This year’s Bristol Radical History Festival focused on the persistent threats of racism, xenophobia and, of course, our radical collective resistance to it across Ireland and Britain, reports LYNNE WALSH
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A plague on all of our houses
Why has monkeypox, which has been infecting people around Congo Basin at a low level for decades, suddenly become noteworthy in the West? Surprise, it’s racism!
An electron microscope image of mature, oval-shaped monkeypox virions
A maverick’s self-inflicted snake bites could unlock breakthrough treatments – but they also reveal deeper tensions between noble scientific curiosity and cold corporate callousness, write ROX MIDDLETON, LIAM SHAW and MIRIAM GAUNTLETT
The FBU is demanding 52 weeks of full pay for women firefighters, highlighting the unique health risks they face — and the continuing need to recruit and retain more women if policies like this are still not in place, writes SEONA HART
Israel continues to operate with impunity in what seems to be a brutal and protracted experiment, while much of the world looks on, says RAMZY BAROUD
A new report by Amnesty International pulls no punches in highlighting the Labour government’s human rights violations of those on benefits, says Dr DYLAN MURPHY
With Reform UK surging and Labour determined not to offer anything different from the status quo, a clear opportunity opens for the left, argues CLAUDIA WEBBE
A recent Immigration Summit heard from Lord Alf Dubs, who fled the Nazis to Britain as a child. JAYDEE SEAFORTH reports on his message that we need to increase public empathy with desperate people seeking asylum
IF YOU have been following infectious disease news since the Covid-19 pandemic, you may have already seen that Britain has reached over 300 cases of monkeypox. Monkeypox is a disease caused by the monkeypox virus, which belongs to a small family of viruses that also includes smallpox. In fact, monkeypox is so similar to smallpox that it was only recognised as a distinct pathogen after smallpox was eradicated in the 1970s. Smallpox vaccines are often also quite effective at preventing monkeypox.
Other members of the family include horsepox, cowpox, and camelpox — each named for the animal that they were believed to primarily affect. The viruses are transmitted between infected animals, with rodents acting as a reservoir of infection that can reintroduce the virus into other animal populations. Many of these animal poxes are also “zoonoses” (pronounced zoo-no-sees) since human infection with these viruses is possible through contact with an infected animal.
The exception in this virus family was smallpox due to its ability to only infect humans, with frequently debilitating or fatal consequences. Smallpox was eradicated through a considerable worldwide effort using the technique of “ring” vaccination.
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A maverick’s self-inflicted snake bites could unlock breakthrough treatments – but they also reveal deeper tensions between noble scientific curiosity and cold corporate callousness, write ROX MIDDLETON, LIAM SHAW and MIRIAM GAUNTLETT
Science has always been mixed up with money and power, but as a decorative facade for megayachts, it risks leaving reality behind altogether, write ROX MIDDLETON, LIAM SHAW and MIRIAM GAUNTLETT
A small Japanese trial has reported some positive results for stem cell therapy to treat spinal-cord injuries
Man-made canals like Panama and Suez face unprecedented challenges from extreme weather patterns and geopolitical tensions that reveal the fragility of our global trade networks, write ROX MIDDLETON, LIAM SHAW and MIRIAM GAUNTLETT
