Federal records show the government has racked up a seven-figure bar tab.

In fiscal 2013, the government spent nearly $1.3 million on alcohol, more than quadruple the $315,000 spent in 2005, according to The Washington Times. Spending on beer, wine, and liquor in 2013 was up more than $400,000 over the year before.

The spending has fiscal watchdogs up in arms.

"You could say that Washington's quite literally drunk on other people's money," Jonathan Bydlak, president of the Coalition to Reduce Spending, told the Times. "It's very symbolic of the kind of problem we have in a whole host of government areas."

Local experts had not been able to identify the disease, the symptoms of which are diarrhea, vomiting and bleeding, since they were first identified some six weeks ago. However, lab samples were sent to scientists in the French city of Lyon, who confirmed that it was Ebola.

The Guinean health ministry said 49 cases of the disease had been indentified so far with 34 deaths in four prefectures.

"We are overwhelmed in the field, we are fighting against this epidemic with all the means we have at our disposal with the help of our partners but it is difficult. But we will get there," said the Guinean Health Ministry's chief disease prevention officer, Sakobo Keita.

Medical aid group Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said it would send reinforcements to help its teams of 24 doctors, nurses and health experts already in Guinea. The organization has set up isolation units in the southern region of Nzerekore and it is searching for people who may have had contact with infected individuals.

MSF also said it was sending some 33 metric tons of medicines, as well as isolation, sanitation and protective equipment.

Research conducted by scientists at the University of Houston brings your phone one step closer to telling you when you're sick. Jiming Bao, an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, and Richard Willson, a professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, together developed a gold-lined glass slide with holes that will be blocked in the presence of bacteria. The concept is still being developed, but Willson claims a final product that attaches to your phone could cost only $20.

That price is bold, especially for a technique so involved beneath the surface. The process centers around a glass slide covered in light-sensitive material, and evaporated gold with tiny holes that allow light to pass through them. Disease antibodies are placed into the holes of the slide, sticking to the glass. If a biological sample contains that disease, those molecules will bond with the antibodies in the holes. This isn't enough to completely cover the holes, so another layer of antibodies is placed on top, along with enzymes that evoke silver production. After a short period of time, the slide can be rinsed again and the silver produced will be enough to block light from coming through the holes.

Measles, a highly contagious and dangerous virus, was thought to have been eradicated from the U.S. with vaccines -- but in recent years outbreaks have been occurring at an alarming rate.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control reports there was an average of 83 measles cases annually from 2001 to 2011, however for 2014 there have already been 79 cases reported. This is the second year in a row with an increased number of measles cases, in 2013 there were 189 cases of measles reported.

The increase has left health officials and health care centers working to keep infected patients contained and separate from vulnerable populations as they seek treatment.

After an outbreak in northern Manhattan, New York-Presbyterian Hospital sent an email on March 12 to its staff that "nearly 600 patients had potentially been exposed to measles," according to the New York Times. Additionally the Times reported that the email said "many of our clinical staff have never seen a case of measles."

The New York City Department of Health said the outbreak affected 20 people in northern Manhattan. However, the Department said that although people were exposed at different medical facilities, no one has gotten sick from a hospital patient.

The Dubbo community have been asked to help solve a mystery that has resulted in the deaths of hundreds of native birds, including galahs, correllas and cockatoos.

While there were indications the birds died from ingesting a pesticide, a spokeswoman from the NSW Environment Protection Authority said they were still waiting on final test results to confirm the cause of the deaths.

"The early indication is that pesticide was involved...(and) hopefully we will have the test results soon," she said.

In the meantime, the spokeswoman asked for any members of the community with information to call the EPA's EnviroLine on 131 555 to help investigators.

The NSW Wildlife Information, Rescue and Education Service (WIRES) also called for people with information to step forward, as the number of dead birds continued to rise.

New York City is seeing an outbreak of a rare skin infection that comes from handling raw seafood, causing skin lesions, pain and swelling to the hands and arms and even difficulty moving fingers, officials said.

Health officials are warning those who purchase raw fish and seafood at Chinatowns in Manhattan, Queens or Brooklyn to wear waterproof gloves when handling those items, and to seek medical care if they discover red bumps on hands or arms.

