Time is passing soooo fast... Things are changing by the time... Tiiiime.... tiiimee... tiiiiime...

A New Zealand company is seeking EU approval to market honeybee venom to help people with arthritis ease their pain.

Nelson Honey & Marketing says two teaspoons a day of its honey with added venom milked from honeybees has anti-inflammatory power to soothe joints.

The venom concept is not new - some clinics even offer up bee stings.

The UK's Food Standards Agency said it would be considering the application in the coming months.
The Manuka honey with added bee venom has been available in New Zealand for 13 years and its makers say although it does contain a venom, it has proved extremely safe.

It contains a blend of honey derived from the native New Zealand Manuka tree and dried venom harvested from the Apis mellifera honeybee using electrical milking machines that send impulses to stimulate worker bees to sting through a latex film onto a glass collector plate.

Anecdotal benefit

The Nectar Ease label advises consumers to start with a quarter of a teaspoon a day and increase this to one or two as required.

It also warns that people with allergies to honey or bee venom should seek medical advice prior to use, and that it should not be given to infants under 12 months of age.

Honey has long been hailed for its healing properties, but the Arthritis Research Campaign said it was sceptical about the beneficial properties of honeybee venom in the treatment of arthritis.

The charity's medical director Professor Alan Silman said: "We recently compiled a report on the effectiveness of complementary medicines in treating the common types of arthritis based on available scientific evidence and honeybee venom didn't feature, as no research has been done into this product.

"As a result, it's difficult to postulate the action of honeybee venom or how it purports to work, because any available evidence is entirely anecdotal."

Vegetarians are generally less likely than meat eaters to develop cancer but this does not apply to all forms of the disease, a major study has found.

The study involving 60,000 people found those who followed a vegetarian diet developed notably fewer cancers of the blood, bladder and stomach.

But the apparently protective effect of vegetarian did not seem to stretch to bowel cancer, a major killer.

The study is published in the British Journal of Cancer.

Researchers from universities in the UK and New Zealand followed 61,566 British men and women. They included meat-eaters, those who ate fish but not meat, and those who ate neither meat nor fish.

Overall, their results suggested that while in the general population about 33 people in 100 will develop cancer during their lifetime, for those who do not eat meat that risk is reduced to about 29 in 100.

Special protection?

The researchers said they found marked differences between meat-eaters and vegetarians in the propensity to cancers of the lymph and the blood, with vegetarians just over half as likely to develop these forms of the disease.

In the case of multiple myeloma, a relatively rare cancer of the bone marrow, vegetarians were 75% less likely to develop the disease than meat-eaters.

The reduction was less notable for fish-eaters with these cancers. The reasons, researchers said, were unclear, but potential mechanisms could include viruses and mutation-causing compounds in meat - or alternatively that vegetables confer special protection.

There were also striking differences in rates of stomach cancer. Although the numbers of cases were small, fish-eaters and vegetarians were about a third as likely to develop the disease as meat-eaters.

Previous research has already implicated processed meats in stomach cancer, so these findings were not entirely surprising. It is thought N-nitroso compounds found in these meats may damage DNA, while the high temperatures they are cooked at may also produce carcinogens.

But the same reduction for vegetarians was not found with cancers of the bowel, one of the most common forms of the disease. The vegetarians in the group in fact had a slightly higher rate of cancers of the colon and the rectum, although not significantly so.

But the relative risk for fish-eaters and vegetarians of cervical cancer was twice that of meat-eaters. The number of cases was small, and could be down to chance but the researchers said it was possible that dietary factors influenced the virus behind cervical cancer.

Professor Tim Key, the lead author, said it was impossible to draw strong conclusions from this one single study.

"At the moment these findings are not strong enough to ask for particularly large changes in the diets of people following an average balanced diet."

Vegetarian diets tend be lower in fat and higher in fibre, but they can require careful planning to ensure necessary protein and vitamins - notably B12, which is mainly derived from animal products - are taken in sufficient amounts.

'Complex process'

A spokesperson for Cancer Research UK, which funded the research, said: "These interesting results add to the evidence that what we eat affects our chances of developing cancer. We know that eating a lot of red and processed meat increases the risk of stomach cancer.

"But the links between diet and cancer risk are complex and more research is needed to see how big a part diet plays and which specific dietary factors are most important.

Myeloma UK said this was the first data of its kind for the bone marrow cancer "and for that reason we are treating it with caution.

