New guidelines issued for Pap smears
LOS ANGELES, Nov. 20 (UPI) -- A test for cervical cancer is needed less frequently than previously recommended, regardless of a woman's age, a doctors' group says.
New guidelines issued by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists advise young women to forgo having Pap smears until they reach the age of 21, the Los Angeles Times reported Friday.
The updated guidelines, published in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology, recommend an initial Pap test three years after becoming sexually active or at age 21, whichever comes first.
Testing is recommended every two years for women 21-29 and every three years for women 30 or older who have had three normal Pap smears in a row.
The guideline changes for Pap smears were issued just days after a federal panel scaled back advice on breast cancer screening.
The U.S. Preventative Services Task Force dismissed routine breast cancer screenings for most women under the age of 50.
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Frog legs spreading pathogen
WASHINGTON, Nov. 20 (UPI) -- A worldwide trade in frog legs may be spreading pathogens deadly to amphibians, scientists in Washington said.
Amphibians are declining rapidly worldwide, with more than one-third of the estimated 6,000 amphibian species threatened with extinction, scientists at the Smithsonian Institution said in a release.
Many amphibians are vulnerable to Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, also known as amphibian chytrid. The pathogen could spread unchecked in the $40-million-per-year culinary trade of frog legs, most of which are consumed in France, Belgium and the United States, Smithsonian biologist Brian Gratwicke said.
Countries such as Indonesia, which export about 45 percent of all frog legs worldwide, make little or no effort to monitor the frogs for disease pathogens, Gratwicke said.
"Any trade in live frogs or fresh, un-skinned frog legs presents a substantial risk of the spread of amphibian chytrid," Gratwicke said, recommending nations implement trade policies to mitigate the risk of disease among amphibians.
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DNA barcodes used to identify species
WASHINGTON, Nov. 20 (UPI) -- A new tool involving DNA barcoding showed endangered bluefin tuna was served in sushi bars sampled in New York and Colorado, scientists said.
The bluefin was identified through a hand-held genetics tool that assigned a barcode to various species of tuna in much the same way that barcodes identify products in stores.
The barcodes were assigned after a DNA sample was taken from each species of tuna and other endangered fish, the Sackler Institute for Comparative Genomics in Washington said in a release.
It may not be long before wildlife management teams could "seamlessly and efficiently identify a species and maybe the geographic origin of specific samples," George Amato, the institute's director said.
In restaurants sampled recently in New York and Colorado, the device showed 25 percent of what was labeled as tuna on sushi menus was bluefin, Amato said. The device also has been used to identify the presence of endangered whales in Asian markets and fraud in the labeling of caviar and red snapper.
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Catalina bison on birth control
AVALON, Calif., Nov. 20 (UPI) -- California's Catalina Island has put its famous bison on birth control to produce a healthier and less environmentally damaging herd, officials said.
The herd, which now numbers fewer than 200, ideally would contain about 150 bison, descendants of 14 shipped to the island in 1924 for the silent movie "The Vanishing American."
Ten years ago, as many as 500 bison roamed the rugged island's 76 square miles. The Catalina Island Conservancy, which oversees the herd, began reducing the population when it was determined island bison were smaller than mainland bison, lacked a sufficient food source and were prone to open sores, the Los Angeles Times reported Friday.
Some were sent for slaughter or to other breeding programs before conservancy officials settled on a contraceptive vaccine that will still allow the animals to mate but not become pregnant, conservancy spokesman Carlos de la Rosa said.
"For bison in love, this means romance without responsibilities," he said.
