Ohio coroners issue warnings following new opioid death spikes
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Coroners in two of Ohio’s largest counties have issued warnings following the reappearance of an opioid so powerful it’s sometimes used to sedate elephants. Dr. Anahi Ortiz, coroner of Franklin County which includes Columbus, said there were at least three carfentanil-related overdose deaths in January. Ortiz said the county saw six carfentanil-related deaths in all of 2018. Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner Dr. Thomas Gilson issued a similar warning Thursday in the Cleveland area.
NORTH HAVEN, Conn. – Edward Zigler, a Yale University professor who helped create the Head Start program for disadvantaged preschoolers in the 1960s, has died at his Connecticut home. He was 88 years old. The university said in a statement that Zigler, known as the “father of Head Start,” died in his sleep Thursday in North Haven. After President Lyndon Johnson declared a war on poverty, Zigler and others founded the child development program that has served more than 32 million children since 1965.
NEW DELHI – Police say 39 people have died and another 27 fallen sick from drinking liquor containing toxic methanol in several villages in the northern India. Senior police officer Ashok Kumar said 26 died in two separate incidents in the state of Uttar Pradesh, 190 miles east of New Delhi, while 13 others died in the neighboring state of Uttarakhand. Kumar says victims consumed liquor during a feast. Police have arrested eight suspected bootleggers while 35 officials including 12 police officers have been suspended.
BEIJING – The Chinese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has reported a new outbreak of African swine fever that is threatening the country’s vital pork industry. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs reported Friday the disease had been detected on a farm in Yongzhou in the central province of Hunan, where 4,600 pigs were being raised. First detected in August, the disease has killed more than 1 million pigs in China, prompting restrictions on shipping even healthy pigs.