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(CIDRAP News) – Scientists report that they found the common pathogen Staphylococus aureus on close to half of 136 raw meat and poultry samples from five US cities and that more than half of the isolates were resistant to several antibiotics, but they say the public health significance of the findings is not clear.

(CIDRAP News) – Flu activity across the United States continued to show signs of slowing, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today.

For the eighth week in a row, the percentage of doctor's visits for flu-like illness dropped, falling to 1.4% from 1.6% the previous week, the CDC reported in its weekly update. All 10 of the CDC's regions stayed below their baseline flu-visit levels.

Apr 14, 2010

(CIDRAP News) – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently released a set of standards for public health preparedness capabilities to help state and local public health agencies set priorities and strategies in an age of budget-cutting.

Apr 14, 2010

(CIDRAP News) – The rollout of a new Web-based system for screening imported food and drugs last year stumbled because of software interface problems, but it is now operating at four entry ports, with a goal of becoming operational at all of them by the end of the year, US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Margaret Hamburg, MD, told legislators today.

(CIDRAP News) – Because of deep-rooted barriers, there is little chance that H5N1 avian influenza can be expelled within the next 10 years from the six countries where it remains entrenched, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) says in a new report.

Apr 13, 2011

(CIDRAP News) – Leaders from a World Health Organization (WHO) working group on virus sharing and vaccine issues related to pandemic preparedness today said they hope to reach an agreement by Friday (Apr 15) so that it could go to the World Health Assembly (WHA) for a vote in May.

Apr 12, 2011

Apr 11, 2011

(CIDRAP News) – The World Health Organization (WHO) today confirmed four new H5N1 avian flu cases in Egypt—including a fatality—and one nonfatal case in Bangladesh.

The cases raise Egypt's H5N1 case total this year to 22 and Bangladesh's to 2. In addition, the WHO posted an official notice on its Web site today of a Cambodia case that it had jointly confirmed with Cambodia's Ministry of Health last week.

(CIDRAP News) – A team of US researchers recently added to the evidence that humans can and do produce antibodies that target a wide range of influenza strains, though how the findings can be exploited in the quest for a "universal" flu vaccine remains to be seen.

(CIDRAP News) – As the clock ticked toward a possible US government shutdown at midnight, federal officials said today that key activities to keep food safe and otherwise control infectious diseases would continue, albeit at reduced levels in many cases.

(CIDRAP News) – Measles developments at the international and US levels are sparking fresh warnings about the disease, along with renewed efforts to get children vaccinated, according to several recent reports.

Apr 8, 2011

(CIDRAP News) – Flu indicators in the United States and other Northern Hemisphere locations continue to plummet, with global surveillance showing only a few active areas in tropical and Southern Hemisphere locations that will soon be approaching their flu season.

Apr 7, 2011