BENGHAZI BACKLASH: Did Clinton Skate Through Q&A After Deadly Attack?

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  FILE: Jan. 15, 2013: House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and other lawmakers on Capitol Hill, in Washington, D.C.AP

Congressional Republicans on Sunday pressed their investigation into the Benghazi attacks, suggesting depositions of high-ranking officials and more whistle-blowers testifying amid further questions about why then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was not thoroughly interviewed about the issue.

Rep. Mike Rogers, chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, told “Fox News Sunday” that more potential and self-proclaimed “whistle-blowers” might come forward after three of them – career State Department foreign service employees – testified last week before the House Oversight and Government Affairs Committee.

“We have had people come forward because of the (hearing) and say we would also like to talk," the Michigan Republican told “Fox News Sunday.” "I do think we're going to see more whistle-blowers. Certainly my committee has been contacted; I think other committees as well."

Rogers’ remarks came as Thomas Pickering, the former U.S. ambassador who helped write a report on security at a U.S. outpost in Benghazi, Libya, defended his assessment but absolved Clinton.

"We knew where the responsibility rested," Pickering told CBS’ “Face the Nation.”  “They've tried to point a finger at people more senior than where we found the decisions were made.”

Pickering said he and retired Adm. Mike Mullen had to work within the legal scope of the investigation and that they “knew and understood” Clinton’s role based upon “talking to other people at meetings.”

Four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens, were killed in the Sept. 11, 2012, attacks on the U.S. outpost.

Congressional Republicans have since led efforts to learn whether the Obama administration provided adequate security and if the explanation of events was altered as part of a possible political cover-up.

Among the lingering questions are whether Clinton was involved in changing the CIA memo about how the attacks started, or was she at least partially responsible for the apparent lack of adequate security.

The Accountability and Review Board, led by Pickering and Mullen, did not question Clinton at length about the attacks but concluded the decisions about the consulate were made well below the secretary's level.

However, Pickering's defense of the panel's conclusions Sunday appeared to do little to quiet Republicans' calls for more accountability for the attacks, which killed Stevens, Information Officer Sean Smith, and two embassy security personnel, Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods, both former Navy SEALs.

Rep. Darrell Issa, chairman of the House oversight committee, told NBC’s “Meet the Press” he would like to interview under oath Pickering and Mullen, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein told NBC that Congress' review seems aimed at discrediting Clinton and her potential 2016 presidential bid.

Pickering and Mullen's report was released in December and found that "systematic failures and leadership and management deficiencies at senior levels" of the State Department meant that security was "inadequate for Benghazi and grossly inadequate to deal with the attack that took place."

The House oversight committee hearing last week included testimony from Gregory Hicks, a former deputy chief of mission to Libya.

Hicks, a self-proclaimed whistle-blower, detailed his phone conversations from Tripoli with Stevens, who died during the two nighttime attacks.

Hicks and two other State Department witnesses criticized the Pickering and Mullen review. Their complaints centered on a report they consider incomplete, with individuals who weren't interviewed and a focus on the assistant secretary level and lower.

The hours-long hearing produced no major revelation but renewed interest in the attacks that happened during the lead-up to the November 2012 presidential election.

Five days after the attacks, in the final weeks of President Obama’s re-election bid, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice went on Sunday talk shows and said the attacks were “spontaneous” and sparked by protests elsewhere in the Middle East over an anti-Islamic video.

However, new reports show the original CIA memo on the incident was scrubbed of the mention of “Islamic militants” and early intelligence about Al Qaeda in the region.

The series of emails that circulated between the State Department and the CIA led to weakened -- and, in some cases, wrong -- language that Rice used to describe the assault.

Issa also said he will on Monday request private testimonies from Pickering and Mullen and that his oversight panel has not been provided sufficient details on the State Department review.

Pickering, who was sitting next to Issa during “Meet the Press,” said he wanted to appear at the Republican-led hearing Wednesday but was blocked.

Issa said Democrats could have invited their own witnesses, such as Pickering, but did not.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., on Sunday renewed congressional Republicans’ call for a House select committee on Benghazi -- like the one used to investigate Watergate -- and called the Obama administration’s handling of the terror attacks “a cover-up.”

