Dramatic Turnaround for Fish and Water Quality in Tampa Bay

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May 17, 2015

This eleven-year-old is proof that size doesn’t matter when you have a big idea.

Mandi Simon drafted up the business plan for her nonprofit, Simon Says Give, when she was just seven years old. Over the past four years, the organization has thrown birthday parties for 500 kids between the ages of five and twelve who are growing up in poverty.

“I think it is really important for every kid to have one day, or at least a few hours, when it’s all about them and the celebration of their birthday,” Simon told Good News Network. “It’s important for kids to go to a different environment and be able to have fun with their friends– and know that someone outside of their family cares about them.”

Over the past six months, the Jefferson Awards Foundation, who named Simon a GlobeChanger, has helped Mandi and her 40 volunteers grow Simon Says Give from a Minnesota charity into a global venture.

But this mini-philanthropist always does her homework first.

“I plan meetings around my school schedule and just try to balance everything and have a team of people that help me do things while I am in school,” she explains. “We have been asked to speak at a Rotary Club next week and I need to be at school that morning, so two of our team-members are going to attend for me.”

Of the 500 parties that have been organized to date, Mandi has attended 100 of them personally.

“The recognition of being a GlobeChanger has caught the attention of businesses and people that want to help us reach our goals,” she said. “My goal for Simon Says Give is to impact 2 million kids by the year 2022, so we need the support of corporate sponsors to help us do so.”

Check out this video to see how the nonprofit got its early start:

Wrong Turn in the Skies Leads to Accidental Anti-matter Discovery

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May 16, 2015

Antimatter — plentiful in science fiction — is a rare phenomenon in the real world and very difficult to create in a laboratory.

So when a researcher’s airplane made a wrong turn during a thunderstorm and flew straight into a mile-wide cloud, he was surprised to discover antimatter in their midst.

Dr. Joseph Dwyer and the crew spent long minutes trying to find their way out, and it was only after they cleared the storm clouds that the University of New Hampshire physicist was able to check his instruments and discover that he’d found antimatter in the thunderclouds.

When antimatter comes into contact with a particle of normal matter, the two wipe out each other, and it doesn’t stick around long enough for scientists to study it at length.

WATCH: Lightning Strikes Simultaneously on Tallest Chicago Towers: Caught on Film

Until now, scientists have only theorized that antimatter could exist in a thunderstorm – actually discovering it was nothing short of a major shock.

“This was so strange that we sat on this observation for several years,” Dwyer told the journal Nature. It took him nearly six years before going public with his discovery.

Dwyer is now chasing down antimatter by releasing weather balloons and planning more head-on flights into storms.

(WATCH the FermiLabs video about antimatter below) – Photo by O.S. Fisher, CC

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Adults Are Using Coloring Books to Combat Stress

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May 16, 2015

Forget habits like drinking and over-eating–the newest wave in stress relief has arrived in the form of crayons and markers.

Grown-ups everywhere have begun taking part in a phenomenon known as “adult coloring,” using specially designed books that are a bit more complex than those created for children.

Art Therapy Helps Children in Nepal Cope After Earthquake

“It allows us to be innocent again, in some respects,” coloring book enthusiast Shyla Jannusch told NBC News.“Coloring is also meditative for me, because I just forget everything else and live in the moment.”

Jannusch said she believes adult coloring books (see some of them here on Amazon) may have become a favorite pastime for adults because it offers a sense of nostalgia. She hosts coloring parties and started her own Facebook group, Coloring for All, to spread the fun.

(WATCH the video below or READ more at NBC News *NOTE: auto-playing audio, adjust your speakers)

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Canadian Company Will Make Student Loan Payments for New Hires

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May 16, 2015

With graduation in full swing, many young adults are getting ready to head into the ‘real’ world to seek out jobs that can help them pay off their student loans, and now most recently their personal loans if borrowing was done from a lender .

Fortunately for a half dozen new hires this year, a Canadian company is offering to make those student loan payments on their behalf.

