# DOE -- Medical and Infectious Disease Update -- Wednesday, June 02, 2004

DOE weekly updates on Bird Flu, Human Influenza, West Nile Virus, or
other illnesses and medical issues will continue as appropriate or as
requested. The following information is current as of Thursday, June 3,
2004, 0700 hours, EST. Information presented is routinely taken from the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (**CDC**),
<http://www.cdc.gov/>, The World Health Organization (**WHO**),
<http://www.who.int/en/>, the Department of Defense Global Emerging
Infections Surveillance and Response System site, (**DoD-GEIS**) -
<http://www.geis.ha.osd.mil/>, and other creditable sources.

**Recent News**

**[ALLERGY]{.underline}**-**[The Accuweather
page](http://wwwa.accuweather.com/adcbin/public/maps_index.asp?type=airq)**
provides current air quality information with specific charts for
[**Grass
Pollen**](http://wwwa.accuweather.com/adcbin/public/maps_index.asp?type=grass),
[**Overall
Pollen**](http://wwwa.accuweather.com/adcbin/public/maps_index.asp?type=overall),
[**Ragweed
Pollen**](http://wwwa.accuweather.com/adcbin/public/maps_index.asp?type=ragweed),
and [**Tree
Pollen**](http://wwwa.accuweather.com/adcbin/public/maps_index.asp?type=tree)
\...
<http://wwwa.accuweather.com/adcbin/public/maps_index.asp?type=airq>**.**

**Chocolate Hearts** -- 2June2004, by *Ed Edelson*, **HealthDayNews**
\--For those who think the world is a bitter place, medical science
offers this sweet health tidbit: Chocolate might be good for you. Not
just any chocolate, and always in moderation, said Mary Engler, a
professor of physiological nursing at the University of California, San
Francisco, School of Nursing. But her new study does find that biting
into the right stuff can make arteries expand, increasing blood flow and
thus reducing cardiovascular risk. Milk chocolate won\'t do, Engler
stressed, because it\'s, well, too milky. Look for darker chocolates,
because darkness is an indicator of high levels of flavonoids, the
chemicals that loosen up the arteries. And this is one instance where
good taste and good health go hand in hand, Engler said. You can tell
that a chocolate has a high flavonoid content because \"the flavor is so
intense and rich,\" she said \...
<http://www.abcnews.go.com/sections/living/Healthology/Chocolate_heart_healthday_040602.html>.

**US Experts to Review New Ultrasound Fibroid Therapy** - 2June2004, by
*Susan Heavey*, WASHINGTON (**Reuters**) - A new treatment using
ultrasound to break up fibrous clumps in the uterus could soon become
the first U.S.-approved alternative to hysterectomies and other surgical
treatments. InSightec, a subsidiary of Tel-Aviv, Israel-based Elbit
Medical Imaging, is seeking U.S. Food and Drug Administration\'s
approval for the new treatment, called ExAblate 2000. On Thursday, an
advisory panel to the FDA is due to discuss whether to recommend
approval of the procedure. The agency usually follows its panels\'
advice. The procedure, already approved in Europe and Israel, uses
magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to pinpoint the non-cancerous tumors.
Heat from conventional ultrasound waves is then used to kill the fibroid
tissue, which is flushed from the body naturally \...
<http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=571&ncid=751&e=1&u=/nm/20040602/hl_nm/health_insightec_dc>.

**Drawing Without a License**: Phlebotomists Get Little Training,
Regulation - 1June2004, by *Ranit Mishori*, **The Washington Post**
\--When you get your blood drawn, the person who tells you to roll up
your sleeve and make a fist may have a professional manner and be
dressed in medical scrubs. That doesn\'t mean he\'s been to medical
school or nursing school \... or any school at all. In most parts of the
country, including the Washington area, phlebotomists \-- workers who
take blood in a medical setting \-- are governed by few rules or none at
all. Unlike your hairdresser, your cosmetologist and even the
aromatherapist down the street \-- most of whom are licensed by some
authority \-- the person probing for a vein may have only a few days of
on-the-job training \...
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A4924-2004May31.html>.

**Genetically-modified virus explodes cancer cells** - 1June2004,
**NewScientist** \--A genetically-modified virus that exploits the
selfish behaviour of cancer cells may offer a powerful and selective way
of killing tumours. Deleting a key gene from the virus enabled it to
infect and burst cancer cells while leaving normal tissues unharmed,
reveals a study by researchers at [Cancer Research
UK](http://science.cancerresearchuk.org/news/current/gmvirus_selfish?version=1)
and Queen Mary\'s School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of
London. Viruses spread by infiltrating the cells of their host.
Normally, the detection of an intruder by a cell triggers a process
called apoptosis, which causes the cell to commit suicide and prevents
the virus spreading further. However, viruses can carry genes that allow
them to slip past this cell death process in normal cells, causing
infection. The UK researchers deleted one such gene in an adenovirus.
This meant that the virus was immediately detected by normal cells and
was unable to spread. But in cancer cells, which grow uncontrollably and
ignore the cell death process, the virus was able to thrive and spread
rapidly. It then multiplied so vigorously that it killed the cancer
cells by making them explode \...
<http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99995056>.

