Violence, pestilence, and natural disasters proliferate: are we approaching the End of Time?

Ebola outbreak intensifying in DRC: In the latest World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa situation report on the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak in Equateur Province, western Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), three more cases, along with two more deaths, have been confirmed, according to an organization tweet. This puts the total cases at 65, 29 deceased, and 21 recovered. In addition, UNICEF reported this week that more than 32 children have lost or have been separated from one or both parents due to Ebola since a new outbreak was declared on 1 June. “As we have seen in previous epidemics, Ebola affects children in a number of ways beyond the immediate risk of infection and death,” said Edouard Beigbeder, UNICEF’s Representative in DRC. “Whether children are infected themselves, or see parents or other family members infected, they require specialized care and support, both physically and psychologically. – ONT

The disease is deeply worrying for domestic rabbit owners and could also have consequences for wild rabbit, hare, and pika populations. An outbreak last year in northwestern Washington state had devastating impacts on both feral and pet rabbits. Now animal health officials are tracking its spread and trying to protect their most endangered rabbits from a disease that is very contagious and has a high mortality rate. “They both represent a longtime fear that has come true,” says Susan Kerr, an education and outreach specialist at the Washington State Department of Agriculture. Public health officials have worried about a pandemic, while rabbit owners have watched the virus spread across Europe for years. “Rabbit enthusiasts have always been terrified of this disease.”

Rabbit hemorrhagic disease was first recognized in China in 1984. It’s caused by several pathogens that belong to a family called caliciviruses, which are unrelated to the ones that cause Ebola. In 2010, a new version of the disease arose in France that spread among domestic and wild rabbits and eventually traveled as far as Australia. Known as rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus 2 (RHDV2), it can kill infected rabbits within a few days by causing widespread inflammation, problems with blood clotting and bleeding, and organ failure. “The organs can’t do their functions anymore because there is so much blood in them,” Kerr says. –Popular Science