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(CIDRAP News) – Dozens of people in California and neighboring states contracted Salmonella infections from eating raw alfalfa sprouts last year in an episode that has prompted the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to renew its warning that people with weak immune systems should not eat sprouts.

(CIDRAP News) – A recent analysis of ground pork in grocery stores in five states showed that 4% of the samples contained enterococci with high-level resistance to gentamicin, an antibiotic used to treat enterococcal infections in humans. In addition, most Enterococcus faecium isolates were resistant to quinupristin-dalfopristin (Synercid), a streptogramin antibiotic used to treat infections caused by vancomycin-resistant E faecium.

(CIDRAP News) – Federal health officials revealed this week that they are working on a plan to use immune globulin derived from the blood of anthrax-vaccinated military personnel for emergency treatment of patients with severe cases of inhalational anthrax, if needed.

(CIDRAP News) – The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has released two sets of guidelines designed to help food-related businesses of all kinds prevent food contamination and tampering by criminals or terrorists.

(CIDRAP News) – A new nuclear medicine technique using a radioisotope-labeled antibody has shown enough promise for early diagnosis of anthrax infection to gain the Food and Drug Administration's approval for a clinical trial, according to a recent report in the Journal of Nuclear Medicine.

(CIDRAP News) – Experience suggests that public health authorities should treat the public as a key partner in responding to bioterrorist attacks, rather than as a potential source of panic and chaos, say two commentators writing in the Jan 15 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases.

Jan 2, 2001 (CIDRAP News) – Aside from Capitol Hill staff members, only 52 of more than 3,500 people who have been offered the anthrax vaccine because of the recent mail attacks have decided to take it, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

(CIDRAP News) – In a flurry of pre-adjournment activity yesterday, Congress appropriated about $2.5 billion for bioterrorism preparedness, including $1 billion for state and local efforts, according to an aide to Sen. Bill Frist, R-Tenn.

Dec 4, 2003 (CIDRAP News) – Thousands of US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers will help the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) inspect imported food under an agreement signed yesterday, according to the FDA.

(CIDRAP News) – The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has completed a new inspection of BioPort Corp., the only US manufacturer of the anthrax vaccine, and a company official is predicting approval of the facility after a few remaining concerns are ironed out.

(CIDRAP News) – The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) will continue to test meat for Salmonella to confirm that meat processors' food safety systems are adequate, despite a court ruling that Salmonella tests can't be used to shut down a plant, Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman announced this week.

(CIDRAP News) – Because of a small theoretical risk that anthrax spores can hide in the lungs for up to 100 days and grow after antibiotic treatment is stopped, the anthrax vaccine and an extension of antibiotic treatment will be offered to people who may have been exposed in the recent anthrax attacks, federal health officials announced yesterday afternoon.

(CIDRAP News) – If bioterrorists released smallpox virus today, each person who contracted the disease could infect as many as 10 to 12 more before health authorities would recognize the disease and act to contain it, according to experts writing in the Dec 13 issue of Nature.

(CIDRAP News) – The US House of Representatives on Wednesday overwhelmingly approved a bill authorizing about $2.9 billion in spending on preparedness for bioterrorism and other public health emergencies.

(CIDRAP News) – A federal appeals court has ruled that the US Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) Salmonella performance standard for meat packers is illegal, depriving USDA of authority to shut down packing plants for producing meat with Salmonella levels exceeding the standard.

(CIDRAP News) – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC's) priorities for research on anthrax include development of an antitoxin, aerosolization of anthrax powders sent by mail, and postexposure prophylaxis, CDC officials said this week.

(CIDRAP News) – The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has announced seven new research grant programs to speed efforts to prevent, diagnose, and treat diseases related to bioterrorism.

(CIDRAP News) – Rapid tests for detecting anthrax spores on surfaces should not be used alone as the basis for public health or clinical decisions, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned in today's issue of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

(CIDRAP News) – The American Medical Association this week declined to support any immediate steps toward vaccinating the whole population against smallpox, but endorsed planning for such a step in case it is needed in the future.

(CIDRAP News) – Eighty-five million pieces of mail were processed at anthrax-contaminated Postal Service plants in New Jersey and Washington, DC, before the plants were closed, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevented (CDC) reported today. Although the numbers suggest that cross-contaminated mail may be widespread, officials said the risk of contracting inhalational anthrax from such mail is very low.