NATION IN BRIEF

More Animal Illnesses May Infect Humans, Scientists Say

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ST. LOUIS -- Humans risk being overrun by diseases from the animal world, according to researchers who have documented 38 illnesses that have made that leap in the past 25 years.

That is not good news for the spread of bird flu, which experts fear could mutate and be transmitted easily among people.

There are 1,407 pathogens -- viruses, bacteria, parasites, protozoa and fungi -- that can infect humans, said Mark Woolhouse of the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. Of those, 58 percent come from animals. Scientists consider 177 pathogens to be "emerging" or "reemerging." Most never cause pandemics. Experts fear bird flu could be an exception. The H5N1 virus has spread across Asia into Europe and Africa.

"The strategy has to be looking at how to contain it in the animal world, because once you get into the human side, you're dealing with vaccines and anti-retrovirals, which is a whole new realm," Nina Marano, a veterinarian and public health expert with the National Center for Infectious Diseases, said Sunday at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Bird flu has killed at least 91 people since 2003 -- most of them in Asia -- according to the World Health Organization. It appears to kill about half the people it infects. However, if it mutates so it can pass from human to human, it is likely to grow far less deadly, said Stanley Lemon of the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston.

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· BIRMINGHAM -- Another Alabama church was damaged by fire Sunday, but authorities said the suspected arson attack appeared unrelated to 11 others across the state this month. The fire at Chatman's Chapel in Etowah County started outside the building, unlike fires that occurred at other churches, according to Jay Chambers, acting police chief in Glencoe, Ala.

· P HOENIX -- About six years after a federal judge ordered Arizona's governor and lawmakers to improve programs for students learning English, the two sides are at a potentially expensive impasse. Since Jan. 25, the state has been fined $500,000 each day the sides do not reach an agreement. The bill is $12 million. Gov. Janet Napolitano (D) wants to triple the extra $360 in state funding that schools get for each student learning English. Republicans want to scrap that approach and instead provide schools with money based on actual costs for state-approved instruction models, reducing those funds as districts get money elsewhere.

· CHICAGO -- McDonald's is facing at least three lawsuits related to its disclosure last week that its french fries contain wheat and dairy products, which can cause allergic reactions in food-sensitive customers.

· WALLINGFORD, Conn. -- Union workers at Sikorsky Aircraft rejected a proposed contract and planned to strike, the union and the company said. Negotiators and the Teamsters' Local 1150 secretary-treasurer cited a doubling of health care co-payments in the contract's first year and a 15 percent increase over the next two years as problems.

· RAWLINS, Wyo. -- A Greyhound bus rolled onto its side on snowy Interstate 80, injuring 39 passengers, after driver David Soraiz, 51, of Sandy, Utah, was temporarily blinded by snow thrown up by a passing truck, authorities said. The bus was traveling from Salt Lake City to Denver.

-- From News Services