"I would call it a cover-up in the extent that there was willful removal of information, which was obvious,” McCain said on ABC’s “This Week.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Skin Cancer Awareness Month: How to detect and prevent this deadly disease

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Skin cancer affects people of all ages and races, and it most often develops on the areas of a person’s skin most exposed to the sun.  It is the most common form of cancer diagnosed in the U.S., with more than 3.5 million diagnoses annually.  According to the American Cancer Society, skin cancer diagnoses equal more than the new diagnoses of breast, prostate, lung and colon cancers combined.  

There are three major types of skin cancer: basal cell carcinoma (BCC), squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and melanoma.  BCC is the most common form of skin cancer and most often occurs on the most sun-exposed areas of your body (i.e. face and neck).  It often appears as a pearly or waxy bump, or a flat, flesh-colored or brown scar-like lesion.  SCC also often occurs on sun-exposed areas of your body, but it presents as a firm, red nodule or a flat, scaly or crusty lesion.  

Melanoma, on the other hand, can develop anywhere on your body – even on skin that is not often exposed to the sun.  In men, it most commonly appears on the trunk, head or neck – and in women, the lower legs.  It often presents as a large brown spot with dark speckles; a mole that changes color, size or texture; a small lesion with irregular borders; or dark lesions on your palms, fingertips, soles or toes.  It is from these signs that the “ABCDEs of Melanoma” were developed:

A: Asymmetry of the mole.  If you were to draw a line across the mole, the two halves will be very different.

B: Borders of the mole are uneven.

C: Color varies throughout the mole.  This can include different shades of brown, tan, black or even red, blue or another color.

D: Diameter of the mole is greater than 6 millimeters (or the size of a pencil eraser); melanomas tend to be larger than benign moles.

E: Evolution of the mole, in size, shape, color, and texture can be indicative of melanoma.

It is estimated that one in five Americans will develop skin cancer, so the chance of you or someone you know developing skin cancer is more real than you may think.  Fortunately, there are some easy tips to help prevent skin cancer.  

First, wear at least SPF 30 sunscreen and protective clothing (e.g. long sleeve shirts, pants, wide-brimmed hats, sunglasses, etc.) every day – even on cloudy days.  Reapply your sunscreen every two to three hours, especially if you are swimming or sweating.  Seek shade during the sun’s harshest hours: between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.  

Second, avoid tanning, tanning beds and sun burns.  Also, be watchful for any new or changing spots on your skin.  If you do see any spots that are new, have changed, are itchy or are bleeding, see your dermatologist immediately. Not all changes are caused by skin cancer, but it’s always best to speak with your dermatologist.  Early detection affords you the greatest likelihood of successful treatment.

Dr. David B. Samadi is the Vice Chairman of the Department of Urology and Chief of Robotics and Minimally Invasive Surgery at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City. He is a board-certified urologist, specializing in the diagnosis and treatment of urological disease, with a focus on robotic prostate cancer treatments. To learn more please visit his websites RoboticOncology.com and SMART-surgery.com. Find Dr. Samadi on Facebook.

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VIDEO SHOWS ATTACK: Egypt Police Allow Deadly Strike on Coptic Cathedral

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Newly-emerged video appears to show Egyptian police standing idly by - and even helping attackers during a deadly assault earlier this month on a Coptic cathedral where Christians were mourning five men killed in an earlier clash with Muslims.

The video shot April 7 and first obtained by MidEast Christian News, shows a men shooting guns, wielding machetes and hurling stones and possibly Molotov cocktails as mourners carry caskets out of St. Mark’s Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in the Abbassia District of Cairo as uniformed police watch, unmoving. At one point, a police officer appears to help a gunman take aim at a courtyard full of mourners who had spilled out of the church. The attack left two Copts dead and another 84 people injured, including 11 police officers.

"There is a general feeling among citizens about the absence of law and the prestige of the state."

- Report on religious vilence in Egypt

When it was over, the only arrests made were of four Copts. Christians, who were already outraged over a three-day attack that began April 4 attack in Khosous which saw the four men killed and homes, a nursery and a church burned, said the events show how elusive justice is for Christians, who make up about 10 percent of the nation's population.

"Two Copts were killed during the attack on the Cathedral; four more died in Khosous, yet not one of their attackers has been arrested," said Andrew Johnston, advocacy director for Christian Solidarity Worldwide. “These arrests come at a time when the Coptic community in Egypt is still coming to terms with an unprecedented attack on the headquarters of the Coptic Orthodox Church and the violence in Khosous. Such discrepancies in the discharge of justice contribute to impunity, and can only foster more sectarianism.”

