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When subject to anthropogenic hunting risks, wildlife populations may adjust their anti-predator behaviour; however, such plastic response has rarely been assessed. We assessed the response of eight species ( African elephant, Maasai giraffe, plains zebra, common wildebeest, Grant's gazelle, impala, Thomson's gazelle and Kirk's dik dik) towards human observers in a landscape with variable anthropogenic hunting pressure. Using logistic regressions, we tested the effect of habitat type, group size, distance to observer and conservation status of the area on the likelihood of animal behavioural adjustments (walking away, fleeing or giving alarm calls). Habitat type did not affect the likelihood of a response towards humans. Dik diks were less likely to respond towards human when they were in larger groups. In contrast, zebras and Thomson's gazelles were marginally significantly more likely to show a response when in larger groups. Responses of all species were significantly or marginally significantly (elephant) lower with increasing distance from observers (an increase by one meter distance changed the response likelihood by 0.01-0.30). Four species (zebra, wildebeest, impala, dik dik) showed a gradual adjustment of responsiveness according to conservation status and were most responsive in non-protected and least responsive in fully protected areas (0.02-0.29 times less responsive in fully vs. multiple-use areas). However, elephants, giraffes and both gazelle species did not significantly adjust their behaviour according to conservation status. This suggests that the behaviour of some species can be used as useful indicator of conservation status of an area whereas the behaviour of other species does not allow discriminating between management types. More generally, our study highlights the importance of assessing and controlling illegal hunting in multiple-use areas and suggests a stronger consideration of human-induced risk effects in the conservation of ungulates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article describes the introduction and transmission of pandemic influenza A (H1N1) virus in Kenya. A group of medical students flew to Nairobi and one of them developed headache and chills. Infection with H1N1 was confirmed on June 29, 2009. Twenty three other students developed subjective fever or upper respirator symptoms following symptom onset in the index patient. On June 26, 2009, a group of public health students flew to Nairobi to work on malaria-related projects. There was 33% secondary attack rate for confirmed pandemic H1N1 in the group.

Seeds from naturally-ripened fruits of Warbutgia salutaris, for which viability retention on slow air-drying has not been achieved, survived relatively rapid dehydration in silica gel to water contents at which they could be cryopreserved by immersion in liquid nitrogen, Subcellular events during natural seed maturation were attenuated when premature fruits were harvested and stored, perhaps explaining improved responses to desiccation and cryopreservation presently reported for mature seeds. However, the desiccated mature seeds did not survive for more than a few weeks when stored at 16°C or 25°C, and lost viability far more rapidly at 6 ± 2°C, revealing their chilling-sensitivity. Seedlings were readily established from seeds retrieved from cryostorage and germinated in bottom-heated sand-beds at 25°C [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]