Health News Roundup: Missouri orders lone abortion clinic to close; African swine fever outbreak and more

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Missouri orders lone abortion clinic to close; judge keeps it open for now

Missouri health officials on Friday refused to renew the license of the state's only abortion clinic, but the facility will remain open for now as a judge left in place an injunction blocking its closure. At a brief state circuit court hearing on Friday, Judge Michael Stelzer said it might be days before the court would come to a decision on whether the state could shut its only abortion clinic, which is operated by women's healthcare and abortion provider Planned Parenthood.

In border camps, Syrians rely on doctors in trucks and tents

The Syrian war has inflicted all kinds of hardships on Najwa Abdelaziz but she still manages to make light of one of them. "The uprising ruined my teeth," she jokes while getting dental care for the first time in years in the back of a truck. The 33-year-old could not find help for her toothache even after she fled Islamic State rule and took refuge in northwest Syria. But a dentist in a mobile clinic has now arrived at the Rayyan camp where she lives with her husband and four children in a tent among the trees.

China reports new African swine fever outbreaks in Guizhou province

China's southwestern province of Guizhou has reported new outbreaks of African swine fever in two villages, the agriculture ministry said on Friday. The new outbreaks have killed 82 pigs and infected 114 more at farms in the two villages, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said in a statement on its website.

Thailand bans pig imports from Laos after African swine fever outbreak

Thailand will ban pig imports from Laos for 90 days after its neighbor confirmed the first outbreak of deadly African swine fever, an official notice said. The ban would cover live pigs and carcasses in an effort to prevent the disease from spreading into Thailand, said a notice on the Thai Department of Development of Livestock on Friday.

U.S. group says Novartis MS drug price out of line with benefit

A U.S. group that reviews the value of medicines issued a critical report on Novartis's new multiple sclerosis drug Mayzent, calling its $88,561 list price "far out of line" compared with its benefits for patients. The Boston-based Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER), which has been reviewing Mayzent for months, recommended that Novartis lower the drug's price.

FDA approves drug for loss of sexual desire in women

The U.S. drug regulator on Friday approved Palatin Technologies and Amag Pharmaceuticals' drug to restore sexual desire in premenopausal women, the latest attempt to come up with a therapy that some have dubbed as "female Viagra". The therapy, Vyleesi, will compete in a market which has seen previous attempts fail. Analysts have said that a drug that safely and effectively treats loss of sexual desire in women could eventually reach annual sales of about $1 billion.