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(CIDRAP News) – Two Maryland pharmaceutical companies recently announced that they have submitted proposals to produce and deliver at least 25 million doses of a next-generation anthrax vaccine to the nation's Strategic National Stockpile.

(CIDRAP News) – The global H5N1 avian influenza situation in birds improved in the first half of this year, but an H5N1 strain not previously seen in Africa recently cropped up in Nigeria, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

(CIDRAP News) – Nebraska Beef, Ltd., a processor based in Omaha, has recalled 1.2 million pounds of its beef after federal and state officials linked its products to a second multistate Escherichia coli O157H7 outbreak that has so far sickened 31 people in 12 states and Canada.

(CIDRAP News) – A new report from the British government ranks pandemic influenza very high on the list of major security threats to the United Kingdom.

(CIDRAP News) – Studies designed to tease out the benefits of seasonal influenza vaccines for elderly people have yielded conflicting results over the past few years, and now new findings suggest that the vaccine's ability to reduce the risk of pneumonia may be less than expected.

(CIDRAP News) – An Escherichia coli O157:H7 outbreak at a Boy Scout camp in Virginia has been linked to ground beef from a California company, prompting the firm to recall 153,630 pounds of beef, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) reported today.

Editor's note: This story was updated Aug 7 to include information about the start of influenza vaccine shipments by Novartis.

(CIDRAP News) – The six companies that make influenza vaccine for the US market have won federal approval for their version of this year's vaccine, in which all three flu strains used in last year's product have been replaced, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced yesterday.

(CIDRAP News) – Massachusetts officials announced yesterday that they were investigating six Escherichia coli O157:H7 illnesses that are linked to a multistate outbreak, while Virginia officials report that E coli has sickened as many as 73 Boy Scouts at a camp.

(CIDRAP News) – A grocery chain based in Arizona removed Mexican-grown jalapeno peppers from its produce departments after some of the peppers from one of its distributors tested positive for the Salmonella outbreak strain, as the number of sick linked to the outbreak today climbed to 1,330.

(CIDRAP News) – An official from Indonesia's health ministry recently confirmed that a 19-year-old man died from an H5N1 avian influenza infection.

Nyoman Kandun, director general of communicable diseases at the health ministry, said the man died last week in a hospital west of Jakarta, according to an Aug 2 report from the Associated Press (AP).

(CIDRAP News) – Two pharmaceutical companies that are developing a second-generation version of the inhaled antiviral drug zanamivir (Relenza) reported promising phase 2 results showing that one dose was as effective against influenza as a course of oseltamivir (Tamiflu).

(CIDRAP News) – Experts and industry leaders speaking at congressional hearings this week on the nationwide Salmonella outbreak said federal agencies should take cues from state programs if they want to improve the traceability of fresh produce and the success of foodborne disease outbreak investigations.

Editor's note: In a statement released late on Jul 30, the FDA said that the Mexican farm where the contaminated jalapeno pepper found in Texas last week was grown is not the same one where the contaminated irrigation water and Serrano pepper were found, contrary to the report below.

(CIDRAP News) – After more than 1,300 cases of Salmonella infection in 43 states over 3 months, investigators have finally found a smoking gun: a contaminated jalapeno pepper from the home of a Colorado resident who was sickened in the outbreak.

(CIDRAP News) – Despite a wide range of pandemic planning guidance documents from federal and private groups, states say they still need more information from federal officials, particularly on community mitigation measures, fatality management, and supporting medical surge efforts, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported recently.

(CIDRAP News) – Emergent BioSolutions Inc. recently announced it had secured two federal grants totaling $4.5 million for development of its botulism and next-generation anthrax vaccine candidates.

Emergent, maker of the nation's only licensed anthrax vaccine, announced the grants from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) in a Jul 24 news release.

(CIDRAP News) – The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently said jalapeno peppers grown in the United States are safe to eat, in view of findings that suggest the contaminated peppers responsible for many illnesses in the nationwide Salmonella outbreak came only from Mexican sources.

(CIDRAP News) – Animal health officials in Nigeria today reported finding the H5N1 avian influenza virus at two live bird markets, as officials in Hong Kong announced they would go ahead with a buyout of poultry farmers and merchants to reduce the risk of H5N1 outbreaks in the city.

(CIDRAP News) – A recent survey of nursing homes in two states found that fewer than half had a plan for coping with pandemic influenza, according to a report in this week's Journal of the American Medical Association.

(CIDRAP News) – New details emerged today about breaks in the Salmonella investigation that led to the identification of the outbreak strain in a jalapeno pepper, as the number of cases in the nationwide outbreak rose to 1,284.