International
Australia closes farms as avian flu spreads
Avian influenza continues to spread in the Australian state of Victoria, where more than 500,000 chickens have been slaughtered. Strict quarantine zones have also been established that restrict the movement of birds and equipment. Australian health authorities say that avian influenza is mainly spread among wild waterfowl.
The highly pathogenic strain H7N3 of avian influenza has been found in four farms, while another virus, H7N9, has been detected in a fifth property in the last seven weeks in the state of Victoria. Australian farms have been quarantined. At least 580,000 birds have been slaughtered as part of extensive biosecurity controls.
Japan and the United States have temporarily banned imports of poultry from Victoria as a precautionary measure.
In Australia, some supermarkets are restricting the amount of eggs that consumers can buy due to supply chain disruptions.
Avian influenza is a viral disease found all over the world. It spreads between birds or when contaminated food and equipment for animals moves between areas.
Danyel Cucinotta is vice president of the Victoria Farmers’ Federation, an industry group. She told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. on Tuesday that the virus can spread quickly.
“There is very little we can do and no matter how good their biosecurity is, you can’t prevent wild birds from entering. This is a particular flight route for migratory birds. There are orders that all the birds are locked up. It’s about protecting our birds and protecting the food supply chain,” he said.
Avian influenza strains identified in the states of Victoria and Western Australia can infect people, but experts insist that cases are rare.
The virus can also infect cows. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has said that avian influenza has infected dairy cows in more than 80 herds in several states since the end of March.
At least three workers in the U.S. dairy industry. The United States has tested positive for avian influenza after exposure to infected livestock. The three patients are recovering.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the United States said that infections do not change their assessment that avian influenza is a low risk for the community in general and that they have not seen evidence of person-to-person transmission.
International
Austrian man arrested in Croatia with deceased woman as passenger in his car
A 65-year-old Austrian citizen was arrested at a border checkpoint in Croatia after attempting to enter the country in his car with a deceased woman sitting as a passenger, police announced on Tuesday.
The man was detained in a routine check in late November in Gunja, a border area separating Bosnia from Croatia, the police told AFP. Suspicious because they saw “no consciousness or movement” from the passenger, Croatian officers called a doctor, who confirmed the death of the 83-year-old woman, also Austrian, according to her identification.
The woman’s relationship to the suspect is unknown. She had died in Bosnia, and the man intended to repatriate her body to Austria to “avoid the formalities related to transporting a corpse,” according to the police. Croatian media reported that the man was her legal guardian.
Once her death was confirmed, a funeral service took charge of the body.
International
Colombian nationals arrested for human trafficking and disappearance of migrant boat
Colombian authorities arrested two nationals accused of the illegal trafficking of migrants to the United States and of endangering lives due to the disappearance of a boat with 40 people aboard, U.S. Department of Justice officials reported on Tuesday.
Hernando Manuel de la Cruz Rivera Orjuela, 52, and Luis Enrique Linero Pinto, 40, both Colombian citizens, were arrested on December 13 in Colombia at the request of the United States for their alleged involvement in a “transnational human trafficking operation,” the department said in a statement.
According to the charges, the detainees were transporting migrants to San Andrés Island in the Caribbean, where they would then be taken by boat to Nicaragua. The goal was to reach the United States through Central America and Mexico.
The accused are said to have advised the migrants on how to reach San Andrés Island, where they personally received them, arranged accommodations, and “took them to the boats that transported them to Nicaragua so they could enter the United States illegally,” the statement reads.
“These defendants put several migrants on the boat that disappeared off the coast of Nicaragua in 2023,” said Deputy Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Criminal Division, as cited in the statement.
Both men are “directly and personally responsible for the illicit trafficking of migrants on that vessel,” according to the indictment dated October 23.
International
Homemade landmine explosion in Michoacán kills two soldiers, injures five
Two soldiers were killed and five others were injured by the explosion of homemade landmines planted by a criminal group in a mountainous area of the Mexican state of Michoacán (west), the Secretary of Defense reported on Tuesday.
The attack occurred on Monday morning in the municipality of Cotija, a border area between Michoacán and the state of Jalisco, when the military was conducting a reconnaissance mission after receiving information about an armed camp in the area, explained Secretary General Ricardo Trevilla.
“At that moment, an improvised explosive device detonated. Unfortunately, two soldiers lost their lives, and five others were injured,” the military leader detailed. The affected soldiers were airlifted to hospitals in the region by a military helicopter, while the rest of the team continued with the reconnaissance of the area.
Trevilla stated that before the explosion, the military unit had located the dismembered bodies of three people, and upon continuing the mission, they confirmed the camp was abandoned.
Asked about the individuals responsible for placing the explosives, the general suggested they could be criminals linked to the local group Cárteles Unidos, which operates in Michoacán and uses these tactics in their territorial dispute with the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, one of the most powerful criminal organizations in the country.
Austrian man arrested in Croatia with deceased woman as passenger in his car
Colombian nationals arrested for human trafficking and disappearance of migrant boat
Homemade landmine explosion in Michoacán kills two soldiers, injures five
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
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