Tensions between Egypt's Christians and the majority Sunni Muslims have grown dramatically since President Hosni Mubarak was ousted in 2011 and replaced by the Muslim Brotherhood-led government of Mohammed Morsi.

"There is a general feeling among citizens about the absence of law and the prestige of the state," said a report released Wednesday by the Egyptian National Council for Human Rights. "Such a feeling could push the citizens to the violence and sectarianism without fearing from any deterrence, " reads a passage from the report.

"The recent incident proved the shrinking of the role of the state to control the actions of the individuals especially those people who think that they talk on the behalf of God," the report continued. "There is a need for implementing the law strictly to treat such incidents.”

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White House Believes Deadly Boston Marathon Bombing 'An Act of Terror'

DEVELOPING: Multiple casualties are reported after at least two explosions rocked the area near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, according to the Boston Herald. 

Witnesses reportedly heard booms that sounded like two claps of thunder near the finish line inside the Fairmount Copley Plaza Hotel. 

The explosions occurred just before 3 p.m. Video of the scene showed a number of emergency crews in the area tending to victims and blood on the ground near the finish line. 

"I saw two explosions. The first one was beyond the finish line. I heard a loud bang and I saw smoke rising," Boston Herald reporter Chris Cassidy, who was running in the marathon, told the newspaper. "I kept running and I heard behind me a loud bang. It looked like it was in a trash can or something...There are people who have been hit with debris, people with bloody foreheads.”

A photographer with Fox affiliate WFXT reported seeing a number of victims with lost limbs.

Competitors and race organizers were crying as they fled the chaos. Bloody spectators were being carried to the medical tent that had been set up to care for fatigued runners.

"There are a lot of people down," said one man, whose bib No. 17528 identified him as Frank Deruyter of North Carolina. He was not injured, but marathon workers were carrying one woman, who did not appear to be a runner, to the medical area as blood gushed from her leg. A Boston police officer was wheeled from the course with a leg injury that was bleeding.

About three hours after the winners crossed the line, there was a loud explosion on the north side of Boylston Street, just before the photo bridge that marks the finish line. Another thunderous explosion could be heard a few seconds later.

Runner Laura McLean of Toronto said she heard two explosions outside the medical tent.

"There are people who are really, really bloody," McLean said. "They were pulling them into the medical tent."

Cherie Falgoust was waiting for her husband, who was running the race.  "I was expecting my husband any minute," she said. "I don't know what this building is ... it just blew. Just a big bomb, a loud boom, and then glass everywhere. Something hit my head. I don't know what it was. I just ducked."

Click for more from MyFoxBoston.com

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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New deadly bird flu virus infects at least 20 in China

Published April 07, 2013

Associated Press

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  April 5, 2013: In this photo a poultry vendor walks past his empty shop at a wholesale market in Shanghai.AP

BEIJING –  Shanghai has reported two more cases of human infection of a new strain of bird flu, raising the number of cases in eastern China to 20. The death toll among those who contracted the virus remains at six.

Health officials believe people are contracting the H7N9 virus through direct contact with infected fowl and say there's no evidence the virus is spreading easily between people.

China's official Xinhua News Agency reported the two new Shanghai cases Sunday, citing local authorities.

Shanghai has been ordered by the agriculture ministry to halt its live poultry trade and slaughter all fowl in markets where the virus has been found.

The capital cities of the neighboring provinces of Zhejiang and Jiangsu also have suspended sales of live poultry. Both provinces have reported H7N9 cases.

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Deadly blood type solves 60-year-old medical mystery

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  People with the rare Vel-negative blood type can die if they receive a Vel-positive transfusion, and now scientists know why.Nicolle Rager Fuller, National Science Foundation

A blood type that can turn blood transfusions deadly has proven a perplexing mystery for 60 years. Now researchers have finally identified the secret behind the blood type known as "Vel," findings that could help make blood safer for hundreds of thousands of people worldwide.

The mystery began in 1952, when a 66-year-old woman in New York, sick with colon cancer, received a blood transfusion and unexpectedly suffered from a severe and potentially fatal rejection of the blood. Investigators referred to her, using her last name, simply as Patient Vel.

Further research found that Mrs. Vel had developed a potent immune response against some unknown compound found on the red blood cells she had received. However, scientists could not identify this compound, opening the mystery of a new blood type, "Vel-negative."

