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(CIDRAP News) – From stigmatization of people exposed to the virus to maintaining methadone treatment facilities, public health officials need to plan for a wide spectrum of mental health challenges that would likely emerge during an influenza pandemic, federal officials said today at a US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) live Web seminar (webinar).

Editor's note: The item on the Salmonella outbreak was revised Feb 19 to correct information on case numbers for specific states.

(CIDRAP News) – A US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory committee today recommended that pharmaceutical companies use one new influenza strain, the B component, in next season's flu vaccine.

Feb 17, 2009

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) offered additional evidence today that the Peanut Corp of America (PCA) plant in Blakely, Ga., may not be the only PCA facility that has contributed to the nationwide Salmonella outbreak linked to peanut products.

(CIDRAP News) – A news report over the weekend linked six Salmonella cases in Colorado to peanut butter made from peanuts produced by Peanut Corp. of America's (PCA's) plant in Plainview, Tex., but the natural-foods retail chain that made the peanut butter says tests have found no contamination in samples.

Vietnam reports new H5N1 caseA Vietnamese man has tested positive for H5N1 avian influenza, according to an Associated Press (AP) story today. The 35-year-old man from Ninh Binh province in the north developed a fever Feb. 5 after slaughtering and eating several ducks that his family had raised, said a provincial health official. If confirmed by the World Health Organization, his case would be the country's 109th overall and second this year.

(CIDRAP News) – Because of a suboptimal match between this year's flu vaccine and circulating influenza B viruses, the World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended changing one of the three strains used in flu vaccines for the Northern Hemisphere next fall and winter.

(CIDRAP News) – With money for pandemic influenza preparedness stripped from a huge economic stimulus bill that appears headed for final congressional approval, public health advocates say they have to look to the regular budgeting process for the next chance to get some pandemic funding.

Feb 12, 2009

(CIDRAP News) – A spokesman for Panasonic Corp. said today that the company had no proprietary information about any increased risk of an influenza pandemic in December 2008 when it instructed some of its overseas employees to send their families back to Japan by September.

(CIDRAP News) – In a ruling that aligns with numerous research studies, a special federal court today rejected claims by three sets of parents that vaccines caused their children's autism.

The US Court of Federal Claims ruled against claims that autism was triggered by measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine or by MMR vaccine in combination with vaccines containing thimerosal.

(CDRAP News) – Angry Congress members vowed to give federal food safety regulators more power today as executives from the peanut processing company linked to the nationwide Salmonella outbreak refused to answer questions at a committee hearing.

Indonesia reports H5N1 outbreak on BaliAn animal health official on Indonesia's Bali island reported an H5N1 outbreak in chickens in Badung district, which led to the recent culling of 133 birds, the Jakarta Globe reported today. A man who experienced flu-like symptoms after he was exposed to sick birds was treated with oseltamivir and appears to be improving, the report said.

(CIDRAP News) – News reports that Panasonic Corp. has asked some of its overseas employees to send their families home to Japan because of the threat of pandemic influenza fueled puzzlement and speculation today about the global H5N1 risk and whether other companies might follow suit.

(CIDRAP News) – Federal officials recently amended their inspection report on the peanut processing plant tied to the current nationwide Salmonella outbreak to say that in a number of cases the company shipped products before getting test results, rather than after getting conflicting results on successive tests.

(CIDRAP News) – Egypt's health ministry reported that an 18-month-old Egyptian boy has been hospitalized with an H5N1 avian influenza infection, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported today, following news reports yesterday that a 23-year-old Vietnamese woman is also battling the virus.

Feb 9, 2009