This past summer European travelers from all over the continent descended on the town of Tramonti di Sopra.
People flocked to this Italian area for a celebration. The European Rainbow Gathering ran for four weeks, centered around the idea of spiritual connection and hope.
Attendees came with good intentions, but some left with a life-threatening problem. An outbreak of typhoid spread throughout the celebration, hitting a region that rarely sees the disease.
In 2008, China diverted water from nearby communities for the upcoming Olympic Games. This would create enough clean and drinkable water for the event.
Along with the highly polluted air suffocating residents of Beijing, this process created a huge uproar. The spotlight was now on China’s efforts to clean up its environment. Strides would be needed to create safe living conditions throughout the country.
A recent development may change the world’s view on the China’s water pollution. Home to 1.38 billion people, China is working to create positive change for the world’s most-populated country.
The process began earlier in 2017.
Food allergies can be a real challenge, and they take a bit of getting used to when an individual is first diagnosed with the allergy.
Some of the most common food allergies are dairy, soy, and tree nuts, such as peanuts. Another common food allergy is seafood, like fish, crab, and other types of shellfish.
Once a person develops a routine and knows what ingredients to look for, the allergy can be a breeze to manage. Checking food labels and grocery shopping becomes second nature.
But what happens you’re visiting a new place? And not just a new place, but one with strange food and a different language?
When pregnant, you share everything with your growing baby.
Food, nutrients and even vaccines can help protect not just you from disease, but also your baby. Getting the wrongs vaccines or at the wrong time could potentially harm both expectant mother and child. Here are some vaccination guidelines to keep in mind for expectant mothers:
The cholera epidemic in Yemen is now the fastest-growing outbreak of the disease in history.
The outbreak started just six months ago and there are already 822,000 suspected cases in Yemen, resulting in over 2,000 deaths. The number of cases is expected to rise to over 1 million by the end of 2017.
This cholera crisis surpasses the recent epidemic in Haiti. After a devastating earthquake in 2010, Haiti reported 815,000 cases of cholera. Yemen’s outbreak is growing much faster, taking months to reach this numbers, rather than the years of cholera in Haiti.
Founded back in 2008, the popularity of Airbnb for travel has spiked in recent years.
Airbnb is an online platform that provides a space for homeowners to rent out their properties to travelers for short periods of time. A space can consist of anything from a house to an apartment, hotel room or even something like a house boat. The company states that you can book a stay in more than 65,000 cities and 191 countries.
Due to the fact that people are able to post their private properties for rent, some travelers are skeptical. From safety to quality of the property, renting via Airbnb comes with some risk around the world.
When heading out for an exotic vacation there are basic rules most travelers stick with.
From packing the right pairs of socks to locking the front door, some of the items are simple. Things like traveler’s insurance can be a bit more complicated and crucial for the trip.
One of those essential items that’s often forgotten is vaccines.
Unfortunately, this proved to be the case for five South Korean students that contracted typhoid while on a trip to India in July. The students, in a group of 25 from Sangmyung University, caught the disease after visiting India’s northern region, according to The Korea Times.
The world is full of awe-inducing sporting events.
Spectacles like the Super Bowl, Tour de France and Wimbledon annually attract millions of viewers. Others, like the Olympics or FIFA World Cup occur every four years, creating even more anticipation.
Whichever sport is being played, the events always bring in a crowd. Teams from around the world come to compete, bringing along a passionate fan base.
Tainted alcohol is becoming a bigger problem and a larger risk for travelers around the world. Last month, the U.S. State Department released a travel warning for Mexico regarding tainted alcohol.
Tainted alcohol is liquor that’s been tampered with drugs or a mixture of drugs. This kind of alcohol can do more than ruin your trip, proving deadly in some cases.
The most common drugs used to taint drinks include scopolamine, phencylidine (better known as PCP) or methaqualone, according to Matthew Johnson, an associate professor at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.
Throughout 2016, western Africa struggled to end an outbreak of yellow fever. Focused in Angola, the mosquito-borne virus had been growing in sub-Saharan Africa for years.
By the end of the year, Angolan officials declared the epidemic was over. But, upon recent news out of Nigeria, other parts of the world are bracing for another yellow fever threat.
Starting in December, Nigeria will begin a mass vaccination campaign to prevent yellow fever. The campaign is in response to many cases of the virus that have popped up throughout the country.
