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(CIDRAP News) – A human-derived antitoxin for babies with botulism shortened their hospital stays by an average of more than 3 weeks and reduced average hospital bills by about $88,000 in a randomized trial, according to a recent report.

(CIDRAP News) – US researchers recently published preliminary findings from their sequencing of 336 avian influenza (AI) viruses collected around the world, an effort they say has doubled the amount of public genetic data on avian flu viruses.

(CIDRAP News) – As the number of human cases of avian influenza in Indonesia continues to climb, the country is ramping up efforts to stem its spread.

The World Health Organization (WHO) today confirmed four more H5N1 infections, including two fatalities.

(CIDRAP News) – A new test developed by federal experts offers preliminary detection of H5 avian influenza in human patients in about 4 hours, compared with 2 to 3 days for other methods, government officials announced today.

(CIDRAP News) – The World Health Organization (WHO) tally of human cases of H5N1 avian influenza rose to 161, including 86 deaths, with the final confirmation of 12 cases in Turkey and one in Iraq this week.

(CIDRAP News) – A pair of new studies suggest that influenza vaccines based on adenoviruses, one of the causes of the common cold, may offer major advantages in the quest for protection from flu pandemics.

(CIDRAP News) – Minnesota cattlemen are facing an economic blow from a once-banished nemesis: bovine tuberculosis.

The Minnesota Board of Animal Health (BAH) announced on Dec 8 that the USDA would drop the state's TB status a notch, from TB-free to "Modified Accredited Advanced." The reduction in status took effect Jan 30.

(CIDRAP News) – A national conference scheduled Feb 14 and 15 in Minneapolis will give business leaders an opportunity to learn from experts about the risk of pandemic influenza and help figure out how their industries can prepare for it.

Meat from deer infected with chronic wasting disease (CWD) has been shown to transmit the prion disease to genetically altered mice, according to a report published Jan 26 in Sciencexpress, part of Science magazine.

(CIDRAP News) – Updated information on a teen-aged girl's death means that Iraq has joined the unenviable fraternity of nations hit by human cases of H5N1 influenza.

(CIDRAP News) – Keeping the taps flowing, the lights glowing, and food on the shelves may be a higher priority than caring for the ill during an influenza pandemic, the United Nations' coordinator for avian and pandemic flu has said.

(CIDRAP News) – The World Health Organization (WHO) has released a draft plan for nipping a potential influenza pandemic in the bud, saying that even if such an attempt fails, it may buy precious time to make more vaccine and improve other preparations.

(CIDRAP News) – A 22-year-old chicken seller in Indonesia died yesterday after testing positive for avian influenza, and a young Chinese woman whose case was reported previously also succumbed to the disease this week.

The Indonesian man died after a week of hospitalization, according to an Agence France-Presse (AFP) report quoting Ilham Patu of the Sulianti Saroso Hospital in Jakarta.

(CIDRAP News) – An influenza vaccine conference in Atlanta this week brought predictions of a record supply of flu vaccine next year and talk of extending vaccination recommendations to include children between the ages of 2 and 6.

(CIDRAP News) – Roche announced yesterday it was again shipping its antiviral drug oseltamivir (Tamiflu) to all US markets, lifting restrictions imposed last fall because of concern about people hoarding the drug out of fear of a potential influenza pandemic.

Jan 26, 2006 (CIDRAP News) – The latest World Health Organization (WHO) fact sheet on avian influenza shows that the complex mysteries of the H5N1 virus, while compelling, make it difficult to anticipate what the virus will do next.

(CIDRAP News) – Japan has again banned American beef following the discovery last week of cattle spine material in an imported shipment, a violation of the recent bilateral agreement designed to keep beef tainted with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) out of Japan.

(CIDRAP News) – A 36-year-old Chinese woman was in critical condition in Chengdu City, suffering from what the Chinese authorities announced today was the country's 10th human case of H5N1 avian flu, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.

The woman, whose surname is Cao, is from Sichaun province in southwest China, AFP noted. She fell ill on Jan 12; tests confirmed her H5N1 infection on Jan 17.

(CIDRAP News) – Canada today reported its fourth case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or mad cow disease, raising concern about the possibility of another US ban on Canadian beef and cattle.

The case was found in a 6-year-old crossbred cow in north-central Alberta that had shown possible signs of BSE, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) said. The disease was detected through Canada's regular BSE surveillance program.

Jan 20, 2005 (CIDRAP News) – Researchers who analyzed numerous clinical trials concluded that the two newest antiviral drugs for influenza, oseltamivir (Tamiflu) and zanamivir (Relenza), should not routinely be used against seasonal flu—a recommendation flatly rejected by the manufacturer of oseltamivir.