28 Jan. 1998 UPDATE, pp. 2
Michigan(US)- TB milk scare /SIERRA LEONE measles /KENYA RVF /UGANDA cholera
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State of Michigan (U.S.) - Amid an investigation of an alleged
tuberculosis (TB) outbreak among livestock on a northern Michigan dairy
farm, the Michigan Farm Bureau said the state's milk supply is safe for
human consumption.
A quarantine on the farm was ordered by the Michigan Department of
Agriculture after preliminary TB tests found five "positive reactors"
among the cows.
TB-carrying deer have plagued northern Michigan and threatened
livestock for more than three years, efforts to eliminate the diseased
wild deer have been unsuccessful.
The results of more thorough tests are expected in six to eight weeks.
Consumers were assured that the state's dairy & milk supplies are safe
by local authorities, the UPI news service reported.
Previous tests have turned up "positive reactors", but more thorough
follow-up tests then found no TB.
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Freetown, SIERRA LEONE - More than 3,000 children, ages 5 to 10, were
affected by measles between October and December 1997, throughout towns in
the northern district of Koinaduga. Of these cases, 300 were fatal. A lack
of vaccines and drugs were cited as major contributing factors in these
deaths, by local authorities.
The head of the Maternal & Children Health Program, Al-Hassan Sesay,
was quoted, by Agence France-Presse, as saying, "The area is now free from
the disease." He laid the lack of preparedness in fighting the outbreak at
the feet of the Sierra Leone army, which staged a coup here last May.
He also disclosed that Plan International and UNICEF have now committed
to a vaccination program.
Tetanus, measles, whooping cough and polio are among the diseases
affecting children in this country.
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Nairobi, KENYA - The Kenyan government will not request a Rift Valley
fever (RVF) vaccine developed by the U.S. military until it is approved by
both the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and local regulatory
authorities, the 'EAST AFRICAN' reported today.
Since the vaccine, produced by the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute
of Infectious Diseases, is only used by the military - as part of an
anti-viral biological warfare program - it isn't FDA-approved for civilian
use.
The fact there hasn't been any reported cases of RVF in the U.S.,
according to the 'EAST AFRICAN' news article, makes FDA-approval rather
unlikely.
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Kampala, UGANDA - Uganda's health authorities have halted anti-cholera
vaccinations, saying the existing vaccines were no longer effective.
"We are not just suspending the vaccinations, but getting rid of it all
together because it is not protective at all," Dr. Mesach Mubiru told the
'EAST AFRICAN'
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<end 28 Jan. 98, pp 2 update>
