Doctors raise alarm over ancient virus in Australia
Canberra, May 8: Doctors have called for greater efforts to stop the spread of an ancient virus infecting residents across Australia's Northern Territory, the media reported on Tuesday.
The rates of human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) infection are exceeding 40 per cent among adults in remote regions of central Australia, with indigenous communities being the hardest hit, especially in the town of Alice Springs, reports CNN.
HTLV-1 -- an ancient virus whose DNA can be found in 1,500-year-old Andean mummies -- can spread from mother to child, particularly through breastfeeding; between sexual partners, through unprotected sex; and by blood contact, such as through transfusions.
Because it can be transmitted through sex, it's considered a sexually transmitted infection, or STI.
The virus is associated with serious health problems, such as diseases of the nervous system and a lung-damaging condition called bronchiectasis.
HTLV-1 is sometimes called a cousin of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
Many doctors -- including the man who discovered the virus nearly four decades ago -- are raising the alarm about how little has been done to prevent, test for and treat HTLV-1, which can cause leukemia and lymphoma.
"The prevalence is off the charts" in Australia, said Robert Gallo, co-founder and director of the Institute of Human Virology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, whose laboratory was the first to detect HTLV-1 in 1979 and publish the finding in 1980.
Yet "nobody that I know of in the world has done anything about trying to treat this disease before", said Gallo, who is also co-founder and scientific director of the Global Virus Network and chairs the network's HTLV-1 Task Force.
A study published in the Medical Journal of Australia in 1993 found that HTLV-1 was endemic among natives in inland Australia, with a high 13.9 per cent prevalence in the Alice Springs area, reports CNN.
However, it remains unclear whether the sample in that old study was of the same population currently experiencing a higher prevalence rate.
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Gujarat tribal leader Mahesh Vasava quits BJP, cites betrayal of constitutional values
New Delhi: Prominent tribal leader and former MLA Mahesh Vasava resigned from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on April 14, citing deep concerns that the country is no longer being governed in accordance with the Constitution. His resignation came on the occasion of Ambedkar Jayanti, a symbolic move underscoring his disapproval of the current political climate.
Vasava, the son of veteran tribal politician Chhotu Vasava and former MLA from the Dediyapada constituency in Gujarat, had joined the BJP in March 2024 ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. He submitted his resignation to Gujarat BJP president C.R. Paatil.
Speaking to the media, Vasava said, “On the occasion of the birth anniversary of Dr. Ambedkar, I have to say that the country is not being run according to the Constitution. Adivasis, Dalits, OBCs, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, and other poor classes will unite and fight the ideology of the RSS and the BJP.”
Vasava also expressed dissatisfaction with his treatment within the party following the election results. “After the results were announced, BJP leaders did not invite me to any meetings or public programs. They deliberately isolated me,” he said, adding that he would now dedicate his efforts to the Bharatiya Tribal Party (BTP), founded by his father. “A political earthquake is coming, and Bharuch will be its epicenter,” he warned.
Reacting to the development, Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi said Vasava’s resignation on Ambedkar Jayanti was a clear indication of the BJP’s alleged anti-Adivasi stance and disregard for constitutional values. “This resignation has once again exposed the anti-Constitutional approach of the BJP,” Doshi stated.
Vasava’s departure adds to the political churn in Gujarat, especially among tribal and marginalized communities, and may signal a shift in tribal political alignment ahead of future state and national elections.
