Public Health

(CIDRAP News) – Public health officials looking for ideas and tools to help them prepare for an influenza pandemic can find an online collection of peer-reviewed resources on a Web site that was officially launched today: PandemicPractices.org.

(CIDRAP News) – A year after the United States' largest produce-related Escherichia coli outbreak, federal officials are still weighing their options for preventing produce contamination, and it's not clear if self-regulation measures quickly adopted by growers will prevent future outbreaks.

(CIDRAP News) – US health officials failed to follow international health regulations and made other errors in dealing with Andrew Speaker, the man with drug-resistant tuberculosis who sparked a health scare by traveling overseas in May, according to a report released this week by Democrats in Congress.

(CIDRAP News) – The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today announced a one-time allocation of $75 million in grants to help states, territories, and four metropolitan areas prepare for an influenza pandemic.

(CIDRAP News) – Leaders of Canada, Mexico, and the United States who met at a security summit in Montebello, Quebec, on Aug 21 unveiled a North American pandemic influenza plan designed to share expertise, coordinate public health messages, and overcome anticipated obstacles at national borders.

(CIDRAP News) – Indonesian health officials said this week they will continue withholding samples of the H5N1 avian influenza virus at least until a new virus-sharing mechanism is worked out at an international meeting in November.

The statements came in response to criticism earlier this week from a World Health Organization (WHO) official, who said Indonesia was endangering global health by withholding the viruses.

(CIDRAP News) – A World Health Organization official said yesterday that Indonesia is endangering the world's health by continuing to withhold H5N1 influenza virus samples collected from human patients.

(CIDRAP News) – Representatives from 24 countries are meeting in Singapore this week to propose solutions to virus-sharing problems that threaten to derail global monitoring of the H5N1 avian influenza virus and stall the development of new vaccines and treatments.

(CIDRAP News) – A recently published survey of Europeans and Asians showed that, when faced with an influenza pandemic, most would avoid mass transit and limit shopping to essentials, and many would avoid other public places, including restaurants, theaters, and the workplace.

(CIDRAP News) – Eighteen medical groups, led by the American Medical Association (AMA) and the American Public Health Association (APHA), released a report at a recent conference in Washington, DC, that contains 53 recommendations for improving the nation's response to mass casualty events such as terrorist attacks, infectious disease outbreaks, and natural disasters.