"The molecular basis of the Vel-negative blood type remained elusive for more than 60 years despite intense efforts worldwide," researcher Bryan Ballif, a biochemist and mass spectrometrist at the University of Vermont, told LiveScience. [The 9 Most Bizarre Medical Conditions]

How Vel works

Most people in the world are Vel-positive, but soon investigators discovered that Mrs. Vel was not alone; more than 200,000 people in Europe and more than 100,000 in North America share the Vel-negative blood type. For the 1 in 2,500 people of European descent with the rare blood, receiving a Vel-positive transfusion can easily result in kidney failure and death.

Everyone's red blood cells are coated with molecules that can serve as what are called antigens, compounds that prompt the immune system to respond. It does so by pumping out proteins known as antibodies that latch onto and neutralize those antigens. However, people do not normally produce antibodies to their own red blood cell antigens, only to foreign ones — such as when they receive blood from another person who has a different blood type, and therefore an antigen they lack.

The most commonly known blood antigens make up the major human blood groups: A, B, AB and O. However, many less-common blood groups also exist, such as Vel, which can potentially make transfusions dangerous for patients.

Vel-negative blood is one of the most difficult blood types to supply in many countries. This is partly due to its rarity, but also to the dearth of any systematic way to screen for Vel-negative blood from donors. Previously, to identify whether someone was Vel-negative or Vel-positive, doctors had to use antibodies generated by the few known Vel-negative people after their bodies had rejected transfused blood. Many hospitals and blood banks lack access to these antibodies and thus any way to test for Vel.

Understanding rare blood types

Now Ballif, along with molecular biologist Lionel Arnaud of the French National Institute of Blood Transfusion and their colleagues have found the mysterious culprit behind Vel.

"Our findings promise to provide immediate assistance to health care professionals should they encounter this rare but vexing blood type," Ballif said.

To find the missing piece, the international team used antibodies from Vel-negative patients to purify the Vel protein from human red blood cell membranes. Ballif and his colleagues then identified the culprit, a tiny molecule researchers had never before observed, andwhich is now dubbed small integral membrane protein 1, or SMIM1. Genetic analysis of 70 Vel-negative people revealed that each such patient was missing a short gene that instructs cells how to make SMIM1. [7 Biggest Mysteries of the Human Body]

Last year, the same researchers identified the proteins responsible for two other rare blood types, Junior and Langeris. With Vel, the global count of understood blood types now rises to 33.

"While there are still a couple of rare blood types whose molecular basis remains to be elucidated, the Vel-negative blood type was surely the most vexing mystery," Arnaud told LiveScience.

The researchers developed DNA-based tests for identifying Vel-negative patients. These tests can easily be integrated into existing blood testing procedures and clinicians can complete them in two hours or less, the researchers said.

"For those rare Vel-negative individuals in need of a blood transfusion, this is a potentially life-saving time frame," Ballif said. "Even if you are that rare one person out of 2,500 that is Vel-negative, we now know how to rapidly type your blood and find blood for you."

The scientists detailed their findings online March 18 in the journal EMBO Molecular Medicine.

Copyright 2013 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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NYC health officials warns of new, deadly meningitis strain

Published March 22, 2013

Associated Press

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The New York City health department has issued new recommendations for vaccinating against a new and lethal strain of bacterial meningitis.

It says the symptoms come on quickly and the disease can be fatal if not treated immediately.

It's only been seen in men. The patients often contract it through anonymous sexual encounters with other men. That makes it hard to trace the infection's path.

The standard meningitis vaccine is effective against the new strain. The health department is advising it for men regardless of HIV status who regularly have contact with other men they meet online, at a bar or party.

The health department says 22 cases have been reported since 2010, including 13 last year and four this year. Seven have been fatal.

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DEADLY TRAP:State Bills Seek End to Farm Animal Abuse Videos

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  April 22, 2010: In this file image from video provided by the United States Humane Society, a Hallmark Meat Packing slaughter plant worker is shown attempting to force a "downed" cow onto its feet by ramming it with the blades of a forklift in Chino, Calif. State legislators across the country are introducing laws making it harder for animal welfare advocates to investigate cruelty and food safety cases.AP/Humane Society of the United States

SACRAMENTO, Calif. –  An undercover video that showed California cows struggling to stand as they were prodded to slaughter by forklifts led to the largest meat recall in U.S. history. In Vermont, a video of veal calves skinned alive and tossed like sacks of potatoes ended with the plant's closure and criminal convictions.

Now in a pushback led by the meat and poultry industries, state legislators across the country are introducing laws making it harder for animal welfare advocates to investigate cruelty and food safety cases.

