Blue Ridge Beef is recalling 9,600 pounds of Puppy Mix sold in seven U.S. states after a customer reported their litter was sickened and testing confirmed the product was contaminated with salmonella.
The recall involves two-pound packages of frozen Puppy Mix sold primarily in retail stores in Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Virginia, the North Carolina-based seller of raw food for pets stated in a recall notice posted on Monday by the Food and Drug Administration.
Produced in August and Distributed between Aug. 6 and Aug. 23, the impacted dog food had the UPC code of 854298001696 and one of two lot numbers: 08/06/N25 and 08/16/N25, according to the recall notice.
The problem was discovered when a customer reported the issue to the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Blue Ridge Beef stated. The FDA notified the company last week that the products had tested positive for salmonella.
Salmonella can affect animals and humans, including those handling tainted products. Pets with salmonella infections may be lethargic and have diarrhea, bloody diarrhea, fever and vomiting.
Photos of labeling for Blue Ridge Beef Puppy Mix dog food recalled because some lots of the product may contain salmonella.
Food and Drug Administration
Humans infected with the bacteria can experience symptoms including nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, bloody diarrhea, abdominal cramping and fever. Rarely, salmonella can result in more serious ailments, including arterial infections, endocarditis, arthritis, muscle pain, eye irritation and urinary tract symptoms.
Pet owners who purchased the recalled product are urged to return items to the place of purchase or to destroy them in a way that children, pets and wildlife can’t access.
For more information, customers can contact Blue Ridge Beef at blueridgebeefnc@yahoo.com or 704-873-2072.
A group of African lion cubs photographed in the Queen Elizabeth National Park in October 2024. Credit: Alexander Braczkowski
Lion numbers in Uganda are at a critical low while hyenas are faring well across four major protected areas in the country, according to survey findings co-led by Griffith University, Southern University of Science and Technology (China) and Northern Arizona University.
The study, “Insights into Large Carnivore Populations in Uganda: A Participatory Survey of Lions, Leopards, and Hyenas Using Spatial Capture- Recapture,” has been published in Global Ecology and Conservation.
Researchers unveiled the first comprehensive population estimate of Uganda’s lions, leopards, and spotted hyenas in nearly two decades.
Conducted across six major protected areas—including the 4,000 km2 Murchison Falls and the 2,400 km2 Queen Elizabeth Conservation Area—this innovative study was a collaborative feat involving more than 100 conservation stakeholders.
Using advanced spatial capture-recapture methods set a new standard for wildlife monitoring in Africa, the findings are already influencing conservation policy, and have served as the foundation for Uganda’s new Strategic Action Plan for Large Carnivore Conservation (2023–2033).
Lions are in decline across most protected areas, while hyenas show resilience
The study showed that populations of lions in the Queen Elizabeth and Kidepo Valley National Parks were critically low, with fewer than 40 and 20 individuals remaining respectively.
In contrast, spotted hyena populations appear to be faring well, with the Murchison Falls National Park population holding Africa’s largest density recorded to date at 45 individuals per 100 km2.
The radically different numbers of hyenas displaying resilience could be indicative of a trophic imbalance.
“We could be seeing a release in hyena numbers as populations of lions decline,” Dr. Braczkowski said.
“However, in places like Murchison Falls, we are seeing high densities of all three species; lions, hyenas, and leopards.”
Karamoja Overland Safaris staff and the authors setting trail cameras in Pian Upe Wildlife Reserve. Credit: Alex Braczkowski
Murchison Falls National Park is the last critical lion stronghold in Uganda
The study identified the Murchison Falls National Park (Uganda’s largest protected area) as a vital area for lion conservation.
The region supports high lion densities (seven lions per 100 km2) and an abundance of 240 individuals in a 3,233 km2 sampling area compared with Queen Elizabeth and Kidepo Valley, despite significant pressures from wire snare poaching and oil exploration, making it a critical priority conservation area in the country.
Leopards holding on across most of the country
While leopard densities varied, Murchison Falls recorded some of the highest in Africa at 14 individuals per 100km2, the highest recorded to date in Africa.
Similarly to the national parks’ lion populations, it is highly probable that the anti-poaching efforts by the government and several non-government organizations (including Uganda Conservation Foundation, Snares to Wares, and ICON) were preventing the low densities observed in other parts of the country.
Collaboration and training key to such a large effort
Griffith University lead researcher Dr. Alexander Braczkowski said one of the most striking results from the survey was that it brought together more than 100 participants from 20 different NGOs, lodges, and conservation groups, meaning people who may not have had an opportunity to be involved in science previously now have an opportunity to survey and engage in science on the animals they lived closest to.
