MJ’s death overwhelms search engines

Search engines – Google and Yahoo – were stretched to the core following the death of Michael Jackson last week. The two known search engines said online traffic worldwide including Africa recorded dramatic increase.  Google’s Director of Product Management, R.J. Pittman told Channel Web that his outfit interpreted the numerous Jackson queries as an attack on its platform. Google’s news pages according to Itnewsafrica.com “were inaccessible for a time on Thursday night as news of Jackson’s death broke.”

Good news for Africans with river blindness

Victims of onchocerciasis could soon breathe a sigh of relief as a clinical trial begins in three African countries of a drug that could eliminate the disease. The trial takes place in Ghana, Liberia and DR Congo, Research and Training in Tropical Diseases and Wyeth announced via a teleconference at the WHO office in Accra, Ghana.