California to Halt Mammogram Program

(AP) — A state program that provides mammogram services to low-income women is temporarily stopping new enrollments, and plans to raise the eligibility age when it restarts seven months later.

The Every Woman Counts program will be suspended Jan. 1, and when it starts up again July 2, 2010, California Department of Public Health director Dr. Mark Horton says it won’t serve women under the age of 50.

Previously, to be eligible for the program women had to be 40 years old.

Horton blamed declining state tobacco tax revenues and increasing demand for screenings for the cuts.

The program served 311,000 California women this fiscal year and expects to serve 259,000 next year.

Food Safety Tips Offered for Holiday Feasts

SACRAMENTO (CDPH) — With the holiday season in full force, the California Department of Public Health is reminding Californians about the importance of safe food handling to prevent food-borne illness.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 76 million illnesses, 325,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths annually in the United States are related to food-borne diseases.

CDPH recommends the following food safety practices:

1. Keep hands and food contact surfaces clean:

• Always wash your hands with warm, soapy water before and after handling raw foods.

• Thoroughly clean all work surfaces, utensils and dishes with hot soapy water and rinse with hot water before and after each use.

2. Avoid cross contamination:

• Always wash fruits and vegetables in clean sinks under running water and keep fruits and vegetables away from raw meats, poultry, eggs, fish and any other raw animal product.   

3. Cook foods to proper temperatures:

• Before cooking, rinse poultry and seafood thoroughly in cold water and drain well.

4. Refrigerate leftovers:

• Do not eat leftover meat that has been refrigerated for longer than four days or leftover stuffing or gravy refrigerated for longer than two days. If properly wrapped, leftover meat may be safely consumed after being frozen for one to three months.

Information: www.fsis.usda.gov, www.fightbac.org.

Swine Flu Toll Includes a Few Pets

(AP) — A handful of pets have been sickened with swine flu in recent weeks, but here are doctors’ orders: Wash your hands and don’t panic.

The virus, also known as H1N1, has been diagnosed in only a few cats and ferrets in the U.S. since it emerged in April. Veterinarians say they don’t know if that is because so few animals have been tested or because so few have the disease.

A lethargic 13-year-old tabby in the Midwestern state of Iowa that was having trouble breathing was the first house cat to be diagnosed. In the last two months, other cats have tested positive in several states.

Whether doctors are treating humans or pets, they give the same advice: Wash your hands, cover your mouth when you sneeze and limit contact with others if you are ill.

No cases have been reported in dogs or birds, but at least five ferrets in the U.S. tested positive, and one died. There have been a few cases in other animals — including turkeys and pigs — that appear to have gotten the illness from farm workers. A cheetah from a zoo in California also tested positive, but it is unknown whether it had contact with a handler or zoo visitor with swine flu.

Zhu Zhu Pets Defends Toy Safety

ST. LOUIS (AP) — A consumer group contends one of the holiday season’s must-have toys is unsafe.

But the maker of the robotic Zhu Zhu Pets hamsters defended its product against a study by San Francisco-based GoodGuide that said higher-than-allowed levels of the chemical antimony were found in the toy.

Good Guide named Zhu Zhu Pets hamsters one of the top-selling toys with low ratings after finding antimony, which can cause health problems, on the hair and nose of one of the toy hamsters, called Mr. Squiggles.

The group assigned the toy, aimed at 3- to 10-year-olds, a rating of 5.2 on a 10-point scale.

But the toy’s maker, St. Louis-based Cepia LLC, insisted in a statement that its product is safe and has passed rigorous testing. The company said it was contacting GoodGuide to share its testing data and determine how the report was founded.

Zhu Zhu Pets, which retail for about $10, have become this season’s toy craze, following in the footsteps of Tickle Me Elmo and Cabbage Patch Kids. The items fetch $40 or more on resale Web sites like eBay and Craigslist.