News & Perspective

(CIDRAP News) – The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) heard various suggestions for improving its product recall procedures at a recent meeting, but there was no great push to give the USDA authority to order recalls of contaminated foods, according to a Minnesota official who attended.

(CIDRAP News) – State plans for giving smallpox shots to frontline healthcare workers list more than 3,600 hospitals that may participate in the program, and most of those hospitals have agreed to take part, according to federal health officials.

(CIDRAP News) – A new national survey suggests that most Americans have serious misconceptions about smallpox, including a belief that smallpox cases have occurred in the past 5 years and that smallpox is treatable.

(CIDRAP News) – Two recent public opinion polls suggest that somewhere between half and two thirds of Americans would get a smallpox shot if it were offered, despite the risk of serious side effects.

(CIDRAP News) – Federal health officials project that about half of the estimated 10 million health and emergency response workers targeted for the second round of smallpox vaccinations will refuse the shots.

(CIDRAP News) – In a brief statement today, President George W. Bush announced that the government will begin giving smallpox shots to military and other government personnel in high-risk areas and to willing front-line healthcare workers.

(CIDRAP News) – President Bush tomorrow will announce a plan to begin vaccinating military personnel and front-line healthcare workers against smallpox early next year and to offer the vaccine to the public in 2004, according to reports from major news organizations today.

(CIDRAP News) – Following up on two pieces of antiterrorism legislation, federal agencies have established new rules on the handling of biological agents and toxins that could endanger people, crops, or livestock.