HEALTH SATURDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2016 Happy birthday Colo: US gorilla turns 60 The nation’s oldest living gorilla

COLUMBUS: She is a mother of three, crowd. “It’s all about connecting people years) by more than two decades. Other grandmother of 16, great-grandmother and wildlife,” he said. Colo is one of sev- age-defying zoo animals: of 12 and great-great-grandmother of eral elderly gorillas around the country. three. She recently had surgery to The oldest known living male gorilla, POLAR BEAR remove a malignant tumor, but doctors Ozzie, is 55 years old and lives at the Coldilocks, a 36-year-old polar bear at say she’s doing well. She’s Colo, the Atlanta Zoo, which has a geriatric gorilla the Philadelphia Zoo and considered KUCHKI: A picture taken on November 25, 2016 shows nation’s oldest living gorilla, and she specialty. At Seattle’s Woodland Park the oldest polar bear in the US The a policeman as he stands inside of an illicit vodka dis- turned 60 on Thursday at the Columbus Zoo, staff members use acupuncture, bears’ typical lifespan in captivity is 23 tillery. — AFP Zoo and Aquarium. Colo was the first massage, laser therapy, and heat and years. The zoo says treating her early for gorilla in the world born in a zoo and joint supplements to help Emma, a 13- kidney disease appears to have helped Russia works to abolish has surpassed the usual life expectancy year-old rabbit. At the National Zoo in prolong her life. of captive gorillas by two decades. Her Washington, Shanthi, a 42-year-old bootleg vodka hangover longevity is putting a spotlight on the Asian elephant with arthritis, receives RHINO medical care, nutrition and up-to-date osteoarthritis therapy and was recently Elly, an eastern black rhino at the San KUCHKI: In a snowy field outside Moscow, an abandoned therapeutic techniques that are helping fitted with specially crafted front foot Francisco Zoo estimated to be 46 years barn conceals an illicit vodka distillery that produces thou- sands of bottles of Russia’s national drink for the black market. lengthen zoo animals’ lives. boots to help her feet heal as medica- old, is the oldest of her species in North In a recent raid, police seized more than 100,000 half-liter vod- “Colo just epitomizes the advances tions are applied. America. She has had 14 calves, and her ka bottles with counterfeit labels and tax stamps from the that zoos have made, going all the way In Oakland, California, Tiki, a 27-year- offspring have produced 15 grandchil- barn in the village of Kuchki. back to her birth at Columbus,” said Dr old giraffe and one of the oldest in the dren, 6 great-grandchildren and 1 great- Surrogate alcohol, a cheaper alternative to store-bought Tom Meehan, vice president for veteri- nation, gets foot care, massage therapy, great-grandchild. spirits, accounts for many deaths in Russia every year and is nary services at Chicago’s Brookfield acupuncture and chiropractic care, coming under growing scrutiny in a country with one of the Zoo and veterinary adviser to a national along with traditional veterinary medi- ELEPHANT highest liquor consumption rates in the world. This week at gorilla species survival plan. The cine. Gao Gao, a 26-year-old male panda least 71 people died in the Siberian city of Irkutsk after drink- changes also mean more animals living at the San Diego Zoo with a heart condi- Packy, an Asian elephant at the ing bath essence containing toxic methanol in a bid to get with the normal aches and pains of tion, periodically undergoes cardiac Oregon Zoo, and at 54, the oldest male merry on the cheap. The bottles discovered in Kuchki cost growing older. Today, zoo veterinarians ultrasounds. of his species in North America. The zoo under $2 (two euros) each-three times less than vodka sold in regularly treat animals for heart and kid- “Geriatrics is probably one of our says Packy, born in 1962, became the shops. “We don’t know what they make this vodka with,” said ney disease, arthritis, dental problems most common medical challenges that first elephant to be born in the Western Alexander Kulikov, spokesman for Russia’s alcohol regulator. and