Reuters Health News Summary

Following is a summary of current health news briefs. China reports first African swine fever outbreak in Tibet

China's agriculture ministry late on Sunday confirmed the first outbreak of African swine fever in the country's Tibet Autonomous Region. The disease was found in two counties and one district of the city of Linzhi, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said in a statement; Linzhi is in southeastern Tibet near the border with India. China's Inner Mongolia reports human infection of H7N9 bird flu virus: Xinhua

China's Inner Mongolia region reported on Saturday a case of human infection with the H7N9 bird flu virus, the official Xinhua news agency reported. The same bird flu strain killed almost 300 people in the country during the winter of 2016/2017. Exclusive: Pain-care specialist agrees to testify against Purdue, other drug makers - court documents

A physician ally of Purdue Pharma LP whose views helped drive the explosive growth in the use of addictive pain relievers for common aches and pains in the United States has agreed to testify against the OxyContin maker and other drug companies, newly disclosed court records show. Dr. Russell Portenoy, a professor at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, was an early advocate for the use of opioids for chronic pain, a position he shared in medical journal articles, with regulators, at physician conferences and in other forums. He also was named as a defendant in some of the lawsuits filed by cities, counties and states seeking to hold opioid makers - including Endo and Mallinckrodt Plc - and their distributors liable for the cost of the U.S. opioid epidemic. China reports new African swine fever outbreak in Xinjiang region

China said on Monday it had confirmed a new outbreak of African swine fever in Xinjiang region, as the highly contagious disease spreads through the world's largest hog herd. The outbreak in Yecheng county in the northwestern province killed 39 animals on a farm of 341 pigs, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said in a statement on its website. Alnylam, Regeneron to partner for RNAi treatments

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc on Monday agreed to partner to develop treatments for eye and central nervous system diseases using RNA interference. Regeneron will make a $400 million upfront payment to Alnylam and to purchase $400 million of Alnylam equity at a price per share of $90.