Friday, June 28, 2013
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Tuesday, June 18, 2013
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Sunday, June 16, 2013
Haiti close to eliminating lymphatic filariasis
Press Release
For Immediate Release: June 14, 2013
Contact: Division of News & Electronic Media, Office of Communication
(404) 639-3286
Contact: Division of News & Electronic Media, Office of Communication
(404) 639-3286
Haiti close to eliminating lymphatic filariasis
Haiti’s public health experts are one step closer to completely ridding its population of a disease that has long plagued the country. For the first time, millions of Haitians are now protected from the infectious, parasitic disease called lymphatic filariasis (LF). With some of the highest rates of LF in the world, Haiti remains one of four countries in the Americas where LF is still endemic. The disease is spread by mosquitoes infected with filarial worm parasites and can lead to severe, irreversible disfigurement (elephantiasis) and chronic pain. The World Health Organization has called for the elimination of LF by 2020.Haiti, in conjunction with several public health partners, began administering a community treatment program in 2005, but was stymied due to funding limitations and the crippling 2010 earthquake. Adequate community protection from LF has been achieved despite the complexities of administering medication in camps and tent communities. Coverage was highest among internally displaced persons in camps. CDC’s program is funding three rounds of treatment for residents of Port-au-Prince using earthquake relief funds. Haiti has leveraged these funds and other support from partners, treating more than eight million people. The treatment regimen, at 50 cents per treatment, with the added benefit of deworming for other parasites, is considered a public health best buy.
"It is an extraordinary accomplishment by the people of Haiti to have made so much progress during such difficult times,” said CDC Director Tom Frieden, M.D., M.P.H. “Millions of Haitians will be protected from lymphatic filariasis, a debilitating disease, because they are receiving effective medicines through this program.”
“This success has not been achieved without risk,” noted CDC’s Dr. Valery Madsen E. Beau de Rochars, who has led LF elimination efforts in Haiti since 2001. “Haiti’s Ministry of Health and its partners have gone to extraordinary measures to protect people in rural and urban areas. Every one of them has withstood devastating personal sacrifice,” said Dr. Beau de Rochars. For more information on lymphatic filariasis go to:
www.cdc.gov/parasites/lymphaticfilariasis
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Friday, June 14, 2013
Thursday, June 13, 2013
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
EPA Orders a Stop Sale of Hampton Manufacturing, Inc’s “Antibacterial H-42 Clipper Cleaner”
EPA Press Release:
The SSURO was issued to Hampton Manufacturing, Inc. for selling and distributing a pesticide that was misbranded and whose composition differed from the stated percentage of active ingredient in violation of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). Specifically, testing revealed that the pesticide contained less than the stated amount of the active ingredient. Additionally, some labels had directions for use of the product in a spray application. The only directions for use, approved by the EPA, require the clipper blades, shears and manicure implements to be placed directly into the liquid product.
Before selling or distributing any pesticide in the United States, companies must register the pesticide formulation and label with the EPA. Each producer, seller and distributor is required, under federal law, to ensure that the registered pesticide is formulated and labeled in accordance with EPA requirements.
For additional information about pesticides, visit: http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/.
Connect with EPA Region 4 on Facebook: www.facebook.com/eparegion4
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 11, 2013
June 11, 2013
EPA Orders a Stop Sale of Hampton Manufacturing, Inc’s “Antibacterial H-42 Clipper Cleaner”
Contact: Dawn Harris Young, (404) 562-8421 (Direct), (404) 562-8400 (Main), harris-young.dawn@epa.gov
ATLANTA – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a Stop Sale, Use, or Removal Order (SSURO)
to Hampton Manufacturing, Inc., located in Fayetteville, GA, to stop the sale of “Antibacterial H-42 Clean Clippers,” a pesticide used to kill bacteria and HIV-1 (AIDS Virus) on cutting tools such as clipper blades, shears and manicure implements.
to Hampton Manufacturing, Inc., located in Fayetteville, GA, to stop the sale of “Antibacterial H-42 Clean Clippers,” a pesticide used to kill bacteria and HIV-1 (AIDS Virus) on cutting tools such as clipper blades, shears and manicure implements.
The SSURO was issued to Hampton Manufacturing, Inc. for selling and distributing a pesticide that was misbranded and whose composition differed from the stated percentage of active ingredient in violation of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). Specifically, testing revealed that the pesticide contained less than the stated amount of the active ingredient. Additionally, some labels had directions for use of the product in a spray application. The only directions for use, approved by the EPA, require the clipper blades, shears and manicure implements to be placed directly into the liquid product.
Before selling or distributing any pesticide in the United States, companies must register the pesticide formulation and label with the EPA. Each producer, seller and distributor is required, under federal law, to ensure that the registered pesticide is formulated and labeled in accordance with EPA requirements.
EPA’s is committed to ensuring that pesticides in the marketplace meet FIFRA requirements, since the public cannot readily ascertain with the naked eye the effectiveness of antimicrobial pesticides. Due to the possibility of human health implications if the pesticides are not effective, the EPA continues to place a priority on actions regarding non-complying antimicrobial pesticides.
FIFRA is a federal law that requires the registration of pesticide products and pesticide-production facilities, and the proper labeling of pesticides. This requirement protects public health and the environment by ensuring safe production, handling, and application of pesticides and by preventing false or misleading product claims.
For additional information about pesticides, visit: http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/.
Connect with EPA Region 4 on Facebook: www.facebook.com/eparegion4
And on Twitter: @USEPASoutheast
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Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Friday, June 7, 2013
$18 Million to Study Deadly Secrets of Flu, Ebola, West Nile Viruses
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory News Release:
Read the entire release from the University of Wisconsin-Madison here.