SimplyCast, which markets a business communication platform in Nova Scotia, has received more than 100 resumes from applicants responding to an employment ad in a local paper.

Her Student Debt Was Paid in Full After A Bank Heard Her Family Story

SimplyCast President and CEO Saeed El-Darahali personally struggled with student loan debt after graduating with a master’s degree in business administration from Saint Mary’s University. He also struggled with personal loan debt before using quick loans in Denmark when on his semester abroad at university.

He was surprised that no company had offered such an initiative to graduates before. He told the CBC, “Maybe this might be a great opportunity that a private corporation can take some of their wealth and provide it back to their most important asset, their employees.”

(READ more at CBC)

Photo Credits: LendingMemo via CC – Story tip from Julia Frerichs

Tribute to the Blues Legend B.B. King (1925-2015)

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May 15, 2015

Born a sharecropper named Riley B. King in Itta Bena, Mississippi, B.B. King went on to become a millionaire, honored by presidents, who influenced generations of musicians worldwide as the king of blues.

After his parents died, King tried his hand at farming when he was just 14-years-old, but found he could make more money singing in churches and on radio stations around Mississippi, Arkansas and Tennessee.

B-B-King-Lucille-photocredit-Stoned59-cc — Photo by Stoned59, CC

He picked up the nickname “Beale Street Blues Boy” King while working as a disc jockey and singer for a Memphis, Tennessee radio station, which he shortened to “Blues Boy” and, eventually, just B.B. King.

By the 1950s, King had landed a record contract, put together a band and began touring the country, performing 342 one-night stands in a single year.

King loved to tell audiences one particular story of the time he played in a roadhouse in Twist, Arkansas in the early 1950s. That night, two men had gotten into an fight, knocked over a kerosene stove, and set the place on fire. King ran outside before realizing he’d left his $30 guitar behind — and had to run back inside to save it.

The men were fighting over a woman named “Lucille.” Every one of King’s guitars since were named Lucille.

During the course of his career, King churned out more than 50 albums, won 15 Grammys, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and became the first bluesman to receive the Kennedy Center Honors Lifetime Achievement Award.

Barack_Obama_B-B-King-2012-White-House-Photo — White House Photo

President George W. Bush presented him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom — America’s highest civilian honor — in 2006. Six years later, President Barack Obama hosted King and other bluesmen for a performance showcasing the uniquely American music style at the White House (photo above).

King passed away at his home in Las Vegas Thursday from diabetes.

(WATCH more in the CNN video below or READ more at the New York Times)

Photo credit: (top) Tom Beetz, CC

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Ronaldo Scores Big for Kids in Nepal and Japan

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May 15, 2015

Soccer great Cristiano Ronaldo may play as a forward on the field, but when it comes to kids, he’s an all-star defender.

Ronaldo, who has the largest Facebook following in the world, recently used that clout to ramp up donations to his favorite charity, Save the Children.

Help the children affected by #NepalQuake by supporting Save the Children’s relief efforts: http://bit.ly/1DDZ19Y
Posted by Cristiano Ronaldo on Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Ronaldo, who has been a global ambassador for the organization since 2013, was thanked for using his voice and global visibility to raise awareness of the problems that the most vulnerable children around the world, including those affected by the earthquake in Nepal.

And, earlier this week, a video surfaced of Ronaldo standing up for a young fan in Japan when the audience laughed at his struggle to ask the footballer a question in Ronaldo’s native Portuguese.

“You speak good Portuguese. They should be happy. He tried very hard,” he said in English.

All together now: Awwwww.

(WATCH the video below)

READ more at Save the Children and Fansided

Photo Credit: Foter, CC

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Endangered Species Day: 9 Success Stories to Make You Cheer Today

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May 15, 2015

From a grandmother nursing orphaned elephants to a whole town rallying for a little salamander, the past year has been ripe with good news surrounding endangered species.

To mark the 10th annual Endangered Species Day, Good News Network is sharing some of the most uplifting success stories of the year.

