Michigan goat tests positive for fatal, contagious disease (High Plains Journal) LANSING, Mich. (AP)--State agriculture officials say a 3-year-old Ottawa County goat tested positive for a fatal and contagious disease found in goats and sheep. [News Source]

Commentary: Growth, Life, and Death (ScienCentral) The finding that some extremely long-lived people have a gene mutation that makes them short (see "Height & Long Life" ) struck close to home for ScienCentral CEO Eliene Augenbraun. As a short child, she was part of a study on human growth hormone that, over time, went horribly wrong. [News Source]

State officials applaud lift of cattle ban to Mexico (Ruidoso News) U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman said he is pleased that the American ranchers can now resume exporting beef cattle to Mexico. Mexico barred live cattle imports in 2003 when an isolated case of "mad cow" disease was detected in a Canadian-born dairy cow in the state of Washington. [News Source]

Lessons learned from largest U.S. meat recall (AG Weekly) Not since Upton Sinclair’s 1906 book “The Jungle” has the American meat market been this shaken. [News Source]

Japan lifts ban on U.S. beef imports from Smithfield plant. Japan on Thursday lifted a ban on beef imports from a U.S. meatpacker after reviewing the company's steps to improve safety measures, the Agriculture Ministry said. [News Source]

235th American Chemical Society National Meeting In New Orleans (Medical News Today) Sunday, April 612:00 p.m. Alligator blood may put the bite on antibiotic-resistant infectionsDespite their reputation for deadly attacks on humans and pets, alligators are wiggling their way toward a new role as potential lifesavers in medicine. [News Source]

Defining Dementia (Westerly Sun) Karen Hawthorn of Westerly Adult Day Services reviews this group of brain disorders affecting so many over age 65. [News Source]

Australian minister urges Japan to open farm market (Straits Times) TOKYO - AUSTRALIAN'S farm minister on Friday ruled out a free trade agreement with Japan unless Tokyo reduces trade barriers for key agricultural goods. [News Source]