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News, Page 43

Germany to step up bird flu testing after new cases discovered

HAMBURG (Reuters) – Germany will on Monday announce compulsory testing of ducks and geese for bird flu before slaughtering after two more cases of the H5N8 strain of the disease were discovered, the country’s agriculture ministry said. A new regulation forcing all ducks and geese to be tested for bird flu before slaughter will be announced later on Monday under urgent approval procedures, a ministry spokesperson said. It is set to take force on Tuesday, she said. This is because ducks and geese show late or even no clinical symptoms of the disease and intensified monitoring is needed, she …

Liberian voter turnout low as Ebola overshadows senate election

By James Harding Giahyue MONROVIA (Reuters) – Turnout for Liberian parliamentary elections on Saturday appeared to be low as concerns about Ebola kept many voters at home. Polling stations were largely empty after voting began at 8 a.m. (3.00 a.m. ET) in the seafront capital Monrovia, with voters occasionally drifting in, despite precautions put in place by the National Elections Commission (NEC). Staff with temperature guns at polling stations checked voters for any signs of the hemorrhagic fever, which is spread via bodily fluids. …

Eli Lilly and Adocia agree to develop ultra-rapid insulin

PARIS (Reuters) – U.S. drugmaker Eli Lilly and French biotech Adocia said on Friday they agreed a worldwide licensing partnership to develop ultra-rapid insulin to treat patients with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. Under the deal, Adocia will receive an upfront fee of $50 million, potential future payments of up to $280 million if BioChaperone Lispro reaches certain development and regulatory milestones, and sales milestones up to $240 million, the companies said in a statement. (Reporting by James Regan; Editing by Blaise Robinson)

UK proposes rules for embryos made from 3 people

LONDON (AP) — New rules proposed in Britain would make it the first country to allow embryos to be made from the DNA of three people in order to prevent mothers from passing on potentially fatal genetic diseases to their babies.

Judge halts Alzheimer’s drug swap until July

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — A federal judge on Monday ordered an Irish drug manufacturer to halt its plans to discontinue its widely used Alzheimer’s medication, allegedly in an effort to drive patients to a newer patented drug.

Four killed after 18-wheeler hits halted Mississippi highway traffic

(Reuters) – Four people were killed early on Saturday after an 18-wheel truck smashed into a row of vehicles that had stopped on a Mississippi Interstate highway to avoid hitting debris spilled by an overturned pickup truck trailer, state police said. A father and his daughter in one car and two young men in another car died in the nearly dozen-car wreck on Interstate 10 in coastal Hancock County, near the Louisiana border, just after midnight, Mississippi Highway Patrol spokesman Johnny Poulos said. “It’s a tragic situation,” Poulos said. …

Online life for teens may lead to real-life problems

By Andrew M. Seaman (Reuters Health) – Teen’s online behaviors may create real-life problems like relationship abuse and negative thoughts on body image, according to two new studies. The studies, published in the journal Pediatrics, suggest that education and monitoring by parents may help reduce these behaviors and their negative consequences. Both studies confirm “what we’re finding out in research, that the online behaviors seem to mimic offline behaviors,” Jeff Temple told Reuters Health. …

Poultry destroyed after bird flu found at Dutch farm

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – A poultry farm in the central Dutch village of Hekendorp is being cleared and a local ban has been imposed on transporting poultry after the discovery of avian influenza, Dutch authorities said in a statement late on Saturday. The government said the 150,000 birds kept at the farm were not free range and were being destroyed in accordance with European rules on avian influenza. …

Parents of Sandy Hook massacre victims say they get scant help from state

By Richard Weizel NEWTOWN Connecticut (Reuters) – Parents of two children killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in Connecticut said on Friday that state officials had failed to provide them adequate mental health care in the wake of one of America's worst mass shootings. “We didn’t even know we had been assigned a case worker the day of the shootings until a few days ago,” said Jeremy Richman, the father of a six-year-old girl killed in the attack. The girl's mother, Jennifer Hansel, said “to this day” it is unclear how and where to get counseling. …