Wood-stork-sunset-cc-Steve_Corey — Photo by Steve Corey, CC

For starters, Wood storks soared off the Endangered Species List last June. Thirty years earlier, the giant birds were expected to be extinct by 2000. Now, they’ve doubled their population, thanks to efforts to rebuild wetlands in the southeastern U.S.

Humpback whales were also poised to leap off the Endangered Species list in April, thanks to the 50-year-old ban on commercial whaling and vigorous conservation efforts. NOAA made the suggestion after most of the world’s humpback populations returned from the brink.

baby elephant-Daphne Sheldrick wildlife trust — Photo posted with permission – Copyright The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust

Orphaned elephants got a second chance at life at Kenya’s Nairobi National Park because of 80-year-old Dr. Dame Daphne Sheldrick, who perfected her own formula to nurse baby elephants.

baby Orcas w mom-CenterforWhaleResearch-released-byJeanne_Hyde — Photo by Jeanne Hyde, courtesy of Center for Whale Research

Did you know that there’s a baby boom going on among a clan of the world’s most endangered killer whales? Whale watchers off the British Columbia coast sighted a fourth calf born between December and April to the group of Southern Resident Killer Whales.

galapagos-baby-tortoise-James Gibbs — Photo by James Gibbs

Conservationists in the Galapagos Islands spotted evidence in December of rare baby turtles. They’re the first Pinzón Island saddleback giant tortoise hatchlings to have survived in the wild in over a century. Researchers believe there may be hundreds of the hatchlings roaming the island where only 100 of the animals remained just 50 years ago.

Giant panda-800px-Bernard_DE_WETTER-c-WWF — Photo by Bernard de Wetter / WWF

The world’s giant panda population has grown by 16% since the last census of the animals. The latest panda survey shows the population up by 268 over the past decade, thanks to China’s preservation efforts.

finless porpoise-WWF-KentTruog — Photo by KentTruog/WWF

In March, we reported that four Yangtze finless porpoises – part of an estimated population of just 1000 – were released into their new home, marking the start of an ambitious project to help save the endangered species from extinction.

amur_leopard_WWF-Russia:ISUNR — Photo by WWF-Russia/ISUNR

The world’s rarest wild cat doubled in number in the last seven years — at least 57 Amur leopards now live in Russia’s Land of the Leopard National Park, and there are an additional 8-12 leopards in adjacent parts of China.

spotted salamanders-CC-DaveHuth-800px — Photo of spotted salamander by Dave Huth, CC

And for the fourth time, a city in Canada helped out Jefferson salamanders by closing a road through their habitat for two months during their migration period.

SEE more striking images of endangered species at Mashable.

Top photo of wood storks at sunrise by Andrea Westmoreland, CC

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Singer Darius Rucker Surprises Veteran With Mortgage-Free Home

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May 15, 2015

This down-home singer sure knows how to make a hometown hero feel appreciated.

Darius Rucker, who co-founded Hootie & the Blowfish and now tops the country music charts as a solo artist, surprised veteran Daniel Branham of South Carolina with a mortgage-free home on NBC’s TODAY show on Wednesday.

“You’re kidding. Aww that’s so beautiful,” Branham exclaimed.

Rucker said he considers Daniel to be a true American hero. “Daniel is an American hero. The things he did when he was deployed, he’s just an an amazing guy.”

Branham served in Iraq for 15 months, where he helped save the lives of nine of his fellow soldiers during a gas attack.

Rucker, whose “Homegrown Honey” music video was recently nominated for a CMT Award, said he plans on giving 11 more homes away during his tour that starts this week.

(WATCH the video below)

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Crown-Wearing Wheelchair Pup Celebrates Instagram Fame

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May 15, 2015

This little pup in a wheelchair, known for her precious flower crown, is enjoying life with the confidence of a superstar. Daisy joins a doggy brigade of those who have found Instagram fame despite a dark past full of abandonment.