"Dietary advice to myeloma patients remains aligned with national guidance - that they should eat a healthy, balanced diet high in fibre, fruit and vegetables and low in saturated fat, salt and red and processed meat."

Dr Panagiota Mitrou, Science and Research Programme Manager for the World Cancer Research Fund, said: "The suggestion that vegetarians might be at reduced risk of blood cancers is particularly interesting.

"However, this finding should be treated with caution since not much is known about the link between diet and these types of cancer. Further studies of vegetarians are needed before we can be confident this is actually the case."

One of the abiding images of the swine flu outbreak is the pictures from Mexico of people wandering the streets wearing masks.

And as the disease has spread from country to country, reports have emerged of people purchasing all sorts of products on the internet.

But while the scramble is understandable, experts are sceptical about just how useful they are.

Professor John Oxford, a virologist at leading London hospital, The Barts and the London, said: "Really, there is very little evidence that masks actually offer much protection against flu.

"I think handing them out to the public as has happened in Mexico just destroys confidence."

Health staff

It is these sorts of issues that has prompted officials from groups such as the World Health Organization and England's Health Protection Agency to steer clear of calling for them for general public use.

While Mexico has handed them out to members of the public, most other countries, including the UK, are just reserving them for health staff.

Others, such as Belgium, have bought some for flu patients, while several, including Spain, have handed them out to passengers on planes returning from affected areas.

It is believed there are enough masks for half the NHS workforce, but officials are already in discussion with suppliers about ordering another 30m to help cope if a pandemic develops.

Health workers have been told to wear them, along with special gloves, if they are in contact with potential victims.

Professor Oxford believes this approach is right.

"They are the people who will be most likely to be coming into contact with the virus and the ones who could be passing it on."

The Department of Health has focused on getting what are known as respirator masks. These have filters, which stop a person breathing in some particles in the air.

They are much more effective than the standard surgical masks or dust masks that are sometimes used by builders.

However, none of the masks can stop 100% of the particles getting through and become less effective once they become moist.

Instead, they are better at stopping the virus getting out.

Spread

Dr Ronald Cutler, deputy director of biomedical science at the University of London, said: "If you sneeze with a mask the virus will be contained so from that point of view if everyone wore them it might stop the spread.

"Or you could get the people with flu wearing them, but by the time they are diagnosed it could be too late.

"And the problem is that when someone sneezes they tend to take a mask off. I think masks give people a false sense of security.

"They are not bio-chemical suits. Masks are obviously just covering one part of the body so your hands and clothes could all have the virus on and when you take them off you will infect yourself.

"However, because people are wearing a mask they will think they are protected and may go into crowded areas.

"The best advice is to wash your hands and cover your mouth when sneezing."

Gail Lusardi, an infection control specialist at Glamorgan University, agreed.

"Masks alone will not prevent spread of the influenza virus and basic hygiene measures like hand washing, safe use and disposal of tissues and cleaning of environmental surfaces are key to preventing infection transmission."

She also said it was important they were correctly fitted - some of the more expensive respirator masks are molded to fit the face unlike standard masks that can be bought on the high street.

And she added: "A mask can be worn continuously for up to eight to 10 hours, but must be replaced if it is taken off at any stage."

The UN's top health official has opened a forum in Mexico on combating swine flu by saying that the spread of the virus worldwide is now unstoppable.

World Health Organization head Margaret Chan added that the holding of the meeting in Cancun showed confidence in Mexico, which has been hard hit.

The WHO says most H1N1 cases are mild, with many people recovering unaided.

As the summit opened, the UK alone was projecting more than 100,000 new cases of H1N1 a day by the end of the summer.

As the peak of the flu season approaches in South America, some areas have declared a public health emergency.

El Salvador reported its first death from swine flu, a day after Paraguay reported its first fatality.

'Mild symptoms'

"As we see today, with well over 100 countries reporting cases, once a fully fit pandemic virus emerges, its further international spread is unstoppable," Dr Chan said in her opening remarks.
She stressed that the overwhelming majority of patients experienced mild symptoms and made a full recovery within a week, often in the absence of any form of medical treatment.

The exceptions, she said, were pregnant women and people with underlying health problems, who were at higher risk from complications from the virus and should be monitored if they fell ill.

"For a pandemic of moderate severity, this is one of our greatest challenges: helping people to understand when they do not need to worry, and when they do need to seek urgent care," Dr Chan said.

