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(CIDRAP News) – The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has rejected a Kansas beef company's proposal to test all its cattle for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in a bid to reopen Asian markets for the company's meat.

(CIDRAP News) – Looking back on the 2003-04 influenza season, federal health officials say it was rougher than the previous three seasons but not unusual for years when the predominant flu virus is A(H3N2).

(CIDRAP News) – More than 800 donated blood units went unused because of West Nile virus (WNV) infection in 2003, but enough infected blood escaped detection to cause six WNV cases in blood recipients, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The six cases in 2003 compare with 23 reported in 2002. The 2002 cases led to the rapid development of nucleic-acid amplification tests (NATs) for WNV in blood.

(CIDRAP News) – An updated foodborne illness guide for physicans and nurses was written with an emphasis on "living in the post 9-11 environment," the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said in announcing the book's release today.

(CIDRAP News) – The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) estimates that recent regulations designed to keep bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) infectivity out of the food supply will cost the beef industry from $110 million to $149 million a year.

(CIDRAP News) – Canadian officials said today that 19 million poultry in southwestern British Columbia's Fraser Valley would be destroyed in a vastly expanded campaign to stop highly pathogenic avian influenza.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization reported today on cases of H7 influenza in two poultry workers who had contact with infected birds in the outbreak area. The two patients both had conjunctivitis and have recovered, the WHO said.

(CIDRAP News) – US officials this week proposed that the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) be called on to help resolve the US trade dispute with Japan over bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). But Japan, to the chagrin of US officials, reportedly plans to reject the proposal.

(CIDRAP News) – China, including Hong Kong, and Singapore have begun to drop some of their procedures and safeguards related to SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) after going 2 months or longer with no confirmed cases.

(CIDRAP News) – The US Department of Agriculture's food safety division has invited researchers to apply for grants of up to $75,000 to develop technologies to help small meat, poultry, and egg product plants meet food safety requirements.

(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) – Texas officials announced today that the state's outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (AI) has been eradicated, after 352 noncommercial poultry flocks in the area were found to be free of the disease.

Meanwhile, a battle with a different strain of AI in southern British Columbia continued, as Canadian officials said yesterday they had confirmed the disease on a seventh farm in the Fraser Valley east of Vancouver.

(CIDRAP News) – The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is delaying the implementation of food security rules that would require most food businesses to keep detailed records on their handling of food products and would allow the FDA to hold potentially contaminated food.

Editor's note: This story was revised Apr 1, 2004, to include additional information from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

(CIDRAP News) – An experimental vaccine developed by federal researchers prevented the SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) coronavirus from reproducing in laboratory mice, according to a report published in the Apr 1 issue of Nature.

(CIDRAP News) – Following through on plans announced yesterday, Vietnamese authorities today said the nation has defeated avian flu and that poultry operations can return to normal.

(CIDRAP News) – The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) yesterday announced it has certified seven state laboratories to help test cattle samples for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in the agency's expanded BSE surveillance program.

(CIDRAP News) – Vietnamese agriculture officials said Vietnam would declare itself free of avian influenza tomorrow, major news services reported today.

Bui Quang Anh, director of the Ministry of Agriculture's Veterinary Department, said today that officials will make an announcement tomorrow afternoon so that the country can start rebuilding its poultry flocks, the Associated Press (AP) reported.

(CIDRAP News) – Researchers report that they have mapped the complete genome of the intestinal parasite Cryptosporidium parvum, an achievement that they hope will lead to new strategies for battling a hard-to-treat illness.

(CIDRAP News) – In the face of recent avian influenza outbreaks and resulting import bans on US poultry, a partnership of government and industry groups is moving toward a major increase in testing for the disease in US flocks.

(CIDRAP News) – An experimental plague vaccine completely protected mice that were bitten by fleas carrying the plague pathogen, in a study that reproduced the natural transmission pathway for bubonic plague, according to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID).

(CIDRAP News) – The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) says it sees a lower risk for further cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in the United States than was described recently by an international panel of experts on the disease.