True or false that British colonialism caused African poverty and chaos?

I am thankful to Rod Liddle of The Sunday Times for the idea of this article. It will be thankfully short as it's not an area of my expertise. However, slavery is being discussed a lot at the moment and whether Britain's colonial past contributed to the country's relative wealth. Although, today, in terms of the country's future, I don't see an awful lot of wealth and another article in today's papers say that Britain is going to be poorer than Poland within five years.

Ethiopia. Arguably as dysfunctional in terms of governance as the rest of most of Africa's countries but never colonised by GB. This is not to say that many other countries outside of Africa are not also dysfunctional in terms of governance. Think Russia for a start.

That is not to criticise Poland in anyway. However, the question being addressed in this article is whether British colonialism caused poverty in Africa and chaos on that continent. And the answer can be found, thanks to Rod Liddle in his research and I think I will quote him verbatim on this if he doesn't mind.

"As Adam Smith pointed out as early as 1776, [colonialism] was of no great benefit to the British Crown or its people: "Under the present system of management Great Britain derived nothing but loss from the Dominion which she assumes over her colonies."

And on the issue of Africa he says that this concept of Britain benefiting greatly from colonisation is wrong but it:

"gnaws away at the general believed assumption that the poverty and chaos of much of Africa is a direct consequence of our Imperial perfidy - an assumption easily refuted by examining the cases of Ethiopia and Liberia, two countries that were not formally colonised (Italy was driven out of Ethiopia after just five years) and that today face exactly the same problems as their neighbours, which were."

Britain's relative wealth is not built on slavery but on "good governance, entrepreneurship, a rapid improvement in general education and literacy, the Protestant work ethic and a primacy placed upon inventiveness". These were far more powerful and important to the success of Great Britain.

My thanks to The Sunday Times and Rod Liddle particularly.

Note: I have no personal views on this topic. If Mr Liddle had said that the evidence pointed to British colonialism causing poverty in Africa I would have accepted it. There were good and bad aspects to the colonial era. That's a fair assessment I'd say.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

Avian flu puts cow cuddling under threat

In America, a lot of small farmers rely on selling their cow cuddling services to the public to pay for the running of their farms such as purchasing bales of hay. It seems to me that to these small farm holders cow cuddling is a nice source of added income which supplements their regular income. That's the benefit from the farmer's point of view. 

Of course, there is a benefit from the customer's point of view because cow cuddling is known to be very therapeutic. There are other long-term gains such as understanding that cows are sentient beings. I can remember very clearly a video of a farmer in Europe had a great relationship with his farm animals including his cows. 

These relationships are very similar to those that one finds between companion dogs or cats and their caregivers. Cows are great animals although we treat them as livestock be used for the benefit of humankind.

We don't know for sure how people can contract avian influenza from cows but a person exposed to infected cattle on a farm in Texas tested positive for H5N1. They were the second documented case of human infection of the virus in the United States.

Although we don't know specifically how people are infected it is due to close contact with infected animals. Perhaps, and I'm guessing here, saliva is passed from cow to person and the saliva contains the virus. Most people who have fallen ill with H5N1 have had close contact with infected animals typically poultry.

The best of my knowledge, a person who contracted H5N1 was not seriously ill. The individual referred to above was treated for a single symptom of eye redness and they received antiviral medication. There was a case in the UK. The man contracted the disease from ducks. He was successfully treated.

In America, the CDC considered the risk of H5N1 being transferred to people as low but precautions are necessary. Milk from infected cows needs to be discarded although pasteurisation of milk kills the virus. Barn cats caught the disease from drinking infected milk on a Texas farm. It killed 12 of 24 cats in days.

Avian flu killed 12 Texas farm cats in four days after getting the disease from cattle

Perhaps the big problem for the cow cuddling businesses is that customers will no longer want to cuddle cows knowing that there is a potential risk of contracting this disease. This is the problem rather than the farms having to stop selling the service. Although they will probably do it voluntarily as they'd be exposed not only to the virus but to a claim for compensation through the courts! 😒🤢

In summary, while the risk of transmission from cows to humans remains low, health authorities are closely monitoring the situation and taking precautions. Some people who want to cuddle cows will also be taking precautions if they are aware of this zoonosis and avoid cows.

