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

Bats May Be Source of SARS Virus: Report

Chinese researchers say they’ve found a virus in some wild bats in Hong Kong that’s closely related to the virus that causes Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in humans.

In 2003, Chinese health officials first found the SARS coronavirus in caged civets in animal markets, suggesting these weasel-like mammals were the source of the SARS epidemic. But, subsequent studies suggested that while civets have served to host the virus, they may not have been the original host.

To investigate further, the Chinese research team studied wild animals in the Hong Kong countryside that may have come in contact with civets. The researchers found a coronavirus similar to the SARS virus in nearly 40 percent of wild Chinese horseshoe bats they examined. A genetic analysis of the bat coronavirus showed the virus is closely related to the human SARS coronavirus. And it probably shares a genetic ancestor with the civet SARS coronavirus, the researchers said.

Their findings appear in the online early edition the Sept. 12-16 edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The researchers said they couldn’t determine how the bats were originally infected or whether this species was responsible for transmitting the SARS coronavirus to other mammals, including civets. However, since bat feces are used in Chinese traditional medicine, and bat meat is considered a delicacy in parts of Asia, the researchers urged caution in handling these animals.

SARS first appeared in southern China in late 2002. It has killed 774 people around the globe, most of them in Asia, according to the World Health Organization. More than 8,000 people were sickened before the initial outbreak was brought under control through such measures as quarantines and travel restrictions. But health officials worry about the potential for another outbreak.

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FDA Panel Backs Diabetes Drug, Despite Heart Risks

Experts advising the U.S. Food and Drug Administration voted Friday to recommend FDA approval of the Bristol-Myers Squibb diabetes drug Pargluva (muraglitazar), despite an increased risk of heart failure among users, the Bloomberg news service reported.

Pargluva is among a new class of non-insulin drugs that allows diabetics to control blood sugar levels. It’s also designed to help patients maintain healthy blood cholesterol levels. But there were 17 cases of heart failure among Pargluva users in clinical trials, compared with two cases of heart failure among those who took a different drug, Bloomberg said.

The consumer group Public Citizen warned against FDA approval, citing the drug’s heart failure risks and two other common side effects, fluid retention and weight gain. Bristol-Myers argued that the drug’s benefits outweigh its risks.

A seo services company spokesman told Bloomberg that the company would address the heart failure risks in the drug’s label and in its marketing materials to doctors.

The full FDA normally follows the recommendations of its expert panels but isn’t bound to do so.

On Thursday, an FDA advisory panel voted to back an inhaled form of insulin that’s designed to end or supplement the need for injections that control diabetics’ blood sugar levels.

The FDA’s Endocrinologic and Metabolic Drugs Advisory Committee voted 7-2 to recommend that Exubera, developed by Pfizer, Sanofi-Aventis, and Nektar Therapeutics, be approved by the full FDA.

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Senate Passes Bill Restricting Cold Medicine Access

Sales of cold medicines that can be used to make the addictive street drug methamphetamine would be restricted under legi