cancer. we face in a zoo situation,” said Dr. Keith Hemisphere in 44 years. The equipment at the barn looked clean, but Kulikov recalls a Hinshaw, director of animal health at the case in which vodka-makers at another illegal facility were ‘Tribute to the zoo’ Philadelphia Zoo. “So pretty much any- MONKEY working “with mud up to their knees”. After banning the sale Hundreds of people gathered at the thing that you could imagine would Nikko, a 33-year-old snow monkey at of spirits at night and hiking alcohol taxes, authorities have zoo Thursday to see Colo, singing happen with an older person is going to the Minnesota Zoo, the oldest male started cracking down on bootleggers in a bid to curb the “Happy Birthday” moments before the happen eventually with any animal.” snow monkey in North America. damage wreaked by illegally-produced booze. Officials say gorilla ambled into an enclosure deco- That’s up to and including medication: they have dismantled more than 170 workshops, seizing over rated with multicolored construction JJ, a 45-year-old orangutan at the CHIMPANZEE 37 million liters since October 2015. paper chains and filled with cakes such Toledo Zoo, is on the human heart med- Little Mama, a chimpanzee living at as squash and beet and cornbread with icines carvedilol and Lisinopril, along Lion Country Safari in Loxahatchee, Shrinking black market mashed potato parsley frosting. with pain and orthopedic medications. Florida, with an estimated age in her Authorities are also hoping the crackdown will help Among the first in line was Pam He also takes Metamucil. late 70s. She takes allergy medicine, iron address the problem of unpaid taxes by illegal alcohol pro- Schlereth of Columbus, who at 63 was supplements and omega 3 multivita- ducers, as low oil prices have hit Russia’s coffers. A new law just a little girl when her father brought Age defying animals mins, and has been trained to accept a came into force in July requiring business owners who sell her to see the newborn Colo in a gorilla Colo, a western lowland gorilla, holds nebulizer treatment for coughing. alcohol to join an electronic registry that tracks each bottle incubator in 1956. “It’s a tribute to the several other records. On her 56th birth- from production to sale, an initiative meant to prevent surro- zoo that she’s alive at 60 years old,” day in 2012, she exceeded the record for TORTOISE gate booze from making its way onto the shelves. Schlereth said. longest-lived gorilla. On Thursday, she Emerson, a Galapagos tortoise at the This has seen legal vodka sales bounce back after years of Colo represents so much to the zoo, surpasses the median life expectancy for Toledo Zoo in Ohio, whose age is esti- stagnation, hinting that the black market is shrinking. Vadim Drobiz, a researcher who studies alcohol markets, says the Tom Stalf, president of the zoo, told the female gorillas in human care (37.5 mated at about 100. — AP black market share in hard liquor sales dropped to 50 percent this year after standing at 65 percent in 2015. But as Russia struggles to pull itself out of a recession that has battered the currency and significantly diminished people’s purchasing power, it seems unlikely the black market will disappear alto- gether. According to Drobiz, up to 25 million Russians do not earn enough to purchase liquor at official selling points. Hoping to save a few rubles, the poorest often turn to cosmet- ics and household products containing alcohol, a factor blamed for a large number of drink-related deaths. In late 2014, when the ruble lost half its value off the back of Western sanctions and low oil prices, authorities dropped the price of vodka after President Vladimir Putin expressed concern that soaring prices could boost consumption of ille- gal booze. Throughout history, Russian leaders have had to act with caution when it comes to regulating alcohol. On the eve of World War I, tsar Nicholas II ordered a crackdown that fuelled moonshine production and demoralized his troops. And in the 1980s, a sobriety campaign spearheaded by Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev drove his popularity down.