The bacteria causing the infection is called Mycobacterium marinum and it gets into the body through a cut or other injury, the Health Department said.

If the infection goes deep enough, surgery may be necessary.

One of the many side effects of the government putting itself into the flu vaccine business is that it is not providing honest statistics.

In October 2013, nineteen-year-old Chandler Webb of Utah received a flu shot. A week later, he slipped into a coma. A month later - after his brain swelled so severely that it crushed his brainstem - he died. His mother attributes his death to the flu shot.

This is, of course, what scientists call "anecdotal evidence." Even murkier is the potential brain or neurological damage to millions of children and adults from the mercury used as a flu shot preservative.

Clearly it would help to have honest flu case, flu mortality, and damage statistics to help sort out these complicated issues. Unfortunately, we aren't getting them.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has claimed that over 200,000 Americans are hospitalized and 36,000 die from the flu each year. However, Dr. Joseph Mercola's investigation of inflated flu shot statistics revealed that the hospitalization estimate includes not just those who are hospitalized with flu, but for pneumonia, respiratory, and even heart conditions.

A rare "polio-like syndrome" has caused paralysis in about 20 children from across California, according to a report released Sunday by physicians in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The children, who are between the ages of 3 and 12, developed what is called acute, or sudden, flaccid paralysis -- weakness or loss of muscle tone resulting from injury or disease of the nerves that stimulate muscles to move.

Although polio has been wiped out across most of the globe, other viruses can injure the spine, causing paralysis, said Dr. Keith Van Haren, author of the case report and a pediatric neurologist at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, at Stanford University. The children who have been affected seem to have been permanently paralyzed, he said.

Van Haren said these cases suggest there is a possibility of a new infectious polio-like syndrome in California.

The illness is not polio. All the victims had been immunized against polio and tested negative for the presence of the disease, Van Haren explained. And the disease is rare. "It's not an epidemic," he said. "But it is something that is concerning."

The culprit could be a virus strain called enterovirus-68 that has been linked to polio-like outbreaks in children in Asia and Australia, Van Haren said. But not all of the victims tested positive for that virus, so the cause of the disease is still unclear.

Some of the children had respiratory or other illnesses before developing muscle paralysis, but for others muscle weakness was the first symptom.

Van Haren said some victims suddenly developed weakness of one or more limbs within about 48 hours of becoming sick. MRI scans showed worrisome changes in the gray matter of the spinal cord.

To help them more effectively fight the disease, the children were given steroids, intravenous immunoglobulin and or blood plasma exchange -- without improvement, according to the authors of the case report.

A woman is critically ill in hospital after being injured when the ground apparently collapsed from under her car.

Emergency services were called to a house on Caemawr Road in Morriston yesterday morning, and the woman - who is in her 50s - was taken to hospital.

Police have launched an investigating into what happened, and are still waiting to interview her.

It is believed the car at the centre of the probe was parked at the rear of the property when a section of the garden collapsed under it, causing the vehicle to partially fall into a hole injuring her.

A South Wales Police spokesman added: "Emergency services were called to Caemawr Road in Morriston on Wednesday morning following reports that a woman had suffered injuries after being involved in an incident involving a car at the rear of a house.

"The woman, who is in her 50s, has been taken to Morriston Hospital with serious injuries.

"An investigation to establish what happened is underway."

Shoppers at a New York mall, particularly those at an AT&T store and a Best Buy, were possibly exposed to measles, a county health department warned Friday.

A case of measles has been identified in Rockland County, and anyone at the Palisades Center Mall on Sunday between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. could have been exposed, the county Department of Health said.

The health department said people who shopped on the first floor of the mall and at those two electronics stores are at the greatest risk of exposure.

It's a painful, contagious disease that many people mistake for the common cold.

Despite news of the measles case, the parking lot at Palisades Mall was packed Friday night. One shopper who contracted it 25 years ago called it "scary."

"No one should have to go through it," said Leanne O'Brien of Newburgh.

Bruce Pratt of Munsie also had the measles decades ago and still remembers the pain it caused.

"I had a cold, rash on my stomach and little spots, and you cough a lot," he said.