- US trade chief defends tariff hikes when paired with investment
- EU court blocks French ban on vegetable 'steak' labelling
- Meta AI turns pictures into videos with sound
- US dockworkers return to ports after three-day strike
- DR Congo to begin mpox vaccination campaign Saturday in east
- Meta must limit data use for targeted ads: EU court
- Oil extends gains, jobs report lifts Wall Street
- US hiring soars past expectations in sign of resilient market
- As EU targets Chinese cars, European rivals sputter
- Top EU court finds against FIFA in key transfer market ruling
- Oil extends gains, Hong Kong stocks resume rally
- 'A man provides': Ukrainian miners send families away as Russia advances
- EU states greenlight extra tariffs on EVs from China
- Hong Kong stocks resume rally, oil dips after Middle East-fuelled surge
- Crude stable after Israel-Iran surge, Hong Kong stocks resume gains
- Hera spacecraft to probe asteroid deflected by defence test
- US dockworkers to head back to work after tentative deal
- After Helene's destruction, North Carolina starts to rebuild
- Dockers end three-day strike at Montreal port
- What next for OpenAI after $157 billion bonanza?
- Israel-Hamas war causes 86-percent dive in Gaza GDP: IMF
- Milan's Morata moves house after Inter-fan town mayor 'violates' privacy
- 'Devastating' storm hits Augusta National but Masters will go on
- Relief in Brazil, Asia over delay to EU deforestation rules
- Oil prices jump, stocks fall on Middle East tensions
- Biden says 'discussing' possible Israeli strikes on Iran oil facilities
- Oil prices rise, stocks fall on Middle East tensions
- Oil rallies, stocks mostly retreat on Middle East tensions
- Phasing out teen smoking could save 1.2 mn lives: study
- 'Welcome relief': Asia producers hail EU deforestation law delay
- Japan PM slated to announce plans for 'happiness index'
- Turkish inflation falls less than expected in September at 49.4%
- Easing inflation lifts profit at UK supermarket Tesco
- Skiing calls on UN climate science to combat melting future
- China wine industry looks to breed climate resilience
- Tokyo rallies on weak yen, Hong Kong drops after surge
- Dutch airline KLM unveils 'firm' cost-cutting measures
- Carpe diem: the Costa Rican women turning fish into fashion
- Senegal looks to aquaculture as fish stocks dwindle
- Will AI one day win a Nobel Prize?
- Climate change, economics muddy West's drive to curb Chinese EVs
- Argentina's Milei vetoes university budget after huge protests
- TotalEnergies plans to grow oil and gas production until 2030
- 2024 Nobels offer glimmer of hope as global crises mount
- Tokyo rallies on weak yen, Hong Kong reverses after surge
- Tunisia readies for vote as incumbent Saied eyes victory
- High childcare costs in US weigh on women's employment
- US voters seek help with crushing childcare costs
- Taiwan shuts down for second day as Typhoon Krathon to land
- Supercharged storms: how climate change amplifies cyclones
Three dead of mystery pneumonia in Argentina, six others ill
A third person has died this week in Argentina from a type of pneumonia of unknown origin, with the fatalities thus far limited to a single clinic, health authorities said Thursday.
Nine people in northwestern Tucuman province have come down with a mysterious respiratory illness, including eight medical staff at the private clinic, Tucuman health minister Luis Medina Ruiz told reporters.
Three -- two health personnel and now also a patient at the clinic -- have died since Monday.
Authorities are conducting tests but Medina said they have already ruled out Covid-19, flu, influenza types A and B, the legionella bacterial disease and the hantavirus spread by rodents.
Samples have been sent to the Malbran Institute in Buenos Aires.
The latest victim was a 70-year-old woman who had been admitted to the clinic for surgery.
Medina said the woman could have been "patient zero, but that is being evaluated."
The mystery disease claimed its first victim among health personnel at the clinic on Monday and a second two days later.
The first six patients started exhibiting symptoms between August 18 and 23.
Medina said on Wednesday the patients were struck with "a severe respiratory condition with bilateral pneumonia... very similar to Covid."
Symptoms included vomiting, a high fever, diarrhea and body aches.
Of the six people receiving treatment, four were in serious condition in hospital and two were in isolation at home.
All other staff at the clinic were being monitored.
Experts were analyzing the water and air conditioners for possible contamination or poisoning.
The provincial health ministry said Wednesday the outbreak could have come from an infectious agent, but investigators were not excluding "toxic or environmental causes."
Infectious disease specialist Mario Raya said Thursday that "for the moment, we have no cases outside" the stricken clinic.
Added Hector Sale, president of the Tucuman provincial medical college: "we are not dealing with a disease that causes person-to-person transmission" as no cases have been identified among close contacts of any of the patients.
M.García--CPN