Bird Flu News:

• While a close contact in the Missouri bird flu case had flu-like symptoms on the same day, blood tests to check for H5N1 antibodies haven’t been conducted. (Guardian)
• A second healthcare worker who treated the Missouri bird flu patient developed symptoms but wasn’t tested for flu. (US News)
• California and the USDA confirmed 18 more H5N1 outbreaks in dairy cattle, almost doubling the state total. (CIDRAP)
• Experts worry that the U.S. isn’t testing enough, especially as it continues to spread in California’s dairy herds. (Guardian)

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Health News: 

• The FDA approved the first self-administered nasal spray flu vaccine, which needs a prescription but can be done at home. (CBS)
• Two children in Minnesota tested positive for H3N2 swine flu after they attended an agricultural fair and had exposure to pigs; no human-to-human transmission occurred. (CDC)
• A New York resident died from Eastern Equine Encephalitis. It was the first EEE case in a decade. (NY Times)
• Cholera has killed nearly 400 people and sickened 13,000 in Sudan during fighting over the past two months. (US News)
• The U.S. rate of people with severe obesity rose from 2021-2023, with women 2x more likely to report it, though it’s too soon to say if weight-loss drugs will impact this next year. (AP)
• India reported its first case of the fast-spreading clade 1b mpox. (Reuters)
• There have been nearly 30,000 cases of mpox in Africa this year, the WHO estimates. (Reuters)
• 37% of Gen Z men don’t have a primary care provider. (Washington Post)
• The U.S. ranks last among wealthy nations in healthcare quality despite spending the most. (CNN)
• A dozen Tufts lacrosse players were diagnosed with a rare muscle injury after a team workout led by someone who completed Navy SEAL training. (AP)

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Mental Health & Substance Use News:

• Opioid treatment programs aren’t reaching the areas that need them most. (Axios)
• Some people who desperately need mental health care or treatment for substance use disorder are facing “ghost networks,” insurance plans with outdated info, and very few practitioners who are actively accepting new clients. (NPR)

If you or someone you know may be considering suicide or need help, call or text 988.

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Best Questions:

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How can we make sure our employees aren’t facing a “ghost network” for mental health care? 

Even if you offer healthcare benefits for your employees, it’s possible that they’re up against what’s being called a “ghost network.” When an employee goes to look up in-network mental health care providers, a huge portion of the listed providers aren’t actually available to take new patients or don’t even accept the insurance despite being listed. If you’re looking to take action to make mental health care more accessible for your employees, consider creative ways to help verify that in-network providers are available. If you have a lot of employees in one area, consider doing some calls to check that certain providers in that location are available and accept your insurance, then list them on your benefits page. Third-party sites like Headway.co can help ensure employees have more up-to-date information about availability, if they’re compatible with your insurance plans. If you have an EAP, find out how many counseling sessions are available for your employees, and be sure to advertise it. You can also ask if they have any support available for finding and booking appointments with your company’s insurance to help transition employees beyond their limited counseling sessions. If nothing’s working, remember that in many states, insurers share responsibility for finding “timely and geographically accessible providers.” Your HR team can email and call the insurer to request a care manager be assigned to help your employee book an appointment. 

Sources: NPR, Headway

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Is bird flu spreading between people in Missouri? 

We’ve got a full news section on bird flu today, in part because we’ve learned a lot more in recent days about the Missouri bird flu patient who had no known contact with animals before they tested positive for H5N1 in the hospital. Now, we’re hearing of a second healthcare worker who treated this patient who developed respiratory symptoms. Because Missouri officials didn’t hear about the healthcare worker until after they had recovered, it was too late to test them for an active flu infection. As STAT’s Helen Branswell points out, this marks the second time that possible cases associated with the confirmed H5N1 case have only been ID’d well after the fact. Missouri hasn’t invited the CDC to send disease investigators, though they did confirm that they’ll ask for blood testing to see if there are antibodies. But before your imagination runs wild, it’s important to remember that the first sick healthcare worker who treated the confirmed patient tested negative for flu, and the case occurred during a COVID surge. Further blood testing will be needed to see if this health worker caught bird flu from their patient, which would be a first in this outbreak. The more important story here, in our opinion, is the delayed response and slow drip of information coming from Missouri. We’d hope that in future cases, all close contacts, including health workers, are immediately surveyed for symptoms and tested, if necessary, to help monitor this novel virus and contain its spread. 

Source: STAT

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Best Read:

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Bird flu. Mpox. Eastern equine encephalitis. West Nile. Listeria. Dengue. Oropouche. And, of course, COVID. Have the past few months felt like an unending parade of infectious disease? The NY Times digs into a balance we (and most of our public health colleagues) are constantly trying to strike: awareness of health threats without overstating the risk to the average American. 

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Was It Really a Hot Zone Summer? - The New York Times

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