Public Health

April 20, 2005 (CIDRAP News) – Vietnam will get rid of small live-poultry markets, cull ducks, and convert to factory-style farming in 15 cities and provinces to beat back the H5N1 avian influenza virus, under plans announced yesterday.

(CIDRAP News) – The Government Accountability Office (GAO) says federal agencies may not be able to reliably rule out the presence of anthrax contamination in a building because their sampling and detection methods have not been adequately tested.

(CIDRAP News) – The federal government yesterday announced reductions in the rates of several common foodborne bacterial infections in 2004, especially the potentially life-threatening Escherichia coli O157:H7.

April 8, 2005 (CIDRAP News) – The only thing more unpredictable than the fickle, fast-changing influenza virus may be the US flu season itself.

(CIDRAP News) – Poor policy communication and a lack of clearly defined goals seriously hindered the smallpox preparedness program that the federal government launched in 2003, according to a report released by the prestigious Institute of Medicine (IOM) last week.

(CIDRAP News) – The strain of SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) that erupted from obscurity to kill 774 people worldwide has gone quiet, at least for now. Yet its lessons will keep benefiting people even if it never reappears.

(CIDRAP News) – A federal judge in Montana this week delayed a plan to reopen the US border to Canadian cattle for the first time since bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) was found in Canada.

(CIDRAP News) – The idea that vaccinating schoolchildren is the best way to prevent influenza throughout the US population received a boost last week with the publication of a commentary and a Texas study in separate journals.

(CIDRAP News) – The World Health Organization (WHO) is preparing to recommend that governments consider stockpiling vaccines against the H5N1 avian influenza virus now, rather than waiting until a human flu pandemic emerges, according to a story published online today by New Scientist magazine.

(CIDRAP News) – The Bush administration has proposed cutting funds that support state and local preparedness for bioterrorism and other health emergencies in fiscal year 2006, drawing protests from public health advocacy groups.

However, the proposal for the fiscal year that begins next October would increase funding for the nation's emergency stockpile of drugs and medical supplies by more than 50%. The budget was released Feb 7.