A new rotavirus strain jumped from pigs to humans the swine flu outbreak might take down two billion people worldwide if it turns into a wider pandemic, said an official who estimate. An airborne disease with its origin linked to pig farms in Mexico, it is yet another example of the flux of genetic material between people and animals. But flu is not the only risk. A new rotavirus

Lifestyle diseases

Global health officials underestimated the risk that pig herds might be a source of new influenza strains, choosing instead to focus on the threat of bird flu, researchers in Mexico said on Thursday.

Tree-munching beetles, malaria-carrying mosquitoes and deer ticks that spread Lyme disease are three living signs that climate change is likely to exact a heavy toll on human health.

These pests and others are expanding their ranges in a warming world, which means people who never had to worry about them will have to start. And they are hardly the only health threats from global warming.

function open_pune() { newwd=window.open("image/20090531/pune.htm","","height=400,width=550,scrollbars=no"); newwd.moveTo(190,75); } function open_bhubaneswar() { newwd=window.open("image/20090531/bhubaneswar.htm","","height=250,width=550,scrollbars=no"); newwd.moveTo(190,75); } function open_delhi() {