned that Nasa leadership would not accept any decision that overturns the High Court verdict.

The Jubilee lawmakers reminded the Nasa leader that IEBC is the custodian of electoral integrity and that the Judiciary is the gatekeeper of the rule of law, which they said are the foundation of justice.

“Every bit of negativity, hostility, suspicion, hatred and division is an asset for Nasa’s dark and evil campaign,” Mr Kithure said.

{{‘Cry baby’}}

“Destruction, violence and anarchy are the pillars of their electoral strategy.”

The leaders told Nasa to accept the fact that the authority to interpret the law lies with the judiciary and supported IEBC decision to file the appeal to clarify the grey areas in the High Court judgement.

Mr Murkomen accused Mr Odinga of behaving like a cry baby and urged him to be man enough and prepare for the presidential contest.

“Internal squabbles of Nasa are being directed to the wrong institutions,” he said, while warning Nasa that attempts will be resisted.

“These squabbles have become a liability to the IEBC and Judiciary,”

{{‘Threat’}}

Mr Sakaja said Mr Odinga’s attacks on independents institutions was a threat to the rule of law.

“If we discard the rule of law in the way being suggested by the Nasa leadership we shall have nothing to hold onto,” he said.

Mr Kithure laughed off assertion by Nasa that they will boycott the elections if the Court of appeal rules in favour of IEBC.

“The notion that there will be no elections if Nasa is not participating is laughable. There are about 18 candidates in the Presidential race and if one of them pulls out the rest will participate,” he said.

Meanwhile, Jubilee has dismissed a report by the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, which criticized the manner in which party primaries were held.

Mr Tuju termed the report as “hogwash” and “statistically insignificant”.

Source:Daily Nation

May 16, 2017
Donald Trump accused of divulging top secret intelligence to Russians

{Embattled US President Donald Trump faced explosive allegations that he divulged top secret intelligence to Russian diplomats in the Oval Office, a charge the White House scrambled to rebut Monday.}

The Washington Post reported that Trump revealed highly classified information on the Islamic State group during a meeting last week with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Moscow’s man in Washington Sergey Kislyak.

In a shock twist, the intelligence reportedly came from a US ally who did not authorize Washington to share it with Moscow. That development could shatter trust that is essential to intelligence and counterterrorism cooperation.

National Security Advisor HR McMaster denied the president had revealed “intelligence sources or methods,” but acknowledged that Trump and Lavrov “reviewed a range of common threats to our two countries, including threats to civil aviation.”

The Post, citing unnamed officials, said that Trump went off script during the meeting, describing details about an Islamic State terror threat related to the use of laptop computers on airplanes, revealing the city where the information was gathered.

The Trump administration recently barred the use of laptops in the passenger cabin from several countries in the Middle East and is mulling the expansion of that ban to cover jets originating in Europe.

“There’s nothing that the president takes more seriously than the security of the American people. The story that came out tonight as reported is false,” McMaster said without elaborating on which elements were wrong.

“Two other senior officials who were present, including the secretary of state, remember the meeting the same way and have said so. Their on-the-record accounts should outweigh those of anonymous sources. I was in the room. It didn’t happen.”

McMaster earlier refused to answer questions to a group of journalists gathered in the West Wing, saying “this is the last place I wanted to be” before leaving.

The revelations are the latest in a wave of crises to hit the White House, which late Monday was in a state of shock, with aides frantically trying to put out the fire and determine the source of such damaging leaks.

{{CRISIS TO CRISIS}}

Since coming to office in January, Trump has lurched from crisis to crisis, lampooning the intelligence services, law enforcement and the media along the way.

Last week, Trump threw his administration into turmoil by taking the virtually unprecedented step of firing his FBI director James Comey.

Comey had been overseeing investigations into possible Trump campaign collusion with Russia to skew the 2016 election.

The meeting came a day after that firing, and was already controversial in itself, a red carpet welcome for top aides of Vladimir Putin just months after being hit with US sanctions for meddling in the 2016 presidential election.

Trump’s administration was left red-faced after Moscow surprised them by releasing pictures of what was meant to be a closed-door meeting.

{{RYAN WANTS ‘FULL EXPLANATION’}}

For Trump’s already weary allies in Congress, the latest crisis brought more headaches and demanded yet more explanation from an administration that is struggling to leave its legislative mark.

“We have no way to know what was said, but protecting our nation’s secrets is paramount,” said Doug Andres, a spokesman for Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan.

“The speaker hopes for a full explanation of the facts from the administration.”