And now, while rocking her ribbon crown, Daisy celebrates her fifth birthday with more than 127,000 followers. The pup nearly missed seeing any birthdays because she was almost euthanized.

‘Wheely’ Cute Rescue Pups Roll Down 5th Ave in NYC Easter Parade

According to her owner Sheena Main, Daisy was abandoned on the street as a puppy – most likely because she suffers from a congenital leg deformity, which makes it challenging for her to move around. An animal officer found her and put her in an animal shelter. After being there for two months, euthanization was next, until Sheena adopted her–just in time.

With her adorable “smile” under-bite and wheelchair to get around, cute Daisy captures the attention of everyone who sees her.

Although caring for dog can be challenging, Daisy has become Sheena’s hero. “Daisy’s positive attitude has helped me to stay positive and be patient,” she told Huffington Post. “Her joy for life never ceases to inspire me and I can never repay Daisy for what she has given me.”

(WATCH video below or READ more at Huffington Post)

#tbt to the first time we put Daisy in her wheels vs now 😃#underbiteunite

A video posted by Daisy Underbite (@underbiteunite) on Apr 30, 2015 at 5:15pm PDT

Photo Credit: Sheena Main

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Blindness Doesn’t Hinder Flawless Make-Up Tutoring on YouTube

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May 14, 2015

This 19-year-old video blogger wasn’t about to let blindness keep her from teaching other girls how to apply their makeup with flair.

Two years ago, Lucy Edwards went blind after losing sight in left eye. She had also lost sight in her right eye when she was 11. But, with her sister’s help she developed a daily routine without needing to see her reflection.

“When I was plunged into blindness, there were no resources for this kind of thing [beauty], and it took me hours and hours to learn how to do my makeup,” she told Buzzfeed. “I wanted to stay positive, which is why I’m on YouTube, really.”

Always-Smiling Cashier in Need is Given $500 By Youtuber

Edwards has gained a loyal following by showing girls everywhere that beauty knows no bounds.

Despite being blind, she has rolled out a steady stream of beauty tips that women everywhere find useful on her YouTube channel, “Yesterday Wishes.” She hopes that her work inspires viewers to learn more about vision impairment, and educates others through her own experiences.

She has also developed a series called, “What Is,” which provides answers to questions ask by her viewers in the YouTube comments.

In one video, she responds to “What is blindness” by saying, “Blindness it the strength to carry on and do everything you want to do in life. Even though you live in darkness.”

(WATCH a sample video or READ more at Buzzfeed)

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Hungry Veteran With Cancer Dials 911, Gets Amazing Response

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May 14, 2015

When an elderly veteran called 911 because he was hungry, operator Marilyn Hinson took out a pen and began to write him a grocery list.

Clarence Blackmon had returned home to an empty refrigerator after months of cancer treatment. Too weak to walk and with no family in town, he called 911 and told the operator was hungry.

Instead of telling the 81-year-old he was tying up an emergency line, she solicited the help of two officers, and the group showed up at Blackmon’s house in Fayetteville, North Carolina to deliver the groceries and fixed him a ham sandwich.

Magician Surprises Veteran With New Car and Year of Rent (WATCH)

“I’ve been hungry,” Hinson told WTVD. “A lot of people can’t say that, but I can, and I can’t stand for anyone to be hungry.”

Since then, donations have been pouring in for Blackmon, and it doesn’t look like he’ll be going to bed hungry anytime soon.

(WATCH the video below from WTVD-TV)

SHARING is Caring – Multiply the Good…

Dog Saved From Euthanasia Ended Up “Saving” Veteran‘s Life

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Hero Dog Saves Apartment Full of People, Repays Owner for Rescuing Him

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May 14, 2015

A German shepherd who narrowly escaped death at a shelter went on to become a nominee for National Hero Dog of the Year.

A group called K9s for Warriors rescued Axel from the pound in hopes that he might be able to rescue a wounded warrior – Marine Captain Jason Haag, who was injured twice while serving in Iraq.

