Spain reports bird flu outbreak on turkey farm
The spread of avian influenza, commonly called bird flu, has ravaged flocks around the world, disrupting supply and fuelling higher food prices. Its spread to mammals, including dairy cows in the United States, has raised concerns among governments about a risk of human transmission.
The outbreak killed almost the entire flock of 6,895 turkeys, with the 10 surviving birds slaughtered as a precaution, the report said.
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FDA recommends 7-OH compound found in vapes be controlled
WASHINGTON, July 29 (Reuters) - The U.S. Food and Drug administration is recommending the scheduling of the 7-OH compound as a controlled substance because of its opioid properties, FDA Commissioner Marty Makary said on Tuesday. Many products containing 7-OH are available in vape stores and the compound is present in drinks and children's gummies, he said at a news conference. The FDA letter to the Drug Enforcement Administration will recommend scheduling 7-OH above a concentration threshold as a Class 1 controlled substance. The substance 7-OH is increasingly recognized as having potential for abuse because of its ability to bind to opioid receptors, the FDA said. "Yet it is sold in vape stores, in smoke shops, and convenience stores, and gas stations, that are popping up all over the United States," Makary said. The FDA is issuing a report explaining the risks of the synthetic substance, made from the kratom plant, and sending a letter to every physician in the United States warning them about the substance. "We're going to continue to try to educate the public," Makary said.
Reuters
2 hours ago
- Reuters
AstraZeneca seeks US drug price cuts amid expansion plans, strong demand
July 29 (Reuters) - AstraZeneca (AZN.L), opens new tab has proposed price cuts to its drugs in the United States, its CEO said on Tuesday, days after unveiling a $50 billion investment to expand there, as President Donald Trump pressures pharmaceuticals companies to lower costs. Speaking to journalists after second-quarter revenue and profit beat expectations, CEO Pascal Soriot said Trump's administration was reviewing the company's proposals. He did not specify which drugs were included. Trump has repeatedly threatened tariffs as he also pushes drugmakers to reduce prices to what other countries pay. However, he signalled earlier this month that companies would be given a year to 18 months to "get their act together" before any sector-specific levies take effect. "We definitely support the idea of rebalancing with some reduction of pricing levels in the U.S., and some increase, we're not talking about massive increases, in Europe," AstraZeneca's Soriot said. He added he expects all medicines for U.S. patients to be produced locally within a few months, and is also considering selling some medicines to customers directly. AstraZeneca shares rose as much as 3% after its results, but pared some gains to trade up 1.6% by 1214 GMT. "The big uncertainty, unsurprisingly, remains U.S. tariffs and Most Favoured Nation pricing in the pharmaceutical sector. AstraZeneca has looked to get ahead of this uncertainty," said Sheena Berry, a healthcare analyst at Quilter Cheviot. The U.S. accounted for more than 40% of AstraZeneca's revenue in 2024. The UK's largest-listed company by market value had prioritised the U.S. market - the world's largest, worth $635 billion - even before Trump's return to office. AstraZeneca's efforts are paying off as strong U.S. demand, and robust sales of newer cancer, heart and kidney disease medicines drove total revenue for the second quarter 11% higher to $14.46 billion, on a constant currency basis. It logged double-digit growth in the U.S. despite headwinds from changes in U.S. Medicare price negotiations, while sales of cancer drugs including Tagrisso, Lynparza, Calquence, Truqap and Imfinzi beat expectations. Core earnings stood at $2.17 per share. Analysts were expecting $2.16, from $14.15 billion in sales, according to a company-provided consensus. AstraZeneca is betting on a wave of expected launches of 20 new medicines and its U.S. expansion to reach $80 billion in annual revenue by 2030 and offset generic competition. On Tuesday, it maintained its 2025 outlook and increased its interim dividend by 3%. The drugmaker in April forecast only a limited impact from potential U.S. tariffs, adding it would be able to meet its annual outlook if the levies on European imports were similar to those in other industries. A European Union-U.S. trade deal over the weekend will result in a 15% tariff on most goods, including pharmaceuticals, from the region.
Reuters
4 hours ago
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What will it take to stave off famine in Gaza?
GENEVA, July 29 (Reuters) - A global hunger monitor said on Tuesday that a famine scenario was unfolding in the Gaza Strip, with malnutrition soaring, children under five dying of hunger-related causes and humanitarian access severely restricted. We examine what needs to be done to reverse the crisis. Israel said on Sunday it would halt military operations for 10 hours a day in parts of Gaza and designate secure routes for convoys delivering food and medicine between 6 a.m. and 11 p.m. The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, says 500-600 trucks a day are needed to prevent more of the 2.1 million population people starving. Since the announcement, over 100 truckloads of aid have been transported into Gaza, according to the U.N. The World Food Program said that only half of the 100 trucks it hoped to get in daily had been allowed in, and it had not been able to reopen the lifeline bakeries and community kitchens that closed in May due to shortages. More than 20,000 children were admitted to hospital with severe malnutrition between April and mid-July, according to the hunger monitor, Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC). The U.N. children's charity UNICEF is focusing on urgent delivery of Ready-To-Use-Therapeutic-Foods, including dense peanut paste and high-energy biscuits, which the acutely malnourished require before they can start eating normal food. Babies under six months need a therapeutic formula that works similarly to the paste. UNICEF says these special foods are set to run out by mid-August. Malnourished children often suffer complications that require antibiotics - something else that the WHO says is running out. Acutely malnourished children can usually recover within 8-10 weeks, experts say. For children under 2, who may have been malnourished during critical brain development, full recovery is harder to achieve. In all cases, long-term access to nutritious foods such as fruit, vegetables and meat is essential for full recovery, requiring commercial supplies to resume, UNICEF says. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a private U.S.- and Israeli-backed group, said it has distributed over 96 million meals since late May, in boxes of staples such as rice, flour, pasta, tuna, beans, biscuits and cooking oil. However, most of these need to be cooked, and the IPC report noted that clean water and fuel are largely unavailable in Gaza. Israel says it will allow airdrops of food, and Jordan and the United Arab Emirates parachuted 25 tons into Gaza on Sunday. Yet it is widely acknowledged that the only effective way to meet Gaza's needs is by truck. Airdrops are many times more expensive and UNICEF notes they feed the first to arrive, not those in most need. Ways must be found to get aid safely to the right recipients. U.N. data gathered between May 19, when Israel lifted its blockade, and July 25 shows that only about one in eight of the 2,010 truckloads of relief collected from crossing points under the U.N.-led aid operation reached its destination. The rest were looted, "either peacefully by hungry people or forcefully by armed actors during transit". An internal U.S. government analysis found no evidence of systematic theft by the Palestinian militant group Hamas of U.S.-funded humanitarian supplies, and the U.N. refuses to cooperate with GHF, Israel's chosen aid provider. But deliveries by the GHF have, if anything, been more dangerous. The U.N. estimates that Israeli forces have killed more than 1,000 people seeking food supplies, most of them near the militarised distribution sites of the GHF, which employs a U.S. logistics firm run by a former CIA officer and armed U.S. veterans. GHF denies that there have been deadly incidents at its sites, and says the deadliest have been near other aid convoys. The Israeli military has acknowledged that civilians have been harmed by its gunfire near distribution centres, and says its forces have now received better instructions.
