News & Perspective

(CIDRAP News) – The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has halted the importation of Mexican cantaloupes because of evidence that unsanitary conditions in melon fields and processing facilities have caused four salmonellosis outbreaks in the past 3 years.

(CIDRAP News) – Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Tommy G. Thompson has named the 21 members of his Council on Public Health Preparedness, which will advise HHS on dealing with public health emergencies, including bioterrorism.

(CIDRAP News) – Garry L. McKee, PhD, MPH, director of the Wyoming Department of Health, has been named administrator of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA's) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS).

June 25, 2002 (CIDRAP News) – Eating tabletop sauces at restaurants in Mexico may be an important risk factor for traveler's diarrhea, a new study suggests.

(CIDRAP News) – It is 13 days since the emergence of a hypothetical smallpox epidemic caused by the release of virus in three US shopping malls. Some 16,000 cases have been reported, 1,000 people have died, and the nation is running out of vaccine. Hospitals are overflowing, and federal and state officials are at odds over how to contain the epidemic.

(CIDRAP News) – Dozens of people in California and neighboring states contracted Salmonella infections from eating raw alfalfa sprouts last year in an episode that has prompted the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to renew its warning that people with weak immune systems should not eat sprouts.