U.S. Bans British Columbia Poultry Imports
The United States has banned imports of poultry from the Canadian province of British Columbia in response to the discovery of a mild strain of H5 bird flu virus in one duck at a commercial poultry farm.
Taiwan and Hong Kong also imposed bans on poultry from the province, while Japan has banned all poultry from Canada.
U.S. officials are waiting for more information from Canadian authorities before deciding whether to continue the ban on all poultry imports from the province or restrict imports from only the Chilliwack area, where the farm is located, the Associated Press reported.
The duck was infected with a North American strain of H5 bird flu virus that doesn't kill poultry and is not a human health threat, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said.
The virus does sicken and weaken poultry. After the virus was confirmed in the duck, Canadian officials ordered the destruction of about 56,000 birds on the farm. Four other farms in the area have been quarantined, the AP reported.
China Reports Three New Bird Flu Outbreaks
Three new outbreaks of bird flu in China were announced Tuesday, bringing to 20 the total number of outbreaks in that country in recent weeks.
The latest outbreaks -- two in the west and one in the south of China -- have led to the killing of almost175,000 birds as part of efforts to prevent the spread of the bird flu, the Associated Press reported.
Ministry of Agriculture officials said the three outbreaks were currently under control.
In related news, health workers and officials in Hong Kong will stage a second bird flu drill this week as part of their preparations for a possible outbreak, Agence France Presse reported.
The inter-departmental communication exercise on Thursday will include more than 200 people and is designed to review the efficiency of cooperation between 30 bureaus, departments and organizations.
In Britain, meanwhile, fear of a bird flu pandemic has resulted in a shortage of winter flu vaccine, even though it offers no protection against bird flu. Fourteen million doses of winter flu vaccine were available for the elderly and other "at-risk" people, but there was an unexpected demand from what health officials termed the "worried well."
About 400,000 extra doses of flu vaccine have been released from emergency stocks and another 200,000 doses will be available in January, the health officials said.
Nestle Recalls Baby Milk in Europe
Food giant Nestle SA has recalled hundreds of thousands of gallons of baby milk from France, Italy, Portugal and Spain after tests suggested the milk may be contaminated with a chemical used in the printing on the milk cartons.
Traces of the photographic chemical isopropyl thioxanthone (ITX) were first detected in milk samples in Italy, BBC News reported.
Italian officials said the chemical may be toxic, and police in that country have started seizing the baby milk. Nestle denies the chemical poses a health risk but decided to recall the affected cartons of baby milk, which have an expiration date of September 2006.
The company also said that a new packaging process has been put in place in order to prevent further incidents of contamination, BBC News reported.
CDC Proposes Updated Quarantine Rules
Easier access to ship and aircraft passenger lists and explicit authority to offer vaccinations and medical treatment to people under quarantine are among updated quarantine regulations proposed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Tuesday.
The proposed updates also include a clearer appeals process for people placed in quarantine. The goal of the updates is to better protect the United States from infectious diseases, including bird flu, the Associated Press reported.
U.S. quarantine regulations haven't been substantially overhauled in at least 25 years and the need for updated rules was made clear during the international SARS outbreak in 2003, CDC officials said.
During the SARS outbreak, public health officials trying to trace the contacts of people who'd been infected had a difficult time obtaining passenger information from airlines, the AP reported.
The proposed changes will be open for public comment for 60 days and could be finalized by next spring.
In the past 18 months, the CDC has increased from eight to 18 the number of quarantine stations at U.S. airports, ship ports and land-border crossing, the AP reported.
CDC Reports 2nd Human Case of Mad Cow
The second documented U.S. case of the human form of mad cow disease has been confirmed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The case involves a man from the United Kingdom who lived in Houston for four years before returning to the U.K., where he is now undergoing medical treatment. The CDC said he probably contracted variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in the U.K. but he'll be listed as a U.S. case because that's where he was living when his symptoms began, the Associated Press reported.
"Almost certainly, this case represents a continuation of the outbreak that is going on in the United Kingdom," CDC medical epidemiologist Lawrence B. Schonberger told the AP.
People contract the disease by eating the brain or other nervous system tissue of animals that have mad cow disease -- bovine spongiform encephalopathy. The only other documented U.S. case of the human form of mad cow disease involved a woman from the U.K. who lived in Florida. It's believed she also contracted the disease in the U.K.
Nearly 6 Million Kids Die of Hunger, Malnutrition Yearly, U.N. Reports
Almost 6 million children worldwide die each year because of hunger and malnutrition, according to a U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization report released Tuesday.
The report also noted that there were more malnourished people in sub-Saharan Africa this decade than there were in the 1990s. The report said there were 203.5 million malnourished people in that region in 2000-02, compared to 170.4 million 10 years earlier, the Associated Press reported.
Hunger and malnutrition are among the leading causes of poverty, illiteracy, disease and death in developing countries, the U.N. agency said. Diseases such as AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis have the greatest impact on the hungry and poor, the report noted.
It said that the illness and death of income earners, health care and funeral costs, and support of orphans pushes millions of families deeper into poverty and hunger each year, the AP reported.
People living in rural areas of poor countries account for about 75 percent of the world's hungry and poor populations.
In 1996, the World Food Summit set a goal of halving the number of hungry people in the world by 2015. That target, reinforced by the Millennium Development Goals in 2000, is difficult but attainable, the report states.
Food Fact:
Plum role?
America has a prune glut, so help yourself -- and help your heart. Prunes, aka dried plums, are loaded with pectin, the soluble fiber that lowers blood cholesterol. They're also rich in iron and cancer-fighting antioxidants. As a health-conscious American, do your part by having a few prunes every day -- California orchardists, as well as your family doctor, will be glad you did.
Fitness Tip of the day:
Water on the knee?
Here's a tip for anyone whose exercise routine is hindered by sore knees. A water aerobics class is a perfect way to exercise while minimizing stress on your joints. The water provides a fair amount of resistance, yet at the same time it provides a vital protective cushion for sore joints.
FAQ of the day:
Is grape juice good for me?
White grape juice is mostly sugar and water, but purple grape juice, which includes the grape skins, is rich in the same heart-healthy compounds found in red wine. In a study at the University of Wisconsin Medical School, drinking a 12-oz. glass of purple grape juice a day reduced the tendency of blood clots to form by 40%. That's about the same as when people take aspirin to prevent heart attacks.
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