Nation IN BRIEF : PENNSYLVANIA : Researcher Cleared in Exposure to Virus

University of Pennsylvania researcher Jorge Ferrer has been cleared of misconduct for accidentally exposing 120 people, including 100 visiting children, to sheep infected with a virus that causes leukemia, officials said. But Ferrer has been barred from animal research and from conducting or supervising any studies on disease-causing agents. University officials said they are satisfied that none of those exposed are at an increased health risk. Only two of the 14 sheep at the school’s New Bolton Center in Chester County were found to be infected with the HTLV-1 virus, and 31 of the people exposed to the animals last April tested negative, school officials said.