2. NOTICES

20th APEC ISTWG MEETING – VIETNAM
The 20th meeting of the APEC Industrial Science and Technology Working Group (ISTWG) scheduled for April 23rd–27th in Hanoi, Vietnam will include a side meeting on Health/Emerging Infections on Tuesday, April 24 at the Melia Hanoi Hotel. The agenda for the side meeting will focus on APEC emerging infectious disease (EID) projects and proposals, strategy development, including ways in which APEC can
provide added value to global efforts, and continuing the electronic dialogue.

MEAT PLANT RECALLS MEAT AND TURKEY PRODUCTS
Bar–S Foods Co. is voluntarily recalling approximately 14.5 million pounds of ready–to–eat meat and poultry products that may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. These products include luncheon meats, whole hams, sausages, hot dogs, corn dogs and various others produced at the Clinton, Oklahoma facility. The products were distributed to retail stores, delis, and institutions throughout the U.S. as well as in Japan, Korea, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and the South Pacific. The Clinton plant has been voluntarily closed since March 29, 2001 after the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) discovered the bacteria in a sample of sliced ham produced at the plant.

Consumption of contaminated food products can cause listeriosis, an uncommon but potentially fatal disease. While healthy people do not generally develop the disease, pregnant women, infants, the elderly, and those with weak immune systems are at increased risk
[FSIS PRESS RELEASE 4/12/01, http://www.fsis.usda.gov/OA/recalls/prelease/pr021�.htm]

UN TO LEAD FIGHT AGAINST HIV/AIDS
Koffi Annan, the Secretary General of the United Nations, Gro Harlem Brundtland, Director–General of the World Health Organization (WHO), and Peter Piot, Executive Director of the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS, met with CEOs and senior executives of six pharmaceutical companies to discuss measures to improve access to better healthcare, HIV medicines, and HIV–related medicines for developing countries.
The Secretary General urged the pharmaceutical companies to continue efforts to make drugs more affordable while also underscoring the need for active participation of all partners in the fight against AIDS, calling for increased political will and significant additional funding. The UN has convened a Special Session of the General Assembly on HIV/AIDS to focus on intensifying international action and marshalling needed resources
to combat the spread of HIV/AIDS. The session will be held from June 25㪳 in New York. For more information, visit the following URL:
http://www.unaids.org/whatsnew/press/eng/pressarc01/amsterdam_050401.html.

UNSTERILIZED EQUIPMENT FUELS SPREAD OF HIV, HCV, HBV IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
Recent WHO figures estimate that approximately 12 billion injections are administered globally each year, of which only 10 percent are for immunizations, and 75 percent are estimated to be unnecessary. According to Dr. Keith M. Sabin, an epidemiologist with the Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention at the CDC in Atlanta, this large number of unnecessary injections is contributing to the spread of blood–borne pathogens, such as HIV, hepatitis C virus (HCV), and hepatitis B virus (HBV), due to the re–use of non–sterile injection equipment. Dr. Sabin estimates that approximately 80 percent of injections in southeast Asia, just under 80 percent in Africa, and nearly 70 percent in Eastern Europe involve the use of nonsterilized equipment. 1998 WHO figures estimate that cases of chronic infection with HIV, HCV, and HBV in Africa were 22.7 per million,
22.5 per million, and 59.3 per million, respectively. Similarly, figures for Asia were 7.3 per million, 107.5 per million, and 286.8 per million for HIV, HCV, and HBV, respectively. In turn, high prevalence rates increase the chances that these infections are transmitted through the use of non–sterile injection equipment.
[REUTERS/MEDSCAPE 4/5/01, http://www.medscape.com/]

FAO, WHO – REQUEST FOR CAMPYLOBACTER RISK ASSESSEMENT INFORMATION
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and WHO have recently initiated work on risk assessment of Campylobacter spp. in broilers (chickens raised for broiling). During a meeting at the FAO headquarters in Rome in March 2001, a number of areas were identified where data are needed to address the issue of risk. The FAO and WHO are issuing a second call for data relevant to risk assessment of Campylobacter in broilers. Specifically, the key data requirements include: Exposure assessment (on–farm, processing, preparation, and consumption) and hazard characterization. Please submit risk assessments and the relevant information no later than May 1 to lourdes.costarrica@fao.org or toyofukuh@who.int. You may also view additional information on the web at either http://www.fao.org/ES/ESN/pagerisk/camp2.htm or
http://www.who.int/fsf/mbriskassess/index.htm.

3. JOURNAL ARTICLES

TRANSMISSION OF BSE AND vCJD IN A PRIMATE MODEL
Researchers in France have shown that bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) can be transmitted from primate to primate intravenously. Dr. Corinne Ida Lasmezas and colleagues in France used a macaque model to determine to what extent the BSE/vCJD agent is pathogenic to humans by intracerebral and intravenous routes. In this study, the researchers first infected macaques intracerebrally with concentrated samples of the BSE
and vCJD agents obtained from infected cattle and humans, respectively. Samples from the BSE–infected macaques were then injected either intracerebrally or intravenously to healthy macaques. All of the macaques injected with the infectious agent developed the disease. The researchers found that transmission of the vCJD/macaque–BSE agent resulted in a more virulent form of the disease than did the BSE agent from cattle,
suggesting an adaptation of the BSE agent to primates. The intravenous route was also shown to be very efficient for secondary transmission of BSE. The authors caution that the results do not prove that vCJD can be passed to humans through the blood supply; it is not currently known whether the concentration of the infectious agent is adequate to transmit the infection. Nonetheless, the authors contend that their findings further
support the need for enhanced global CJD surveillance efforts.
[PROC NATL ACAD SCI USA 2001;98:4142�]

DISTINCT VARIANT OF VANCOMYCIN–RESISTANT E. FAECIUM ASSOCIATED WITH HOSPITAL EPIDEMICS
A recent study shows that a distinct subpopulation of vancomycin–resistant Enterococcus faecium (VREF) has been associated with hospital outbreaks in various countries. Dr. Rob J. L. Willems, from the National Institute of Public Health and the Environment in the Netherlands, and colleagues genotyped 120 VREF isolates associated with hospital outbreaks and 45 nonepidemic–associated isolates from the United States, Europe, and Australia. From this genotyping, the researchers identified a genetically related epidemic VREF genogroup that was associated with hospital outbreaks in all three continents and genetically distinct from the non–epidemic isolates. In addition, the esp virulence gene, which has been associated with increased virulence in E. faecalis, was present in 15 of the 16 epidemic clones tested but not in any of the 29 nonepidemic isolates tested. This gene was also absent from all 98 VREF isolates from Dutch animals. The authors suggest that screening for the presence of the variant esp gene or the specific purK allele, which was identical in 36 of 38 epidemic isolates examined, could serve as a useful marker for controlling such infections.
[LANCET 2001;357:858𤵇]

4. JOIN THE E–LIST AND RECEIVE EINet NEWS BRIEFS REGULARLY
The APEC EINet listserv was established to enhance collaboration among academicians and public health professionals in the area of emerging infections surveillance and control. Subscribers are encouraged to share their material with colleagues in the Asia–Pacific Rim. To subscribe (or unsubscribe), please contactmailto:nwc@u.washington.edu. Further information about the APEC Emerging Infections Network is available at http://www.apec.org/infectious.