Some bills make it illegal to take photographs at a farming operation. Others make it a crime for someone such as an animal welfare advocate to lie on an application to get a job at a plant.

Bills pending in California, Nebraska and Tennessee require that anyone collecting evidence of abuse turn it over to law enforcement within 24 to 48 hours — which advocates say does not allow enough time to document illegal activity under federal humane handling and food safety laws.

"We believe that folks in the agriculture community and folks from some of the humane organizations share the same concerns about animal cruelty," said Mike Zimmerman, chief of staff for Assembly Member Jim Patterson, R-Fresno, whose bill was unveiled this week. "If there's abuse taking place, there is no sense in letting it continue so you can make a video."

Patterson's bill, sponsored by the California Cattlemen's Association, would make failing to turn over video of abuse to law enforcement within 48 hours an infraction punishable by a fine.

Critics say the bills are an effort to deny consumers the ability to know how their food is produced.

"The meat industry's mantra is always that these are isolated cases, but the purpose of these bills is to prevent any pattern of abuse from being documented," said Paul Shapiro, vice president of farm animal protection for the Humane Society of the United States, which conducted the California and Vermont investigations.

In Indiana, Arkansas and Pennsylvania it would be a crime to make videos at agricultural operations.

The goal of the proposed California law, industry representatives say, is to halt any abuses quickly and get video evidence to government regulators within two days, not to impede undercover investigations by animal welfare groups.

"The people doing this aren't cops so I wouldn't think it's their job to build a case. The goal for all of us is to reduce instances of animal abuse," said David Daley, a Cattlemen vice president and professor of agricultural science at California State University-Chico.

Formal opposition to the California bill comes from the ASPCA, the Teamsters, the HSUS and dozens of others. They say these attempts by the agriculture industry to stop investigations are a part of a nationwide agenda set by the American Legislative Exchange Council, a conservative think tank backed by business interests.

ALEC has labeled those who interfere with animal operations "terrorists," though a spokesman said he wishes now that the organization had called its legislation the "Freedom to Farm Act" rather than the "Animal and Ecological Terrorism Act."

"At the end of the day it's about personal property rights or the individual right to privacy," said spokesman Bill Meierling. "You wouldn't want me coming into your home with a hidden camera."

Animal welfare advocates say all of the focus on secrecy is energy misspent.

"I wish the cattlemen actually wanted to stop cruelty, not the documenting of cruelty," said HSUS California director Jennifer Fearing. "One could think of a thousand ways for them to actually stop cruelty rather than waiting for people to make videos and turn them over."

Animal welfare advocates say law enforcement agencies do not have the time or inclination to work complex animal abuse and food safety cases, and that federal USDA inspectors in slaughter plants have turned a blind eye to abuse.

When a USDA inspector at the Vermont plant was heard in 2009 coaching a plant worker on how to avoid being shut down, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack weighed in, calling the conduct "inexcusable."

In reaction to concerns, the USDA has been working to improve enforcement of its humane handling regulations over the past two years, including establishing an ombudsman position that accepts reports of violations. Last year 24 new positions in the Food Safety Inspection Service were dedicated to humane handling, said a high-ranking food safety official not authorized to speak publicly.

That hasn't slowed investigations or the bills designed to stop them. The Arkansas bill goes further than the others and would prohibit anyone other than law enforcement from investigating animal cases.

Last year Iowa, a major egg-producing state, passed a bill making it illegal to deny being a member of an animal welfare organization on a farm job application. Utah passed one that outlaws photography.

Most of the sensational videos of abuse in recent years are shot by undercover operatives who surreptitiously apply and are hired by the meat processors for jobs within the facilities. One recorded last year by Compassion over Killing at Central Valley Meats in Hanford, Calif. showed a worker standing on a downed dairy cow's nostrils to suffocate it and others repeatedly shot in the head, prompting several fast-food hamburger to cancel contracts, at least temporarily.

Animal welfare groups say investigations take weeks because the operatives nose around only when they aren't performing the duties for which they were hired.

An HSUS investigator was in the Hallmark plant in Southern California for six weeks between October and November 2007, when the nonprofit turned over to the local district attorney evidence that included fraud in the federal school lunch program because animals too sick to walk were being slaughtered. In January 2008, HSUS released the video to force the DA to act. Two employees were convicted of cruelty charges.

Late last year, nine workers at a Wyoming pork processing facility were charged with animal cruelty after an HSUS video showed them kicking and tossing piglets and failing to euthanize a sow gravely injured by a worker while giving birth.

