Reuters Health News Summary

Following is a summary of current health news briefs. Interval training burns off more pounds than jogging or cycling

(Reuters Health) - Workouts that mix up a variety of intense exercises with brief recovery periods in between may help people lose more weight than chugging along at a steady pace on a treadmill or exercise bike, a research review suggests. Doctors often advise people trying to lose weight to focus on cutting calories and getting more active. But the ideal type and amount of exercise for optimal weight loss isn't clear, researchers note in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. Intercept's drug for patients with liver fibrosis due to NASH meets main goal

Intercept Pharmaceuticals Inc said on Tuesday its treatment testing patients with liver fibrosis due to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) met the main goal in a late-stage study. The company's shares rose 32 percent to $145.98 before the bell on Tuesday. Mongolia to suspend KFC outlets for inquiry after food poisoning reports

A Mongolian regulator said it will suspend operations at KFC restaurants temporarily to conduct inquiries, as 42 people were hospitalized and hundreds showed food poisoning symptoms after eating at one of the outlets of the fast-food chain. The incident occurred at the Zaisan outlet in Ulaanbaatar last week due to its contaminated water supply, the city's Metropolitan Professional Inspection Agency said, adding that 247 people had reported symptoms such as diarrhea and vomiting. As medical costs mount, Japan to weigh cost-effectiveness in setting drug prices

Japanese doctor Yasushi Goto remembers prescribing the cancer drug Opdivo to an octogenarian and wondering whether taxpayers might object to helping fund treatment, which at the time cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, for patients in their twilight years. Japanese have easy access to new medicines, whose prices are decided by the government and subsidized by the country's public health insurance system. China reports first African swine fever outbreak in Guangxi region

China said on Tuesday it had confirmed the first outbreak of African swine fever in the Guangxi Autonomous Region in the country's south, as the highly contagious disease spreads through the world's largest hog herd. The outbreak in the city of Beihai in Guangxi killed 924 animals in two farming communities with 23,555 pigs, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said in a statement on its website. Pfizer-Lilly drug shown to help reduce back pain in late-stage trial

A non-opioid painkiller developed by Pfizer Inc and Eli Lilly and Co succeeded in reducing chronic low back pain when used in a stronger dose, results from a late-stage study showed on Tuesday. But a lower dose of the drug, tanezumab, failed to alleviate pain when compared with a placebo, the companies said in a statement. Environmentalists seek tougher EU curbs on Balkan coal power plants

Environmentalists urged EU policy makers on Tuesday to take a tougher stance on air pollution from coal power plants in the Western Balkans, blaming the fumes for 3,900 deaths across Europe each year. The 16 Communist-era plants with 8 gigawatts (GW) capacity emitted the same amount of sulfur dioxide in 2016 as 250 coal-fired plants with 30 times more capacity in the rest of the European Union, five environmentalist groups said in a report. Ireland urges people not to stockpile medicines ahead of Brexit

Ireland's deputy prime minister on Tuesday called on people not to stockpile medicine before Britain quits the European Union, saying the country had at least eight weeks of supply and was moving to source medicines from other EU countries. Despite its large pharmaceutical industry, Ireland relies on Britain for many medicines. Some of them may not be approved for use in the EU if Britain leaves on March 29 without a deal, Simon Coveney told RTE radio. Philippines revokes Sanofi's product license for dengue vaccine

The Philippines has permanently halted the sale, distribution and marketing of Sanofi's dengue vaccine in the country after the French drug maker failed to meet the directives of regulators. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Director General Nela Charade Puno said on Tuesday registration certificates for Dengvaxia products have been revoked because of Sanofi's "brazen defiance" of the agency's directives. Vietnam confirms first African swine fever cases on three farms

African swine fever has been detected on three farms in Vietnam, authorities said on Tuesday, the first confirmed cases of the highly contagious disease in the Southeast Asia country. All pigs on the farms located in Hung Yen and Thai Binh provinces, southeast of the capital Hanoi, were culled, the Animal Health Department said in a statement.