Some more on avian flu infecting people

Avian flu, also known as bird flu, is an infectious type of influenza that primarily affects birds. However, in rare cases, it can also infect humans. Here are some key points about avian flu:

Strains of Bird Flu Virus:

• Most bird flu viruses do not infect humans. However, there are four strains that have caused concern:
• H5N1 (since 1997)
• H7N9 (since 2013)
• H5N6 (since 2014)
• H5N8 (since 2016)
• While these strains don’t easily infect people and are not usually spread from human to human, there have been cases of human infection worldwide, leading to fatalities.

How Bird Flu Spreads to Humans:

• Bird flu is primarily spread through close contact with infected birds (dead or alive).
• This includes touching infected birds, their droppings, or bedding.
• Markets where live birds are sold can also be a source of bird flu.
• Eating fully cooked poultry or eggs does not transmit bird flu, even in areas with outbreaks.

Symptoms in Humans:

• The main symptoms of bird flu can appear rapidly and include:
• Very high temperature or feeling hot and shivery
• Aching muscles
• Headache
• Cough or shortness of breath
• Other early symptoms may include diarrhea, vomiting, stomach pain, chest pain, bleeding from the nose and gums, and conjunctivitis.
• Severe complications such as pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome can develop within days of symptoms appearing.

Treatment and Prevention:

• Antiviral medications can help prevent complications if administered promptly.
• Prevention measures include avoiding contact with infected birds, practicing good hygiene, and cooking meat thoroughly.
• There is no specific bird flu vaccine available.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

NHS in UK makes pet owners disgruntled about private vet prices

Yes, vet prices have surged higher in the UK recently because they want to make more money. It is as simple as that. And they want to make more dosh because the unprofitable, independent vets owned by a partnership of veterinarians have been bought up by big business and big business always has an eye on the profit margin and not so much on the quality of the treatment.

Fictional MRI scan for a dog at a vet clinic. 

Having said all that there is a big obstacle in the UK to citizens' perception of medical treatments: the National Health Service (NHS) which is free at the point of delivery.

It is not actually free but paid for out of taxpayer revenue - over £100 billion annually - but it feels like it is free to the citizens who rely on it for the health needs.

In the UK, health care for humans can be free unless the person can afford and selects private health care while health care for pets is never free but sometimes damnably expensive.

Pet health care is as expensive or more expensive than private human health care sometimes in the UK. But let's say that they are on a par, it is still a lot of money when paying for vet services and products.

And it all goes back to perception. Private pet health care as it always is in the UK seems beyond the means of many because they are used to walking into A&E at a local hospital or a walk-in unit for minor injuries and being seen to free of charge.

I am not condoning some of the rip-off vet prices but I think Brits need to put things in perspective. Health care for pets is an important and expensive business with ever more sophisticated diagnostic and treatment machinery. They are expensive.

The third factor is that more pet owners take out pet health insurance which pushes up the quality and price of treatments. It is a virtuous or unhelpful circle which ends up making veterinary care too expensive for many which in turn results in many pets not receiving the care they need and deserve.

P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

Bird flu blinds barn cats and kills half in days on Texas farm

This is a cross post because it is an important story. It is also a tragic story as half of the 24 barn cats on this Texas farm died quickly of bird flu which they contracted, it is believed, from drinking the unpasteurised milk from the cows with which they lived. 

Barn cats drink unpasteurised milk in a milking barn and caught bird flu which killed them. This is a fictional image please note based on the image on the internet. 

Their deaths were unpleasant and painful. The story was announced by the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) which revealed that at least 24 cats on this Texas farm experienced severe health symptoms such as depression, body stiffness, ataxia (loss of coordination), blindness, circling and extreme upper respiratory infection with excessive mucus from their eyes and noses.

Autopsies were carried out on the cats some of whom had died in as little as two days after they fell ill. The virus had spread to their entire body, lungs, brains, heart and eyes.

It also believed the cats contracted the disease from infected cattle by being in close contact with them. Clearly, the disease is a zoonosis (zoonotic disease) because it is transferable from one species of animal to another.

The disease can be transmitted in saliva, droppings and other body fluids and as mentioned in consuming raw milk (colostrum) from the cows.

CDC obtained the bodies of two of the cats as well as samples of milk from the cows. They also examined tissue samples from six of the cows. Three of the cows were euthanized and three had died of the virus.

