Health News Roundup: Novartis drug data manipulation; lung illnesses and e-cigarette use and more

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Novartis executive sold shares before drug data manipulation made public

An unnamed Novartis executive sold 925,400 Swiss francs ($946,000) worth of shares less than three weeks before the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced data from tests of its gene therapy Zolgensma had been manipulated. Novartis announced the stock sale by an executive member of the board of directors or a member of the executive committee in a Swiss stock exchange filing dated July 19. The sale was first reported by Swiss newspaper SonntagsZeitung on Sunday.

CDC probes lung illnesses linked to e-cigarette use

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is investigating a "cluster" of lung illnesses that it believes may be linked to e-cigarette use after such cases were reported in 14 states. The CDC said there was no evidence that an infectious disease was behind the illnesses and that more information was needed to determine whether they were in fact caused by e-cigarette use.

UK's Johnson slams 'mumbo-jumbo' about vaccines after measles rates rise

Britons should get vaccinated against measles and ignore online "mumbo-jumbo" about dangers of the jabs, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Monday after a resurgence of the disease. Britain has lost its "measles-free" status three years after the virus was eliminated and there were more than 230 new cases of measles recorded in the first quarter of 2019.

Philippines checks for African swine fever as pig deaths rise

The Philippines has set up a crisis management team to determine if the deadly African swine fever virus has reached the country after officials detected a rise in pig deaths in some areas. The Bureau of Animal Industry had reported an increased mortality of pigs "raised by farmers in their backyards", but further laboratory tests were needed to confirm any outbreak of swine fever, Agriculture Secretary William Dar said on Monday.

Ebola spreads to remote, militia-run Congo territory

Authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo have confirmed a new case of Ebola in the remote, militia-controlled territory of Walikale, hundreds of kilometers away from where previous cases near the border with Uganda and Rwanda occurred, the Health Ministry said overnight. Pinga, the village where the case was reported, lies about 150 km (95 miles) northwest of Goma, one of the towns affected by the Ebola epidemic, and much further away from the epicenter of the epidemic in Butembo and Beni.