‍Measles News:

• A cluster of four California measles cases are tied to visiting Disneyland around January 28th. (SF Chronicle)
  
  
• A measles outbreak with over 2,000 suspected cases prompted a health alert in Jalisco, Mexico, a key host city for the upcoming FIFA World Cup. (AP)
  
  
• A campus measles outbreak at Ave Maria Univ. in Florida has grown from just 2 (on Tuesday) to 20 confirmed cases and at least 14 more being tested. (CIDRAP)
  
  
• The South Carolina state epidemiologist confirmed that some kids there have encephalitis (brain swelling) – one of the nastiest side effects of measles. (Scientific American)

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Health News:

• Flu activity is creeping up again this week, though it’s still unclear if we’re headed for another double peak like we had last year. (Brown Pandemic Report)
  
  
• The WHO is being forced to cut jobs after the U.S. and Argentina pulled funding. (Bloomberg)
  
  
• Increasingly, doctors and hospitals are reporting that immigrants across the country are avoiding medical care for fear of ICE detention. (STAT)
  
  
• With ICE using Medicaid data, hospitals and states are in a bind over whether to alert immigrant patients that their personal info, including addresses, could be used in efforts to deport them. (KFF Health News)
  
  
• New York City, the West Coast Health Alliance, and other states are joining WHO networks to get alerts on emerging pathogens and outbreaks. (NY Times)
  
  
• Finland’s Olympic women’s hockey team had to postpone a game after dozens of the team got sick with norovirus. (Fox)
  
  
• Raw milk has been implicated in multiple recent health incidents, including a listeria-related newborn death in NM and an E. coli outbreak in CO that sickened nine. (AP, Idaho2)
  
  
• The FDA relaxed rules on “naturally-derived” dyes, allowing food makers to claim “no artificial colors” as long as their dyes aren’t petroleum-based. (NY Times)
  
  
• 308 cases of Hepatitis A have been reported in Manitoba, Canada. (Portage Online)
  
  
• A norovirus outbreak at an assisted living facility sent 5 people to the hospital in Massachusetts. (Metro West)
  
  
• An illegal biolab in a Las Vegas rental property has sickened multiple people. (Hill)
  
  

Best Question:

What does it mean that California is fortifying tortillas with folic acid? Should we avoid buying them? 

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Back in 1998, the federal government mandated that wheat flour be fortified with folic acid because of strong evidence that folic acid deficiency in pregnant women caused neural tube defects, including spina bifida. It worked, reducing neural tube defects in babies by a whopping 35% nationwide. But not everyone benefited equally, because not all communities consume wheat flour at the same rate.

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The Latino community, in particular, relies much more on corn masa than wheat flour. Only one in four Hispanic Californian women report taking daily folic acid supplements in the month before pregnancy, which is the most critical window since the neural tube forms so early. As a result, neural tube defects (NTDs) are more than twice as common in Hispanic versus non-Hispanic infants in California. 

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California’s move to fortify corn masa is designed to close that gap and protect babies who were largely missed by the original policy.

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But there’s a lot of concern on social media about something called the MTHFR gene, and whether this change is safe for people who have it. It’s a hot topic on social media and podcasts like Joe Rogan, and HHS Secretary RFK Jr. has expressed displeasure, as well. People are asking if it affects people with this gene differently, if it’s safe long-term, and if they should still eat corn tortillas. 

Here’s what we know: MTHFR variants are very common and may affect up to half of the U.S. population, including a higher share of Hispanic individuals. People with these variants can still process folic acid and other forms of folate, just slightly less efficiently. Importantly, folic acid is still proven to prevent NTDs, even in people with MTHFR variants, and remains safe. Other forms of folate may be marketed as “better,” but folic acid is the only one with strong evidence behind it for preventing birth defects.

So, while you’re not wrong to have questions, you can rest assured that this is a sound scientific policy that’s safe. We have decades of evidence from wheat products to prove it. Restaurants are in the clear to keep the corn tortillas on the menu, but in California, be prepared to face a few more questions than usual. 

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Sources: YLE, YLE California, Fox, March of Dimes, NIH

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Best Read:

Dozens of routinely updated CDC databases have gone quiet. Here’s what states and medical societies are doing to preserve U.S. public health:

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States and medical societies are stepping up to fill the CDC’s data void | Scientific American

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