Health Highlights: July 16, 2008

Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by editors ofHealthDay:

Senate Bill Would Relax U.S. Ban on Visitors With HIV

An amendment to a global AIDS bill working its way through the U.S. Senate would ease a two-decade-old ban on people with HIV/AIDS entering the country, theAssociated Pressreported Wednesday.

Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Gordon Smith (R-Ore.) have attached the repeal to a measure that combats AIDS and other diseases in impoverished areas including Africa.

The United States is among about a dozen nations that don't allow entry by visitors and immigrants with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Others include Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Libya, and Russia, theAPsaid.

"There is no excuse for a law that stigmatizes a particular disease," Kerry was quoted as saying Tuesday at a policy speech. China is among nations that recently relaxed its entry policy for people with HIV/AIDS, he said.

In attempting to relax the ban that has been in place since 1987, the Kerry-Smith proposal would equate HIV with other infectious diseases. As such, federal health officials would decide who is eligible to visit the United States, not consular officials at embassies and other diplomatic posts, theAPsaid.

Former Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton sought to change the policy, but Congress balked. Current opposition includes Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), who says ending the ban could cost the government more than $80 million over the next decade, the wire service reported. Sessions is contemplating his own measure to remove the Kerry-Smith proviso from the rest of the AIDS bill.

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E. coliOutbreak in Beef May Have Widened to 5 States

An outbreak ofE. coli-tainted beef in Ohio and Michigan has produced additional cases in the states of New York, Kentucky, and Indiana, theAssociated Pressreported.

The outbreak has been traced to a meat supplier of the Kroger supermarket chain and other retailers in Ohio and Michigan. The supplier, Nebraska Beef Ltd., has recalled 5.3 million pounds of beef. Kroger also has recalled ground beef sold in both states.