Public health

November 2, 2009 -- Healthy pregnant women mount a robust immune response following just one dose of 2009 H1N1 influenza vaccine, according to initial results from an ongoing clinical trial sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) of the National Institutes of Health.

“For pregnant women, who are among the most vulnerable to serious health problems from 2009 H1N1 infection, these initial results are very reassuring,” says NIAID Director Anthony S. Fauci, M.D. “The immune responses seen in these healthy pregnant women are comparable to those seen in healthy adults at the same time point after a single vaccination, and the vaccine has been well tolerated.”    » read more »

Nov. 2, 2009 -- CHICAGO – November is National Diabetes Awareness Month, and to mark its start the American Medical Association (AMA) is offering the public easy tips to reduce the risk for type 2 diabetes.

“Diabetes is a serious disease, but it can be controlled and often prevented by maintaining a healthy lifestyle,” said AMA Board Member David O. Barbe, MD. “Eating right, exercising regularly and maintaining a healthy weight all greatly reduce the risk for type 2 diabetes.”    » read more »

Washington, DC - 10/30/2009 - A survey of state health departments regarding their capacity to track produce-related foodborne illnesses found that the response and investigation of outbreaks varies greatly and can lead to delays in public-health response.

The survey was commissioned by the Produce Safety Project (PSP), an initiative of The Pew Charitable Trusts at Georgetown University, and conducted by Safe Tables Our Priority (S.T.O.P.). Thirty-nine of the 51 state and District of Columbia health departments responded to the survey, which asked about the types of questions and questionnaires administered to victims of foodborne illness, the time frame in which they were completed, and how states collected and stored the resulting data for calendar year 2007.    » read more »

October 30, 2009 -- As cases of H1N1 continue to mount in Connecticut, Governor M. Jodi Rell today has asked the state Department of Public Health for an inventory of anti-viral medication in Connecticut and is urging federal health officials to immediately release a second round of anti-viral medication from the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS).

This development comes the same day the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) raised Connecticut’s flu activity classification to “widespread,” the highest level of activity.    » read more »

Pivotal testing of RTS,S is on track for target enrollment of 16,000 children

NAIROBI, KENYA November 3, 2009 -- A pivotal efficacy trial of RTS,S, the world’s most clinically advanced malaria vaccine candidate, is now underway in seven African countries: Burkina Faso, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania. The trial, which is expected to involve up to 16,000 children, is on schedule, with more than 5,000 children already enrolled, researchers announced Tuesday at the 5th Multilateral Initiative on Malaria Pan-African Malaria Conference.    » read more »

Sequence will Spur Advancements in Swine Production and Human Medicine

WASHINGTON, Nov. 2, 2009 - An international team of scientists, funded with a $10 million grant from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), has completed the first draft of the genome of a domesticated pig. This first draft sequence will spur advancements in swine production and human medicine.

"Understanding the swine genome will lead to health advancements in the swine population and accelerate the development of vaccinations for pigs," said Roger Beachy, NIFA director. "This new insight into the genetic makeup of the swine population can help reduce disease and enable medical advancements in both pigs and humans."    » read more »

Appropriations Bill Also Includes an Additional $50 million for the Bay

29-Oct-2009 -- WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Barbara A. Mikulski and Benjamin L. Cardin (both D-MD) today praised final Congressional passage of the Interior-Environment Appropriations Conference Report, which will provide $72 million in new funding to improve Maryland’s drinking water systems and to help communities finance local sewer improvements.

The bill also includes $50 million, the largest funding level ever, for programs to control urban, suburban and agricultural runoff in the Chesapeake watershed. The Conference Report – which also includes a Continuing Resolution to fund much of the federal government through December 18 – now goes to the President who is expected to sign it.    » read more »

October 30, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.), the Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, today applauded the long overdue enactment of his legislation by the Obama Administration to finally end a travel ban that prevented those with HIV from entering the United States.

Since 1987, the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) contained a provision to bar HIV positive individuals from travelling or immigrating to the US, including HIV positive doctors and experts, as well as refugees seeking asylum. No scientific evidence supported the ban as effective for disease control or to curb costs to the public health care system.    » read more »

Carper Amendment in Interior Appropriations Bill Directs the EPA to Study Black Carbon Emissions to Improve Public Health & Reduce Global Warming

October 29, 2009 -- WASHINGTON – A plan to help reduce black carbon emissions, authored by Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.), was included in the final Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act (H.R. 2996), which passed the Senate this evening by a vote of 60-40.

The Carper provision directs the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to study the environmental impact of dangerous black carbon, and to determine the most cost-effective ways to reduce its emissions to improve public health and reduce global warming.    » read more »

Data will help protect public health from harmful emissions

10/26/2009 -- TIJUANA, MEXICO – Today in Tijuana B. C., Mexico, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Mexican Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT), the Environmental Protection Agency of Baja California, the California Air Resources Board and the Border Environment Cooperation Commission will initiate the Baja California Air Monitoring Network coverage assessment study and the Tijuana-Rosarito Emissions Inventory.    » read more »

October 22, 2009 -- WASHINGTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is marking National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week by announcing several actions the agency proposes to take to prevent lead poisoning. Lead poisoning may cause a variety of adverse health effects, including brain and nervous system disorders, high blood pressure, and hypertension. Children six years old and under are most at risk.

EPA has issued a proposed rule to expand the coverage of the 2008 Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting Rule. The new rule proposes to eliminate a provision that exempted some housing from the rule’s requirement that contractors be trained and certified and use lead-safe work practices when renovating, repairing or painting a pre-1978 home.    » read more »

Testimony of Alex Garza, MD,MPH, Office of Health Affairs; Richard Serino,FEMA; Marcy Forman, ICE before U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Homeland Security Subcommittee on Emerging Threats,Cybersecurity and Science & Technology on "Real-Time Assessment of the Federal Response to Pandemic"

October 27, 2009 -- Cannon House Office Building -- (Written Testimony)    » read more »

October 18 -24 is National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week

(San Francisco, Calif. -- 10/19/2009) National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week, October 18-24, is set aside to educate parents and children about the dangers of lead exposure, especially lead-based paint hazards in housing.

Lead poisoning is the number one environmental hazard threatening children in the United States -- affecting more than 300,000 children who are less than six years old. Lead exposure can harm young children and babies even before they are born, and children who appear healthy can also have high levels of lead in their bodies. The behaviors and rapid growth of children less than six years old make them more likely to be harmed by lead.    » read more »

(Chicago, Ill. - October 19, 2009) In response to a citizen petition on Indiana's air permit modification for BP's Whiting Refinery, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced that it has accepted some issues while denying others. In August 2008, the Environmental Law & Policy Center, Natural Resources Defense Council, Hoosier Environmental Council, Save the Dunes and Sierra Club petitioned EPA to formally object to the state's modification of BP’s operating permit for an expansion project to refine high-sulfur Canadian crude oil.    » read more »

Agriculture Secretary Vilsack: "U.S. Pork Is Safe to Eat"

WASHINGTON, Oct. 19, 2009 - Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that USDA's National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL) has confirmed the presence of 2009 pandemic H1N1 influenza virus in a pig sample collected at the Minnesota State Fair submitted by the University of Minnesota. Additional samples are being tested.

"We have fully engaged our trading partners to remind them that several international organizations, including the World Organization for Animal Health, have advised that there is no scientific basis to restrict trade in pork and pork products," said Vilsack. "People cannot get this flu from eating pork or pork products. Pork is safe to eat."    » read more »