Discover the latest in science, tech, and space with over 100,000 subscribers who rely on Phys.org for daily insights.
Sign up for our free newsletter and get updates on breakthroughs,
innovations, and research that matter—daily or weekly.
He added that this was critical for the long-lasting capacity needed to maintain a solid understanding of how these carnivore populations performed over time, especially against conservation action.
“This survey highlights both the challenges and successes of Uganda’s carnivore conservation,” Dr. Braczkowski said.
“The collaborative nature of this work—spanning governments, NGOs, and local communities—is a testament to what’s possible for wildlife conservation. More importantly, these are the kinds of training exercises that are most needed if we hope to build the science capacity in the places that need it most”
Dr. Braczkowski said the results sounded an alarm for Uganda’s iconic carnivores, whose survival was jeopardized by poaching, habitat loss and human-wildlife conflict. His team also emphasized the critical role of community engagement in conservation success.
More information:
Alexander R. Braczkowski et al, Insights into Large Carnivore Populations in Uganda: A Participatory Survey of Lions, Leopards, and Hyenas Using Spatial Capture-Recapture, Global Ecology and Conservation (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.gecco.2024.e03312
Citation:
Survey reveals grim state of Uganda’s lions, leopards and hyenas (2024, December 3)
retrieved 4 December 2024
from https://phys.org/news/2024-12-survey-reveals-grim-state-uganda.html
This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no
part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.
After years of ignoring pleas to sign up to child protection schemes, the controversial messaging app Telegram has agreed to work with an internationally recognised body to stop the spread of child sexual abuse material (CSAM).
The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) is used by major online services to help them detect and remove CSAM, and prevent its spread.
Telegram had repeatedly refused to engage with it or any similar scheme.
But, four months after its founder Pavel Durov was arrested in Paris for Telegram’s alleged failure to moderate extreme content, the platform has announced a U-turn.
The IWF has described Telegram’s decision as “transformational” but warned it was the first step in a “much longer journey” for the app.
“By joining the IWF, Telegram can begin deploying our world-leading tools to help make sure this material cannot be shared on the service,” said Derek Ray-Hill, Interim CEO at the IWF.
Telegram is used by around 950 million people worldwide and has previously positioned itself as an app focussed on its users’ privacy rather than the policy norms prioritised by other global social media companies.
But reporting from the BBC and other news organisations highlighted criminals using the app to advertise drugs as well as offer cybercrime and fraud services and, most recently, CSAM.
It led one expert to brand it “the dark web in your pocket.”
In August, its billionaire owner was detained at an airport north of Paris.
Mr Durov is accused of a failure to co-operate with law enforcement over drug trafficking, child sexual content and fraud.
French judges have barred the 40-year-old from leaving France pending further investigations.
The company maintains that his arrest is unfair, and that he should not be held liable for what users do on the platform.
Nonetheless, Telegram has since announced a series of changes to the way it operates, including:
Announcing IP addresses and phone numbers of those who violate its rules will be handed over to police in response to valid legal requests
Disabling features like “people nearby” which it admitted had issues with bots and scammers
Publishing regular transparency reports about how much content is taken down – a standard industry practice it had previously refused to comply with
Mr Durov has also vowed to “turn moderation on Telegram from an area of criticism into one of praise”.
The partnership with the IWF appears to be the latest step in that process.
The IWF is one of a few organisations in the world that is legally able to search for child sexual content to get it taken down.
Its ever-evolving list of known abuse content is used by websites to detect and block matches to stop it spreading.
Telegram says that before becoming a member of IWF it removed hundreds of thousands of pieces of abuse material each month using its own systems. The IWF membership will strengthen its mechanisms, the company said.
The app is marketed as a fully end-to-end encrypted messaging service – meaning only the sender and recipient of a message can read it – like WhatsApp and Signal.
But in fact the majority of communication is done with standard encryption, raising questions about how secure from hacking and interception it is.
Mr Durov, who was born in Russia and now lives in Dubai, has citizenship in Russia, France, the United Arab Emirates and the Caribbean island nation of St Kitts and Nevis.
Telegram is particularly popular in Russia, Ukraine and former Soviet Union states as well as Iran.
