内容摘要：Retailers should notify consumers who may have bought the tainted produce. If consumers don’t know the source of cucumbers, they should throw them away, officials said.

Retailers should notify consumers who may have bought the tainted produce. If consumers don’t know the source of cucumbers, they should throw them away, officials said.

This photo provided by Centivax shows Mark Bellin and Hannah Hirou who are involved in efforts to produce an antivenom to counteract the bites of various snakes, at a lab in South San Francisco, Calif., in 2025. (Centivax via AP)This photo provided by Centivax shows Mark Bellin and Hannah Hirou who are involved in efforts to produce an antivenom to counteract the bites of various snakes, at a lab in South San Francisco, Calif., in 2025. (Centivax via AP)

When Columbia University’s Peter Kwong heard of Friede, he said, “Oh, wow, this is very unusual. We had a very special individual with amazing antibodies that he created over 18 years.”In a study published Friday in the journal Cell, Kwong and collaborators shared what they were able to do with Friede’s unique blood: They identified two antibodies that neutralize venom from many different snake species with the aim of someday producing a treatment that could offer broad protection.It’s very early research — the antivenom was only tested in mice, and researchers are still years away from human trials. And while their experimental treatment shows promise against the group of snakes that include mambas and cobras, it’s not effective against vipers, which include snakes like rattlers.

“Despite the promise, there is much work to do,” said Nicholas Casewell, a snakebite researcher at Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine in an email. Casewell was not involved with the new study.Friede’s journey has not been without its missteps. Among them: He said after one bad snake bite he had to cut off part of his finger. And some particularly nasty cobra bites sent him to the hospital.

Friede is now employed by Centivax, a company trying to develop the treatment and that helped pay for the study. He’s excited that his 18-year odyssey could one day save lives from snakebite, but his message to those inspired to follow in his footsteps is simple: “Don’t do it,” he said.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.Shoppers walk near a Nike store in Beijing, China, Tuesday, April 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

“If the U.S. insists on further escalating its economic and trade restrictions, China has the firm will and abundant means to take necessary countermeasures and fight to the end,” China’s Ministry of Commerce said before announcing its latest tariff hike.In Washington, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said: “When you punch at the United States of America, President Trump is going to punch back further.”

The United States sent a record $199 billion in exports to China last year, while China exported $463 billion in goods and services to the United States, third behind Mexico and Canada, according to the U.S. Commerce Department.Top U.S. exports to China in 2024 included soybeans, aircraft, pharmaceuticals and semiconductors. In the other direction, mobile phones, computers, toys and clothing were among major imports from China. The manufacturing giant was the top source of U.S. imports as recently as 2022 but it has lost ground to America’s neighbors amid heightened tensions with the United States.