In 2009, HSUS spent 21 days in the Vermont slaughterhouse where male calves born to dairy cows were killed for veal.

"Believe me our investigators would like to be out of there as soon as possible. They're stoic, they're courageous, but they are not enjoying their work at all," said Mary Beth Sweetland, director of investigations for HSUS.

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Woman removes colon to prevent deadly cancer

By the time she was 34, Lynne Fisher had already experienced incredible tragedy.

Her uncle Charlie had died at the age of 33, followed by her father a year later at the age of 47.  More significantly, both of their lives had been claimed by the same disease – colon cancer.

While the episode was very traumatic, a connection between their deaths was never made, until 10 years later when the unthinkable happened.  Fisher’s brother was diagnosed with colon cancer, also called bowel cancer, at the young age of 28 – and passed away two years later.

“My brother Mickey died, which was really traumatic,” Fisher, 51, who lives in Nottingham, England, told FoxNews.com. “I’d seen my uncle, my dad, my brother all die.  And I was really close to my brother; there was only a two-year age gap.  Watching your younger brother die is just horrible.”

Realizing that the family had a connection of some kind, doctors warned Fisher she could possibly develop the disease and that the increased risk was most likely passed down from her father.  However, genetic screening wasn’t available then, so Fisher, her two brothers and sister started having colonoscopies every three years in order to check for signs of the developing disease.

During this time, Fisher had a small nervous breakdown, feeling that everyone around her was dying of the same disease.  She vowed that if she ever contracted colorectal cancer, she wouldn’t pursue treatment, believing nothing could be done to save her, and that she should try to enjoy the time she had left.

Then in 2006, 13 years after Mickey’s death, Fisher’s older brother Clive was diagnosed with colon cancer at the age of 38.

“While he was in the hospital, he had lots of tests, and they told him he had a mutated gene that runs in our family,” Fisher said. “They explained it to him, and then he rang me and said, ‘They can’t save my life, but Lynne, you should get yourself tested, and then at least you’ll know.’”

Doctors had identified in Clive a faulty gene that is linked to a condition called hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC) – also known as Lynch syndrome.  First discovered by Henry T. Lynch in 1966, Lynch syndrome is one of the most common hereditary causes of colon cancer, causing 3 percent of all cases.

People with Lynch syndrome develop polyps – abnormal growths of tissue – in their colons.  However, unlike in individuals without the faulty gene, the progression from a small polyp to full-blown cancer is a lot quicker for these kinds of patients.

“If (the polyps) are removed when they’re small, a lot of patients can keep their colons,” Dr. Anish Sheth, a gastroenterologist at the University Medical Center at Princeton in New Jersey, who did not treat Fisher, told FoxNews.com.   “If you catch it later where the polyps are too big, you have to have surgery and some people will remove the majority of the colon.”

The lifetime risk of someone with Lynch syndrome developing bowel cancer is 70 to 80 percent.

At first, Fisher said she didn’t want to know if she had the gene.

“They gave me lots of options: Did I want to know? What would I do if I did have it?” Fisher said.  “I nearly didn’t want to know, because I thought, ‘What difference would it make?’  But all my family urged me to have the test, and I got the results that I’ve got it.”

According to Sheth, a person with Lynch syndrome can have multiple mutated genes that contribute to the development of cancer.

“They all fit into this category of mismatched repair genes,” Sheth said.  “As our cells are dividing and replicating as we grow, there are just inevitable errors along the way.  There are genes we have that are designed to identify these mistakes and then correct them.  However, these genes which are responsible to repair these mismatches are actually abnormal (in people with Lynch syndrome) , so you get these cells who incorporate all these errors” – ultimately leading to cancer.

Upon the discovery of her genetic mutation, Fisher was presented with a very complicated surgical option.  Her doctor recommended she have a subtotal colectomy, in order to remove a large part of her colon.  He told Fisher he was 100 percent sure she would get bowel cancer if she didn’t have the procedure done.  But initially, Fisher didn’t want it.

“Because no one could save Clive’s life, and no one could save Mickey’s life, so I felt a bit guilty that they could save mine,” Fisher said.

But finally the urgings of her family convinced her to have the surgery – as well as inspiration from one of Fisher’s idols: Sharon Osbourne.  Osbourne announced she had colon cancer in 2002 and had surgery to remove part of her colon.  

