News & Perspective

Note: This story was updated March 1, 2002, to include additional information about recent federal actions to prevent mad cow disease.

(CIDRAP News) – There is no complete fix for the problem of foodborne illness, but a comprehensive, farm-to-table approach with specific targets for limiting pathogenic contamination would improve food safety, according to a new report by the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT).

(CIDRAP News) – Three case reports from the recent anthrax outbreak published in the February 20 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association demonstrate that even patients without obvious anthrax exposure may be at risk, pointing up the need for heightened public health surveillance and increased public awareness.

(CIDRAP News) – A report that paved the way for the World Health Organization's (WHO's) recent recommendation to keep intact the two known collections of smallpox virus cites a wide range of ongoing research on smallpox, including genome sequencing, molecular diagnostic techniques, antiviral drugs, and new vaccines.

(CIDRAP News) – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says it will take several months to determine if women in the US military who received anthrax vaccine in the first trimester of pregnancy had a greater risk of bearing children with birth defects.

(CIDRAP News) – An anthrax vaccine made by combining a component of the anthrax toxin with killed anthrax spores has been tested successfully in animals, according to a report in the February issue of Infection and Immunity. The report suggests that a similar vaccine for humans could be safer and more effective than the acellular vaccine now in use.

(CIDRAP News) – The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has set up a new Web site to help food scientists develop and use mathematical models to predict how pathogenic bacteria in food will behave under varying environmental conditions.

(CIDRAP News) – A study from Taiwan shows a rapid increase in fluoroquinolone resistance in Salmonella enterica serotype choleraesuis in humans over the past 2 years and suggests that the resistant strain spread from pigs. The findings prompted the researchers to urge a ban on fluoroquinoline use in food animals.