Health News Roundup: Scientists use rubber hands in OCD therapy; treatment for very rare genetic bone disorder and more

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Feces-smeared fakes: Scientists use rubber hands in OCD therapy

A new type of therapy using feces and fake rubber hands may be able to help patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) overcome their fears of touching contaminated surfaces, according to new research. "OCD can be an extremely debilitating condition for many people, but the treatments are not always straightforward," said Baland Jalal, a Cambridge University neuroscientist who was part of a team assessing if rubber hands could be a potential new type of exposure therapy.

Regeneron's bone disorder drug reduces lesions in mid-stage study

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc said on Thursday its experimental treatment for a very rare genetic bone disorder showed a nearly 90% reduction in new lesions compared to placebo, in a mid-stage study. The drugmaker said it plans to use detailed results from the trial as the basis of regulatory submissions and that it would also conduct a study in children with FOP.

African swine fever spreads near the German border: OIE

Poland recorded 55 outbreaks of African swine fever in wild boar near the German border last month, the world animal health body said on Thursday, in a sign the deadly virus is spreading near one of the European Union's biggest pork exporters. A report posted on the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) website showed that the disease, which has devastated herds in the world's top pork producer China, had now been found in a village less than 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) from Germany.

WHO says new virus may have caused China pneumonia outbreak

A cluster of more than 50 pneumonia cases in China's central city of Wuhan may be due to a newly emerging member of the family of viruses that caused the deadly SARS and MERS outbreaks, World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday. While the United Nations health agency said it needed more comprehensive information to confirm precisely the type of pathogen causing the infections, it said a new coronavirus was a possibility.

Pilot study of Asian genomes finds novel gene variants, highlights diversity

An effort to map genomes across Asia has the potential to find novel gene variants affecting disease and responses to drugs, and to reveal the complex origins of Asian populations, early results suggest. In a pilot study, researchers looked at more than 1,200 whole-genome sequences from individuals representing hundreds of population groups across Asia and compared them with existing sequence data from almost 600 African, European and American samples, according to the report in Nature.

U.S. vaping-related deaths rise to 57, cases of illness to 2,602

U.S. health officials on Thursday reported 2 more deaths from a mysterious respiratory illness tied to vaping, taking the total death toll to 57. As of Jan. 7, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported 41 new cases from the illness associated with use of e-cigarettes, or vaping products. The number of people hospitalized now stands at 2,602.

Bristol-Myers confident of approvals linked to higher Celgene investor payout: Bristol executive

Bristol-Myers Squibb Co is confident it will receive U.S. approvals for all three experimental drugs tied to a potentially higher payout for Celgene shareholders under terms of its acquisition of the U.S. biotech company, Bristol's chief medical officer said. New York-based Bristol-Myers bought Celgene for more than $74 billion in a deal announced last January. As part of that agreement, Celgene shareholders received a so-called CVR, or contingent value right, worth $9 per share if three high-profile drugs in Celgene's pipeline receive U.S. approvals by March 2021.

Merck's Keytruda wins U.S. FDA approval for bladder cancer

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Wednesday it approved Merck & Co Inc's Keytruda for a hard-to-treat form of bladder cancer, making it the first new treatment for cancer in more than two decades. The therapy was approved for patients with high-risk, non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer who have undergone prior treatment and are ineligible for or have opted out of surgical removal of the bladder.

After opioid overdose, poor teens rarely get addiction treatment

Less than one-third of teens and young adults who overdose on opioids receive addiction treatment afterward, and the few who do get help receive counseling instead of medication to combat substance misuse, a U.S. study suggests. Researchers examined data on more than 4 million youths aged 13 to 22 with coverage through Medicaid, the government insurance program for the poor, between 2009 and 2015. During that period, 3,791 young people had nonfatal opioid overdoses.

'Gold rush': Race is on for health data in East Europe's frontier market

Eastern Europe is a new frontier for private medical care, and insurers and tech startups are racing to steal a march on their rivals by harnessing the region's health data. Growing numbers of people in Eastern European states, from Hungary and Poland to Romania, are turning to private health. The shift is being driven by rising wages, coupled with low public health spending which has often led to staff shortages and long waiting times for tests and surgery.