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1957-58 flu pandemic can offer clues to planning for H1N1
During the 1957 pandemic, 25 percent of the U.S. population became ill, and excess mortality due to pneumonia and influenza occurred; much can be learned from looking at this previous pandemic that had similar patterns
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U.S. human tests of swine flu vaccine begin
Nine academic sites in the United States will test swine flu vaccine on 2,400 volunteers; testing will involve two vaccines in five population groups and at two different strengths
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Flying prayers to stop H1N1 virus
Fifty Jewish dignitaries, including rabbis, religious scholars, and yeshiva students, recited special prayers and blew shofars while flying over Israel, aiming to prevent more Israeli fatalities from swine flu
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Making sense of food safety legislation
The U.S. Congress is moving toward making food supplies safer; the House bill is modeled on a preventive approach called Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points, or HACCP, which experts say is a sensible way to go
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Dog likely source of deadly pneumonic plague in China
The city of Ziketan has been sealed off sine the weekend after an outbreak of pneumonic plague; the first fatality was a 32-year old herdsman — and initial tests show that the herdsman’s dead dog was the likely origin of the outbreak
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Swine flu deaths reach to 1,154
Laboratory confirmed cases world-wide have reached 162,380; WHO has estimated that 2 billion people, or one in three of the world’s population, will have been infected by the virus by the end of the pandemic
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Third patient dies of plague in remote Chinese town
Chinese authorities have sealed off a remote Chinese town after an outbreak of pneumonic plague; authorities have set up a cordon with a 17-mile radius around the town of Ziketan; public buses were pulled off the streets, and the police is patrolling on the streets, advising shops to close
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Novartis starts human testing of swine flu vaccine
The Swiss company began testing its swine flu vaccine in 6,000 people of all ages in Britain, Germany, and the United States; the vaccine will likely be on the market before the trial finishes
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DHS is searching for buyers for Plum Island facility
The Plum Island Biosafety level 4 facility — the only type of research lab authorized to handle diseases that are communicable between humans and animals and for which there is no known cure — is aging; DHS has selected a Kansas site for a new, $500 million replacement; DHS is beginning to look for buyers for the Plum Island facility
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DARPA searches for instant repair of soldiers' injuries
DARPA is soliciting proposals for a device that can use adult stem cells for a regenerative free-for-all, producing whatever needed to repair injured body parts, including nerves, bone, and skin
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Chinese city sealed off after outbreak of bubonic plaque
Pneumonic plague, a virulent variant of the bubonic plaque, has killed two and infected 10 in a Chinese city; authorities have sealed off the city
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Anthrax attack on a U.S. metropolitan area could affect more than 1 million
No matter how well-organized and prolonged a treatment program is, it must be quickly implemented; a campaign of powerful antibiotics initiated two days after exposure would protect as many as 87 percent of exposed individuals from illness
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Sweeping food safety bill passes House
House passes new, sweeping food safety bill requiring more government inspections and imposing new penalties on those who violate the law
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Nasal vaccine developed for swine flu
Maryland-based Medimmune developed a nasal vaccine for the swine flu; so far, the U.S. government has ordered 12.8 million doses of H1N1 vaccine from Medimmune for $151 million and could order millions more doses
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CDC to decide today on H1N1 vaccination priorities
CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices meets today in an emergency session to discuss which groups should be targeted to receive the pandemic H1N1 vaccine and whether some should have priority
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The long view
We Ran the C.D.C.: Kennedy Is Endangering Every American’s Health
Nine former leaders of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), who served as directors or acting directors under Republican and Democratic administrations, serving under presidents from Jimmy Carter to Donald Trrump, argue that HHS Secretary Roert F. Kennedy Jr. poses a clear and present danger to the health of Americans. He has placed anti-vaxxers and conspiracy theorists at top HHS positions, and he appears to be guided by a hostility to science and a belief in bizarre, unscientific approaches to public health.