Free Republic

WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration says 25 pharmaceutical companies are voluntarily phasing out the use of antibiotics for growth promotion in animals processed for meat. Citing a potential threat to public health, the agency in December asked 26 companies to voluntarily stop labeling drugs important for treating human infection as acceptable for use in animal production. The FDA did not name the one company that has not agreed to withdraw or revise its drugs...

Enlarge Image Crystal ball. The 2009 pandemic virus has the same amino acids at the tip of its HA as the 1918 strain shown here bound to an antibody (red and yellow ribbons) taken from a survivor of the 1918 pandemic. Credit: R. Xu et al., Science (Advanced Online Edition) Researchers have found that the H1N1 swine influenza virus that last year caused the first human pandemic in 4 decades shares an important surface protein with the virus responsible for the 1918 flu, the deadliest in human history. This newfound similarity answers many mysteries about the 2009 pandemic, including...