■ United Kingdom
Exposure to BSE possible
Patients in the UK undergoing routine dental treatments for root canal problems may have been exposed to infection by the human form of BSE because instruments have been used on patients unwittingly carrying the incurable disease, scientific advisers said on Monday. About 3 million such treatments are conducted every year in England and Wales alone. The scientists have told health ministers to consider banning the reuse of the equipment needed because of "hypothetical but plausible scenarios" which suggest that person-to person cases of variant CJD might follow the shrinking number of animal-to-human cases. The first wave of cases caused by infected food has so far struck only 190 people, mostly Britons since 1996.
■ United States
Fundraising drive halted
A nonprofit foundation has stopped trying to raise money to build the World Trade Center memorial until it can be sure how much it will cost and what it will look like, officials have said. The World Trade Center Memorial Foundation suspended fundraising several weeks ago after discussing the soaring price of the memorial, now budgeted at close to US$1 billion, and its orders to cut the costs in half. "It's only fair to donors to be able to expressly say how their money will be used and how much the project will cost,"foundation board member Tom Johnson said on Monday.
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