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(CIDRAP News) – The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) unveiled a comprehensive pandemic influenza guidance document for states yesterday with the first of three live Web seminars (webinars) designed to assist state officials with planning activities.

(CIDRAP News) – An investigation by acongressional oversight committee into the US Food and Drug Administration's(FDA's) inspection of fresh spinach revealed lax enforcement at facilities thathad violations.

(CIDRAP News) – Hong Kong school officials made an abrupt decision yesterday to close all primary schools for 2 weeks, starting today, in an effort to block a rising wave of seasonal influenza.

(CIDRAP News) – Researchers from Michigan State University have shown that genetic differences in Escherichia coli O157:H7 strains relate to virulence, confirming suspicions public health experts have had and shedding light on why patients in recent outbreaks seem to have had more severe symptoms.

(CIDRAP News) – Researchers who specialize in geography and environmental risk recently assessed the vulnerability of the nation's major urban areas to terrorism events and found that the highest risk areas were broadly located across the eastern and southern seaboards.

(CIDRAP News) – Egypt's health ministry announced recently that an 8-year-old boy has been hospitalized with an H5N1 avian influenza infection, the country's second such illness in a child in less than a week.

Editor's Note: CIDRAP's Public Health Practices online database showcases peer-reviewed practices, including useful tools to help others with their planning. This article is one of a biweekly series exploring the development of these practices. We hope that describing the process and context of these practices enhances pandemic planning.

(CIDRAP News) – Animal health officials in India reported that H5N1 avian influenza has resurfaced in West Bengal state, as officials in Vietnam said the virus has struck poultry in another province as well as a farm near Hanoi.

(CIDRAP News) – Friday's announcement by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that influenza appears to be slowing down has left medical personnel relieved for the imminent end of a harsh flu season.

But it has also left them worried over weaknesses that the season exposed in public health's ability to anticipate flu's behavior, and over doubts raised among their patients by the flu vaccine's diminished effectiveness.

(CIDRAP News) – Seasonal influenza activity in the United States slowed last week for the second week in a row, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported in a surveillance update today.

Widespread activity was reported in 47 states—two fewer than the previous week. Regional activity was reported in Massachusetts, Mississippi, and New Mexico. The District of Columbia reported only local activity.

(CIDRAP News) – Federal health officials recently announced plans to get rid of their last remaining stocks of the decades-old smallpox vaccine Dryvax, as a newer vaccine takes its place in the national stockpile of emergency medical supplies.

(CIDRAP News) – The National Institutes of Health (NIH) today announced the appointment of two committees to help address public worries about the safety of a biodefense laboratory under construction in Boston, 3 months after the National Research Council (NRC) sharply criticized an NIH risk assessment of the project.

(CIDRAP News) – Starting next fall, how will the healthcare system get influenza vaccine into the arms (or noses) of tens of millions of additional children each year, given that the vaccination season is limited and many children don't have regular medical checkups?

Editor's note: This story was revised Mar 6 to include a clarification about the frequency of mutations in influenza viruses.

(CIDRAP News) – Indonesia's health ministry said today that H5N1 avian influenza virus samples it sent to a World Health Organization (WHO) laboratory in the United States in February showed no signs of dangerous mutations, according to a Reuters report.

(CIDRAP News) – The World Health Organization (WHO) today reported that an 11-year-old Egyptian boy is hospitalized in critical condition with an H5N1 avian influenza infection, a day after the agency announced the death of a 25-year-old Egyptian woman from the virus.

(CIDRAP News) – A Las Vegas man remained unconscious today with suspected ricin poisoning after the deadly toxin derived from castor beans was found in his Las Vegas motel room last week, according to news services.

(CIDRAP News) – Health officials in Egypt announced on Mar 1 that a 25-year-old woman who is hospitalized with severe respiratory symptoms has an H5N1 avian influenza infection.

(CIDRAP News) – A federal district judge has dismissed a lawsuit aiming to stop the Pentagon's mandatory anthrax vaccination program for troops serving in some areas overseas, the Associated Press (AP) reported today.

Judge Rosemary M. Collyer in Washington, DC, said the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) acted appropriately when it determined the vaccine was safe and approved its use, according to the AP.

(CIDRAP News ) – This year's influenza epidemic showed signs of tapering off last week, but flu was still widespread in every state except Florida, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported today.

At the same time, the CDC issued a notice aiming to remind clinicians to consider prescribing the antiviral drugs known as neuraminidase inhibitors to treat or prevent flu.

(CIDRAP News) – The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) today announced interim measures to verify and assess humane handling procedures at federally inspected slaughtering facilities as it continues investigating charges of animal cruelty involving "downer" cattle at a California company.