Poisoning from pesticides, drug medicaments, biological substances and snake bites, are now the eight causes of death in Sri Lanka. In 2005 18,174 people died of poisoning, in 2006 19,381 died of poisoning and in 2007 23,675 people have died of poisoning.

From January 1 this year, 79 elephants had been killed. More than half of them victims of the human-elephant conflict, Environment and Natural Resources Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka said.

There were also 11 human deaths due to elephant attacks, Ranawaka told a press conference held at the Central Environment Authority on Tuesday.

Discussions held on the incidence of dengue at the Health Ministry revealed that the virus had mutated putting paid to all efforts to rid the country of the disease.

Deputy Director General (Public Health) Dr. Palitha Mahipala said the Health Ministry had been hitherto tackling the

The number of dengue cases rose by three hundred as the Health Ministry in collaboration with the Colombo Municipal Council and the Public Service Nurses

Over sixty eight deaths and 4,600 dengue cases were reported during the first five months. This was three hundred percent more than the number of dengue cases recorded within the same period last year.

At least 3,000 pregnant women have fled the fighting in northern Sri Lanka in recent days and some 350 will give birth in the next month, according to estimates by UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund.

Paddy cultivators in Trincomalee, Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa has been left in the lurch owing to sudden decline of water levels in reservoirs, JVP MP S. K. Subasinghe said yesterday.

He said that the ill-effects of the economic crisis were not felt drastically, thanks to the strong contribution made by the agriculture sector. "If agriculture fails we would end up in a big crisis."

Chickenpox is a rather common infectious illness among children, particularly those under the age of 12 years. The maximum incidence of the disease is in those aged 1-6 years while children older than 14 years account for only about 10% of cases. Annual global incidence is estimated to be around 80-90 million cases.

Veterinary Surgeon Anoma Suwandaratne warned that people should be alert about the Avian flu though there is no direct threat of the disease spreading to Sri Lanka.

We need to be more careful about this epidemic which could spread through ducks and fowl.

Antibiotics are used mainly for treatment of infections caused by bacteria. They act either by stopping the multiplication of bacteria or killing bacteria. Hence, an adequate dose of antibiotics should be given at appropriate intervals to achieve this purpose.