**U.S. Braces for Another West Nile Season**: Simple precautions can
offer protection from mosquito-borne virus - 28May2004, by *Amanda
Gardner*, **HealthDayNews** \--Although West Nile virus season has
barely begun in the United States, experts are already urging people to
take precautionary measures. \"Transmission is starting to occur in bird
populations, and that means we know that people are going to be at risk
and it\'s time for people to start preparing for that,\" said Dr.
Jennifer Brown, an epidemiologist with the division of vector borne
infectious disease at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention in Fort Collins, Colo. \"It\'s time for people to start
thinking about taking personal protective measures against mosquito
bites.\" So far this year, West Nile has been detected in birds and
mosquitoes in 17 states, mostly in the eastern part of the country. The
first human cases surfaced this week, one in New Mexico on Wednesday,
and one that Arizona announced on Thursday \...
<http://www.healthscout.com/news/68/519229/main.html>.

**Widely Used Test Often Misses Prostate Cancer, Researchers Report** -
27May2004, by *Rob Stein*, **Washington Post** Staff Writer \--Many men
who are told they do not have prostate cancer based on the results of a
widely used blood test probably do have tumors, researchers reported
yesterday. The conclusion is based on a new study of nearly 3,000 men
who were told by their doctors that they had nothing to worry about
because their scores on the popular prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test
fell within the \"normal\" range. The study found that 15 percent of
them actually had tumors. Although most of the cancers appeared to be so
slow-growing that they were unlikely to ever require treatment, a small
but significant portion of the malignancies were likely to become
life-threatening, the study found \...
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A58339-2004May26.html>.

**Researchers To Study Fate Of Prions In Wastewater** - 19May2004, by
*Emily Carlson* \--With funding from the [U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency](http://www.epa.gov/), a group of **UW-Madison** researchers will
investigate what happens if infectious prion proteins - considered the
cause of chronic wasting disease and mad cow disease - enter wastewater
treatment plants. Joining UW-Madison scientists Judd Aiken and Joel
Pedersen currently investigating the fate of prion proteins in soil and
landfills, Katherine (Trina) McMahon and Craig Benson, both faculty
members in civil and environmental engineering, will examine the ability
of these infectious proteins to withstand the processes used to treat
wastewater. At most treatment plants, microorganisms decompose
biodegradable material in the sewage and, in theory, should also
disintegrate infectious proteins, says McMahon. But as she points out,
prion proteins generally are very resistant to degradation \...
<http://www.news.wisc.edu/9840.html>.

**Bird Flu 2003-2004: Doe Special Medical Update** -- With information
from WHO and the CDC, this update also explains the concepts of viral
infection, viral replication, antigenic "drift", and antigenic "shift"
...
<http://www.eh.doe.gov/health/news/BIRDFLU2003-2004_DOESPECIALUPDATE_B200402091.pdf>
(PDF) or for a choice of PDF or Word format,
<http://www.eh.doe.gov/health/index.html>**,** and scroll down under
\"News and Features\".

**WHO: Avian influenza-fact sheet** -- 5January2004-Avian influenza
("bird flu") and the significance of its transmission to humans ...
<http://www.who.int/csr/don/2004_01_15/en/>.

**[2004 West Nile Virus Activity in the United States, reported to
CDC.](http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/westnile/index.htm)**
[Maps](http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/westnile/surv&control04Maps.htm)
reporting WNV avian and veterinary activity occurring during 2004 are
updated regularly.

**2004 West Nile Virus Activity in the United States\
(reported to CDC as of June 1, 2004\***)\
\
\
![](media/image1.png){width="6.875694444444444in"
height="3.104861111111111in"}

\*Currently, WNV maps are updated regularly to reflect surveillance
reports released by state and local health departments to the CDC
Arbonet system for public distribution. Map shows the distribution of
avian, animal, or mosquito infection occurring during 2004 with number
of human cases if any, by state. If West Nile virus infection is
reported to CDC Arbonet in any area of a state, that entire state is
shaded accordingly. **Human cases have been reported in New Mexico and
Arizona.**

  --------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------ ------------ -- -- -- --
  **State**       [**[Neuroinvasive                                                                                                                      [**Fever**](http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/westnile/surv&controlCaseCount04_detailed.htm#fever%23fever)   **[Other                                                                                                    [**Total Human Cases Reported to                                                                                                       **Deaths**            
                  disease]{.underline}**](http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/westnile/surv&controlCaseCount04_detailed.htm#neuroinvasive%23neuroinvasive)                                                                                                              Clinical/](http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/westnile/surv&controlCaseCount04_detailed.htm#other%23other)[\   CDC**](http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/westnile/surv&controlCaseCount04_detailed.htm#Surveillance%23Surveillance)                                            
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    ]{.underline}Unspecified**                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

  **Arizona**     **1**                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         **1**                                                                                                                                                        

  **New Mexico**                                                                                                                                         **1**                                                                                                                                                                                                                  **1**                                                                                                                                                        

  **Total**       **1**                                                                                                                                  **1**                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      **2**                                    
  --------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------ ------------ -- -- -- --

<http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/westnile/surv&controlCaseCount04_detailed.htm>

George R. Gebus, MD, MPH, Editor

US Department of Energy

Office of Occupational Health, EH-53/270CC

19901 Germantown Road

Germantown, MD 20874-1290

Phone: 301-903-2876

Fax: 301-903-5072

Email: <george.gebus@eh.doe.gov>

<http://www.eh.doe.gov/index.html>