“I read a story on Sharon Osbourne – she’s my idol; I have my hair like her,” Fisher said. “Sharon had some colon removed cause of some bowel cancer, and it made me realize that famous people are just normal people.  Just because she’s very famous, she still has these things going on in her family that I’ve got going on in my family, we have similar paths we’re following… So I thought she did it, other people have it, I might as well do it too.”

Surgeons ended up removing a large portion of her colon and reconstructed her small intestine to essentially function as her large intestine.

“My small intestine is sewed onto my rectal stump,” Fisher said.  “Normally you have the colon – well that’s gone.  I haven’t got a bag, but it means when I eat, within half an hour I need to go to the toilet.  And there are lots of things that go through; I don’t digest things as much.”

While she still experiences pain and frequent visits to the hospital, Fisher is thankful she had the surgery, as her risk of developing colon cancer has been decreased to 30 percent.   Also, Fisher is a mother of three, so she also knows her children are at risk of having the mutated gene and they will need to get tested soon.  

Overall, Fisher urges anyone to see a doctor as soon as possible if they have any change in bowel habits – albeit an uncomfortable subject to talk about.

“A doctor has seen lots of things,” Fisher said. “They’re there to save your life, and if you do not go to the hospital and get it checked out – you’re someone’s mom, dad, brother, sister, son, daughter, etc.  There’s someone who doesn’t want to lose you.  It’s important to get yourself checked.”

Fisher is involved with the charity Beating Bowel Cancer, located in England.  To learn more about the charity and how to contribute, visit www.beatingbowelcancer.org.

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Scientists find how deadly new coronavirus infects human cells

Scientists have worked out how a deadly new virus which was unknown in humans until last year is able to infect human cells and cause severe, potentially fatal damage to the lungs.

In one of the first detailed studies of the virus - which emerged in the Middle East and has so far infected 15 people worldwide, killing nine of them - Dutch researchers identified a cell surface protein it uses to enter and infect human cells.

The finding, published in the journal Nature, came as the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed the 15th case of the virus, known as novel coronavirus or NCoV, in a male patient in Saudi Arabia who died on March 2.

Other cases have been in Jordan and Qatar, and in patients in Germany and Britain linked to travel in the Middle East.

NCoV is from the same family of viruses as those that cause common colds and the one that caused the deadly outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) that first emerged in Asia in 2003.

The WHO first issued an international alert about it in September after it was identified in a Qatari man in Britain who had recently been in Saudi Arabia.

A study published last month found that NCoV was well adapted to infecting human cells and may be treatable with medicines similar to the ones used for SARS, which killed a tenth of the 8,000 people it infected.

In this latest study, led by Bart Haagmans at the Erasmus Medical Center in The Netherlands, researchers set out to find how the virus got into cells - which receptors it used - and then to find out where in the body those receptors were common.

Potential vaccines

"Once you can identify the receptor and you know the distribution of the receptor in the body, then you can get more information on the pathogenesis (the way it infects people) of the virus and the possibility for transmission," Haagmans said in a telephone interview.

Researchers identified the key receptor for the disease as a cell surface protein called dipeptidyl peptidase 4 (DPP4).

They also found cells containing DPP4 receptors were common in the lower respiratory tract but not in the upper respiratory tract - giving clues to why the virus causes illness in the lungs rather than in the nose and throat as a cold virus would.

The findings should help researchers find ways of developing potential drugs or vaccines to block the DPP4 receptors and prevent infection, Haagmans said.

A few drugs that block DPP4 receptors are already on the market, licensed for use in diabetes, but Haagmans said his team already tried using those to stop the virus in laboratory tests and found they did not work.

He said, however, that the team was working with other molecules that might block the receptors and could form the basis for developing a potential vaccine.

Initial analysis by scientists at Britain's Health Protection Agency last year found that NCoV's closest relatives were most probably bat viruses.

Yet further work by a research team in Germany suggests NCoV may have come through an intermediary - possibly goats.

Haagmans said since DPP4 receptors were also present in other species, including bats, his findings showed it was feasible the virus came from bats. He said the idea that goats may have been an intermediary also looked feasible.

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Deadly winter storm wallops Midwest with snow, ice- FOXNEWS.COM EXTREME WEATHER CENTER - CHECK YOUR FLIGHT

Blinding snow, at times accompanied by thunder and lightning, which was dubbed 'Thundersnow' bombarded much of the nation's midsection Thursday, causing whiteout conditions, making major roadways all but impassable and shutting down schools and state legislatures.

