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Poison pineapples case for court

THE Eastern Cape pineapple industry is to take Protea Chemicals to court next month, seeking R100m in damages over claims that fertiliser the company imported from Hong Kong contained higher levels of the heavy metal cadmium than specified.

As a result, the industry, which previously accounted for about 3% of the world's canned pine-apples, was expecting turnover to be half what it normally was.

Experts warn of potential dengue fever outbreak in US

February 2008 Dengue fever and its severe forms, dengue hemorrhagic fever and dengue shock syndrome, are potential threats to residents of the continental United States, according to a recent commentary by leading health experts.

Public health officials need to be aware of the threat because no treatments or vaccines for dengue are currently available. Dengue fever is already present along the U.S.-Mexico border and in Puerto Rico.

“Clinicians should know how to identify and diagnose dengue fever. They need to be aware of dengue fever and where it can occur, which is theoretically anywhere in the United States for imported cases,” David Morens, MD, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases senior advisor, told Infectious Disease News. “Dengue fever was a common occurrence in the past and could be again where mosquito vectors are present, particularly in urban areas.”

Japanese encephalitis could emerge in North America

Japanese encephalitis has the potential for introduction and establishment in North America and could, in theory, produce a threat greater than West Nile virus, according to recent findings. Increased commerce with endemic areas and a lack of vector surveillance could increase the viability and establishment of the viral encephalitis into new regions, experts warn.

“The likelihood of introduction and establishment is greater than that of West Nile virus,” said Frank L. Mannix, MPH, a researcher in tropical medicine at the Tulane University School of Public Health. “We need to be aware of issues around the world, not only because they may affect us, but because what is happening elsewhere could be happening here.”