Situation Report

As summer vacation nears, thousands of central Ohioans are planning a trip to an exotic locale -- perhaps to Brazil for the Summer Olympics.

Some doctors warn, however, there are more than sandy beaches, crystal blue waters and margaritas waiting for you: Dangerous parasites, viruses and bacteria can ruin your vacation -- or worse.

CLICK HERE - NOAA - Climate Program Office - Building Community Preparedness to Extreme Heat - A White House Webinar

CLICK HERE - The White House - Preparing our Nation to Beat the Heat

The White House - NOAA - May 26, 2016

On May 26, 2016 at 2pm EDT, the National Security Council and the Office of Science and Technology Policy held a webinar focused on building community preparedness to extreme heat as part of FEMA’s PrepareAthon Extreme Heat Week. The webinar was planned as part of an interagency collaboration (including NOAA, CDC, FEMA, DOD, OSHA, SAMHSA, ASPR, NIH, EPA and others) to address the Grand Challenge of Disaster Reduction for heat waves as part of the Subcommittee on Disaster Reduction of the National Science and Technology Council.

When I told her that I wanted to major in microbiology, my best friend from childhood responded, “Are you sure you want to look in a microscope all day?”

But, as it turned out, a lot of microbiologists don’t use microscopes very often. I was one of them. The reason is because a substantial proportion of modern microbiology research uses the tools of molecular biology, for which microscopes are not needed.

  A company with a swarm of genetically modified mosquitoes wants   the Food and Drug Administrationto grant emergency approval for   the controversial insects' use in the fight against the Zika virus.

 Oxitec changed the DNA of the Aedes aegypti mosquitoes that    spread the virus so their offspring die before adulthood, Hadyn  Parry, the British company's CEO, told the House of    Representatives' Committee on Science, Space, and Technology in Washington on Wednesday. The company deploys only male mosquitoes, which cannot bite, to halt transmission of the disease, he added.

"I don’t think time is on our side with Zika," Parry said.