All the animals were revealed to have been infected with H5N1 bird flu, specifically the one designated 2.3.4.4b, a highly pathogenic variety that killed a dolphin in Florida recently.

The cats had microscopic lesions in their brains, heart and lungs. They examined photographs of the barn where they lived and saw that they drank milk from a designated bowl as well as directly from cows.

It appears that the symptoms were first observed in the cats and so CDC tested the cows in which they found symptoms including tiny lesions in their memory glands.

The situation with avian flu designated A(H5N1) has become serious in America. It first emerged in 1996 but since 2020 the number of outbreaks has increased rapidly with tens of millions of poultry killed and wild birds and land and marine animals also infected.

Being a zoonosis, the disease can be transferred to people and earlier in the month a dairy farm worker in Texas became the second American to become infected with the virus. The farmworker contracted a mild infection with just one symptom which was an inflammation of the eye and recovered well. They were placed into isolation.

It is believed that they didn't transfer the disease to others and were being treated with the drug Tamiflu. This occurred in Texas as well and is believed to be the first case of a human infected by avian influenza from a cow.

The virus is mutating making it easier to jump posts as happened with the Covid-19 virus.

Protections

Cats can be protected from A(H5N1) if they are given a vaccination. However, it’s important to note that cats can still shed some of the virus, albeit in low numbers. If a cat is exhibiting symptoms, it should be put into isolation and kept indoors. Then, it should be taken to a vet for testing to determine the presence of H5N1. Additionally, here are some other preventive measures for cat owners:

1. Limit Contact with Possible Vectors: To prevent the spread of H5N1 among cats, limit their contact with other possible vectors such as birds and cattle. Cats should also avoid contact with fomites, such as milking equipment.

2. Avoid Unpasteurized Milk: Do not allow cats to drink unpasteurized milk, as this could be a potential source of infection.

3. Minimize Unnecessary Contact: If highly pathogenic influenza viruses are found or suspected in a cat, minimize unnecessary contact. Use gloves, a mask, and goggles for protection when handling the cat.

Remember that while the risk of cat-to-human transmission of influenza is low, taking precautions is essential to protect both cats and humans. If you suspect your cat may have been exposed to A(H5N1), consult with a veterinarian promptly.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

Orangutan successfully self-treated a large facial wound through plant medicine

It is the first time that humankind has observed a wild animal self-medicating using the leaves of a plant which he chewed for a long time and then placed the paste onto the large facial wound which was acquired during a fight with a rival. The plant he used is called Akar Kuning. It is an anti-inflammatory and antibacterial plant which local people use to treat malaria and diabetes.

Photos: Armas and the BBC.

This large facial wound had closed within five days which is remarkable. He chewed the stem and leaves of the plant for around 30 minutes. He applied the resultant liquid on to his cheeks for seven minutes and then smeared the chewed leaves in the form of a paste onto his gaping facial wound under his right eye.

The wound had totally healed after a month. The orangutan's name is Rakus. The way he behaved strongly indicated to scientists that he was applying the medicine to heal his wounds. Orangutans rarely eat this particular plant.

Dr. Laumer said: "He repeatedly applied the paste, and he later also applied more solid plant matter. The entire process lasted really a considerable time. That's why we think that he intentionally applied it."

It is known that the great apes use medicine to try to heal themselves. Jane Goodall, the 1960s biologist who is very well known, saw whole leaves in chimpanzee faeces indicating that they had been eaten for medicinal purposes. Other scientists have observed orangutans swallowing leaves which were known to have medicinal qualities.

But as mentioned it is the first time that a wild animal has been seen applying self-made medicine to a wound and successfully killing himself.

They even think that it might have been the first time that this individual had tried this kind of treatment. Perhaps he had learned watching others or perhaps they had told him how to do it.

Perhaps he found out that it worked by accident in touching his wound with his finger that had just had the plant on it. He discovered that the effect was pain relief which made him apply it again and again. That is another theory. My personal theory would be that it is a form of treatment which orangutans in his group know about and they have passed on the knowledge each to the other.

The researchers will observe other orangutans to see if they have the same knowledge in treating themselves for disease or wounds. They expect to discover even more behaviours of a similar quality and more abilities which are very human-like.

P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.