Senior Republican Senator John McCain told CNN that “if it’s true, it’s obviously disturbing.” But he cautioned: “Let’s wait and see what this was all about first.”

Top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer accused Trump of potentially putting American lives at risk.

“If the report is true, it is very disturbing. Revealing classified information at this level is extremely dangerous and puts at risk the lives of Americans and those who gather intelligence for our country,” he said.

“The president owes the intelligence community, the American people and Congress a full explanation.”

Source:AFP

May 16, 2017
Rwanda’s economy continues to perform well-IMF

{The International Monetary Fund has said Rwanda’s economy is increasingly performing well with strong implementation of its IMF-supported programs.}

This was revealed by Laure Redifer the IMF Mission Chief in a statement following review of Rwanda’s Policy Support Instrument. The review which has been taking place from 2nd to 15th May 2017 was meant to carry 2017 Article IV consultations, and the seventh and second reviews of Rwanda’s Policy Support Instrument (PSI) and Stand-by Credit Facility (SCF) supported programs respectively.

“The IMF staff team highlighted that Rwanda’s economy continues to perform well, with strong implementation of its IMF-supported program. Growth in 2016 was 5.9 percent, down from 2015, but comparing favorably to growth in the subcontinent, which averaged just 1.4 percent–the lowest in two decades. Deceleration of growth in Rwanda was primarily attributable to the drought’s impact on agriculture, as well as completion of large construction projections and policy adjustment to address growing external imbalances. The IMF team anticipates that growth should recover gradually over the course of 2017, owing to good rains and expanding domestic production. Food-driven inflation peaked in early 2017, and should decelerate as food supply constraints recede,” reads the statement in part.

According to the statement, IMF team reached preliminary agreement with the government, subject to approval by IMF management and its Executive Board, on policies that could support completion of the seventh and second reviews of Rwanda’s PSI- and SCF-supported programs. The Executive Board is scheduled to consider the reviews in July 2017.

Rwanda’s external trade deficit was lower than expected in 2016, following a strong pick up in goods and services exports, combined with reduced demand for imports.
The IMF team observed that these developments reflected in part decisive government policies: to address pressures on the balance of payments and falling reserves, the government allowed the exchange rate to adjust, resulting in depreciation of just under 10 percent in 2016, supported by public spending restraint and prudent monetary policy.

IMF also observed that ‘ the government implemented a “Made in Rwanda” policy to encourage domestic production of certain goods currently imported and promote export diversification, intended to foster external stability and growth in the medium term. These efforts should allow for a slight increase of foreign exchange reserves in 2017.’

The IMF team commended these policies, but underlined the importance of balancing tax incentives in Rwanda and domestic revenue mobilization objectives.
To that end, the IMF team urged accelerated completion of revisions to income and fixed asset tax laws, and further analysis of the effectiveness of various tax incentives in promoting the competitiveness of Rwanda’s private sector.

For its longer-term analysis, the IMF team focused on three policy areas for sustaining the country’s impressive growth record. First, Rwanda’s development policies under Vision 2020 and Economic Development Poverty Reduction Strategies I and II have enabled the country to make nascent but tangible progress in moving from lower value-added to higher value-added economic activities, fostering structural transformation.

The IMF team underscored that planned strategic public investment in growth-enhancing infrastructure must create room for more private sector activity, vitally important for shifting the engine for growth, creating jobs, and improving living standards. Second, the IMF team commended the government’s concerted efforts to promote gender inclusion in economic activity, which has resulted in impressive progress that has provided an overall growth dividend for the country.

Finally, the IMF team welcomed improvements in financial access in Rwanda, in particular thanks to the expansion of microfinance and new technology, but noted that there remains room for further progress in lowering the costs of financial services and creating deeper financial and securities markets.

The IMF team also welcomed Rwanda’s participation in the G-20’s “Compact with Africa.” Noting that ‘ The compact has good potential to leverage ongoing and new work by the government and development partners to attract and increase private investment in strategic sectors of the economy, for example, development of industrial parks and infrastructure, in the context of a stable economy and a welcoming business environment.’

The IMF team met with Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, ClaverGatete; Governor of the National Bank of Rwanda, John Rwangombwa; Minister of Trade, Industry and East African Community Affairs, François Kanimba; Minister of Agriculture and Animal Resources, GerardineMukeshimana; Minister of Gender and Family Promotion, Esperance Nyirasafari, and other senior government officials, private sector representatives, civil society organizations, academia, and development partners.

