A government study says gay and bisexual high school students are more likely than their heterosexual classmates to smoke, use alcohol or do other risky things. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention surveyed 156,000 high school students. It's the largest government study to look at sexual orientation and behavior in kids that age.

Smallpox may be a distant memory, but the virus that causes the debilitating disease, which killed upwards of 300 million people in the last century alone, is alive and well in Atlanta -- at least for now. Today, the two known stocks of the variola virus, held at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and at a laboratory in Russia, are the focus of an intense international debate, with dozens of nations lobbying for their destruction.

Federal health officials released a report Wednesday that said the swine flu vaccination presented no greater threat than the seasonal flu shot in regards to a paralyzing nerve disease. The worrisome link between swine flu vaccine and the disease called Guillain-Barre syndrome was heightened in 1976, when dozens of cases broke out during a swine flu vaccination campaign, prompting the federal government to shut down the effort.

When swine flu emerged from Mexico in April, it spurred alarming reports of severe illness, hospitalizations and deaths. In the months since, public health officials have stressed the illness is no more serious for most people than a seasonal flu. But they have also discovered some important distinctions between the two illnesses: the age groups that are most susceptible to swine flu, the way the virus proceeds through the body, and the possibility that a person could have the illness without a fever.

Georgia colleges are seeing fewer students with confirmed or suspected cases of swine flu, but state and national officials warn another outbreak is possible. Campus health centers are still treating sick students, but the rate of new cases has slowed — a trend found at colleges across the Southeast, according to data released Wednesday by the American College Health Association.

With only a month to go before the first swine flu vaccine is scheduled to arrive, Georgia health officials are still devising plans to get the new vaccine to hospitals, doctors, schools, clinics and - ultimately - to your arm. State and local health officials say they will be ready to distribute vaccine when it arrives, but numerous questions remain on where exactly it will be available and what if any cost there will be.

Dr. John Howard has been named director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, a position he held previously. Howard will serve dual roles — director of NIOSH as well as coordinator of World Trade Center health programs for the U.

One in 10 binge drinkers got behind the wheel the last time they drank heavily. And half of those drivers left from a bar, restaurant or nightclub after downing five or more drinks, a new study has found. The study is being called the first to try to measure the likelihood someone will drive after binge drinking.

Hundreds of public pools, spas around Atlanta have been closed for violations.

The Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention plans to offer up to a $400 million bump to the local construction economy, officials said. CDC officials say they plan to spend up to $300 million to build two multi-story research buildings and expand parking lots at the agency’s Chamblee campus on Buford Highway.

Dr. Richard Besser, former acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, will join ABC News as its senior health and medical editor. Besser led the Atlanta-based agency during the spring outbreak of H1N1 flu, also known as swine flu.

Health care workers, emergency medical personnel, pregnant women and healthy people between the ages of 6 months and 24 years old are among the target groups to receive the vaccine against the H1N1 virus when it first becomes available. That’s one of several recommendations approved Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.

Georgia officials are eagerly awaiting a federal committee’s recommendations Wednesday on which groups should be the first to receive swine flu vaccine. The committee’s actions are expected to largely reflect the guidance that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently sent to state governments, which recommend that priority be given to schoolchildren, pregnant women and health care workers.

When he takes the helm of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday, Dr. Thomas Frieden will bring a solid record of success —- and controversy.

Dr. Thomas Frieden, New York City's outspoken health chief, takes control of the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday.

Government scientists are moving a step closer to a possible swine flu vaccine, analyzing two candidate viruses that might be used to brew one.

President Barack Obama on Friday will name Dr. Thomas Frieden as director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to The New York Times.

New York City's outspoken health commissioner was appointed to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday and sent a memo to employees that affirmed CDC's commitment to science.