African Swine Fever Vaccines Co-Developed by USDA Approved for Commercial Use in Pigs in Vietnam
Vietnam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has approved commercial use of the first two African swine fever vaccines for pigs. The first vaccine is known as NAVET-ASFVAC, co-developed by Navetco Central Veterinary Medicine in Vietnam and United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and the second is called AVAC ASF LIVE, […]
Measles Cases in U.K. Force Students Without MMR Shots to Isolate
In July 2023, the United Kingdom Health Security Agency (UKHSA) made an announcement that measles cases had been identified in the U.K. and there was a high risk for a measles outbreak in London that potentially could result in 160,000 cases of measles in the city if precautions were not taken. The agency warned that […]
U.S. Vaccine Industry Harvesting Blood from Horseshoe Crabs
For many decades, the blue colored blood from horseshoe crabs has been harvested for purposes of medical research and for quality control and safety testing in vaccines, prosthetics and intravenous drugs. Their eggs are also a staple food for a shorebird bird known as the red knot, which is listed as threatened under the Endangered […]
Sleep Crisis Affects Mental Health of Students in U.S.
At least 50 percent of middle school students and 75 percent of high school students in the United States are not getting enough hours of sleep on a daily basis, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).1 Commenting on children not getting enough sleep, Oleg Tarkovsky, director of Behavioral Health Services […]
Los Angeles School District Encourages Sick Students to Attend Classes
When Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) in California reopened following the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) declaration, public school officials initially demanded that parents keep students at home if they showed even the slightest symptoms of illness.1 At one time, LAUSD had the strictest COVID-19 protocols in the United States, which […]
China Had 1.87 Million Excess Deaths After Ending “Zero COVID” Policy
During the COVID-19 pandemic, China implemented a “zero COVID” policy that focused on the idea of keeping numbers of SARS-CoV-2 infections as close to zero as possible. To try to achieve that target, the Chinese government implemented stringent social distancing measures, such as ordering strict citywide lockdowns, mass testing and mandatory quarantining of sick people […]