Free Republic

Scientists have discovered a thriving ecosystem of ‘infectious organisms’ aboard the International Space Station. A Nasa team found five different varieties of Enterobacter, which are similar to bugs found in hospitals down here on Earth. The toilet of the orbiting space base was one of the main sites of infection along with the exercise area. Researchers calculated that there is a ‘79% probability that they may potentially cause disease’, although analysis has only been carried out on dead samples at this stage so this risk could prove to be higher or lower following further research. Dr Nitin Singh, who has...

Chinese researchers have identified a bacteria which may cause obesity, according to a new paper suggesting diets that alter the presence of microbes in humans could combat the condition. Researchers in Shanghai found that mice bred to be resistant to obesity even when fed high-fat foods became excessively overweight when injected with a kind of human bacteria and subjected to a rich diet. The bacterium -- known as enterobacter -- had been linked with obesity after being found in high quantities in the gut of a morbidly obese human volunteer, said the report, written by researchers at Shanghai's Jiaotong University....

LAS CRUCES, N.M. -- A New Mexico infant is dead and another is getting treatment at a hospital for a rare illness called enterobacter sakazakii. The New Mexico Department of Health said the illness is sometimes associated with baby formula. A baby boy in Otero County has died from the bloodstream and central nervous system infection. Now the state is advising safe ways to feed infants, including breastfeeding. “We're doing lab tests right now we're working with the Centers for Disease Control, and the Food and Drug Administration to look at every possible avenue. Right now it hasn't been linked...