May 16, 2017
Premier Murekezi urges Africa correctional services on productivity

{Premier Anastase Murekezi has requested heads of African correctional service institutions to build partnerships among themselves and foreign countries to address challenges facing the institutions. }

Murekezi gave the advice yesterday as he officially launched the 4thAfrican Correctional Services Association (ACSA) convening in Kigali from 15th to 19th May 2017.

Participants of the five-day bi-annual meeting will share ideas of how to realize progress of correction services on African continent.

Murekezi said that correctional services in Africa face obstacles of inadequate knowledge among managers and urged them to cooperate in addressing the challenge.

“Challenges are apparent in almost all African countries’ correctional services. These are insufficient budget and having few personnel with adequate capacity. It is not easy to attain objectives of ACSA with such challenges,” he said.

“All African countries, private investors and civil societies have to support ACSA to overcome these problems. This association must closely collaborate with governments to generate productivity in prisons. I would like to remind you that involving inmates in income generating activities is vital for inmates themselves, correctional services and the country in general,” he added.

Murekezi told participants that Rwanda tried all the best to facilitate the progress of correctional service and taking care of inmates like paying medical insurance and special care for female inmates.

The Commissioner General of Rwanda Correctional Services (RCS), CGP George Rwigamba said the meeting held in Rwanda will help member states to prepare the future of correctional services.

The president of ACSA chief of correctional service in Uganda, Col Dr Johnson Byabashaija stressed the need to draw consistent policies enhancing the development of correctional services in Africa. The previous meeting was held in Mozambique in 2014.

Participants in ACSA in Kigali will visit various prisons in Rwanda.

May 16, 2017
Failure to establish foods, medicine regulatory body worries MPs

{Members of Parliament have expressed concern over government’s failure to establish Rwanda Food and Medicine Authority (RFMA),a body supposed to regulate standards of foods and medicines despite the passing of a law allowing for its existence three years ago. }

The frustrations were raised yesterday as MPs assessed the request of President Paul Kagame to revise the law establishing the functioning of National Quality Inspection and Competition Authority (NICA).

The Minister of Health, Dr. Diane Gashumba explained that making the request, president Kagame had found that the 6th and 7th articles of existing law incorporated clauses regarding regulation of standards of foods and medicine yet such duties should not be under one body of National Quality Inspection and Competition Authority.

“He requested amendment in articles regarding how the body established by this law can execute particular duties of inspecting national quality and competition for buyers and leave duties of regulating standards of foods and medicine in hands of Rwanda Food and Medicine Authority,” she said.

MP Gabriel Semasaka said that mixing regulation of standards of all products including foods and medicines might be too much for one institution.

He criticized the government failure to establish RFMA yet the law for its existence was passed.

“The establishment of RFMA was approved by the law passed in 2013 but has never been executed. I request the government to implement it,” he said.

MP Jean Marie Vianney Gatabazi wondered whether neglecting implementation of RFMA has no consequences on quality of foods and medicines imported in the country.

“What happens when people say the law was passed three years ago but has not been implemented yet we import foods and medicines? The national body regulating standards has its tasks. We knew we were among few people of the world respecting standards. What happened this time?” he wondered.

Minister Gashumba said regulation of standards for medicine in the country is dependent on foreign institutions from United States, Europe and Asia.

“Regulation of medicines in country relies on standards bodies from foreign institutions. No medicine is imported before inspection from credible foreign standard institutions,” she said.

Gashumba noted it would be better if Rwanda gets own body regulating food and medicine standards to strengthen confidence among Rwandan consumers.

May 16, 2017
Path to end HIV could be within reach for United States in next decade

{2025 could mark turning point toward a declining HIV epidemic}

The United States could be on track within the next decade to see significant steps towards ending the HIV epidemic in this country, suggests new research from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

The researchers say their findings reveal that, with adequate commitment, a path exists to eliminate domestic HIV infection through the achievement of critical milestones — specifically, the reduction of annual new infections to 21,000 by 2020 and to 12,000 by 2025. They say that if these goals were met, 2025 could be the turning point for the epidemic, when HIV prevalence, or the total number of people living with HIV in the United States, would start to decline. The report is published May 15 online in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

“While these targets are ambitious, they could be achieved with an intensified and sustained national commitment over the next decade,” says study co-author David Holtgrave, PhD, chair of the Department of Health, Behavior and Society at the Bloomberg School. “It’s critical to note that the key to ending the HIV epidemic domestically lies in our collective willingness as a country to invest the necessary resources in HIV diagnostic, prevention and treatment programs.”

For their study, the researchers used HIV surveillance data published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for the years 2010 to 2013 to project yearly estimates for several key indicators — the number of new infections occurring annually, the number of people living with HIV in the United States, and the mortality rate — for 2014 through 2025.

