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

Strong Indication China Has SARS Case

Although tests have yet to confirm it, Chinese authorities strongly indicated Friday that a 32-year-old television producer has severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).

The BBC reports that China's official news agency says that gene sequencing of the virus points to the first case in that nation since July. "There is a possibility that the patient may have contracted the SARS... virus," the BBC quotes the agency, Xinhua, as saying.

The patient is being monitored via closed circuit television in Guangdong province, where the epidemic began in late 2002. The virus has since claimed 774 lives.

The World Health Organization said that the patient "has suffered from pneumonia and displayed signs and symptoms that could fit the profile of SARS," according to the BBC. "However, such signs and symptoms could be caused by a large number of other infectious diseases."

On Tuesday, medical researcher in Taiwan who came down with SARS in a lab accident was released from the hospital after doctors determined that he posed no further threat of infecting anyone, the BBC says.

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N.Y. to Mandate Fire-Safe Cigarettes

In an attempt to reduce a common source of fatal fires, New York will become the first state in the nation to mandate that cigarettes be made of paper that extinguishes itself.

Supporters of the legislation hope that the move will mark the beginning of a global trend in the marketing of safer cigarettes.

The Associated Press reports that the regulations, which will take effect by summer, will call for cigarettes to be rolled in banded paper. The wire service calls the bands "speed bumps" that stop the burning of the paper when a cigarette isn't puffed on.

Philip Morris began making the fire-safe cigarettes under its Merit brand four years ago, according to the AP.

"If New York goes ahead, it will drive a national debate because tobacco companies are not going to make one set of cigarettes for New York and one for the rest of the U.S.," Blair Horner, legislative director for the New York Public Interest Research Group told the AP. "And if the U.S. sets standards, those will be standards for the entire globe."

Each year, fires started by cigarettes kill 900 people and injure 2,500 in the United States, according to the American Burn Association.

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Detroit Claims Dubious Title of Fattest U.S. City

After three years at the top, Houston has finally shed its dubious title of the fattest city in the United States, according to the sixth annual Men's Fitness list. Detroit now holds the top spot, and Houston is now second.

Although Houston is proud to have lost that title, Texas has nothing to brag about, according to the Houston Chronicle. Dallas, Fort Worth, and San Antonio rose significantly on the magazine's list of fattest U.S. cities, the newspaper reports.

The magazine looks at the country's 50 largest cities and assesses various measures, including air quality, climate, commute time, amount of TV watched, and the number of fast food joints, health clubs, and sporting goods stores. Detroit moved into the top spot because of its cold winters and a rise in television viewing.

Embarrassed Houston officials began a program to get city residents to lose weight, and are happy to lose the distinction. "This is one championship title I don't mind giving up to another city," City Councilwoman Carol Alvarado told the Chronicle. "Congratulations, Detroit."

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Nine Cows Tracked to Sick Animal

Investigators say they have tracked nine cows to a herd that included one that was infected with mad cow disease in December.

The Washington Post reports that the animals were exported from a farm in Alberta, Canada, to one in Washington state. Finding these animals is critical because of concerns that the animals may have eaten that same contaminated feed that sickened the Holstein diagnosed with mad cow disease.

According to the Post, the farm in Mabton, Wash., has quarantined 4,000 cattle since the one cow was infected. A case of mad cow disease was reported in Alberta earlier in 2003, raising concerns that both cases may be tied to the same source of contaminated feed.

The discovery came a day after the United States Department of Agriculture announced that the United States banned "downer" cows, those that can no longer walk, from the food supply.

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Brain Scan May Ease Depression

A novel brain scan may help ease bipolar disorder because its magnetic fields affect the electrical workings of the patients' brains.

The Boston Globe reports that researchers at McLean Hospital in Belmont, Mass., are trying to develop a much smaller version of a magnetic resonance imaging device that hospitals use to scan patients.

According to the Globe, the researchers stumbled on to the discovery. A research assistant found that patients who got the scan for other reasons emerged in better moods than they were before the scan.

One patient was so depressed that she couldn't even answer questions. After a 20-minute scan, she was astounded by how much better she felt. "What happened? What did you do?" the researcher, Aimee Parow, told the newspaper. Another emerged joking with Parow, which was completely out of character.

Researchers suspect that the magnets in the brain scan affect the brain, and that the mood-lifting can last for weeks, according to the Globe.

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Vision Tests Required for Elderly Fla. Drivers

Beginning Friday, Florida drivers over the age of 79 will have to pass a vision test every time they renew their licenses.

The Miami Herald reports that some find the new law discriminatory against older people, but that others say it will cut down on crashes.

According to the newspaper, people 75 and older comprise 7.9 percent of Florida's drivers, but account for 10.6 percent of those who die in a crash.

The new law doesn't mean that everyone that age needs to take an eye exam now. However, they must pass the test when their license comes up for renewal, which is every six years in Florida.

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