Turning to the summit venue, the WHO chief added: "Mexico is a safe, as well as a beautiful and warmly gracious, place to visit."

Leaders and experts from 50 countries are in Cancun for the two-day meeting to discuss strategies for combating the virus.

It has been more than two months since the initial alert over swine flu.

Since then, the H1N1 virus has entered more than 100 countries, infected more than 70,000 people and killed more than 300 worldwide.

Authorities across South America are becoming increasingly concerned as the peak flu season approaches, the BBC's Andy Gallacher reports from Cancun.

Schools across Argentina have sent students home and pregnant women have been told they can take two weeks off work to avoid contracting the virus.

It is hoped the Cancun meeting will address many of the issues that might help slow the spread of swine flu but, our correspondent adds, many people are concerned that an effective vaccine has still not been developed.

Indigenous peoples, such as Aborigines and Native Americans, have low quality health which puts them at higher risk from swine flu, experts have warned.

There are around 400m people around the world who are classed as indigenous.

Australian researchers, writing in the Lancet, warn flu risk is increased because they are more likely to be malnourished and living in poverty.

One Aboriginal man has already died from swine flu, and Native Indians in Canada have seen many cases.

Established diseases are more common in indigenous populations, from skin infections to HIV/Aids.

Factors such as tobacco use, alcohol, drug use, physical inactivity, low intake of fruit and vegetables and high blood pressure increase health risks.

And the "Westernisation" of indigenous peoples, including their adoption of high-calorie, high-fat, high-salt diets, when combined with decreasing physical activity and genetic predisposition has increased the risk of conditions which were previously not a significant problem.

Children in indigenous communities often experience malnutrition, and poor living conditions and diarrhoeal diseases and respiratory infections are common.

Illness that can be prevented by vaccination, such as measles, mumps diphtheria and tetanus are also still rife.

'Looming catastrophe'

Writing in the Lancet, Professor Michael Gracey, of Perth's Unity of First People of Australia (an Aboriginal research group) and Professor Malcolm King of the University of Alberta, Canada, said indigenous health shoulf be "a priority for action" by governments and non-governmental organisations.

"This is looming as an international public health catastrophe," they wrote.

Professor Gracey added: "The first Australian death from swine flu occurred very recently in a young desert-dwelling Aboriginal man.

"He had underlying medical conditions and his demise highlights the susceptibility of large numbers of Indigenous people to such infections.

"Many Aboriginal people died even in very remote parts of Australia during the great influenza pandemic of 1918."

The World Health Organization has already expressed concern over the progression of swine flu in indigenous groups.

In a speech on global health needs this week, WHO Director-General Margaret Chan said: "I firmly believe that this pandemic will reveal, in a highly visible, measurable, and tragic way, exactly what it means, in life-and-death terms, when health needs and health systems have been neglected, for decades, in large parts of the world."

An experimental therapy using sound waves may offer people with early stage prostate cancer an alternative treatment option, doctors believe.

The technique, called High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU), uses sound waves to heat and kill cancerous cells.

The researchers from University College and Princess Grace hospitals in London used it on 172 men with high rates of success and low levels of side effects.

But experts said long-term follow-up was needed to confirm its potential.

The men taking part in the trial were discharged on average five hours after receiving the HIFU treatment, the British Journal of Cancer reported.

Typically men with the aggressive form prostate cancer, which kills 10,000 people a year in the UK, are treated with either surgery or radiotherapy.

There is also a benign version of the disease, which is rarely life-threatening and sometimes so slow-growing it never causes any problems.

Surgery usually requires a two to three-day in-patient stay and radiotherapy requires daily treatment as an outpatient for up to one month.

Of the initial group, 159 men were followed up a year later and 92% did not have any recurrence of prostate cancer.

Both surgery and radiotherapy have similar success rates.

But the sound waves treatment showed lower levels of side effects than would be expected for the other two.

Just one man had incontinence, none had any bowel problems, while a third of the group had impotence - low in terms of prostate treatment.

'Needs evaluation'

Guy MacPherson, 73, from Oxfordshire, who took part in the trial, was full of praise.

"I was very happy about the treatment. I had no side effects.

"The day following the treatment I was walking the dog, washing the car and going Christmas carolling."

Dr Hashim Ahmed, who led the trial, said the results were very encouraging.

