Health News Roundup: African swine fever outbreak; marijuana legalization and more

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

China reports new African swine fever outbreak in Guangxi region

China detected African swine fever in pigs being transported to Guangxi region from outside provinces, the Agriculture Ministry said on Tuesday. The disease was found in 48 pigs in two trucks in Bobai County in Guangxi region, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said in a statement on its website. Nine pigs had already succumbed to the disease, it added.

Parents in medical research labs missing out on government help with conference travel

Few medical schools allow doctor-scientists with children to take advantage of a government program to help with childcare expenses related to travel to professional meetings, a new study suggests. "There is a body of research showing there are gender disparities in academic medical leadership positions, grant funding and invitations to speak at conferences," said the study's lead author, Cora Ormseth, a medical student at the University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine. "A likely driver to explain this disparity is the need for childcare or care of other dependents."

Scientists find how deadly malaria parasite jumped from gorillas to humans

Scientists who resurrected a 50,000-year-old gene sequence have analyzed it to figure out how the world's deadliest malaria parasite jumped from gorillas to humans - giving insight into the origins of one of human history's biggest killers. The researchers said their work also deepens understanding of a process known as zoonosis - when a pathogen that can infect animals acquires genetic changes enabling it to infect humans - as has been the case with diseases such as flu and Ebola.

Fewer emergency surgeries, more deaths in British hospitals vs U.S.

When patients in England or the U.S. have abdominal emergencies like appendicitis or a ruptured aneurysm, half as many in England get surgery and many more die, a new study suggests. Deaths in the hospital were significantly higher in England for all seven types of abdominal emergencies analyzed in the study, suggesting that some of these deaths might be attributable to not having received surgery to correct the problem, researchers write in Annals of Surgery.

Different minds: Temple Grandin on nurturing autistic workers

During the past five decades, Temple Grandin's visually indexed mind, a key feature of her autism, helped make her a leading animal researcher. Diagnosed with "brain damage" at the age of 2, Grandin, now 72, holds a Ph.D. in animal science, teaches at Colorado State University and has written over a dozen books. She was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2017, which recognized her innovations in humane livestock handling and breakthroughs in understanding cattle behavior.

Three drug distributors in talks to settle opioid litigation for $18 billion - WSJ

Three drug distributors are in talks with state and local governments to settle thousands of opioid lawsuits for $18 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the discussions. McKesson Corp, AmerisourceBergen Corp and Cardinal Health would collectively pay the amount over 18 years under the deal currently on the table, according to the Journal.

Weight-loss surgery tied to lower risk of birth defects

Women with severe obesity who have gastric bypass surgery to lose weight before becoming pregnant may be less likely to have babies with birth defects than similar women who don't have weight-loss surgery, a new study suggests. As reported in JAMA, researchers examined data on more than 33,000 women with a history of severe obesity who gave birth, including 2,921 who had gastric bypass surgery and lost weight before conception. Overall, 3.4% of women who had surgery had babies with major birth defects, compared with 4.9% of women who didn't have weight-loss operations.

Repeat concussions declining in U.S. high school sports

While concussion rates remain higher among U.S. high school students playing football than among those playing other sports, a new study also suggests these brain injuries are becoming less common in football practices and repeat concussions are happening less often in all sports. Researchers looked at injuries per athletic exposure (AE) for 20 high school sports during the 2013-2014 to 2017-2018 school years. For every athlete, one practice or competition counts as one exposure.

Mexican Senate set to pass bill to legalize marijuana in next few days

Mexico's Senate will vote for a bill to fully legalize marijuana in the next few days, a key lawmaker told Reuters, marking a major step toward changing the country's approach to the drug by removing it as a source of income for violent drug gangs. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, a leftist critic of Mexico's longstanding drug war, has since last year signaled his openness to the decriminalization of marijuana as part of a broader shift on security policy.

Michigan judge blocks flavored vape ban as Juul faces wrongful death lawsuit

A Michigan judge on Tuesday blocked the state's ban on flavored e-cigarettes about two weeks after it took effect and hours after a wrongful death lawsuit was filed against Juul Labs Inc in the first such case against an e-cigarette firm. Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer had ordered the state ban in September, declaring that teenagers' use of e-cigarettes, known as vaping, was a public health emergency.