BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — North Dakota officials have linked four cases of salmonella infection to a multistate outbreak associated with baby chicks. Investigators have connected the outbreak to exposure to baby chicks, ducklings and other live baby poultry sold through feed stores and mail-order hatcheries.

The new line, which promises to fill people up with 8 grams of protein and 5 grams of fiber, reflects Special K's push to move in step with evolving trends. [...] Special K products largely gave dieters low-calorie imitations of their fantasy foods. [...] weight watchers are increasingly looking for added benefits nutritional benefits, rather than just counting calories. The company, which also makes Frosted Flakes and Eggo waffles, has been struggling to grow sales at a time when Americans are looking for on-the-go options. Visitors can sign up for meal plans that help them reach their diet goal; at least one Special K product is included each day's plan, sometimes two or three. Product-based diet plans are short-term solutions that fall into the latter category, said Karen Miller-Kobach, chief scientific officer for Weight Watchers International, which promotes learning to eat all foods in moderation. She still eats it for breakfast on most weekdays, estimating that the generous bowls she pours herself clock in at around 250 calories with skim milk.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal health regulators say an experimental insomnia drug from Merck can help patients fall asleep, but it also carries worrisome side effects, including daytime drowsiness and suicidal thinking. The Food and Drug Administration on Monday released its review of the company's sleep aid, suvorexant, ahead of a public meeting on Wednesday. The FDA review also notes that suvorexant was associated with increased risk of suicidal thinking. In January, the FDA required drugmakers of Ambien and similar sleeping pills to lower the dosage of their drugs, based on studies suggesting a link to drowsiness-related injuries.

Same goes for soda. [...] the only way to find out what people in the United States eat and how many calories they consume has been government data, which can lag behind the rapidly expanding and changing food marketplace. The researchers led by professor Barry Popkin at the UNC School of Public Health, are figuring out that chocolate milk equation over and over, with every single item in the grocery store. Aided by supercomputers on campus, Popkin and his team have taken existing commercial databases of food items in stores and people's homes, including the store-based scanner data of 600,000 different foods, and matched that information with the nutrition facts panels on the back of packages and government data on individuals' dietary intake. The result is an enormous database that has taken almost three years so far to construct and includes more detail than researchers have ever had on grocery store items — their individual nutritional content, who is buying them and their part in consumers' diets. Government data, long the only source of information about American eating habits, can have a lag of several years and neglect entire categories of new types of products — Greek yogurt or energy drinks, for example. Steven Gortmaker, director of the Harvard School of Public Health Prevention Research Center, says the data could help researchers figure out how people are eating in certain communities and then how to address problems in those diets that could lead to obesity or disease. If the project receives continued funding, those foods eventually could be added to the study, a prospect that would be made easier by pending menu labeling regulations that will force chain restaurants to post calories for every item.

LONDON (AP) — More than a decade ago, British parents refused to give measles shots to at least a million children because of now discredited research that linked the vaccine to autism. [...] health officials are scrambling to catch up and stop a growing epidemic of the contagious disease. Several large scientific studies failed to find any connection, the theory was rejected by at least a dozen major U.K. medical groups and the paper was eventually retracted by the journal that published it. Britain's top medical board stripped Wakefield of the right to practice medicine in the U.K., ruling that he and two of his colleagues showed a "callous disregard" for the children in the study, subjecting them to unnecessary, invasive tests. The first measles vaccines were introduced in the 1960s, which dramatically cut cases of the rash-causing illness. Since 2001, measles deaths have dropped by about 70 percent worldwide; Cambodia recently marked more than a year without a single case. Measles is highly contagious and is spread by coughing, sneezing and close personal contact with infected people; symptoms include a fever, cough, and a rash on the face.

The high court on Monday ruled for Melissa Cloer, who wanted lawyers' fees for her lawsuit over damage she says was caused by hepatitis B vaccines. The justices disagreed, with Justice Sonia Sotomayor writing that even unsuccessful petitions under the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act can get attorneys' fees if they are "brought in good faith and (for which) there was a reasonable basis."

LONDON (AP) — More than a decade ago, British parents refused to give measles shots to at least a million children because of a vaccine scare that raised the specter of autism. [...] health officials are scrambling to catch up and stop a growing epidemic of the contagious disease. Several large scientific studies failed to find any connection, the theory was rejected by at least a dozen major U.K. medical groups and the paper was eventually retracted by the journal that published it. The first measles vaccines were introduced in the 1960s, which dramatically cut cases of the rash-causing illness. Since 2001, measles deaths have dropped by about 70 percent worldwide; Cambodia recently marked more than a year without a single case. Measles is highly contagious and is spread by coughing, sneezing and close personal contact with infected people; symptoms include a fever, cough, and a rash on the face.

What is the marketability of an island that Hannibal Lecter turned down, anyway?" says Scott Russell, the supervisor of the town of Southold in a reference to the fictional character from the film "The Silence of the Lambs. [...] he says he has not heard of any developer expressing interest in the island. Realistically, it's not practical. Besides the mention in "Silence of the Lambs," author Nelson De Mille wrote a 1997 book "Plum Island," featuring a fictional detective investigating the murders of island biologists. Plum Island scientists research pathogens like foot-and-mouth disease, which is highly contagious to livestock and could cause catastrophic economic losses and imperil the nation's food supply. "Plum Island is one of the last great coastal places of our region, replete with miles of beaches, hundreds of acres of open space, endangered animal species and rare plant life," said Leah Schmalz, director of legislative and legal affairs for New Haven, Conn.-based Save the Sound. "By protecting a research/commercial use in the lab's current footprint and by preserving the vast majority of the island as a wildlife sanctuary of some type, we all benefit from the special resources of this island for generations to come," added Bill Toedter, president of the North Fork Environmental Council.

[...] despite those long-awaited changes, many sunscreens continue to carry SPF ratings that some experts consider misleading and potentially dangerous, according to a consumer watchdog group. The rules from the Food and Drug Administration ban terms like "waterproof," which regulators consider misleading, and require that sunscreens filter out both ultraviolet A and B rays. Previously some products only blocked UVB rays, which cause most sunburn, while providing little protection against UVA rays that pose the greatest risk of skin cancer and wrinkles. Despite that broader protection, one in seven products reviewed by the watchdog group boasted sun protection factor, or SPF, ratings above 50, which have long been viewed with skepticism by experts. In part, that's because SPF numbers like 100 or 150 can give users a false sense of security, leading them to stay in the sun long after the lotion has stopped protecting their skin. [...] a SPF rating of 30 means it would take the person 30 times longer to burn wearing sunscreen than with exposed skin.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Navy Secretary Richard J. Danzig, who has served as a bio-warfare adviser to the president, the Pentagon, and the Department of Homeland Security, urged the government to stockpile an anti-anthrax drug while serving as a director for the company that supplied it, according to a report published Sunday. While there is no evidence any nation or terrorist group has achieved it, Danzig warned for a decade that terrorists could easily engineer a strain of anthrax resistant to common antibiotics that could be a devastating threat to national security, according to an investigation by the Los Angeles Times (http://lat.ms/12K6Rxh ). Danzig, 68, who served as Navy secretary in the Clinton administration and has since worked as a consultant, began warning about antibiotic-resistant anthrax in the wake of five deaths from anthrax-laced letters that came soon after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.