NATION BRIEFS

WASHINGTON: Egg recall now at 2nd farm

More than a half-billion eggs have been recalled in the investigation of a salmonella outbreak that Friday expanded to include a second Iowa farm. The outbreak has sickened more than 1,000 people and is expected to increase. Iowa's Hillandale Farms said Friday it was recalling more than 170 million eggs after laboratory tests confirmed salmonella. The latest recall puts the total number of potentially tainted eggs at about 550 million. The eggs recalled Friday were distributed under the brands Hillandale Farms, Sunny Farms, Sunny Meadow, Wholesome Farms and West Creek and were sold between April and August.

TEXAS: Final Fort Hood report released

The military must make sure supervisors have access to soldiers' personnel records and be aware of signs of potential workplace violence, the Defense Department said Friday in its final report on the Fort Hood shootings. The report's recommendations address some government failures and other problems uncovered in the Pentagon investigation launched after the Nov. 5 shootings that left 13 dead and dozens injured on the Texas Army post. The Defense Department report Friday says more studies are necessary.

CALIFORNIA: Virtual colonoscopy hailed

Colonoscopy is important to detect colorectal cancer. Virtual colonoscopy, a CT scan of the colon instead of invasive, optical inspection of the colon, has been shown as effective as traditional colonoscopy. Now, a study suggests virtual colonoscopy may be superior because it can identify cancers outside the colon. In a study of 2,277 patients who underwent virtual colonoscopy, almost half were found to have some suspicious lesions outside the colon. Further testing showed 240 of those lesions were considered significant, such as being some type of cancer. Virtual colonoscopy's ability to pick up cancers outside the colon while looking for colorectal cancer makes it an attractive alternative to traditional colonoscopy, the Walter Reed Army Medical Center authors stated. The study was released Friday in the American Journal of Roentgenology.