Health standards

Two more avian flu deaths in Indonesia
Of the 137 confirmed cases of avian flu to date in Indonesia, 112 have been fatal; two deaths in July have been added to the list
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FDA hires 1,300 new doctors and scientists
Staffing drive, launched just five months ago, will result in an estimated 10 percent increase in the FDA’s work force
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Resident of Belgian city to be monitored after nuclear leak
Residents of the Hainaut village of Lambusart will undergo medical checkups and be tested for radiation over the next few days
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Canadian PM: Food inspection system needs revamping
Listeriosis outbreak in Canada claims 29 lives and dozens rushed to hospitals; Toronto area meat processors recalls $2 million worth of contaminated meat; PM says food inspection should be tightened
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Medical identity thefts on the rise
The move from paper to digital patient records opens new opportunities for identity thieves
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Salmonella-suspect Mexican peppers still being sold in U.S.
The CDC and FDA now suspect the Mexican jalapeño peppers are the cause of the outbreak of salmonella poisoning which has sickened 1,434 people in the United States so far, but these peppers are still being sold in the to U.S., if for a lower price
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Lawmaker likens Salmonella probe to Keystone Kops
The reason for what U.S. lawmakers regard as the bungled salmonella probe: One government agency probably zeroed in on tomatoes too early, the committee concluded, while a second failed to tap industry and states’ expertise in trying to trace the source of the contamination
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Problems with Red Cross blood services
Despite persisting criticism of the way the Red Cross collects and process blood for the U.S. blood supply, serious problems persist, threatening the health of Americans
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Ebola-like virus returns to Europe after forty years
A Dutch woman visited bat caves in Uganda in mid-June, and developed Marburg, a deadly hemorrhagic fever closely related to Ebola, on her return; first case of the disease in Europe after a 40-year absence
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Is the U.S. prepared for a bioterror attack?
Some experts believe a bioterrorist attack or pandemic outbreak could be inevitable. How would the United States fight back against an infectious disease outbreak?
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Corgenix expanding hemorrhagic fever virus product program
Recent outbreaks of the Lassa Hemorrhagic Fever in Africa show urgent need for new products that can be processed in any clinical or field lab
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Bioterrorism rule ineffective in salmonella outbreak
Rules and regulations passed in the wake of 9/11 were supposed to tighten monitoring and tracking food items, so an outbreak of food-borne illness could be quickly traced to its source; food supply-chain practices make these rules and regulations difficult to implement
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Salmonella toll tops 1,000; peppers eyed
More than 1,000 people are confirmed ill from salmonella initially linked to raw tomatoes but now also to jalapenos; worst food-borne illness outbreak in a decade
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California unveils GIS initiative
Geospatial Information Systems (GIS) enhance the technology for environmental protection, natural resource management, traffic flow, emergency preparedness and response, land use planning, and health and human services; California wants to avail itself of the technology’s benefits
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Internet crawling helps in tracking infectious disease outbreaks
New Web crawling tool helps identify and locate outbreaks of disease around the world
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