NEWS SCAN: Food safety, avian flu outbreaks, TB alert, China's H5N1 vaccine

 March 16, 2009

USDA finalizes downercattle ban
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently finalized a complete ban onthe use of downer cattle for food, including those that become disabled afterpassing initial preslaughter inspection, according to a Mar 14 press release.Rules governing downer cattle are intended to guard against bovine spongiformencephalopathy (BSE) and other diseases. The USDA said the final rule endscase-by-case examinations of cattle that become disabled after the preslaughterinspection, increasing the time inspectors can spend on their other duties.
[Mar 14 USDAstatement]

India, Egypt reportmore H5N1 outbreaks
Fresh H5N1 avian influenza outbreaks have been detected in the Darjeelingdistrict of India's West Bengal state, Indo-Asian News Service (IANS) reportedon Mar 14. The virus struck two sites where about 150 birds had died over theprevious 15 days, and officials said they would cull poultry within a 3-kmradius of Naxalbari. Meanwhile, the Egypt-based Strengthening Avian InfluenzaDetection and Response (SAIDR) reported another H5N1 outbreak in backyardpoultry on Mar 11. The virus struck eight chickens in Gharbiya governorate. Thevaccination status of the birds was not known.
[Mar 14 IANS story]
[Mar 11 SAIDR report]

Seatmates sought afterTB case reported on Frankfurt-Detroit flight
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC) and Northwest Airlines have announced that a passenger who flew fromFrankfurt, Germany, to Detroit on Flight 51 on March 10 was found to havetuberculosis. The CDC is in the process of contacting passengers who were inthe same row or seated within two rows behind or ahead of the person.Passengers who believe they may have been exposed should contact their statehealth department or the CDC.
[Mar 15 BloombergNews story]
[CDC TB background information]

Promising results forChinese H5N1 vaccine
A phase 2 trial of an H5N1 avian influenza vaccine made by China's Sinovacrevealed that the aluminum-adjuvanted inactivated whole-virus vaccine produceda good response, was safe, and elicited cross-protection against clade 2strains, researchers reported in a Mar 12 online edition of ClinicalInfectious Diseases. Thedouble-blind, randomized trial included 402 adults, 301 who received 5, 10, or15 mcg of vaccine in two doses 28 days apart and 101 who received two 10-mcgdoses 14 days apart. Researchers saw the highest immune response after two15-mcg doses, but they reported that the response to the 10- and 15-mcg dosesmet or exceeded European licensing criteria.
[Mar 12 ClinInfect Dis abstract]

Flies spread resistantorganisms from poultry farms
Research from the Bloomberg School of Public health at Johns Hopkins Universitysuggests that drug-resistant organisms that have developed in poultry becauseof antibiotic use on very large farms may leave those farms on the feet and inthe guts of flies that have access to open sheds of poultry manure.
[March 16 JohnsHopkins press release]
[April Scienceof the Total Environment abstract]