PITTSBURGH – Pennsylvania researchers have produced a bird flu vaccine made from a genetically engineered human cold virus and shown that it protected 100 percent of vaccinated mice and chickens. While production of a conventional flu vaccine requires months of work and large numbers of fertilized chicken eggs, the researchers reported Thursday that they prepared their vaccine in only 36 days, growing it in a laboratory dish. The team is working with the Food and Drug Administration to begin human tests of the vaccine.
West Virginia: Survivor transferred
The sole survivor of the Sago Mine disaster was transferred Thursday to a rehabilitation hospital, where his family expects him to undergo weeks, or possibly months, of therapy. Randal McCloy, 26, remained in fair condition, doctors said, no longer in a coma but still unable to speak. “The family is very pleased with his progress. However, they are fully aware that the recovery process is still ongoing, and it will be a long process,” a family spokeswoman said. “We’re talking about weeks and months.”
New York: Cigarette sales curbed
Philip Morris USA will stop supplying cigarettes to illegal Internet and mail-order dealers as part of an agreement with attorneys general for 37 states and territories, New York officials said Thursday. The nation’s biggest tobacco company voluntarily agreed to end shipments of any of its products to customers, Indian tribes and enterprises that the states deem illegal, the New York attorney general said. The action is the third prong of the states’ efforts to curb the sale of cigarettes to minors over the Internet and by mail order, often to avoid substantial state sales taxes.
California: Hemp farming approved
The state Assembly on Thursday approved a bill that would add California to the growing number of states seeking to legalize the cultivation of industrial hemp – a biological relative of marijuana. Lawmakers voted 41-30 to pass the bill, sending it to the Senate. If senators also approve it, the proposal would go to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has not taken a position on it. Supporters insist hemp is a safe product that could become a cash crop for farmers because of its use in a long list of products from soap and cosmetics to rope and luggage.
Arkansas: Police seize Ecstasy pills
Police in West Memphis seized three trash bags filled with about 128,628 Ecstasy pills – or 90 pounds of the drug – from the trunk of a car traveling on Interstate 40. The driver of the car was arrested. A deputy who stopped the car for a traffic violation found the drugs. Police said the pills had a street value of between $3.2 million and $6.4 million. The car’s driver was being held on $7 million bail on a charge of possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell or deliver.
Wisconsin: Falling TV kills girl, 4
A 27-inch television fell off its stand and killed a 4-year-old Oshkosh girl who had been lying on the floor. Casandra Scott was alone in her mother’s bedroom when she apparently kicked the stand, and the television toppled onto her. She died of massive head injuries, the coroner said. Police said the girl’s death would be classified an accident. They didn’t have further information about the size of the TV stand or its condition.
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