NEWS

NAIROBI, Kenya (AFP) — Ethiopia has confirmed an outbreak of the deadly Marburg virus in the south of the country, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said on Saturday. Also like Ebola, it is transmitted via contact with bodily fluids and has a fatality rate of between 25 and 80 percent. The head of the World Health Organization, Ethiopia’s Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, confirmed on Friday that at least nine cases had been detected in southern Eth

KINGSTON, Jamaica — Health authorities are issuing an urgent plea for public vigilance as a suspected rise in leptospirosis cases sweeps across communities grappling with days of persistent stagnant water following Hurricane Melissa. Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr Jacquiline Bisasor-McKenzie confirmed the heightened risk while speaking on Hotline on Radio Jamaica on Friday, noting that the stagnant water conditions are ideal for the deadly disease to spread. According to the

Chief public health inspector for St Ann Leroy Scott has urged residents of the parish to make an effort to clear debris and other items which may become mosquito habitats. Speaking at the monthly sitting of the St Ann Municipal Corporation on Thursday, Scott said assessments done by the health department have shown a significant increase in mosquito breeding. “The hurricane and continuous intermittent rainfall have significantly impacted the level of mosquito breeding presen

MONTEGO BAY, St James — The tab is still running but losses to State-owned assets in St James now stand at three quarters of a billion dollars and that figure is expected to increase by almost another $100 million by early next year. “The corporation has sustained approximately $750 million in damage to municipal assets,” Mayor of Montego Bay Richard Vernon disclosed in a report delivered during Thursday’s monthly meeting of the St James Municipal Corporation. He said losses

fter sustaining heavy damage during Hurricane Melissa, telecoms provider Digicel says it will be assessing the possibility of using more underground fibre systems as part of a broader effort to strengthen its network against future storms. Chief Executive Officer Stephen Murad shared the company’s thinking during Wednesday’s sitting of the Infrastructure and Physical Development Committee at Gordon House during which Members of Parliament (MPs) pressed Digicel to outline long

In sharp contrast to the usual buzz of activities, 83 Lane on Waltham Park Road, St Andrew, was a ghost town Friday afternoon. The lack of activity was understandable as residents, still in shock at the shooting death of two police constables there Thursday night, stayed indoors. “This is a Friday, and you can see the place is scanty,” one man told the Online News inside a bar approximately 30 metres from the spot where constables Charles Stewart and Jemarey Gordon were murde

SPALDING, Clarendon — Brandon Maine, the taxi operator implicated in the murder of a St Catherine teacher and her teen daughter, reportedly confessed to a relative that he had committed the double murder, a day after he fled to Tweedside near here in north-west Clarendon. “He left and went to town [Kingston] from long time, so when I saw him pop up Wednesday morning… that time I didn’t know he did such a gruesome murder and come here and a do like everything alright,” the rel