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(CIDRAP News) – Two people died of H5N1 avian influenza in Indonesia in the past few weeks, the World Health Organization (WHO) said today, while news reports from Bangladesh cited that country's first human H5N1 case this year.

The Indonesian victims were a 2-year-old boy and a 31-year-old woman, who both had exposure to poultry, the WHO said, citing the Indonesian Ministry of Health as its information source.

(CIDRAP News) – Researchers from the University of Michigan say one measure of flu vaccine efficacy that has been used in a number of past controlled trials is not very accurate, and that this may have led to a degree of overselling of the protection the vaccines provide.

(CIDRAP News) – After several weeks of rising or strong flu activity, levels dropped last week, with most indicators showing declines, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today.

(CIDRAP News) – A trio of vaccine researchers from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) says influenza A/H2N2 viruses, the subtype that caused the flu pandemic of 1957-58, could return and trigger a pandemic in much the same way the H1N1 subtype did in 2009.

Mar 10, 2011

(CIDRAP News) – An external committee reviewing the World Health Organization's (WHO's) performance during the H1N1 pandemic released a preview of its findings today, which defends the WHO against criticism that it overstated the pandemic threat and recommends that it take several steps to improve future response.

Mar 9, 2011

(CIDRAP News) – Lab tests have shown that Escherichia coli O157:H7 coli found in hazelnuts from the home of one of three Minnesotans sickened in a three-state E coli outbreak matches the outbreak strain, Minnesota officials said today.

Mar 9, 2011

Mar 8, 2011

(CIDRAP News) – Scientists who helped the FBI investigate the 2001 anthrax letter attacks today released the details of the genomic analysis that linked the anthrax used in the attacks to a flask in the custody of government scientist Bruce Ivins, who the FBI concluded was the perpetrator.

(CIDRAP News) – The maker of Skippy peanut butter on Mar 4 recalled two types of its reduced-fat products distributed in 16 states after routine tests suggested they may contain Salmonella, the same day a California company recalled in-shell hazelnuts as part of an Escherichia coli illness investigation.

Mar 7, 2011

(CIDRAP News) – The nation's flu activity remained high last week, with the number of pediatric deaths more than doubling from the previous week and most states still reporting widespread cases, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today.

Mar 4, 2011

(CIDRAP News) – A new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) makes clear why norovirus is the world's leading cause of gastroenteritis and the leading cause of foodborne disease outbreaks in the United States.

The virus is so contagious that one food handler with contaminated hands can infect hundreds of people, the report says. Those who have had the virus may have little protection against future infection.

Mar 3, 2011

(CIDRAP News) – In the first of an expected annual series of reports to Congress on duplication in federal government goals and activities, the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) cites problems in three areas of public health: food safety, biodefense, and communications.

Mar 2, 2011