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US Irradiates African Flies
[Mombassa Herald] The Senegalese farmer is certain: Atomic birth control saved his cows.Arouna Sow, 55, worried his family would starve when the animals got sick three years ago. Their eyes grew teary, their fur clumped off, their ribs poked out, their milk dried up ‐ all because of the tsetse fly’s toxic bite, which kills an estimated 3 million livestock annually in sub-Saharan Africa. "I can feed my kids and afford health insurance," said Sow, a father of 15. "I don’t understand the science, but I know it’s working." Lord knows, he needs health insurance as much as food for his children. Senegal, a former French colony hugging the Atlantic Ocean, has sought to wipe out the bloodsucking disease spreaders for more than a decade. Farmers say relief has finally arrived in the country's western Niayes zone, where scientists have eradicated 99 percent of tsetse flies by sterilizing the males with gamma rays. Isn't a gamma ray, like, you know, radiation? The United States has poured about $5 million into this effort, which has squashed the number of trypanosomiasis cases down to nearly zero. It's part of a broader push to harness nuclear energy for good that has stayed on track even as the Trump administration has sought to slash foreign aid elsewhere. So Trump hasn't squashed everything good? You can see this story originated in the WaPo.  Since 2010, America has funneled roughly $379 million to Senegal's partner in the tsetse fly fight: the International Atomic Energy Agency, a global body that develops benevolent uses for destructive forces.The United States earmarked an additional $560,000 this month for upkeep of the group's laboratories in Seibersdorf, Austria. It's unclear whether the investment leads to financial gain for the American side. So Trump should've killed the project. Posted by: Bobby 2019-06-24 |
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