"This study suggests it's possible that HIFU may one day play a role in treating men with early prostate cancer with fewer side effects."

HIFU can target cancerous tissue down to a millimetre accuracy.

It literally boils the cells until they are destroyed.

Since this first group underwent the treatment another 800 men around the UK have also entered trials, although results are not available yet.

It has also started to be tested on other forms of cancer, such as liver and kidney.

The technique is already used in other parts of Europe and Japan.

But experts still want to see long-term results before they give it their backing for NHS use.

Professor Peter Johnson, of Cancer Research UK, said HIFU needed "careful evaluation".

And John Neate, chief executive of the Prostate Cancer Charity, added long-term data was required.

But he said: "HIFU potentially offers a 'third way' approach to the treatment of localised prostate cancer."

Kathmandu, June 29 (IANS) Nepal Monday reported its first case of swine flu with three members of the same family testing positive.
The health ministry called a press conference to indicate that a 48-year-old man, a 38-year-old woman and an eight-year-old boy had been found to have contracted the Influenza A(H1N1) virus.

The trio, whose identity was not revealed, has been kept in isolation, health ministry spokesman S. Upreti said.

The family had reached Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan International Airport June 16 when they were diagnosed with fever. They had travelled from the US via Doha.

Further tests confirmed they had contracted swine flu.

While the government stepped up vigil at its lone international airport after the outbreak of the disease in more than 100 countries, there are however growing fears that the land routes are not adequately manned.

Nepal is connected by land route to China in the north and India. Both neighbours have reported rising incidence of the new epidemic.

This year, Nepal was also struck by bird flu (H5N1), believed to have been caused due to the smuggling of contaminated poultry from India across the open border.

Thousands of birds were culled in the Jhapa district in the southeast where the strain was detected, hitting poultry farmers.

However, there were no human casualties and last month, the government indicated there was no further trace of the disease.

Experts have reported the first case of swine flu that is resistant to tamiflu - the main drug being used to fight the pandemic.

Roche Holding AG confirmed a patient with H1N1 influenza in Denmark showed resistance to the antiviral drug.

David Reddy, company executive, said it was not unexpected given that common seasonal flu could do the same.

The news comes as a nine-year-old girl has become the third to die in the UK with swine flu.

It is understood from her doctors at Birmingham Children's Hospital that she had underlying health conditions. It is not yet known whether swine flu contributed to her death.

Meanwhile, the Department of Health has announced a big jump in the number of patients in England confirmed with swine flu - up 1,604 since Friday, taking the UK total so far to 5,937.
Experts have been using tamiflu, also known as oseltamivir, in a bid to stop the H1N1 spreading in communities.

If taken early, it ensures that symptoms are mild and reduces the chance of a victim giving the illness to someone else.

This first reported case of resistance developed in a swine flu patient taking Tamiflu.

Watch and wait

Mr Reddy stressed that there were no signs of a tamiflu-resistant strain of H1N1 circulating in the community.

This is in contrast to seasonal H1N1 flu where a Tamiflu resistant strain emerged last year and is now widely circulating.

Experts fear if this were to happen, it could render tamiflu ineffective.

Another antiviral drug, called zanamivir or Relenza, made by GlaxoSmithKline, is also effective against swine flu.

The UK government has been stockpiling these antiviral drugs and currently has enough to treat half of the population, with a contract to bring that up to 80% as soon as possible.

Supplies of flu vaccine have also been ordered and the first doses could be administered in the autumn.

A spokeswoman for the Health Protection Agency said: "The Health Protection Agency continues to watch for antiviral resistance and will be carrying out regular sample testing throughout this outbreak.

"We have been monitoring antiviral drug resistance since the beginning of this outbreak. Routine sampling in the UK has shown that there is currently no resistance to oseltamivir or zanamivir."

Virologist Professor John Oxford said: "I'm not surprised about this finding. The question is whether it is going to spread. We will soon know the answer."

There is "widespread confusion" among doctors and women about ovarian cancer, a charity has said.

Target Ovarian Cancer surveyed 400 GPs and found 80% wrongly thought women with early stage disease had no signs.

And of 1,000 women polled, only 4% said they could "confidently identify" symptoms of the disease.

A spokesman for the Royal College of GPs said it was "extraordinarily difficult" to diagnose ovarian cancer at an early stage.

Symptoms include persistent pelvic or abdominal pain, increased abdominal size and persistent bloating and difficulty eating or feeling full quickly.