Hawthorn liqueur The number of alcohol-related deaths has fallen in recent years, according to the state statistics agency, with experts attributing this to measures implemented to curb the sale of illegal spirits. “Alcohol abuse is down,” said Yevgeny Bryun, who heads Moscow’s toxicology centre, stressing that the number of poisoning cases had dropped 30 percent in the past three COLUMBUS: Colo, the nation’s oldest living gorilla, sits inside of her enclosure during her 60th birthday party at the years. “But we need to go further,” he said, citing the need to Columbus Zoo and Aquarium. — AP stop Russians from drinking pharmaceutical products. — AFP HEALTH SATURDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2016 Ebola vaccine may be ‘100% effective’: WHO Vaccine could become available in 2018 PARIS: A prototype vaccine for Ebola may be able to produce a million in very short be “up to 100 percent effective” in protect- period of time,” Kieny noted. ing against the deadly virus, the World Health Organization (WHO) said yesterday. If Unanswered questions all goes well, the vaccine could become There are still questions to be resolved available in 2018 under a fast-track approval concerning the vaccine, including side process, it said. In a major clinical trial, near- effects. Initial tests last year did not include ly 6,000 people in Guinea were given the children, while the most recent trials cov- test vaccine last year, at the tail end of a ered those over six years old. Of the more lethal epidemic of Ebola. than 6,000 people injected with the Ebola Not one of the 6,000 contracted the dis- vaccine only two showed serious adverse ease. But in a control group of volunteers effects, the study reported. Both recovered that did not receive the vaccine, 23 Ebola fully. But it is still unknown if the vaccine is cases occurred, researchers reported in The safe for children six and under, pregnant Lancet medical journal. “If we compare zero women, or people with the AIDS virus-all to 23, this strongly suggests that the vaccine groups that were excluded from the most is very effective, that it could be up to 100 recent trials. percent effective,” Marie-Paule Kieny, WHO’s Another unknown is how long innocula- assistant director-general and lead author of tion lasts. “With the Canadian Merck vac- the study, told AFP. cine, you have a protection very early after Her team of three dozen researchers cal- vaccination, but we don’t know if it will last culated a 90-percent likelihood during a full- after six months,” Kieny said. Other Ebola fledged epidemic that the vaccine, dubbed vaccines under development-some of which rVSV-ZEBOV, would work in more than 80 have been tested in humans-could prove percent of cases. “After 40 years, we appear more effective over a longer period. to now have an effective vaccine for Ebola CONAKRY: This file photo taken on March 10, 2015 shows a woman getting vaccinated British firm Glaxosmithkline and Johnson virus disease to build upon,” Thomas at a health center in Conakry during the first clinical trials of the VSV-EBOV vaccine & Johnson, based in the United States, each Geisbert, a scientist at Galveston National against the Ebola virus. —AFP have experimental products in the pipeline. Laboratory in Texas who did not take part in an epidemic. Over the next two years, more It is slated to be submitted by Merck to China and Russia have also developed vac- the study, wrote in a commentary, also in than 28,000 people fell ill, mainly in Guinea, health authorities in the United States and cines, with the Russian one having just fin- The Lancet. Liberia and Sierra Leone. Some 11,300 died. Europe sometime next year under a fast- ished the second phase of three-step clini- With a mortality rate above 40 percent, the track approval process. “We may have a vac- cal trials. Some of these vaccines require ‘Compassionate use’ disease-one of a category of so-called hemor- cine which is registered in 2018,” Kieny told two doses three weeks apart, and may con- First identified in 1976 in what is now rhagic fevers-has an incubation period of up journalists at a press conference Thursday, fer a longer immunity. “That might be bet- the Democratic Republic of Congo, the to three weeks. It causes violent and painful noting that the standard approval process ter suited to immunize health workers in Ebola virus erupted periodically in out- symptoms, including vomiting, diarrhea, for a new drug takes a decade, if not more. advance of an outbreak,” Kieny said. Health breaks of up to a couple hundred cases, organ failure and internal bleeding. The new In the meantime, Merck has committed to officials also point to the fact that other mainly across west and east Africa. In early vaccine was initially developed in Canada by ensuring that 300,000 doses of the vaccine strains of the virus-including one in Sudan- 2014, however, a handful of infections in public health authorities before being taken are available for emergencies under a proto- will require the development of separate southern Guinea mushroomed rapidly into over by pharmaceutical giant Merck. col called “compassionate use”. “They will vaccines. — AFP