News & Perspective

(CIDRAP News) – Amid the devastation left by hurricane Katrina on the US Gulf Coast, fears of infectious disease outbreaks have added to the distress. Some of those concerns are solidly grounded, while others are less so, disease experts say.

(CIDRAP News) – The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has decided to ban the use of the antibiotic enrofloxacin (Baytril) in poultry because of the risk that it promotes drug-resistant bacteria that can be harmful to humans.

(CIDRAP News) – The federal government yesterday announced reductions in the rates of several common foodborne bacterial infections in 2004, especially the potentially life-threatening Escherichia coli O157:H7.

(CIDRAP News) – A study of antibiotic-resistant Campylobacter levels on retail chicken products suggests that the pathogen lingers in chickens long after antibiotic use among the birds is stopped.

(CIDRAP News) – Calling for better prevention from catchment to consumer, the World Health Organization (WHO) on Sep 21 issued new guidelines to ensure drinking-water safety worldwide.

(CIDRAP News) – The General Accounting Office (GAO) has urged federal agencies to step up their efforts to determine if the use of certain antibiotics in animals endangers human health by making bacteria resistant to those antibiotics.

(CIDRAP News) – The incidence of Escherichia coli O157:H7 infections dropped 36% from 2002 to 2003, and long-term declines in the rates of several other common foodborne illnesses continued in 2003, the CDC reported today.

(CIDRAP News) – The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) is urging Bayer Corp. to comply with a proposed federal regulatory action and withdraw enrofloxacin (Baytril) from the market because of the concern that its use in poultry promotes drug-resistant bacteria.

(CIDRAP News) – The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) moved a step closer this week to banning the use of a fluoroquinolone antibiotic in poultry on the ground that the drug promotes the rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria that can harm human health.

(CIDRAP News) – The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) says the rate of Salmonella contamination in raw meat and poultry samples it has tested so far this year is down 16% from last year and 66% lower than the rate 6 years ago.