Reuters Health News Summary

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

U.S. judge partially blocks Trump administration birth control rules

A judge in California on Sunday partially blocked a set of Trump administration rules that allow employers to opt out of providing health insurance that covers women's birth control from taking effect. U.S. District Judge Haywood Gilliam in Oakland granted a request by 14 Democratic attorneys general for a preliminary injunction. The rules, which are set to go into effect Jan. 14, allow businesses or nonprofits to obtain exemptions to an Obamacare requirement for contraceptive coverage on moral or religious grounds.

China reports African swine fever outbreak in Gansu province

China's agriculture ministry on Sunday said a new outbreak of African swine fever had been confirmed in Gansu province in the northwest of the country. The outbreak occurred on a farm with 109 live pigs in Qingyang city, infecting 44 of the animals and killing nine, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said in a statement.

U.S. substance abuse helpline largely unknown

The U.S. government's toll-free substance abuse helpline, which provides free referral services to those looking for treatment, gets little publicity, a new study finds. By contrast, suicide helplines are regularly publicized, the research team points out.

Public mistrust after Congo election raises Ebola epidemic anxiety

Global health teams battling the world's second largest Ebola epidemic in Democratic Republic of Congo fear an election dispute may deepen public mistrust and allow the epidemic to run out of control. Fostering confidence in health authorities is essential when fighting a disease that can spread furiously through communities where local services are scant and patients are often scared to come forward to government or international response teams.

Chinese police begin new probe into expired vaccines

Police in China's eastern province of Jiangsu have begun an investigation after at least 145 children received expired polio vaccines, the Global Times said on Monday, a new blow to a sector hit by a series of scandals last year. Residents, including the children's parents, blocked traffic and disrupted public order as they gathered outside Jinhu county offices on Friday, said the paper, which is published by the ruling Communist Party's People's Daily.

U.S. medic declared Ebola-free, leaves Nebraska quarantine

A U.S. healthcare worker who was being monitored for the Ebola virus after treating patients in the Democratic Republic of Congo was released from a Nebraska hospital on Saturday after doctors said they had seen no signs of the deadly disease. The individual, whose name was not released for privacy reasons, did not develop Ebola symptoms during 21 days of monitoring at Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, Nebraska, the center said in a statement.

Indonesia seeks to reassure HIV patients over drug supplies

Indonesia's health ministry has sought to reassure HIV patients that sufficient antiretroviral (ARV) drugs will be available for their treatment after some hospitals had run out of supplies. At least 29 hospitals and health centres in Indonesia had exhausted their stocks of a particular type of ARV, known as a fixed-dose combination of Tenofovir, Lamivudin and Efavirens (TLE), Aditya Wardhana of the Indonesia AIDS Coalition, a non-governmental organization, told a news conference.

France to cull wild boar at Belgium border in swine fever alert

France will cull all wild boar in a zone along the Belgian border to try and avoid an outbreak of a deadly swine disease after new cases were discovered nearby in Belgium, the French agriculture ministry said on Monday. France has been on alert for African swine fever since the virus was confirmed in September among wild boar in Belgium, not far from the French border. African swine fever, harmless for humans, is often deadly for pigs, and outbreaks in eastern Europe and China have disrupted the pork industry there.