$18 Million to Study Deadly Secrets of Flu, Ebola, West Nile Viruses
June 06, 2013
- Mary Beckman, PNNL, (509) 375-3688
Comprehensive effort to map out body's response in sometimes deadly infections
 Contact PNNL for Image Release
Researchers hope to model how this ball of virus makes people sick. Credit CDC
|
RICHLAND, Wash. – Viruses such as Ebola, West Nile and Influenza all have the potential to kill people they infect, but antiviral drugs either don't exist or are losing effectiveness. A new $18 million study led by pathobiologist Yoshihiro Kawaoka at the University of Wisconsin-Madison with support from the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory seeks to provide a detailed molecular understanding of how humans respond to these viral pathogens. The study's goal is to design and develop new drugs to thwart infection.
The plan is ambitious, seeking to build virtual models of organs the viruses attack -- the liver and the lung -- and to validate their accuracy with experiments in animals in five years. To acquire enough molecular data to create the models, PNNL researchers will perform high-throughput experiments that allow them to make thousands of measurements at a time. About a third of the funding, or $6.6 million, will support the PNNL team's effort to gather data and model the data on computers.
Computational scientist Katrina Waters and analytical biochemist Richard D. Smith will lead the PNNL team. Research teams from Washington University in St. Louis and Rocky Mountain Laboratories in Hamilton, Mont., will infect mice and cell cultures and prepare the samples in laboratories with the appropriate safeguards. The samples will be sent to PNNL and EMSL, the DOE's Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory on the PNNL campus.
At PNNL, researchers will explore four different molecular profiles of the animal tissue and cell culture samples that show:- which proteins are produced by genes within the cells;
- which proteins are active based on the most common molecular accessory found on proteins, a phosphate. Traditionally, researchers have chosen many successful drug targets based on this fact;
- which cellular processes are occurring based on metabolic products;
- the collection of fats that serve as either structural components, energy stores or as signals within cells.
Read the entire release from the University of Wisconsin-Madison here.
| EMSL, the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, is a national scientific user facility sponsored by the Department of Energy's Office of Science. Located at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Wash., EMSL offers an open, collaborative environment for scientific discovery to researchers around the world. Its integrated computational and experimental resources enable researchers to realize important scientific insights and create new technologies. Follow EMSL on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. |
| Interdisciplinary teams at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory address many of America's most pressing issues in energy, the environment and national security through advances in basic and applied science. PNNL employs 4,500 staff, has an annual budget of nearly $1 billion, and has been managed for the U.S. Department of Energy by Ohio-based Battelle since the laboratory's inception in 1965. For more information, visit the PNNL News Center, or follow PNNL on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. |
Thursday, June 6, 2013
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
Monday, June 3, 2013
Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) - update
Press Release:
Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) - update
2 JUNE 2013 - The Ministry of Health in Italy, through the European Union’s Early Warning Response System has notified WHO of an additional two laboratory-confirmed cases with Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in the country.
Both the patients are close contacts of the recent laboratory-confirmed case with recent travel from Jordan. The first patient is a two-year-old girl and the second patient is a 42-year-old woman. They are in stable condition.
Globally, from September 2012 to date, WHO has been informed of a total of 53 laboratory-confirmed cases of infection with MERS-CoV, including 30 deaths.
WHO has received reports of laboratory-confirmed cases originating in the following countries in the Middle East to date: Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). France, Germany, Italy,Tunisia and the United Kingdom also reported laboratory-confirmed cases; they were either transferred there for care of the disease or returned from the Middle East and subsequently became ill. In France, Italy, Tunisia and the United Kingdom, there has been limited local transmission among patients who had not been to the Middle East but had been in close contact with the laboratory-confirmed or probable cases.
Based on the current situation and available information, WHO encourages all Member States to continue their surveillance for severe acute respiratory infections (SARI) and to carefully review any unusual patterns.
Health care providers are advised to maintain vigilance. Recent travellers returning from the Middle East who develop SARI should be tested for MERS-CoV as advised in the current surveillance recommendations. Specimens from patients’ lower respiratory tracts should be obtained for diagnosis where possible. Clinicians are reminded that MERS-CoV infection should be considered even with atypical signs and symptoms, such as diarrhoea, in patients who are immunocompromised.
Health care facilities are reminded of the importance of systematic implementation of infection prevention and control (IPC). Health care facilities that provide care for patients suspected or confirmed with MERS-CoV infection should take appropriate measures to decrease the risk of transmission of the virus to other patients, health care workers and visitors.
All Member States are reminded to promptly assess and notify WHO of any new case of infection with MERS-CoV, along with information about potential exposures that may have resulted in infection and a description of the clinical course. Investigation into the source of exposure should promptly be initiated to identify the mode of exposure, so that further transmission of the virus can be prevented.
WHO does not advise special screening at points of entry with regard to this event nor does it currently recommend the application of any travel or trade restrictions.
WHO continues to closely monitor the situation.
Sunday, June 2, 2013
US Health Officials Prepare for Sars-Like Virus's Arrival - YouTube
Mystery killer MERS has rapidly spread from Middle East to Europe; US hospitals on alert.
Video (2:09)
US Health Officials Prepare for Sars-Like Virus's Arrival - YouTube
Video (2:09)
US Health Officials Prepare for Sars-Like Virus's Arrival - YouTube
Frozen Berries Contaminated With Hepatitis A - YouTube
Dozens of people are sick across five states after consuming the frozen fruit.
Video (2:30)
Frozen Berries Contaminated With Hepatitis A - YouTube
Video (2:30)
Frozen Berries Contaminated With Hepatitis A - YouTube
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