Briefly

Washington, D.C.

FDA approves new West Nile virus test

The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday approved a diagnostic kit that reduces the time needed to test patients for West Nile virus.

The current West Nile test takes about two days, and it can take up to two weeks to get results because of the large number of people tested. The new test, developed by the Australian medical diagnostics company PANBIO, only takes hours and results are available the same day, said Carl Stubbings, the company’s senior vice president of U.S. operations.

The test detects antibodies to the West Nile virus in the blood. Results must be confirmed by a follow-up test, said FDA spokesman Lawrence Bachorik.

West Nile virus is a mosquito-borne disease that can cause life-threatening illness in humans, horses and birds.

California

Two children die in locked, hot car

Two young boys died Tuesday after being locked for five hours in a sport utility vehicle in sweltering heat outside a day care center in Lancaster, authorities said.

The boys, ages 3 and 5, were found by sheriff’s deputies around 2 p.m. in the driveway of the day care center.

The 5-year-old was dead. His brother, who was severely dehydrated, died a short time later at a hospital, sheriff’s Sgt. Paul Patterson said.

The boys recently were placed in the foster care of the woman who ran the center and were inside her car, authorities said. She had not been charged as of Tuesday night.

New York City

Girls forced to take pregnancy, STD tests

School administrators forced several eighth-graders to be tested for pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases after they skipped school to attend a party where some students reportedly had sex, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday.

About 10 girls were told they couldn’t return to Intermediate School 164 without a doctor’s note after they attended the “hooky party,” said Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union.

“What (the school) did is completely unheard of,” Lieberman said. “It violates their right to privacy. It violated their right to go to school. It violated their right not to be subjected to summary punishment.”

One male student also attended the party, but he was not required to be tested for diseases, Lieberman said.

Michigan

Police officers cleared in motorcyclist’s death

Prosecutors have cleared police of any wrongdoing in the case of a black motorcyclist whose death during a police chase led to two nights of rioting last month.

In a report released Tuesday, Berrien County prosecutor James Cherry also said the nighttime pursuit was not motivated by race. The motorcyclist, Terrance Shurn, was wearing a full-face helmet and gloves, making it impossible for his pursuers to determine his race, Cherry said.

Two of the police officers involved in the chase were white, and one was of mixed race.

Many residents said Shurn’s death ignited anger over a host of issues, including poverty and unemployment. Dozens were injured in the melee.