The researchers used these projections to forecast the potential trajectory of the epidemic if the United States were to achieve certain benchmarks set by the National HIV/AIDS Strategy (NHAS), which was first released by President Obama in 2010 and updated in 2015 with targets to be met by 2020. The NHAS targets for 2020 include a”90/90/90″ goal, which proposes that by 2020, 90 percent of people living with HIV will know their HIV status; 90 percent of people diagnosed with HIV will receive sustained, quality HIV care; and 90 percent of people on antiretroviral therapy (ART) will achieve viral suppression, or an undetectable level of virus in the blood. For their projection of the potential course of the epidemic from 2020 to 2025, the researchers proposed a “95/95/95” goal and assessed achievement of the NHAS targets at 95 percent levels by 2025.

Their analysis revealed that if the NHAS targets — “90/90/90” for 2020 and “95/95/95” for 2025 — were achieved, the number of new HIV infections in the United States would drop from 39,000 in 2013 to approximately 20,000 in 2020, or a 46 percent decrease, and to about 12,000 in 2025, a nearly 70 percent reduction. Additionally, the total number of deaths among people living with HIV would decline from 16,500 in 2013 to approximately 12,522 in 2025, a 24 percent decrease, and the mortality rate would drop from 1,494 deaths per 100,000 people living with HIV in 2013 to around 1,025 in 2025, a 31 percent decrease.

“If the United States were to reduce the number of new HIV infections to 12,000 by 2025, this would mark an important inflection point in the HIV epidemic in this country,” says study leader Robert Bonacci, MD, MPH, a resident physician in the Department of Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. “It would be the first year that the number of new infections drops below the simultaneously decreasing number of deaths among people living with HIV. This is critical, because if new infections decline faster than the number of deaths, the total number of people living with HIV in the United States would begin to decrease, meaning the United States would be on course to end the epidemic.”

Advancements in antiretroviral therapy (ART) — the lifesaving drugs that reduce HIV transmission by lowering the level of virus in the blood — mean that HIV can now be a manageable chronic disease. In the United States, the average life expectancy for people living with HIV continues to increase toward that of the general population. Yet, of the more than one million people living with HIV, many lack access to ART.

Additionally, certain populations — particularly gay men, young people, transgender people, black and Hispanic Americans and those who live in southern states — continue to be disproportionately affected, and the overall progress has not been felt equally across all communities.

Source:Science Daily

May 16, 2017
Tea cooperative manager arrested over embezzlement of Rwf 30 million

{Police in Nyamasheke District is holding the former manager of COTEGA, a cooperative of tea farmers, in connection with embezzling about Rwf30 million.}

Damien Ndababonye was arrested over the weekend following an investigation that was ignited by the current management and members.

COTEGA cooperative has close to 3400 tea farmers.

Chief Inspector of Police (CIP) Théobald Kanamugire, Police spokesperson for the Western region, said that concerned members of the cooperative filed the case of “gross abuse of office by some current and former cooperative leaders.”

“During investigations we found that Ndayambaje, while he was still the manager of the COTEGA, allegedly used Rwf30 million of the cooperative to buy a vehicle. He was arrested and the vehicle (Double Cabin) impounded pending further investigations,” CIP Kanamugire said.

It is alleged that while Ndayambaje was still the cooperative manager, he connived with other leaders and unlawfully used Rwf30 million from the cooperative coffers, which he used to buy the vehicle.

“Members of the cooperative claimed that the vehicle was purchased without their consent as the norm, and that Ndababonye was using it to run personal errand. Preliminary investigations also indicate that the few people, who knew about this plan, had agreed with Ndababonye to be paying about Rwf150, 000 every month until he refunds the whole amount,” said the spokesperson.

Investigations also indicate that Ndababonye was only to refund the money he took without interest.

“We are still investigating the involvement of other members in this case or if there is no more money embezzled before the case file is forwarded to prosecution,” Kanamugire noted.

Embezzlement, under article 325 of the Penal Code, is punishable with a term of imprisonment of seven to ten years and a fine of two to five times the value of the embezzled or destroyed property.

Source:Police

May 16, 2017
The human sense of smell: It’s stronger than we think

{Researcher debunks 19th century myth that animals are better at sniffing out scents}

When it comes to our sense of smell, we have been led to believe that animals win out over humans: No way can we compete with dogs and rodents, some of the best sniffers in the animal kingdom.

