All News

(CIDRAP News) – The number of West Nile virus cases reported in the United States this year jumped more than 50% with the addition of 141 cases between Jul 28 and Aug 3, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

(CIDRAP News) – Five cases of Escherichia coli 0157:H7 infection in Minnesota and Wisconsin have been linked with beef that was recalled by a Nebraska packing plant this week, according to the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH).

(CIDRAP News) – California researchers triggered brain disease in mice by injecting a synthetic form of prion protein into their brains, providing what the researchers call "compelling" evidence that prions alone cause diseases like bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD).

(CIDRAP NEWS) – Two baby food jars in California were found to contain the remains of ground-up castor beans but not purified ricin, the deadly poison derived from castor beans, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced last week.

The tampering incident caused no illness and apparently was confined to the Irvine, Calif., area, the FDA said in a Jul 28 news release.

(CIDRAP News) – A Pennsylvania firm has voluntarily recalled about 170,000 pounds of ground beef patties made partly from Canadian beef that was mislabeled and ineligible for import to the United States, the US Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced recently.

(CIDRAP News) – A disease suspected to be plague has infected 1,042 people and killed 58 in a northeastern district of the Congo so far this year, according to a United Nations agency.

Findings from researchers at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine may offer physicians further help in quickly and accurately distinguishing early inhalational anthrax from other respiratory conditions—a vitally important skill if a widespread anthrax emergency were to occur.

(CIDRAP News) – Thailand, home of the world's fourth-largest poultry industry, has confirmed that the recent re-emergence of avian influenza has spread to 21 provinces, three more than just yesterday. Meanwhile, Vietnam's state media yesterday reported that the disease there now affects Bac Ninh province in the northern part of the country in addition to the 11 southern provinces already affected.

(CIDRAP News) – Experts in Vietnam confirmed today that avian influenza has spread to an 11th province, the southern Mekong Delta province of Long An, a major poultry breeding area, according to news service reports.

(CIDRAP News) – Food irradiation advocates must step up to the chalkboard and start teaching the merits of the process before the market can achieve its sales potential, according to the results of a recent cattle industry association survey.

Any discussion of the next influenza pandemic inevitably leads to "guesstimates" of severity.

(CIDRAP News) – Two children in Thailand are being tested for possible avian influenza infections, which could be the first human cases since the disease resurged in recent weeks, according to news service reports today.

The cases involve a 14-year-old boy and a 12-year-old girl, both in the northern province of Nong Khai near the Laotian border, according to a Reuters report.

Jul 22, 2003 (CIDRAP News) – The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has contracted with the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) to conduct a thorough inventory of steps food processors can take to prevent intentional food contamination.

(CIDRAP News) – Tomatoes are the likely source of contamination in a Salmonella outbreak that now involves 289 cases in five states, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced today.

The investigation "is focusing on certain pre-sliced tomatoes as the likely source of Salmonellosis in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia," the FDA stated in a news release.

(CIDRAP News) – The investigation of an outbreak of Salmonella infections apparently linked with the Sheetz Gas Station chain in Pennsylvania and neighboring states has grown to include at least 180 cases, but the food source of contamination remained a mystery today.

(CIDRAP News) – A second possible case of transmission of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) via blood transfusion has been reported in the United Kingdom, triggering new restrictions on who can give blood.

(CIDRAP News) – President Bush today signed the bill establishing Project BioShield, a $5.6 billion program to speed the development of drugs and vaccines to combat the effects of biological, chemical, nuclear, and radiological agents.

(CIDRAP News) – Rift Valley fever (RVF), a mosquito-borne disease that can kill humans and animals, is starting to grab the attention of American scientists because it could cause devastating outbreaks in the United States.

(CIDRAP News) – A woman in Thailand, where avian influenza has resurfaced in the past month, may have the first human case of the illness since the outbreaks earlier in the year, a Bangkok newspaper reported today.

(CIDRAP News) – Salmonella was found in Roma tomatoes from a convenience store chain suspected as the source of an outbreak of salmonellosis in three states, Pennsylvania health officials announced today.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reported Jul 16 that 57 cases of salmonellosis may be linked with food bought at deli counters in Sheetz Gas Station stores in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and West Virginia between Jul 2 and Jul 9.