Environmental Health Insights

The bus stop that was located just a few feet away from our apartment in Mainz was Mainstraße/Bewegungszentrum Mainz. It was a very crowded one situated on the main Rheinallee street, the street that was right across the beautiful and scenic Rhine River. Every weekday, I used to ride the bus to Mainz Hauptbahnhof, the railway station for the city of Mainz in Rheinland-Palatinate state of Germany. My German language school was at a walking distance from Mainz Hauptbahnhof, so this was my regular chore for several weeks, but suddenly one day the bus ride seemed a little different. The ride was quieter and more zipping than usual. Later, I found out that it was an e-bus! E-vehicles are vehicles i.e., cars, bikes, motorbikes, buses, and trucks that run on electricity.  They are of various types. Some are all-electric while others are hybrid:  Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) are all-electric, so they are completely powered by electricity obtaining energy from a large battery pack that can

Listeriosis is a rare but a very serious foodborne disease with high mortality and hospitalization rates. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in U.S. alone, about 1,600 people get listeriosis of which 260 die, every year. Over 90 percent of people with listeriosis need to get hospitalized in the U.S. alone.  There are two types of listeriosis: invasive and non-invasive. Invasive listeriosis may only cause fever, muscle aches, and fatigue in pregnant women while causing more symptoms in non-pregnant women such as headache, loss of balance, stiff neck, confusion, and seizures. Sometimes, pregnant women infected by the bacteria do not show any signs and symptoms, but the infection is very dangerous. It can affect the fetus by leading to miscarriage, stillbirth, premature delivery, and have a life-threatening effect on the newborn babies. In severe cases, adults older than 65 years of age or immunosuppressed individuals can develop sepsis, meningitis, or encephalit