Around 6,800 women are diagnosed with the cancer each year.

Only 30% are alive five years after diagnosis, a statistic the charity says has not improved in 30 years.
It says breast cancer survival has increased from 50% to 80% in the same period.

But it said that if women were diagnosed with ovarian cancer when it was at an early stage, 90% could survive.

Currently, three-quarters of women are diagnosed when the cancer has already spread.

On average, it takes a year from the first symptoms appearing until a woman is diagnosed.

Lack of awareness

The survey of GPs also found almost three-quarters of GPs were unaware of Department of Health guidelines published in February which outlined the symptoms doctors should watch for.

When the charity asked them to pick out potential symptoms, 51% correctly identified "increased abdominal size" as the most important symptom, but less than 2% picked out "difficulty eating" or "feeling full".

And almost two-thirds were unaware that a strong history of ovarian cancer on her father's side of the family could increase a woman's risk of the disease.

The early signs of ovarian cancer can be confused with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Women can often be sent for gastric tests and by the time it is realised this is not the cause, the cancer is often very advanced.

But the poll found 69% of GPs did not know ovarian cancer was more likely to cause frequent, sudden and persistent symptoms than IBS.

GPs are aware there are problems in identifying ovarian cancer, and 93% of those questioned acknowledged that women often experienced a delay in getting a diagnosis.

'Change overdue'

Of the 1,000 women surveyed, two-thirds thought ovarian cancer was unrelated to age when older women are actually more likely to have ovarian cancer, while 80% did not know childless women were more at risk.

The charity also spoke to 132 women with the disease. Almost two-thirds felt their doctor did not take their concerns and symptoms very seriously.

And 44% waited more than six months for a correct diagnosis.

A third said they had to visit their GP three to five times before being referred to an appropriate specialist.

Annwen Jones, chief executive of Target Ovarian Cancer, said: "Change is long overdue and ovarian cancer needs to become a priority. "

Professor Steve Field, chairman of the Royal College of GPs, said: "It's extraordinarily difficult to diagnose this silent killer early.

"GPs are aware that persistent abdominal pain and increased abdominal circumference (bloating) can be symptoms.

"But the more we can do to raise awareness of ovarian cancer - and remind patients and doctors that it can creep up on people - the better."

Expectant mothers who have complications early on should be supervised more closely in current and future pregnancies, a study suggests.

Problems in the first three months increase the risk of premature birth and other difficulties - in that pregnancy and subsequent ones.

The data from 75 studies also showed a history of miscarriages was linked to future premature births.

Experts said the research would help identify those at high risk.

The analysis presented at the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) annual meeting looked at several common complications of the first three months of pregnancy.

Vaginal bleeding in the early weeks was associated with an increased risk of pre-eclampsia, premature delivery and more than double the risk of having a low birth weight or very low birth weight baby.

An accumulation of blood in the womb - intrauterine haematoma - increased these risks further.

Extreme early morning sickness was associated with a three times higher risk of premature delivery and a nearly three-fold risk of low birth weight.

Women who had been pregnant with twins but miscarried one baby very early in pregnancy also had increased risks of later problems.

A history of one or more miscarriages nearly doubled the risk in an ongoing pregnancy of preterm premature rupture of the membrane that surrounds the baby in the womb, and increased the risk of a premature birth.

If a previous pregnancy had to be terminated for any reason, premature birth was a risk in subsequent pregnancies.

Although the study did not address causes of risks in future pregnancies it could be related to underlying health problems or lifestyle factors, experts said.

Monitoring

Study leader Dr Robbert van Oppenraaij, from Erasmus MC University Medical Centre, in the Netherlands, said the extent of future complications was related to the severity or recurrence of the early problems.

"Events and complications in early pregnancy are amongst the most common complications in women during their pregnancy and can be extremely distressing for them.

"For the clinician it is important to interpret the symptoms and to understand not only the short-term consequences, but also the long-term consequences of these early pregnancy complications."

Tony Rutherford, chair of the British Fertility Society, said the results suggested that some patients would benefit from closer monitoring.

"It is a message that these patients need to have supervision.

"The main concern is with early birth and if we can try and identify these patients we can improve the outcome."

Patrick O'Brien, spokesman for the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, said the underlying reasons for some of the associations would include lifestyle factors such as smoking, nutrition and also conditions such as hypertension and diabetes.