Kansas, which has not seen a snow storm in the last few years, was the epicenter of the winter storm, with parts of Wichita buried under 13 inches of still-falling snow, but winter storm warnings stretched eastern Colorado through Illinois. Freezing rain and sleet were forecast for southern Missouri, southern Illinois and Arkansas. St. Louis was expected to get all of the above -- a treacherous mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain.

Missouri Governor Jay Nixon has declared a State of Emergency Thursday while the National Weather Service blamed the storm on an unstable air mass, much like a thunderstorm.

"Instead of pouring rain, it's pouring snow," Scott Truett, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service, said. Snow was falling at a rate of 1 1/2 to 2 inches per hour in some areas.

Several accidents were blamed on icy and slushy roadways, including a wreck in Oklahoma that killed a teenager Wednesday. Most schools in Kansas and Missouri, and many in neighboring states, were closed. Legislatures shut down early in Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, Nebraska and Iowa.

By midmorning Thursday, the snowfall was so heavy that Kansas City International Airport shut down. About 90 flights were also cancelled at Lambert Airport in St. Louis.

The track of the storm changed overnight and there may be more snow than ice expected in the St. Louis area but there is still a chance of sleet and freezing rain, Fox2Now.com reported. 

While heavy in nature, the snow in Witchita, Kan., is powdery, said weather service meteorologist Suzanna Sortin. She said the Wichita area had received between 11 and 13 inches of snow by midmorning, and places like Salina, Russell and Great Bend were expected to get up to 18 inches of snow.

With that in mind, Kansas transportation officials -- and even the governor -- urged people to simply stay home. Drivers were particularly warned away from the Kansas Turnpike, as whiteout conditions meant low visibility for the length of the turnpike, from Oklahoma to Kansas City. Interstate 70, which runs the length of Kansas, was also snow-packed and icy.

Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback closed executive offices, except for essential personnel.

"Common sense is a good thing, and we'll make it through it," Brownback said.

Some travelers gave up, filling hotels rather than skating across dangerous roadways.

At the Econo Lodge in WaKeeney, Kan., assistant manager Michael Tidball said the 48-room hotel was full by 10 p.m. Wednesday and that most guests were opting to stay an extra day. He said travelers reported that snow was freezing on their windshields faster than wipers could keep them clean.

The blowing snow didn't stop everyone. Jesse Landin, feedlot manager at McClymont Feedyard in south-central Nebraska, was out early Thursday clearing a path with his tractor so trucks could put down feed for 11,000 head of cattle, which remained outside.

"They can handle it," Landin said of the cattle. "They got good winter hair coats."

Near the Nebraska-Kansas border, as much as 8 inches fell overnight, while western Nebraska saw about half of that amount, National Weather Service forecaster Shawn Jacobs said.

Some parts of Oklahoma also had up to 8 inches of snow by Thursday morning, and the weather caused a fatal wreck Wednesday. The Oklahoma Highway Patrol said 18-year-old Cody Alexander of Alex, Okla., died when his pickup truck skidded on a slushy state highway into oncoming traffic and struck a truck.

In northern Arkansas, a school bus crashed Wednesday on a steep, snowy country road, leaving three students and the driver with minor injuries.

The weather service warned that freezing rain could lead to a half-inch or more of ice accumulating Thursday in central and northern Arkansas. The Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla., said "significant ice accumulations" are expected in far northern Arkansas.

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon declared a state of emergency Thursday morning and activated the State Emergency Operations Center. The declaration allows state agencies to coordinate directly with cities and counties to provide emergency services. The Missouri Department of Transportation said Interstate 44 near Springfield was completely covered with ice Thursday morning, and traffic was moving very slow.

In Jefferson City, Mo., off-duty police sergeant Randy Werner had been perched atop a hotel for more than 24 hours as a publicity stunt for a charitable fundraiser.

As large blowing snowflakes pelted him in the face Thursday morning, Werner defiantly declared: "The weather's not bothering me, I can assure you." He then acknowledged that was a lie.

"It's blustery," he said. Werner planned to cut his camp out short, having raised less than a third of his goal.

The St. Louis region prepared with some uncertainty. Depending on the temperature and the trajectory of the storm, St. Louis could get snow, freezing rain, ice, sleet or all or some of the above. Crews were hoping to spread enough salt to keep at least the major roadways moving.

National Weather Service meteorologist Jayson Gosselin said precipitation is generally expected to drop off as the storm pushes east. Chicago and parts of Indiana, he said, could get about 2 inches of snow and some sleet.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report

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