Haag, who lives with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and suffers from traumatic brain injury, had been withdrawing from life, staying in his basement and ignoring his wife and kids. At one time, he was taking 32 pills a day.

Nothing “worked” to alleviate the pain until he met Axel.

Within a week of adopting the pup, Haag was attending his son’s baseball game, for the first time in years.

“He can wake me up out of nightmares, take me out of flashbacks,” Haag told WUSA in a video.

Axel was later nominated for the American Humane Association’s ‘Hero Dog of the Year’ award for 2015.

Since 2011, K9s for Warriors has placed 159 service dogs with veterans who need assistance.

In this case, though, Haag likes to think they both saved each other.

Donations to K9s for Warriors go toward the training of more dogs to rescue more veterans.

(WATCH a video at WUSA *auto-plays when clicked* – or SEE more on Facebook)

Photos courtesy of American Humane Association.

Seniors Get a Lift Whenever Farm Animals Come to Visit

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May 14, 2015

A chance meeting with a worker at an elderly care facility eventually led to this amazing photo of a senior petting a rooster.

As part of Edgar’s Mission’s visitation program, lucky seniors living in Lancefield, VIC (Australia) receive twice-monthly visits from goats, sheep, roosters, and other barnyard residents, who are brought right to their front door.

The animal sanctuary’s Kindness Crusaders unleash the animals at nursing homes like the Dianella Aged Care Facility in Kilmore every two weeks.

“Every day I see how the sanctuary residents grow more confident when treated with kindness and I see how the elderly respond so positively to the animals,” said sanctuary Founder and Director Pam Ahern.

Animal interactions have always been beneficial for seniors; in addition to providing sensory pleasure, they can also reignite long-gone memories.

Poodle Knows Who is Sickest In Nursing Home Where She Runs Free (WATCH)

“Bringing together the elderly and farmed animals unites two of the most forgotten groups in society. Seeing both interact, it is clear that the benefits are mutual,” said Kyle Behrend, a volunteer at Edgar’s Mission.

It’s also pretty clear that these seniors aren’t afraid of getting a little dirty–here’s to enjoying a good old-fashioned roll in the hay.

Photos courtesy of Edgar’s Mission

When Women Were Banned From Medical Schools, Elizabeth Blackwell Started Her Own

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May 14, 2015

Elizabeth Blackwell was determined to go to medical school, but family and friends who were physicians advised her to give up–women in the 1800s were not allowed to become doctors.

Even though she was rejected from 29 colleges, Elizabeth Blackwell didn’t give up.

She finally got into Geneva Medical College, but quite by accident. Students and professors sometimes made her life difficult and some physicians refused to work with her. Yet, she persevered.

Village in India Plants 111 Trees Whenever a Girl is Born

Eventually, in 1849, Blackwell became the first woman to receive a medical degree in the United States. The local press reported her graduation favorably, and when the dean, Dr. Charles Lee, conferred her degree, he stood up and bowed to her.

She went on to build a medical practice, and create a place where women could have medical internships, New York Infirmary for Indigent Women and Children, (since many healthcare facilities didn’t welcome female interns). And she later establish a medical college for women in London.

(READ more at BradAronson.com)

Photo Booth Pictures Help Shelter Dogs Find New Homes

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May 14, 2015

Dogs that were once hard to adopt have become hard to resist thanks to photographer Guinevere Shuster, who found that goofy grins, rubbery faces and outrageous poses normally reserved for humans turned out to be a perfect way to capture a dog’s personality.

Shuster, who serves as Director of Social Media for the Humane Society of Utah, says she simply tosses a treat, lets the dogs ham it up, snaps a few shots, and–presto! The dogs look like they’re having a day off-leash on the boardwalk.

A photo posted by Humane Society Of Utah (@humanesocietyofutah) on Dec 9, 2014 at 9:04am PST

Since Shuster began posting photos on the Society’s Facebook page and Instagram account, adoptions of the pups in the pictures have spiked.

“We’ve had some where we’ve posted the pictures at 8 p.m. the night before and the next morning there are four or five families interested,” Shuster told TODAY.

