Bird Flu News:

• The 3-year-old girl in Mexico has died in the country’s first human case of bird flu. (AP)
• Fear of immigration raids is hampering bird flu response among undocumented farmworkers; many are reluctant to seek care or talk to public health workers. (KFF Health News)
• Egg prices are back up for consumers to a record high of $6.20 per dozen, even though wholesale prices have decreased as fewer flocks are infected. (Quartz)
  

Measles News:

• Despite RFK Jr.’s claim that the curve is flattening in the TX measles outbreak, data shows that cases are still rising, and most experts suspect they’re actually severely undercounted. (ABC)
• Indiana has an outbreak with 5 cases, just days after reporting its first case. (IDOH)
• There are now 3 cases in Colorado, but they’re in different counties (Pueblo, Denver, and Archuleta), so it’s not being treated as an outbreak. (CBS)
• Slashed federal funding cancelled vaccine clinics in AZ, TX, MN, and WA, plus a media campaign to bring low-income kids up to date on shots in NV. (KFF Health News)
• Here’s a map of the latest cases, with a total case count of over 700 across the U.S. (NY Times)

Health News:

• More than 1,500 pounds of Cabot Creamery butter was recalled in 7 states over high levels of coliform bacteria, indicating possible fecal contamination. (Newsweek)
• Marketside recalled 1,500 cases of celery sticks due to possible Listeria contamination, but the FDA says no illnesses have been reported in connection with the product. (FDA)
• Meanwhile, the FDA is investigating a new Listeria outbreak with 14 cases so far with no known product identified. (FDA)
• All of CDC’s cruise ship sanitation inspectors were laid off, despite being funded by fees from cruise lines, not taxpayer dollars. It’s a very bad year for noro outbreaks on cruises, with 12 so far compared to 18 for all of last year.  (CBS)
• Idaho will enforce a first-in-the-nation ban on vaccine mandates in businesses this summer. (Axios)
• HHS secretary RFK Jr. falsely said this week that single-antigen vaccines “never worked,” despite effective COVID, flu, and RSV vaccines that target one antigen. (STAT)
• Deaths caused by USAID cuts are rolling in: in Sudan, 5 children died of cholera and heat exhaustion while walking 3 hours to the nearest clinic after theirs was shuttered. (NY Times)
• A new handheld device can diagnose TB within an hour without a lab, its developers say. (CIDRAP)
  

Best Questions:

Can you get the flu twice in one year?

Flu cases are finally starting to decline, but we’re still not quite at the threshold that lets us declare flu season over, and sadly, you can get the flu twice in a year. There are different types (A and B) and many different strains within each. Flu A was dominant this year, making up the majority of cases all winter long. Of positive flu A tests, H1N1 and H3N2 were the most common strains, and in theory, you could get hit by both in a single season. Flu B tends to peak later in the season, in late winter and early spring, and in the past few weeks, it has jumped considerably. It’s possible to get hit with flu A earlier in the winter and flu B later in the season, which we are seeing more of right now. But there are also so many other viruses that look and feel a lot like flu. While RSV and COVID are pretty quiet right now, other viruses are still out and about, like adenoviruses, rhinoviruses, and many more.

There are at-home rapid tests that can check for flu A, B, and COVID at once, which can be helpful because an antiviral treatment, Tamiflu, can help reduce the length of symptoms if taken promptly. If you or your employees are among the unlucky few who get hit with the flu twice this year, remember to stay home while sick and call your healthcare provider if you’re at higher risk so they can start you on an antiviral if needed.

Sources: The Hill, Today

Why are some food additives banned in Europe but allowed in the U.S.?

The U.S. and Europe have two fundamentally different philosophies toward public health. Europe uses a hazard-based approach: if something could cause harm, it’s often banned until proven completely safe. The U.S. uses a risk-based model, which focuses on whether that harm is likely at the levels we actually consume. Neither is right or wrong.

There’s a correlation (though causation isn’t proven) between some food dyes and hyperactivity in kids, and some animal studies have indicated toxicity at very high doses. Europe bans those additives entirely because any amount of risk is too much by their standards. The U.S. keeps it legal because the FDA considers it safe in the tiny amounts typically used in our food.

On top of that, the U.S. has fewer rules overall for food additives. Many chemicals don’t need specific FDA approval, which food safety advocates have long criticized. But the alternative process for FDA approval can be extremely slow - and that was before HHS laid off 10,000+ employees in the past few weeks.

Some states—like California and West Virginia—are stepping in with their own bans. As a result, we’re likely to see companies reformulate products across the board to meet the strictest state rules.

Sources: TIME, YLE, Trends in Food Science & Tech, NIH

Best Read:

The FDA collects fees from drug and medical device companies, but a new analysis in Health Affairs says it should consider collecting fees from food companies as a way to fund food safety efforts. The authors argue that these user fees could help close loopholes that allow a manufacturer to deem their own food additives and ingredients “generally recognized as safe” without any FDA review.

Analysis: New FDA user fees may be path forward for food safety funding - CIDRAP

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