But guess what? It’s a big myth. One that has survived for the last 150 years with no scientific proof, according to Rutgers University-New Brunswick neuroscientist John McGann, associate professor in the Department of Psychology, School of Arts and Sciences, in a paper published on May 12 in Science.

McGann, who has been studying the olfactory system, or sense of smell, for the past 14 years, spent part of the last year reviewing existing research, examining data and delving into the historical writings that helped create the long-held misconception that human sense of smell was inferior because of the size of the olfactory bulb.

“For so long people failed to stop and question this claim, even people who study the sense of smell for a living,” says McGann, who studies how the brain understands sensory stimuli using information gleaned from prior experience.

“The fact is the sense of smell is just as good in humans as in other mammals, like rodents and dogs.” Humans can discriminate maybe one trillion different odors, he says, which is far more, than the claim by “folk wisdom and poorly sourced introductory psychology textbooks,” that insist humans could only detect about 10,000 different odors.

McGann points to Paul Broca, a 19th century brain surgeon and anthropologist as the culprit for the falsehood that humans have an impoverished olfactory system — an assertion that, McGann says, even influenced Sigmund Freud to insist that this deficiency made humans susceptible to mental illness.

“It has been a long cultural belief that in order to be a reasonable or rational person you could not be dominated by a sense of smell,” says McGann. “Smell was linked to earthly animalistic tendencies.” The truth about smell, McGann says, is that the human olfactory bulb, which sends signals to other areas of a very powerful human brain to help identify scents, is quite large and similar in the number of neurons to other mammals.

The olfactory receptor neurons in the nose work by making physical contact with the molecules composing the odor, and they send this information back to that region of the brain.

“We can detect and discriminate an extraordinary range of odors; we are more sensitive than rodents and dogs for some odors; we are capable of tracking odor trails; and our behavioral and affective states are influenced by our sense of smell,” McGann writes in Science.

In Broco’s 1879 writings, he claimed that the smaller volume of the olfactory area compared to the rest of the brain meant that humans had free will and didn’t have to rely on smell to survive and stay alive like dogs and other mammals.

In reality, McGann says, there is no support for the notion that a larger olfactory bulb increases sense of smell based solely on size and insists that the human sense of smell is just as good and that of animals.

“Dogs may be better than humans at discriminating the urines on a fire hydrant and humans may be better than dogs at discriminating the odors of fine wine, but few such comparisons have actual experimental support,” McGann writes in Science.

The idea that humans don’t have the same sense of smell abilities as animals flourished over the years based on some genetic studies which discovered that rats and mice have genes for about 1000 different kinds of receptors that are activated by odors, compared to humans, who only have about 400.

“I think it has been too easy to get caught up in numbers,” says McGann. “We’ve created a confirmation bias by working off a held belief that humans have a poor sense of smell because of these lower numbers of receptors, which in reality is still an awful lot.”

The problem with this continuing myth, McGann says, is that smell is much more important than we think. It strongly influences human behavior, elicits memories and emotions, and shapes perceptions.

Our sense of smell plays a major, sometimes unconscious, role in how we perceive and interact with others, select a mate, and helps us decide what we like to eat. And when it comes to handling traumatic experiences, smell can be a trigger in activating PTSD.

While smell can begin to deteriorate as part of the aging process, McGann says, physicians should be more concerned when a patient begins to lose the ability to detect odors and not just retreat back to the misconception that humans’ sense of smell is inferior.

“Some research suggests that losing the sense of smell may be the start of memory problems and diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s,” says McGann. “One hope is that the medical world will begin to understand the importance of smell and that losing it is a big deal.”

Source:Science Daily

May 16, 2017
Nyabihu mayor roots for stronger partnership against illicit drugs

{The Mayor of Nyabihu District, Theoneste Uwanzwenuwe has called upon the youth in the district to shun all forms of drug abuse for their wellbeing.
}

The Mayor made the call while meeting hundreds of students of Jenda Secondary School, recently.

“You are the force of change, the force against drug abuse,” the mayor told the youth.

He also asked them to also shun acts of taking alcoholic drinks at their age, which is against the law.

Inspector of Police (IP) Alexandre Minani, on his part, appealed to the students report anyone they see or suspect to be selling and consuming drugs.

Inspector of police IP Alexandre Minani who is also the police community liaison officer reiterated the dangers of drug and alcohol abuse.

The headmistress of Jenda Secondary School, Mediatrice Maniteze thanked the police and local leadership for outreach activities.

She noted that the school has introduced at drug abuse debates where they engage in discussions and drama aimed at desisting peer influence and fighting the vice.

Source:Police

May 16, 2017