A Chinese woman who spent five weeks in intensive care with H7N9 bird flu has given birth to a girl in what was described as a "miracle" first, state media said Friday.

Qiu Yan, 25, was five months pregnant when she was diagnosed with the virus in April, early in China's human outbreak of the disease.

New Zealand introduced a new law on Thursday which bans the use of drugs offering so-called "legal" highs unless manufacturers can provide clinical evidence that they are safe.

The law imposes strict controls on products such as synthetic cannabis and legal "party pills", which mimic the effects of drugs like ecstasy without using illicit substances.

A new kind of surgical knife can tell cancerous from healthy tissue in seconds and may help improve tumor removal in the operating room, according to research published Wednesday.

Known as the iKnife, the tool analyzes the vapor given off as surgeons use electrical current to cut away tissue -- and it reports in real time whether the tissue is cancerous or not.

Memory problems that are often dismissed as a normal part of aging may not be so harmless after all.

Noticing you have had a decline beyond the occasional misplaced car keys or forgotten name could be the very earliest sign of Alzheimer's, several research teams are reporting.

The World Health Organization on Wednesday held off from calling for travel restrictions related to the MERS virus striking Saudi Arabia as the kingdom braces for the Muslim hajj pilgrimage.

In a statement following a session of the U.N. health agency's emergency committee -- whose rarity underlined global concerns about MERS -- the WHO said there was currently no reason to step up its level of alert.

Three years ago Mr and Ms Lee fulfilled their dream of parenthood with the help of a surrogate mother.

But like many Taiwanese couples in their position, they were forced to seek surrogacy abroad because the procedure is illegal at home.

Twenty children have died after eating a free lunch at a primary school in eastern India, with initial tests showing the food may have contained poisonous chemicals, officials said Wednesday.

Thirty more children remain ill in hospital after consuming lunch cooked at the village school, said the education minister of Bihar state, P. K.Shahi.

Sweden's food safety watchdog said on Tuesday it had found "extremely high" levels of arsenic in a Chinese herbal remedy, posing a "very serious health hazard."

The toxic substance was found in a product called Niu-Huang Chieh-tu-pien, which is claimed by online vendors of traditional Chinese medicine to cure numerous conditions, including toothache, skin infections, anorexia and fever in infants.

Saudi Arabia will not issue visas to the elderly, pregnant women or children for the hajj and umrah pilgrimages to help combat the spread of MERS coronavirus, the French health ministry said on Tuesday.

In an urgent circular to doctors, it said the Saudi health ministry "has taken the decision to restrict the issuing of visas" for the annual hajj and for the umrah, a pilgrimage which can be undertaken at any time.

Four months after a Florida man was found unconscious in a Palm Springs, California, motel, doctors are looking into the mystery of his identity after he awoke with no memory of his past and speaking only Swedish.

Michael Boatwright, 61, woke up with amnesia, calling himself Johan Ek, The Desert Sun newspaper reported. Boatwright was found unconscious in a Motel 6 room in February. After police arrived, he was transported to the Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs where he woke up.