Thursday, Jan. 24, 2008

Numbers

AFRICA

45,000 Number of Congolese dying each month because of war, disease or malnutrition. In the past decade, war and its aftermath have caused 5.4 million deaths in the Democratic Republic of Congo--a figure equivalent to the entire population of Denmark

$15 Average per-person health-care spending in Congo each year. In the U.S., it's $6,000

ELECTION

37% Percentage of Americans who named Barack Obama the candidate they've heard the most about in print, TV or radio news coverage; 39% named Hillary Clinton

16% Percentage of campaign stories primarily about Obama; Clinton's coverage reached 25%

PETS

$35.9 billion Amount Americans spent on their pets in 2005, up from $17 billion a decade ago

$175 Cost of one night at the Presidential Suite at Manhattan's Ritzy Canine Carriage House

PANDEMICS

200,000 Number of people in India infected with chikungunya fever--a mosquito-borne illness similar to dengue fever--since its re-emergence there in 2005. The disease reached Italy last summer, and recently Singapore has reported outbreaks

25 Number of people now crossing national borders every second. With 1 billion journeys per year, booming international travel increases the risk of global pandemics

Sources: International Rescue Committee (2); Pew Research Center (4); Bloomberg (2)