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(CIDRAP News) – The World Health Organization (WHO) today confirmed two cases of H5N1 avian influenza, one in Egypt and one in China, while stating that a disagreement with Indonesia about sharing H5N1 virus samples has not yet been fully resolved.

(CIDRAP News) – Investigators have found Salmonella enterica in samples collected at a Sylvester, Ga., ConAgra plant that made the Peter Pan and Great Value peanut butter linked to an illness outbreak involving 370 people in 42 states, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced today.

(CIDRAP News) – A special committee of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) is studying questions about the role of equipment such as masks, gowns, and gloves in protecting healthcare workers during an influenza pandemic and is expected to release a report in September.

(CIDRAP News) – A recent study has raised expectations that simple surgical masks might offer a reasonably good substitute for N-95 respirators for healthcare workers seeking protection from airborne viruses, but others say the study is seriously flawed.

(CIDRAP News) – The World Health Organization (WHO) yesterday confirmed Laos' first human case of H5N1 avian influenza, involving a 15-year-old girl from Vientiane, and Egypt and China also have reported new cases.

(CIDRAP News) – The number of people sickened in a nationwide Salmonella outbreak linked to peanut butter grew by 41, to a total of 370 in 42 states, since the last update a week ago, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced yesterday.

(CIDRAP News) – A US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) panel today recommended that the agency approve the nation's first H5N1 influenza vaccine, despite new evidence that the vaccine is less protective than reported in a clinical trial last year.

(CIDRAP News) – Health officials in Kuwait have reported finding H5N1 avian influenza in backyard and captive birds at several locations in the past two days, according to news services.

(CIDRAP News) – The nation's largest public health group, the American Public Health Association (APHA), yesterday released recommendations aimed at strengthening existing federal strategies for pandemic preparedness and encouraging local officials and businesses to play key roles.

(CIDRAP News) – Tests have confirmed a link between Salmonella-contaminated peanut butter and an outbreak involving 329 illness cases in 41 states, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced yesterday.

"Product testing has confirmed the outbreak strain of Salmonella [enterica serotype] Tennessee in opened jars of peanut butter, obtained from ill persons," the CDC said in a news release.

(CIDRAP News) – Afghanistan confirmed yesterday that poultry deaths at two farms in the eastern part of the country were caused by highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza.

(CIDRAP News) – Scientists with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have finished mapping the genomes of more than 2,000 human and avian influenza viruses, an achievement that will help efforts to develop new flu vaccines and drugs, the NIH said yesterday.

We have no grounds for confidence that a severe pandemic is imminent. Our communications shouldn't imply otherwise.

Medical historians tell us there have been nine influenza pandemics in the past 300 years. So one every 30 to 35 years or so, or roughly three per century, is everybody's best guess about the future frequency of influenza pandemics.

(CIDRAP News) – A prolonged Salmonella outbreak linked to peanut butter has expanded to 329 cases in 41 states, an increase of 41 cases since the outbreak was announced on Feb 14, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said yesterday.

Feb 20, 2007 (CIDRAP News) – Because of changes in the influenza viruses now in circulation, the World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended changing one of the three viral strains to be used in flu vaccines in the Northern Hemisphere next fall and winter.

(CIDRAP News) – Following an inspection trip to Nigeria, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said today that H5N1 avian influenza is still spreading there and called on the country to increase control measures on farms and in markets.

(CIDRAP News) – In the wake of a national Salmonella outbreak, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has revised its warning about potentially tainted peanut butter to include all Peter Pan peanut butter products bought since May 2006.

(CIDRAP News) – Russian officials today confirmed that suspicious bird deaths in three towns on the outskirts of Moscow were caused by highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza.

(CIDRAP News) – The World Health Organization (WHO) today confirmed a fatal H5N1 avian influenza case in a 37-year-old woman in Egypt, as the country’s health ministry announced that a 5-year-old boy had tested positive for the virus.

(CIDRAP News) – Indonesia and the World Health Organization (WHO) agreed today that Indonesia will resume sharing its H5N1 avian influenza virus samples while the WHO will work to ensure that developing countries have access to pandemic vaccines based on viruses they supply.