"It notches up our level of awareness that if someone has problems in early pregnancy, especially repeated problems, maybe we should be watching these women a bit more closely."

Eating a diet high in red meat and dairy products is linked to an increased risk of pancreatic cancer, a US study has suggested.

Researchers followed 500,000 people who had completed a food diary for an average of six years.

The Journal of the National Cancer Institute paper found those who had the most animal fats in their diet had a higher risk of developing the cancer.

UK experts said cutting down on the fats was a way of reducing risk.

There has previously been confusion over whether there was a link between animal fats and pancreatic cancer, with different studies reaching opposite conclusions.

About 7,000 people are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in the UK each year, with smoking being the biggest risk factor.

The prognosis is poor - the time between diagnosis and death is usually about six months.

At least two soldiers have been killed and three others wounded by a suicide blast in Pakistani-administered Kashmir, officials say.

The Taliban has said it carried out the attack, the AP news agency reported.

Militants have launched deadly attacks on soldiers across Pakistan, but it is thought to be the first such bombing in Pakistani-administered Kashmir.

The army is engaged in an intense battle to dislodge the Taliban from strongholds in the north-west.

The Pakistani Taliban fighting the army in the north-west have no obvious presence in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, our correspondent says.

People and giant pandas are still coming into conflict.

So concludes a report into the firewood collecting habits of people living in one of China's largest panda reserves.

It found that over the past 30 years, people living in rural communities have ventured ever deeper into prime panda habitat to collect wood to burn.

Unless more is done to meet the needs of these rural households, the report says, they may continue to cut down prime forest, putting pandas at risk.

Collecting wood to use as fuel is extremely common around the developing world, with some reports suggesting that up to three billion people still rely on wood as a main source of energy to cook with and heat their homes.
That in turn significantly impacts wildlife habitats, which can become degraded and fragmented as trees are chopped down.

Guangming He of the Michigan State University in East Lansing, US led a team that examined how the collection of firewood has impacted panda habitat in the Wolong Nature Reserve in Sichuan Province, China.

More than 15% of the nation's land area is legally protected in thousands of nature reserves and national parks, and the Wolong Nature Reserve is one of the largest dedicated to protecting the giant panda, holding around 150, or roughly 10%, of the remaining wild population of pandas.

The team surveyed how the wood collecting habits of 200 rural households in the reserve had changed since the 1970s.

"The impacts of fuelwood collection on panda habitat over time and space were not known," says He.
His team found that over the past 30 years, residents have increasingly travelled further into the forest, to more remote and high elevations, to collect wood. Trees such as oak, maple, birch, spruce and larch are chopped down, and the logs driven home to be chopped down further into firewood.

"Collectors were travelling longer distances to physically challenging areas," says He. "In our case, to areas of high quality panda habitat."

The number of sites where people cut down trees for firewood increased threefold during the 1970s, 80s and 90s, says the report, published in Landscape and Urban Planning by He and colleagues based in the US and at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Bejing and China's Center for Giant Panda Research and Conservation based in the Wolong Nature Reserve.

That's a problem for pandas, which occupy temperate montane forests with dense stands of bamboo at altitudes of 1,200 to 4,100m.

Since the 1970s, roads have been constructed within the reserve, including one that bisects it, to encourage local people to visit local markets rather than rely on the forest for resources.
But "the most surprising result would be that many households were aware of fuelwood collection regulations and understood their importance to panda conservation, but many of them did not comply," He says.

China has recently provided extensive financial help to many rural households in the Wolong Nature Reserve, helping them switch to electricity rather than rely on firewood for their energy needs.

But more should be done to lower electricity prices to discourage people from collecting wood, says He.

Otherwise, he says, "if fuelwood collection continues, then all wild pandas in the reserve will be impacted."

China's central bank has reiterated its call for a new reserve currency to replace the US dollar.

The report from the People's Bank of China (PBOC) said a "super-sovereign" currency should take its place.

Central bank chief Zhou Xiaochuan has loudly led calls for the dollar to be replaced during the financial crisis.

The bank report called for more regulation of the countries that issue currencies that underpin the global financial system.

"An international monetary system dominated by a single sovereign currency has intensified the concentration of risk and the spread of the crisis," the Chinese central bank said.

The dollar fell after the report was released. The US currency dropped 1% against the euro to $1.4088, and declined 0.8% versus the British pound to $1.6848.