This Travel Warning is being issued to remind American citizens to consider carefully the risks of travel to Kenya at this time due to ongoing safety and security concerns.  This supersedes the Travel Warning of August 10, 2006.

The Department continues to recommend that private American citizens in Kenya evaluate their personal security situation in light of continuing terrorist threats and increasing incidents of violent crime.  Terrorist acts may include suicide operations, bombings, attacks on civil aviation, and attacks on maritime vessels in or near Kenyan ports.  Violent criminal attacks, including armed carjacking and home invasions/burglary, can occur at any time and in any location, and are becoming increasingly frequent, brazen, vicious, and often fatal.  In January 2007, two family members of a U.S. Embassy employee were killed by armed carjackers.  Kenyan authorities have limited capacity to deter and investigate such acts.

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Name of product: Curling Irons

Units: About 322,000

Manufacturer: Conair Corp., of Stamford, Conn.

Hazard: The handle of the curling iron can come apart exposing its line cord, posing a shock or electrocution hazard to consumers.

Incidents/Injuries: None reported.

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Name of Product: Faux-Shearling Infant Booties

Units: About 4,400

Distributor: L L. Bean, of Freeport, Maine

Hazard: A small metal zipper tab on the infant booties can detach posing a choking hazard to young children.

Incidents/Injuries: L.L. Bean has received six reports of the metal tab detaching from the booties. No injuries have been reported.

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Name of product: PARODI Glass Floor Vases

Units: About 110,000 nationwide (and about 767,000 more worldwide)

Manufacturer: IKEA Home Furnishings, of Conshohocken, Pa.

Hazard: The base of these vases can break off unexpectedly, posing a laceration hazard to consumers.

Incidents/Injuries: IKEA has received 18 reports of these vases breaking, resulting in seven reports of injury. In the U.S. a single incident has been reported. The consumer sustained a cut to her foot. Additionally, six reports involving injury have been received from outside of the U.S., with five consumers sustaining cuts to the hand requiring hospital treatment.

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The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today approved orlistat capsules as an over-the-counter (OTC) weight loss aid for overweight adults.  Orlistat was initially approved in 1999 as a prescription drug to treat obesity, and remains a prescription drug for obesity at a higher dose than the OTC version.  OTC orlistat will be manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline under the name Alli and is indicated for use in adults ages 18 years and older along with a reduced-calorie, low-fat diet, and exercise program. 

"We know that being overweight has many adverse consequences, including an increase in the risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes," said Dr. Douglas Throckmorton, Deputy Director for FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.  "OTC orlistat, along with diet and exercise, may aid overweight adults who seek to lose excess weight to improve their health."

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Company agrees to stop manufacturing devices that wash and disinfect endoscopes until it corrects problems

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announces that Custom Ultrasonics, Inc., (CUI) has signed a consent decree of permanent injunction in which it has agreed to stop manufacturing and distributing its System 83 Plus Washer/Disinfector and the System Plus 83 Mini-flex Washer/Disinfector until it brings the methods and controls used to manufacture the devices into compliance with FDA's Current Good Manufacturing Practice requirements of its Quality System (QS) regulation. In addition, the company has agreed to develop and implement adequate written medical device reporting procedures. The consent decree was signed by Judge Timothy J. Savage and entered on January 25, 2007 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

The company's actions posed a potential public health hazard because endoscopes that are not properly cleaned and disinfected can be a source of transmission of pathogens between patients, causing life threatening infections. The FDA is not aware of any adverse events. An endoscope, which is a tube inserted into the body, enables doctors to visualize internal organs. Endoscopes are used in many areas of the body, including the digestive tract, the respiratory tract and the urinary tract.

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Identity Theft Complaints Again Top the List

The Federal Trade Commission today issued its annual report, “Consumer Fraud and Identity Theft Complaint Data” on complaints consumers have filed with the agency. For the seventh year in a row, identity theft tops the list, accounting for 36 percent of the 674,354 complaints received between January 1 and December 31, 2006. Other categories near the top of the complaint list include shop-at-home/catalog sales; prizes, sweepstakes and lotteries; Internet services and computer complaints; and Internet auction fraud.

“Consumers’ help in stopping unlawful operations is critical,” said Deborah Platt Majoras, Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission. “By filing a complaint with the FTC, consumers are making information available to more than 1,600 law enforcement agencies that have access to our secure database.”

“It’s as easy as a click or a call,” she said. “The FTC has an online complaint form at FTC.gov, or consumers can reach us at 1-877-FTC-HELP.”

This year brought some firsts. For the first time, complaint data has been broken out by metropolitan statistical areas with populations greater than 100,000. Breakout data for more than 350 metropolitan areas can be found at http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2007/02/topcomplaints.htm. And this year, complaint data has been sorted into16 categories. They are:

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Despite Re-Circulating E-mail, It is Still Not Necessary to Register Cell Phone Numbers

As the number of phone numbers on the National Do Not Call (DNC) Registry surpassed 139 million, the Federal Trade Commission today reiterated that despite the claims made in e-mails circulating on the Internet, consumers should not be concerned that their cell phone numbers will be released to telemarketers at any time in the near future. In addition, according to the agency, it is not necessary to register cell phone numbers on the DNC Registry to be protected from most telemarketing calls to cell phones.

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Canadian Operation Targeted American Consumers

At the request of the Federal Trade Commission, a federal court has stopped a Canadian telemarketer that targeted consumers throughout the U.S., falsely claiming it could reduce their credit card interest rates.

According to a complaint filed by the FTC, the defendants have sold credit card interest rate reduction services since December 2005, claiming affiliation with consumers’ credit card companies. The complaint alleges that the defendants promise to effect credit card rates between 4.75 percent and 9 percent, thus saving consumers at least $2,500, and that if consumers do not save that amount their money will be refunded. The complaint also alleges that the defendants engaged in Caller ID spoofing, causing consumers’ caller identification services to display telephone numbers that do not belong to the defendants, but rather to innocent victims whose telephone numbers are misappropriated.

For $675 plus $20 for shipping and handling, the complaint alleges, the defendants send consumers promotional materials with more promises to substantially reduce their interest rates, and a “financial profile form” for consumers to complete and mail back. The form asks consumers to list the current balance, credit limit, interest rate, and suggested minimum payment for each of their credit card and other debts, as well as their social security number and other personal information.

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Operation Allegedly Harassed Consumers With Lies and Threats

The Federal Trade Commission has filed a lawsuit against a debt collection operation that allegedly threatened consumers throughout the nation with lawsuits, seizure of property, and arrest. The FTC is seeking an end to such illegal practices and a freeze of the defendants’ assets.

“The Federal Trade Commission will not tolerate these kinds of repeated, egregious violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act,” FTC Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras said, adding that abusive debt collectors will face aggressive law enforcement by the agency.

According to the FTC’s complaint, the operation used misleading and threatening letters and telephone calls while collecting debts for beauty schools, truck driving schools, bail bondsmen, fitness centers, and other small businesses. The complaint alleges that the defendants falsely threatened that they were about to file lawsuits against consumers, that consumers’ property would be seized and sold, that their wages would be garnished, and that they would be liable for legal costs. In some cases, they threatened consumers with arrest in some cases, and often used profanity and shouting during telephone calls.

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