Friday night without warning, waves that some say were as high as 30 feet pounded an 18-mile stretch of Papua New Guinea's north coast. The tsunamis were the effect of a nearby 7.0 magnitude earthquake centered about 15 miles off the coast. The destruction, being described as "like a nuclear bomb," wiped out entire villages, leaving behind only sand and debris. The tsunamis occurred during the middle of the night, without warning. The wounded are being cared for in makeshift hospitals that are running out of supplies. In the tropical climate, the dead bodies are deteriorating or being eaten by scavenging animals before they can be buried. More than 700 dead are buried, about 500 bodies are floating at sea. There are 2,257 survivors, leaving about 6,000 people to be accounted for by missionaries and relief workers. One province governor said 3,000 people are dead. Many villagers are said to have run into the jungle, afraid to return to the shore. An entire generation is lost, though, as most of the children still have not been found. Schools in three cities will not reopen because there are no children. Papua New Guinea, with a population of 4 million, occupies the eastern half of the island of New Guinea about 90 miles north of Australia, where some live a near-Stone Age existence amid jungles and swamps. Several countries and the U.N. have offered to help, the first aid having arrived from Australia.

Public hearings were announced to debate the so-called "unique health identifier" which would take doctor's notes and hospital files on everyone in the country, centralize them, and assign us all tracking numbers. When you move, you won't have to go through the hassle of transferring records, and scientists will more easily be able to follow the spread of infectious disease. On the other hand, some hacker could find out about your embarrassing, secret condition. The Clinton administration is not sure about whether to implement the 1996 law to create a national database. Lauded by public health researchers, privacy advocates fear the information could be misused. The system is part of a law that allows many employees to take their health insurance with them when they change jobs. The Department of Health and Human Services was supposed to write regulations implementing the identifier system.

This issue is so sensitive and contentious that the HHS has decided to hold public hearings to try and reach a consensus before publishing its plan. The panel that will conduct the hearings, the National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics, will advise HHS what kind of identifier to use - it doesn't have to be a number. Should HHS Secretary Donna Shalala determine that the issue is too difficult for the administration to handle, she could go back to Congress and tell them it shouldn't or couldn't be done in a regulatory approach. Opponents of this system say that sensitive health information might be linked to other data, such as financial or criminal histories, leading patients to become reluctant to share sensitive medical information with their doctors. Insurance companies and public health researchers support the idea.

This just in: What happens if the First Lady needs to pee during her visit to the Great Wall? The Chinese officials didn't want to risk humiliation, their's or her's, so they built a western-style toilet with a seat and air conditioner. The $23,000 price tag is about 30 times the average annual income for residents of Beijing.

Researchers at Kansas State University presented preliminary study results indicating consumers may hve an arsenal of food safety weapons in their spice racks. They reported the antimicrobial effects of 24 spices tested against Escherichia coli O157:H7, a foodborne pathogen, in uncooked hamburger and uncooked salami. In the hamburger study, clove had the highest inhibitory effect, followed in potency by cinnamon, garlic, oregano, and sage. In the lab studies, garlic had the highest inhibitory effect. The addition of 1% spice (garlic, clove and cinnamon) to salami mixed with starter culture and E. coli resulted in successful salami fermentation and slight reduction of the pathogen. However, the addition of 7.5% garlic and clove killed 99% of the pathogen and still resulted in successful salami fermentation. Finding the right balance between antimicrobial effectiveness and good taste was a challenge. The research may also be applied to other pathogens because often when E. coli is killed, Salmonella and other bad bugs are also destroyed.

The research has not yet determined whether the amounts of spice that are effective against pathogens are practical for consumers to use in cooking or for food manufacturers to create good tasting products. Still, only thorough cooking and irradiation can eliminate E. coli. Though spices may be able to reduce E. coli, they do not appear to be able to eliminate it which underscores the importance of proper cooking. The antimicrobial properties of spices have been noted in many past studies. The next step in KSU's research is to test the effect of variables, such as cooking, on the antimicrobial power of spices in specific meats.