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

China Fowl Have Bird Flu, 8th Human Death Reported

An 8th Asian person has died from bird flu as the virus sweeping the continent has spread to birds in China, the Associated Press reports.

Thailand confirms that a second boy in two days has died from the disease, in addition to the six human deaths already confirmed in Vietnam. Thai officials say they're awaiting lab results on five other people whose deaths may be linked to the virus.

While China hasn't reported any human cases, its official Xinhua news agency says a number of ducks discovered dead on a farm near the border with Vietnam had avian influenza. And two other provinces in Central China are reporting suspect cases of the virus among poultry, according to the AP.

The number of countries reporting cases among fowl rose to 10 as China and Laos have been added to the list. Vietnam and Thailand are the only nations with confirmed cases among people.

China says some 14,000 birds have been slaughtered or quarantined around a farm in the Guangxi region. Millions of other birds have been killed across Asia in an attempt to contain the virus.

The World Health Organization and other international health agencies are calling for an aggressive, SARS-like response among wealthier nations to combat the disease's spread.

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United States Issues New Mad Cow Safeguards

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says it's banning the use of cattle blood in livestock feed in an effort to prevent additional cases of mad cow disease, formally known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).

A series of new rules issued Monday by the FDA and its parent, the Department of Health and Human Services, also includes a ban on cow-derived material from diet supplements and cosmetics used by people. There's also a ban on chicken waste and restaurant scraps from use in cattle feed.

"Today's actions will make strong public health protections against BSE even stronger," HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson said in a news release announcing the new rules. "Small as the risk may already be, this is the time to make sure the public is protected to the greatest extent possible."

Farmers sometimes use feed containing cow blood to calves as a substitute for cow's milk, which is more valuable for human consumption. "Recent scientific evidence suggests that [cow] blood can carry some infectivity for BSE," the HHS statement concedes.

A lone Holstein cow identified last month in Washington state is the first-ever and only case of mad cow in the United States.

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FDA Approves Sleep Disorder Drug

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the drug Provigil to help people with certain sleep disorders stay awake, manufacturer Cephalon Inc. says.

The new approvals are for people with shift work sleep disorder or obstructive sleep apnea/hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS). In the latter, sleep disruption is most commonly caused by airway obstruction -- usually attributable to the collapse of the soft tissue in the back of the throat during sleep. Some 12 million Americans have the disorder, whose symptoms include loud, heavy snoring; restless sleep; and falling asleep during the day. Men are twice as prone to OSAHS as women, Cephalon says in a prepared statement.

Shift work sleep disorder, common among people who work rotating night shifts, affects some 6 million Americans. It's characterized by extreme sleepiness, insomnia, headaches, and difficulty concentrating.

Provigil, first FDA approved in 1998 as a treatment for narcolepsy, is believed to work through the body's sleep and wake centers to activate the brain's cortex. An active cortex is essential for wakefulness, Cephalon says.

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Anti-Psychotic Drug Users Need Careful Monitoring

People taking certain drugs for a number of psychotic conditions including schizophrenia, manic-depression, autism and dementia need to be carefully monitored for signs of dangerous side effects including diabetes, obesity and high cholesterol, according to a new recommendation from four medical societies.

The recommendation affects six drugs now available in the United States, the Associated Press reports. They are: Abilify, Clozaril, Geodon, Risperdal, Seroquel, and Zyprexa.

The recommendation, appearing in the February issue of Diabetes Care, comes from the American Diabetes Association, the American Psychiatric Association, the North American Association for the Study of Obesity, and the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists.

The recommendation advises doctors to screen patients for a family history of these problems, and to monitor them carefully once therapy has begun.

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U.S. to Begin 1st Tuberculosis Vaccine Trial in 60 Years

A new vaccine -- made with several proteins from the bacterium that causes tuberculosis -- will soon begin initial testing in humans, U.S. health officials announced Monday.

"This candidate vaccine, as well as other novel products emerging from the TB research and development pipeline, offers hope for reducing the burden of a disease that claims approximately two million lives each year," said Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

The vaccine combines two tuberculosis proteins known to stimulate strong immune responses in humans. The proteins were initially identified by screening blood taken from volunteers who never became ill with tuberculosis despite long-term infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacteria, health officials said.

The Phase I trial will include 20 volunteers at a single site in the United States and will assess the vaccine's safety. If the vaccine proves safe in this initial trial, it will be tested further in larger clinical trials. The trial will be conducted by Seattle biotechnology company Corixa and GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals, a vaccine manufacturer based in Belgium, officials said.

The current TB vaccine, called BCG, offers some protection against the form of TB most often contracted by very young children. But the vaccine's effectiveness wears off over time. Also, BCG isn't very effective against pulmonary TB, the most contagious form of the disease, officials said.

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