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Brazil to Breed GM Mosquitoes to Combat Dengue

Brazil said Monday it will breed huge numbers of genetically modified mosquitoes to help stop the spread of dengue fever, an illness that has already struck nearly 500,000 people this year nationwide.

Dengue affects between 50 and 100 million people in the tropics and subtropics each year, causing fever, muscle and joint ache as well as potentially fatal dengue hemorrhagic fever and dengue shock syndrome.

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Cambodian Deaths Tied to Common Child Illness

A deadly form of a common childhood illness has been linked to the mysterious child deaths in Cambodia that sparked alarm after a cause could not immediately be determined, health officials said Monday.

Lab tests have confirmed that a virulent strain of hand, foot and mouth disease known as EV-71 is to blame for some of the 59 cases reviewed since April, including 52 deaths, according to a joint statement from the World Health Organization and Cambodian Health Ministry. The numbers were lowered from the initial report of 62 cases.

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Chinese Factories Shut Amid Lead Poisoning Fears

Twelve factories in eastern China were closed down after children living nearby were found to have high levels of lead in their blood, state press reported Monday.

While local authorities sought to downplay the significance of the shutdown, it is the latest in a string of incidents to highlight the increasing environmental and health costs of rampant economic development across China.

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Dozens Dead in U.S. Heat as Relief Rolls In

A crippling heat wave that has held large swathes of the United States hostage gave way slightly on Sunday -- but not before leaving dozens dead in several states, officials and local media said.

After days of sweltering highs around 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 Celsius) in the central and eastern parts of the country, forecasters said that cooler air was slowly swooping south from Canada.

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Study: Dogs May Protect Babies from Some Infections

Babies who spend time around pet dogs have fewer ear infections and respiratory ailments than those whose homes are animal-free, said a study released on Monday.

The study, published in the U.S. journal Pediatrics, did not say why but suggested that being around a dog that spends at least part of its day outdoors may boost a child's immune system in the first year of life.

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Philippines on Alert for Mystery Cambodian Disease

The Philippines has stepped up screening of airport arrivals to prevent the entry of a mysterious disease that has killed 60 children in Cambodia, the health secretary said Saturday.

"We are more vigilant in screening passengers at the country's international airports because of this latest news and there will be no let-up until this has been contained," Health Secretary Enrique Ona told reporters.

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Poles Charged With Selling Own Organs Online

Twenty-three people have been indicted in Poland for attempting to sell their own organs, mostly kidneys, over the Internet, national police headquarters said Friday.

"None of these people found a buyer. We found no evidence to indicate that," national police spokesman Mariusz Sokolowski told Agence France Presse.

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India Moves Closer To Rolling Out 'Drugs for All' Plan

India is moving ahead with ambitious plans to spend nearly $5 billion to supply free drugs to patients -- bringing the nation closer to universal health coverage, officials said on Friday.

The "game-changing" scheme, in the words of one top Indian health ministry official, is part of the government's latest five-year spending program (2012-17) and is expected to start in October.

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What is Polonium-210 and How Can it Kill?

Polonium first hit the headlines when it was used to kill KGB agent-turned-Kremlin critic Alexander Litvinenko in London in 2006.

This week, Yasser Arafat's widow has called for the late Palestinian leader's body to be exhumed after scientists in Switzerland found elevated traces of radioactive polonium-210 on clothing he allegedly wore before his death in 2004.

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Bird Flu Kills 8-Year-Old Girl in Indonesia

An 8-year-old girl has died of bird flu in Indonesia's eighth death from the disease this year.

The Health Ministry said the girl, from the West Java district of Karawang, died Tuesday in a Jakarta hospital that had treated her since June 28.

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