A photo posted by Humane Society Of Utah (@humanesocietyofutah) on Jan 28, 2015 at 10:12am PST

(READ more at Mashable or SEE more photos at the Humane Society of Utah’s Facebook and Instagram pages)

Photos by Guinevere Shuster/Humane Society of Utah

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(WATCH) Qdoba Restaurant Worker’s Incredible Act of Kindness

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May 14, 2015

We don’t know her name, but this woman’s order is always the same: taco with cheese and hot sauce for lunch, burrito with hot sauce and cheese for dinner.

The other day, the woman, who is disabled, had a special request for five-year employee Ridge Quarles, who works at the Kentucky Qdoba she likes to frequent.

“Sir, if you don’t mind, could you help me eat?” she asked.

Quarles didn’t hesitate for a moment before he began feeding her the meal.

Another customer, Dr. David Jones, was so moved by the young man’s gesture that he filmed it on his phone and shared it around.

American Hero Impressed by Kindness of Irish Strangers

“If everybody in the world would just use the little simple gift that they have to maybe benefit somebody else, think what the world would be like,” he said.

After learning that the video went viral, Quarles, a student at Sullivan University, wrote on Facebook:

“I’m very glad to have had the opportunity to impact lives around me. Go out and help someone today and pay it forward. Happy day everyone!”

It certainly is. (If you’re inspired, why not pass it on to friends with buttons below)

Swiping for Peace: Dating App Brings Israelis, Palestinians Together

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May 13, 2015

Could a dating app create “world peace one swipe at a time?”

It’s an ambitious venture, one that the Verona app hopes to successfully spearhead by connecting Israelis and Palestinians looking for love across cultural boundaries.

The app is named for the city where Shakespeare set “Romeo and Juliet” and works pretty much the same way as the popular Tinder dating app.

Users create dating profiles in which they identify as either an Israeli or Palestinian, and the app finds people nearby from the opposite group. Swipe left if you don’t like the choice, right if you do — then, start chatting.

Israel Loves Iran: The Facebook Campaign That Launched a Love Avalanche

“I very much believe that the basis of any relationship is communication,” Verona creator Matthew Nolan told Refinery29. “If these two cultures are forced to be separate in all this conflict, forming relationships between them could be the glue that hopefully ignites a shift in consciousness.”

It’s free to download to Android devices right now, and Nolan, says he’s busy creating a version for iPhones and iPads. While the app has a large number of registered users in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and the West Bank, the biggest concentration of users are in the New York region — where there are sizable Israeli and Palestinian populations.

Nolan says his app is not just for dating, adding that it can help foster friendships and connect people interested in building bridges between Israelis and Palestinians.

In that sense, Verona is very much like the viral Facebook community “Israel Loves Iran” or the “Parents Circle,” Good News Network reported on last month.

(READ more at RT News)

Photo from Verona on Google Play

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It’s Official: Liberia Is Ebola-Free

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May 13, 2015

Liberian women-Happy-UNMIL-Staton Winter

Ebola has finally left Liberia.

The World Health Organization has officially announced that the last case of Ebola has been cleared out of the country.

The last case was cleared more than 42-days ago, the time WHO requires before declaring a country free of Ebola.

Liberia has been keeping a close watch to make sure no more cases crop up, and the five dedicated Ebola labs in the country have continued testing roughly 300 samples per week. Since March 24, all have come up negative.

“It is a tribute to the government and people of Liberia that determination to defeat Ebola never wavered, courage never faltered. Doctors and nurses continued to treat patients, even when supplies of personal protective equipment and training in its safe use were inadequate,” the WHO statement said.

The WHO attributed Liberia’s strong leadership and initiative in educating people about the disease, as well as strong international support, to stopping the outbreak.

(READ more at WHO)

Photos: (top) UNMEER, CC – (homepage) UNMIL-Staton Winter, CC

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Billionaire CEO Treats 6,400 Employees to Vacation in France

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