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(CIDRAP News) – The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is seeking a $65 million increase in food security funds in fiscal year 2005, with more than half of the money to be used to improve capabilities for testing food for biological, chemical, and radiological contaminants.

(CIDRAP News) – One of three Senate office buildings that were closed this week after ricin was found in an office was set to reopen today, but the source of the ricin remained a mystery.

(CIDRAP News) – As the human and animal toll from H5N1 avian influenza continued to rise, United Nations health and agricultural officials at a conference in Rome today endorsed selective vaccination of poultry to fight the spread of the disease.

(CIDRAP News) – A panel of experts that reviewed the US response to the nation's first case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) says there are probably other cases in the United States and recommends increasing restrictions designed to keep BSE-infected materials out of human food and animal feed.

(CIDRAP News) – Test results announced today confirmed that a white powder found yesterday in Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's office was ricin, a deadly poison derived from castor beans, according to news services.

(CIDRAP News) – The World Health Organization (WHO) has expressed concern about China's handling of its fourth recent case of SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome), which involved a 40-year-old physician and hospital director and was revealed Jan 31.

(CIDRAP News) – Two more human deaths resulting from H5N1 avian influenza (bird flu) were reported in Southeast Asia today, while the World Health Organization (WHO) said it was investigating two possible cases of person-to-person spread of the disease in Vietnam.

In addition, China reported outbreaks of the highly pathogenic avian flu in four more provinces around the country, bringing the number of affected provinces to 10, according to the WHO.

(CIDRAP News) – A outbreak of 37 cases of Salmonella infection in the Northeast has prompted the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) to issue an alert urging consumers to take care in handling raw ground beef.

(CIDRAP News) – Highly pathogenic avian influenza has turned up in poultry flocks in two provinces in central China, far from the southern province where the country's first outbreak was reported 3 days ago, Chinese and international health officials said today.

(CIDRAP News) – Delaware was the only state reporting widespread influenza activity last week, as the flu continued a decline that began in late December, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

(CIDRAP News) – The Bush administration today proposed a $274 million program to improve the nation's alertness for bioterrorism by measures such as increasing environmental monitoring, analyzing health data, and inspecting crops and livestock.

(CIDRAP News) – Another human case of highly pathogenic avian influenza (bird flu) was confirmed in Vietnam today, bringing total confirmed cases to 11, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

The case involved a 4-year-old boy who fell ill Dec 22, was hospitalized a week later, and is now fully recovered, the WHO said. Vietnam now has had eight confirmed cases, and Thailand has three. Six cases in Vietnam and two in Thailand were fatal.

(CIDRAP News) – The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) will probably end its investigation of the nation's single bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) case within 2 weeks, even if all the cows that might have shared feed with the infected cow are not found, USDA officials said this week.

(CIDRAP News) – China reported an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza in ducks today, while the World Health Organization (WHO) joined other international groups in appealing for a multinational campaign to stop the disease's march across Asia.

(CIDRAP News) – In response to the discovery of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in a US cow last month, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) yesterday announced a lengthy set of new rules to shield FDA-regulated foods and food supplements from BSE-contaminated material.

(CIDRAP News) – Indonesia today joined the rapidly growing list of countries with poultry outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza, while more human cases and deaths were confirmed in Vietnam and Thailand.

(CIDRAP News) – Thailand and Cambodia joined the list of countries affected by highly pathogenic avian influenza today as both human and poultry cases were confirmed in Thailand and a poultry outbreak was reported in Cambodia.

(CIDRAP News) – Only five states reported widespread influenza cases last week, but the nationwide number of child deaths related to the flu this season climbed to 111, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today.

(CIDRAP News) – The World Health Organization (WHO) warned today that the avian influenza outbreaks and related human cases in East Asia may get worse, while worries about a possible outbreak mounted in Thailand.

(CIDRAP News) – The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) says it has found no more cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) after testing 129 cattle from the herd that was the last home of the nation's only cow known to have the disease.