Four cases of botulism -- two in Texas and two in Indiana -- have been linked to Castleberry's Hot Dog Chili Sauce Original. Other products, including additional brands of canned chili, beef stew, and corned beef hash, were produced at the same plant and are being recalled as a precaution, the company said.

The chili sauces are the only products that have tested positive for the bacterium Clostridium botulinum that causes botulism, a rare but deadly illness that can paralyze the breathing muscles. Symptoms, including blurred vision and slurred speech, generally begin within 36 hours of eating contaminated food, the AP said.

Botulism is normally prevented in canned food by sufficiently heating the product to a high enough temperature. Castleberry's Senior Vice President Dave Melbourne acknowledged that botulism developed in the chili sauce products because they were undercooked, the wire service reported.

Castleberry's said consumers should throw away any of the recalled product in doubled plastic bags. They should not bring the recalled product back to the grocery store, but instead should contact Castleberry's for a refund at 1-888-203-8446.

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Illinois Bans Public Smoking

Illinois is the latest U.S. state to ban smoking in public places, including bars, restaurants, and office buildings.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich signed the anti-smoking legislation Monday that takes effect Jan. 1.

Smokers will still be able to light up in their homes, cars, at tobacco shops, in some motel rooms, and outdoors, the Associated Press reported. Individual violators can be fined up to $250, and businesses face a maximum fine of $2,500.

The law supersedes weaker local ordinances passed by Chicago and dozens of other communities that now exempt businesses with certain filtration systems and for other reasons, the AP said.

While the United States has no federal policy on smoking, some states, including New York and Florida, have imposed some of the world's most stringent anti-tobacco laws, the AP reported.

Circumcision Can Slow AIDS Spread, Conferees Told

Circumcision should be endorsed by governments worldwide as a key way to slow the spread of HIV/AIDS, a U.S. expert told attendees Tuesday at an international AIDS conference in Sydney, Australia.

University of Illinois epidemiology professor Robert Bailey said African studies showed that uncircumcised men were 2 1/2 times more likely than circumcised men to contract HIV from infected women, the Associated Press reported.

He urged international leaders to issue statements endorsing the practice, noting that global agencies would otherwise be reluctant to voice support for the procedure -- for fear of being seen as imposing foreign values, the wire service said.

The World Health Organization has said that male circumcision reduces the transmission of HIV from infected women to men by about 60 percent. But only about 30 percent of the globe's men have had the procedure, the wire service said.

Circumcision is believed to be an effective way of slowing the spread of HIV because skin cells in the foreskin are thought to be especially vulnerable to the virus, the AP said.

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President Bush's Colonoscopy Found No Cancer

Doctors found no cancer in the five small growths, called polyps, removed from President Bush's colon during a colonoscopy on Saturday, the White House reported Monday.

Tests showed the growths were benign -- in keeping with the White House's expectation that none of the five polyps appeared "worrisome," the Associated Press reported.

"The president is in good health," Bush spokesman Tony Snow said. "There is no reason for alarm."

The President, who had transferred power to Vice President Dick Cheney early Saturday morning before undergoing the colonoscopy, which requires anesthesia, reclaimed his powers 9:21 a.m. Eastern time, the wire service reported.

The White House said the President took a bicycle ride at Camp David later Saturday and had spoken with his wife, Laura, by phone in Midland, Texas, the wire service reported.

Bush, who is 61, last had a colorectal cancer check on June 29, 2002.

Two polyps discovered during examinations in 1998 and 1999 make Bush a prime candidate for regular examinations. For the general population, a colonoscopy to screen for colon cancer is recommended every 10 years. But for people at higher risk or if a colonoscopy detects precancerous polyps, follow-up colonoscopies often are scheduled in three- to five-year intervals.

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AirTran Passenger Diagnosed With Meningitis

An unidentified girl who became ill on an AirTran Airways flight on Saturday has been diagnosed with bacterial meningitis, the Associated Press reported Monday.

The teen was listed in critical condition at Wesley Medical Center in Wichita, Kan., the wire service said.

She traveled Saturday from Orlando Fla., to Atlanta on flight 862, then continued to Wichita on flight 687, an AirTran spokesman told the AP. The airline was trying to contact fewer than 20 passengers who sat near her. This illness is contracted by direct close contact with discharges of the infected person's nose and throat, not by breathing the same air, the wire service said.

During the flight to Wichita, the teen became sick and was unresponsive, the wire service said. The crew arranged for an ambulance to meet the plane when it landed.

AirTran informed the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about the incident on Sunday.

Bacterial meningitis, an inflammation of the lining of the brain and spinal cord, kills about 10 percent of its victims, the AP said. Symptoms include stiff neck, high fever, headache, and vomiting.

AirTran said the affected planes have been thoroughly cleaned and returned to service, the wire service reported.

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25 Percent of NYC Adults Have Elevated Blood Mercury

One-quarter of adult residents of New York City have elevated levels of mercury in their blood, the city's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene said Monday.

The higher mercury levels appear closely tied to fish consumption, the department said in a statement. Asians and higher-income residents eat more fish and have higher average mercury levels than others, both locally and nationally, the statement said.

For most adults, higher blood mercury levels pose "little if any health risk," the department said. But it said higher levels of mercury in pregnant women may increase the risk of cognitive problems in their children.

Among all women 20 to 49 years old in New York City, the average blood mercury level is 2.64 ug/L (micrograms per liter), three times that of women in the same age group nationally, the department said. The department's threshold for what constitutes higher-than-normal levels is 5 ug/L.

Among Asian women in New York City, 45 percent have blood mercury levels above the threshold.