Health Highlights: March 23, 2015

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

CDC Team to Help Fight Indiana HIV Outbreak

A team from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will arrive Monday to help fight an HIV outbreak in southern Indiana.

So far, there have been 55 confirmed cases and 13 other preliminary positive cases of HIV in the outbreak, according to the state health department. Most of the infections have occurred in people who shared needles while injecting the painkiller Opana, and some other cases have been linked to unprotected sex, the Associated Press reported.

After their arrival, the CDC team will help state health workers with follow-up contacts of HIV-positive people and with data analysis. The outbreak is limited to Clark, Jackson, Perry, Scott and Washington counties.

“We are engaging local, state, and national partners to determine where we can most effectively focus our efforts,” Health Commissioner Dr. Jerome Adams said in a news release, the AP reported.

“Extra care is being taken to invest resources in getting people off drugs and into treatment, since drug abuse is the clear driving force behind this outbreak,” he added.

The state health department has launched a three-month public awareness campaign that provides information on drug abuse, needle disposal, safe sex, and HIV testing and treatment, the AP reported.

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Roundup a ‘Probable Carcinogen,’ Report Says

The weed killer Roundup is a “probable carcinogen,” says a report from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).

Specifically, it’s the main ingredient — glyphosate — in the Monsanto product that is the threat, according to the report in the journal The Lancet Oncology, USA Today reported.

IARC is the cancer research arm of the World Health Organization.

“This latest finding, which links Monsanto’s Roundup to non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and lung cancer is not the first to make these links, but it is one of the strongest indictments of glyphosate, the key ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup,” said Ronnie Cummins, international director for the Organic Consumers Association, USA Today reported.

Monstanto disputed the finding, saying that all “labeled uses of glyphosate are safe for human health.”

In 2013, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency raised the allowed limits of glyphosate residues on fruits and vegetables. The agency plans to review glyphosate this year, USA Today reported.

Most genetically modified crops are designed to be resistant to Roundup.

“The widespread adoption of GMO corn and soybeans has led to an explosion in the use of glyphosate — a main ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup and Dow’s Enlist Duo,” said Ken Cook, president of the Environmental Working Group, USA Today reported.

“Consumers have the right to know how their food is grown and whether their food dollars are driving up the use of a probable carcinogen,” he added.

The group wants the U.S Food and Drug Administration to require GMO foods to be labeled, USA Today reported.

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