- Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments,
compiled by editors of HealthDay:

Suspected E. coli Causes Nationwide
Recall of 1.2 Million Pounds of Ground Beef

For the second time in a month, beef from a large Nebraska meat
processor has been recalled… this time, 1.2 million pounds.

According to the Washington Post, the fresh ground beef,
believed to contain the dangerous E. coli bacterium, was recalled
from the upscale Whole Foods stores nationwide Saturday. The beef had been
processed at Nebraska Beef of Omaha, one of the nation's largest
meatpackers, the newspaper reported.

Just last month, 5 million pounds of beef produced by Nebraska Beef had
to be recalled after nearly 50 cases of E. coli had been confirmed.
The meat processor was allowed to continue operations after making a
number of operational changes, according to the Associated
Press.

But 31 new cases have been reported since Aug. 1 in 12 states and
Washington, D.C., the Post reports. Seven people who became ill
from E. coli O157:H7 had bought their meat at Whole Foods, the
newspaper reports. Whole Foods Market issued a statement saying that
ground beef bought from from June 2 to Aug. 6 should be thrown out.

Meanwhile, Nebraska Beef continues to operate while being observed by
inspectors from the U.S. department of Agriculture. “We will continue to
investigate to see what is happening at the plant to see what they have to
do to get a handle on their food-safety issues,” USDA spokeswoman Laura
Reiser told the Post.

E. coli O157:H7 can cause bloody diarrhea and dehydration, and
in severe cases, kidney failure. Children, the elderly, and those with
weakened immune systems are at greater risk of serious infection.

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Gift Card Program Latest Effort to Reduce
HIV/AIDS Incidence

Could a $25 gift card given to the right person help stop the spread of
HIV/AIDS?

According to the Associated Press, U.S. government officials
think it's worth trying, to the tune of $1.5 million.

With the latest statistics showing that the majority of HIV cases in
the United States still occur among homosexual males, the U.S. Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention is reviving a 2005 North Carolina
program that resulted in encouraging results for more young gay men
practicing safe sex (using a condom), the A.P. reports.

According to the wire service, the North Carolina program was
relatively simple: CDC officials would go to gay nightclubs and other
places where gay men gathered in the Charlotte, Raleigh and Greensboro
areas and find men who were popular, respected and had social standing.
These men were given four $25 gift cards along with HIV/AIDS marketing
materials and encouraged to promote safe sex among their peers, the wire
service said.

This simple experiment had good results, the A.P. said. Surveys
of 300 men in the three North Carolina communities found a 32 percent
reduction in unprotected sex and a 40 percent reduction in the average
number of sexual partners, the wire service reported. The CDC is going to
try the program now in about 200 communities over a two year period, the
A.P. reported.

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Interaction Between Cholesterol, Heart Meds
May Cause Muscle Damage

People who take the anti-cholesterol drugs Zocor (generic: simvastatin)
or Vytorin along with a medication to control irregular heartbeat are at
increased risk of severe muscle damage, the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration warned Friday.

Zocor and Vytorin, which contains the active ingredient in Zocor, are
statins, and muscle damage is a known but rare side effect of the drugs.
The heart rhythm drug is called either Cordarone or Pacerone (generic:
amiodarone). The danger rises among those who take more than 20 milligrams
daily of the cholesterol drugs, according to the agency warning cited by
the Associated Press.

The FDA first warned in 2002 about an interaction between the two types
of medications, but that hasn't prevented the problem, the AP
reported. Over the past six years, the agency has gathered 52 reports of
serious muscle damage among people who took both medicines.

Most of those injuries required hospitalization, the wire service
said.

The FDA warned that people who are taking the heart rhythm drug should
switch to a different statin to control cholesterol.

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Pandemic Flu Biggest Threat to U.K.:
Report

The most serious danger facing the U.K. over the next five years is
pandemic flu, not terrorism, according to a national threat assessment
released Friday by Britain's Cabinet Office.

The document's authors assessed the level of risk posed by a number of
threats, including terrorism, extreme weather, climate change and pandemic
flu, the Associated Press reported.

The document doesn't actually rank the threats in order of seriousness,
but does say that pandemic flu is considered the most pressing concern,
according to a Cabinet Office spokeswoman.

Previous government assessments concluded that a pandemic flu outbreak
could kill as many as 750,000 people in Britain and that it could take as
long as several months to develop vaccines to deal with a specific strain
of the virus, the AP reported.

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Study Examines Possible Link Between
Gluten/Dairy Products and Autism

A study to investigate whether gluten or dairy products contribute to
autistic behavior is being conducted by researchers at the University of
Texas Health Sciences Center at Houston.

The double-blind clinical study will include 38 autistic children, ages
3 to 9. All of them will be taken off gluten (a protein in wheat) and
dairy products before the start of the four-week study. When the study
begins, half the children will be given gluten/milk powder and half will
be given a placebo powder, United Press International reported.

Some parents of autistic children believe casomorphin (a peptide in
milk) and gliadomorphin (a peptide in gluten) affect their children's
behavior.

“There's a lot of misinformation, so that's why this study is so
important. Hundreds and hundreds of parents think [changing diet] works
but we need serious evidence,” lead investigator Dr. Fernando Navarro said
in a news release cited by UPI.

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Fertility Treatments Offer Little Benefit For
Some Couples

The infertility drug clomifene citrate and artificial insemination do
little to help certain couples who can't have children naturally,
according to Scottish researchers.

Their study included 580 couples who had no obvious reasons for their
inability to conceive. The couples were divided into three groups and
received either the drug, artificial insemination, or no treatment. There
was little difference between the three groups in the numbers of women who
had babies, the Associated Press reported.

Women in the clomifene citrate group had 26 babies, compared to 32
babies in the no-treatment group and 43 babies in the artificial
insemination group. The findings appear in the British Medical
Journal.

“These treatments are a leap of faith,” said lead author Dr. Siladitya
Bhattacharya, a professor of reproductive medicine at the University of
Aberdeen, the AP reported. “None of the treatments studied had any
significant benefit over no treatment at all.”

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