Pittsburgh Zoo Elephant Gives Birth to Baby Girl

Pittsburgh, PA, US

25 year old Savannah, longtime resident of the Pittsburgh zoo, gave birth to a 200 pound baby girl yesterday, after a grueling 21.5 month pregnancy.

Zoo officials are mum about the baby right now, declining to even reveal her name or her exact weight (200 lbs was a pre-birth estimate) until tomorrow's press conference. Spokeswoman Tracy Gray did comment "She's doing fine right now."

Taking good care of Baby is extremely important right now, as infant mortality in elephants is very common - about 30%. But, if everything goes smoothly, she may be able to come out into the elephant yard in at little as three days.

To read more and see pictures of Baby, visit http://post-gazette.com/pg/08192/896068-53.stm

Thanks to the Gander today for sending in this story.

Rotavirus Vaccine A Success!

Rotavirus is a nasty bug which targets many thousands of infants and young children with fever, vomiting, and diarrhea every year. Though not usually fatal, the disease causes about a week of misery for the patients and their parents. Many patients must be hospitalized.

Making its debut last fall, a vaccine against rotavirusappears to be working well. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicate a substantial reduction (78.5%) of confirmed cases of the disease this past year, compared with the average of the last 15 seasons.


Rather than being an injection like many childhood vaccinations, the rotavirus vaccine is administered orally. It's said to be tolerated very well.

To read more, visit http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/08/health/research/08prev.html?_r=1&ref=science&oref=slogin