Tsunami Death Toll at 117,000

Up to 5 million people around the tsunami-struck Indian Ocean region do not have access to the basics they need to stay alive – clean water, shelter, food, sanitation and health care, the U.N. World Health Organization said, saying it needed $40 million dollars to get those supplies to victims. The increase in the death toll came after Indonesia reported nearly 28,000 newly confirmed dead in Sumatra, which was closest to the epicenter of last weekend’s massive earthquake and was overwhelmed by the tsunami that followed. Some 60 percent of Banda Aceh ,the main city in northern Sumatra was destroyed, the U.N. children’s agency estimated, and 115 miles of the island’s northwest coast – lined with villages – was inundated. Another zone where officials have hardly begun to get a sense of the human cost was India’s remote Andaman and Nicobar islands, just northwest of Sumatra, where entire villages were wiped out. With only 400 bodies found so far, the region’s administrator said Thursday that 10,000 people were missing. Read the story here.

McDonald’s eyes PETA-friendly option

Controlled-atmosphere killing, or CAK, is a USDA-approved method of slaughter that is described by animal welfare experts as “the most stress-free, humane method of killing poultry ever developed.” The CAK method puts the birds to sleep quickly and painlessly. According to the animal-rights group, McDonald’s said some of its EU suppliers are already using CAK technology and a feasibility study for the U.S. will be ready this summer. A PETA spokesperson said McDonald’s is the first corporation to seriously consider CAK technology and they are hopeful that McDonald’s will spur an industry-wide shift. McDonald’s is “committed to animal welfare leadership and to working with our suppliers and recognized experts on animal welfare issues” Anna Rozenich, a spokeswoman for the fast-food restaurateur, told CNN/Money. According to PETA, chickens are currently exempt from animal cruelty laws and are routinely killed by shackling the birds upside down by their feet, slitting their throats and immersing them in boiling water, all while still alive. Read the story here.

Tsunami Disaster’s Health Toll

What can we expect to see over the coming days, weeks, and months? How can we cope with our own feelings? What should we say to our children? WebMD asked several experts:

—Randall D. Marshall, MD, director of trauma studies and services for the New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York State Office of Mental Health; and associate professor of clinical psychiatry, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. Marshall has expertise in the diagnosis and treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and has studied and written about the role of psychological trauma in anxiety disorders, psychotherapy of traumatized individuals, and the biology of PTSD.

—Phyllis E. Kozarsky, MD, professor of medicine and director of the Travel Well Clinic in the division of infectious diseases at Emory University School of Medicine. Kozarsky specializes in clinical tropical medicine and travelers’ health. With the CDC, she conducts international surveillance of travel-related morbidity and emerging infectious diseases. Read more here.