A76-year-old woman

in South Australia was

collecting eggs on her rural

property when an aggressivecock

began pecking at herlower left leg.This

led toasignificanthæmorrhage,which

caused her tocollapse.Anautopsy

revealed two small lacerations on

her leg, one of whichwasover

alarge varicosevein.She had

evidently died fromexsanguination

due to bleeding from thevaricose

vein. She had several underlying

health conditions,including high

blood pressureand type two

diabetes.AdelaideAdvertiser ,2Sept;

livescience.com,4Sept2019.

A59-year-oldTexan woman bled to death

early one Sunday morning after shewas

attacked by wildhogs onexiting her car

in the town of Anahuac,40miles (65km)

east of Houston. Christine Rollinswas

visiting an84-year-old woman whom

she regularly cared for; when she didn’t

enter at the usual time,the woman went

outside andfoun dher lying in theyard

with different sizedbitesonher body,

whic hsuggested an attack by morethan

one animal. By the time police had arrived,

Rollins had already bled to death. Around

three million of the USA’sestimatedsix

million wild hogs liveinTexas.They can

weigh morethan 90kg (14st) and are

very powerful. Deaths by wild hog are

extremelyrare; a2013 study found only

four fatalities in the history of theUSA,

three of whichhad takenplace during hog

hunts.news.sky.com, 27 Nov 2019.

A63-year-old man inGermany died from a

rare infection after being licked by his dog.

Doctors subsequentlywarned pet owners

to seek urgent medical advice if they

experienced unusualflu-likesymptoms.

The previously healthyman died from

multi-organ failureafew weeks after he

waslicked (but not bitten or otherwise

injured). He had been infected with

capnocytophaga canimorsus,abacteri um

found in the salivaand gums of dogs and

cats ,which can sometimes be transmitted

to humans.Ifc ontracted, the infection

is fatal inaround 25 per cent of cases,

said doctorsfrom Bremen’s Rote Kreuz

Hospital, although bite infections caused

by this bacterium arerare.Severe or fatal

infections usually only affect personswith

suppressed immunesystems or alcohol

problems.

After three days of fever and respiratory

difficulties,the unnamed manwas

admitted to hospitaland treated

with antibiotics,buthis condition

deteriorated whilst medical staff

tried to work outthecause of his

symptoms.Healsohad acute kidney

injury and signs of liver dysfunction, and

wasplaced in intensivecare,but

his condition worsened over the

next 30 hours as he developed

encephalopathy (brain disease)

and paralytic ileus (intestinal

muscle paralysis). On his fourth

day in hospital,capnocytophaga

canimorsuswasdiagnosed from

blood tests anddoctorsincreased

the man’s antibiotic regime.But his

brain beganswelli ng, and abdomen

scans indicatedthe shutting down of

blood flow to some vital organs.The man’s

family in consultation with his doctors

then decided to cease treatment, and

life support wasturned off 16 days after

treatment had begun.news.sky.com, 27

Nov 2019.

An elephantcaus ed thedeath of

aBuddhist monk duringareligious

procession in June2017atthe coastal

town ofKochchikade,Sri Lanka, 26 miles

(42km) north of Colombo.One ofthree

colourfully dressed elephantswent on

arampage and attacked the 25-year-

oldmonk,who died in hospitalthe next

day. In Ju ly 2017 an elep hant trainedto

give rides to touristsat Victoria Falls,

Zimbabwe’s main holiday resort,charged

at andkilledone of its handlers.Enock

Kufandada,50,had worked attheresort

forover10years,whilst Mbanje, the

30-year-oldbull elephant responsible

forhis de ath, had beengivingrides

to tourists earlier that day.Zimbabwe

Parks andWildl ifeManagement Authority

ranger ssubsequently shotand killed

Mbanhje.

GlynnisVaughan,chie finspector of

the Zimbabwe National Society for the

Preventionof CrueltytoAnimals(ZNSPCA)

said thatAfrica nelephantscould never

be domesticatedand described the

prac tice as “vicious” and“cruel”. In

September 2017aman wascrushed to

deathby an elephant in the Sundigarh

districtofOdisha, eastern India.Locals

saytheywerealready in theprocess of

drivingaway theangeredelephant when

Ashok Bharti, 54,approachedthem and

attempted totake aselfie of himselfand

the animalwhen it turned on him.The

criticallyinju red manwasrescuedbut

died in hospital.D.Teleg raph, 13 June,25

July; indiatimes.com, 3Sept2017.

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