Winter snowfall trends in the Alps (1920-2020). Credit: Eurac Research / Michele Bozzoli
From 23% less in the northern Alps to a decrease of almost 50% on the southwestern slopes: Between 1920 and 2020, snowfall across the entirety of the Alps has decreased on average by a significant 34%. The results come from a study coordinated by Eurac Research and were published in the International Journal of Climatology. The study also examines how much altitude and climatological parameters such as temperature and total precipitation impact on snowfall.
The data on seasonal snowfall and rainfall was collected from 46 sites throughout the Alps, the most recent of which was collected from modern weather stations, and the historical data was gathered from handwritten records in which specially appointed observers recorded how many inches of snow were deposited at a given location.
By collaborating with numerous meteorological offices, environmental agencies, volunteer associations, and the University of Trento, it was possible to combine all this information, which was then interpreted by the Eurac Research-led team, who created a comprehensive picture of snowfall in the Alps between 1920 and 2020.
“There is a markedly negative trend in terms of fresh snowfall in the Alps with an overall decrease of about 34%. In particular, a notable decrease was observed after 1980. This date also coincides with an equally sharp increase in temperatures,” explains Michele Bozzoli, environmental meteorologist at Eurac Research and first author of the study. “The most negative trends concern locations below an altitude of 2,000 meters and are in the southern regions such as Italy, Slovenia and part of the Austrian Alps.
In the Alpine areas to the north such as Switzerland and northern Tyrol, the research team observed the extent to which altitude also plays a central role. Although there has been an increase in precipitation during the winter seasons, at lower altitudes, snowfall has increasingly turned to rain as temperatures have risen. At higher elevations, however, thanks to sufficiently cold temperatures, snowfall is being maintained. In the southwestern and southeastern areas, temperatures have risen so much that even at higher elevations, rain is frequently taking over snowfall.
“Snow is crucial as a water reservoir. It feeds glaciers, mountain streams, and as it melts slowly in spring, replenishes water reserves gradually. The decrease in snow has an impact not only on winter sports, but also on all activities and processes that rely on water. This aspect can no longer be ignored in the policy planning of water management,” Bozzoli concludes.
More information:
Michele Bozzoli et al, Long‐term snowfall trends and variability in the Alps, International Journal of Climatology (2024). DOI: 10.1002/joc.8597
Provided by
Eurac Research
Citation:
Snowfall in the Alps is a third less than a hundred years ago, meteorologists find (2024, December 3)
retrieved 4 December 2024
from https://phys.org/news/2024-12-snowfall-alps-years-meteorologists.html
This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no
part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage says talk of a $100m (£78m) donation to his party by US billionaire Elon Musk is “pure speculation”.
Farage told the BBC the idea was “complete news to me” and “I’ve heard nothing of the kind”.
The rumours were sparked by the Sunday Times, which reported Conservative Party officials were concerned about Reform using the money to wipe their party out at the next election.
Mr Musk’s father Errol in an interview with GB News, suggested his son, whose grandmother was British, could take UK citizenship to get round foreign donation rules.
Mr Musk is a prominent critic of Labour Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and has backed Reform UK to form the next government in posts on his social media platform X.
As a US citizen Mr Musk cannot make personal political donations in the UK.
But a donation could be made through the British branch of X, the Sunday Times suggested.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s PM programme, Farage said “even a fraction of that money would make a massive difference to our operation as a party, [but] it’s purely theoretical”.
He added that although he does know Mr Musk and “politically he is a supporter of mine, there’s no secret to that, I’ve never solicited a donation from him and one has never been offered”.
He also raised doubts that a donation of that size would be possible if funnelled via the UK arm of Mr Musk’s X social media site, formerly known as Twitter.
“As far as the company is concerned the Electoral Commission would take a view that a donation that came from a company would have to be proportional to the size of the company in this country,” he said.
“The idea that X Corp could give $100m to any political party is for the birds.”
Pressed on whether he would accept a donation, Farage said “of course I would accept money” but pointed out that James Goldsmith’s Referendum Party spent £25m on the 1997 election and “got 3%” of the vote.
He added: “Money isn’t everything.”
Mr Musk, who was born in South Africa, donated $75m to US President-elect Donald Trump’s re-election bid, with $72m of that going to a political action committee he set up called America PAC.
Mr Musk’s father Errol suggested the SpaceX and Tesla mogul might even be prepared to become a UK citizen to make a $100m donation to Reform UK.
He told GB News: “I’m eligible for British citizenship, so is he, I suppose.”
He added: “If the thing that’s stopping Farage from moving ahead is money, then he should get money so that he can move ahead.”
Asked what his family had against Sir Keir, Errol Musk said: “What’s happened in England is just totally un-English.”
