Public Health

An unvaccinated metro Atlanta resident has tested positive for measles, the first case in Georgia this year of one of the most contagious vaccine-preventable diseases.

cross-posted from: https://midwest.social/post/22194320

There seems to be widespread consensus that cooked turkey is only safe 3—4 days in the fridge. I’m on day 7 and it has the wrong odor. Can it be salvaged?

I am certain that I can kill all the bacteria. But really the interesting question is whether the type¹ of bacteria that likes cooked turkey produces heat-resistant toxins.

These articles say you can kill all the bacteria by cooking:

• https://thetrashcanturkey.com/does-cooking-a-turkey-kill-all-bacteria/
• https://stellinamarfa.com/meat/does-cooking-a-turkey-kill-the-bacteria/
• https://www.chefsresource.com/can-you-cook-bacteria-out-of-turkey/

So they all imply it’s safe to re-cook, but they neglect the critical question about toxins. Any ideas?

① stellinamarfa: “One turkey can contain Salmonella, Clostridium perfringens, Campylobacter, and other germs”.

Are those the kinds of bacteria that produce poisons?

I bought some quite cheap avocados at a street market. Usually exceptionally cheap produce from my local street market is cheap for a reason, but I like to gamble. The minor flaw with these was they were small but had a huge pit, thus not much flesh. And the peels were really thick, stiff and brittle.

One of the avocados I used right after buying had proper color (lemon close to the pit and lime to green close to the peel). Normal, but slightly stiff flesh which implied a bit unripeness. I think the coldness slows or prevents the ripening process.

2—3 of them got increasingly brown, not green, close to the peel. Is that spoilage? I tasted a bit and it had a nice smokey flavor. I did not eat the really dark brown areas but I’m not sure what I’m dealing with. Is it oxidation? The peels are so thick I doubt it could be. Is it spoilage? I would certainly not eat any black areas or with the white mold.

But I have to say the brown smokey parts were quite tasty. So far I got away with it. After a search I see some folks cut avocados in half and smoke them in a smoker. The ones I got apparently achieved that naturally.

I was working on photos the other day when I realized that all the chemicals we photographers fear using are also in the papers we all use every day including toilet paper and paper towels.

Glues and tars often have radicals induced on them to polymerize for example. Aldehyde being the most dangerous group in my opinion.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1513323/

https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/one-of-the-great-human-crises-warning-after-microplastics-linked-to-lung-colon-cancer-20241218-p5kz7o.html

It's getting so bad that - according to the World Wildlife Fund - the average person is ingesting up to a credit card's worth of plastic each week. Now a new major scientific review links microplastics to lung and colon cancer.

An interview with the main researcher on ABC radio

https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/radionational-breakfast/microplastics-health-harms/104749826

Here is a more recent article (since BBC is talking about it today):

https://www.sciencealert.com/promising-new-malaria-vaccine-can-be-injected-by-mosquito-bite

I always thought no good comes from mosquitos, as they are a parasite that is wholly detrimental to other organisms. If that whole specie were to go extinct, I would celebrate. Now I have to reconsider.

I also have to wonder how vegans take this news. It’s a case of humans exploiting non-humans, but AFAICT it’s turning a wholly harmful non-respectable organism into a beneficial one.

The UN human rights chief has called on leaders and international stakeholders to radically rethink global drug policy, stating that the decades-long “War on Drugs” approach has “destroyed countless lives and damaged entire communities”.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.nz/post/17029892

Public health officials in Africa urged caution Thursday as Congo's health minister said the government was on alert over a mystery flu-like disease that in recent weeks killed dozens of people.