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(CIDRAP News) Suspected US cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) climbed to 22 today as the global total neared 360, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported.
The US total now includes three patients who didn't travel to Southeast Asia, the epicenter of the outbreak, but apparently caught the illness from close contacts who had traveled there, CDC Director Dr. Julie Gerberding said at an afternoon news briefing.
(CIDRAP News) Federal food regulators should consider asking Congress for authority to gather information about security measures at food processing plants so they can better assess industry efforts to protect food from deliberate contamination, according to a new report by Congress's General Accounting Office (GAO).
(CIDRAP News) US states and territories will receive a total of nearly $1.4 billion for bioterrorism preparedness this year, and 20% of that will be available almost immediately to support smallpox vaccination or other needs, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced today.
(CIDRAP News) – A Senate committee yesterday unanimously approved the Bush administration's "BioShield" plan to promote vaccines and treatments for biodefense but blocked the administration's proposal for compensating healthcare workers harmed by the smallpox vaccine.
(CIDRAP News) Citing the likelihood of war with Iraq within days, federal officials have raised the terrorism alert level to "high" and launched "Operation Liberty Shield," a set of protective measures that includes increased food security and public health vigilance.
(CIDRAP News) – As cases in the global outbreak of "severe acute respiratory syndrome" (SARS) climbed to 264 today, the World Health Organization (WHO) said there is evidence that the illness may be caused by a previously unknown member of the Paramyxovirus family, which causes measles, mumps, and canine distemper.
(CIDRAP News) Ð With perfect timing inview of the current global outbreak of a mysterious respiratory disease, theInstitute of Medicine today released a report calling on the United States totake the lead in addressing infectious disease threats around the world as wellas at home.
(CIDRAP News) People whose hands may be contaminated by anthrax should wash them with either antimicrobial or conventional soap and water, but should not try to cleanse them with an alcohol-based hand rub, a new study suggests.
(CIDRAP News) – State and federal officials this week confirmed the presence of low-pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI) at a large poultry farm in eastern Connecticut. Meanwhile, the highly pathogenic form of the disease has led to the killing of 1.4 million birds in the Netherlands in the past 2 weeks.
(CIDRAP News) Two young adults acquired vaccinia virus skin infections as a result of contact with military personnel who had received smallpox shots, and a third adult had a similar suspected vaccinia infection, according to the latest report of adverse events in the smallpox vaccination program.
(CIDRAP News) – The World Health Organization has issued an alert over outbreaks of severe respiratory illness, including atypical pneumonia, that it has been investigating since mid-February in Vietnam, Hong Kong, and mainland China.
(CIDRAP News) The results of a spraying program to control gypsy moths in British Columbia suggest that terrorists could use conventional crop-dusting equipment to spread anthrax spores over a city and potentially infect people, according to a report in a new biodefense journal.
(CIDRAP News) The Bush administration's proposal to compensate health workers harmed by the smallpox vaccine has drawn mixed reviews from public health groups and unions, with some groups calling it a major step forward and others labeling it inadequate.
(CIDRAP News) Two women recently contracted vaccinia infections of the eye as a result of contact with military personnel who had been vaccinated against smallpox, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported today.
(CIDRAP News) Seeking to remove a major barrier to its smallpox vaccination program, the Bush administration has proposed a program to compensate public health and healthcare workers who are harmed or lose wages because of the vaccine.
(CIDRAP News) The US Department of Agriculture says it has begun routine sampling of beef from "advanced meat recovery" (AMR) systems to make sure it doesn't contain spinal cord tissue. AMR systems mechanically cut meat from carcasses without breaking bones.
(CIDRAP News) The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced it is mailing information packets about smallpox to 3.5 million physicians and other healthcare workers in a continuing effort to educate them about the disease and the vaccine.
(CIDRAP News) The civilian smallpox vaccination program has had its first significant adverse event after more than 7,000 shots, a case of suspected generalized vaccinia in a 39-year-old nurse in Florida, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Editor's Note: The text as originally published on Feb 26 was revised slightly on March 10, 2003.
(CIDRAP News) As part of an effort to provide a safer smallpox vaccine, federal health officials today awarded contracts to two companies to develop and test a vaccine using a strain of vaccinia virus that can't reproduce in human cells.
