Florida

Bone marrow surgeon dies

Dr. Robert A. Good, a pioneer of modern immunology who performed the world’s first successful human bone marrow transplant, has died. He was 81.

Good died Friday night at his home surrounded by his family and students, said Ann Miller, a spokeswoman for All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg.

Good performed the first bone marrow transplant in 1968 while working at the University of Minnesota.

His patient was a 4-month-old boy who suffered from a genetic immune disease that had killed 11 male children in the boy’s extended family. Using bone marrow from the child’s sister, Good was able to restore the boy’s immune system. The boy survived and now is the father of twin sons.

Wisconsin

One prairie dog linked to half suspected monkeypox cases

A single prairie dog infected with monkeypox before health officials identified the virus may have been responsible for spreading the disease to half of the human cases in Wisconsin, a state official said Saturday.

“A lot of people got exposed over time,” said Robert Ehlenfeldt, acting state veterinarian. “That exposure would have happened before we knew what we were dealing with.”

State epidemiologist Jeff Davis said Friday that the prairie dog had been linked to three confirmed human cases, six probable cases, nine suspected cases and a case of monkeypox in a rabbit, which infected one of the humans.

“Clearly a super-spreader if there ever was one,” he said.

Ehlenfeldt took a more cautious approach Saturday, saying the prairie dog probably was not more contagious than other prairie dogs; it just had more contact with humans.

Czech Republic

Czechs vote in favor of joining European Union

Czechs voted overwhelmingly to join the European Union in a referendum that ended Saturday, a move that supporters said would bring a definite end to isolation brought on by decades of communist rule.

Final results from two days of voting showed that 77.33 percent of voters approving joining the union, while 22.67 voted “no,” according to the state Statistical Office, which handles the count. Turnout was 55.21 percent.

The vote opens the way for the Central European nation to be part of the largest expansion in the union’s history next May, when 10 new members are due to join the 15-member bloc.