Health News:

• A 3-year-old gorilla named Kevin is the 4th primate to die at a FL zoo due to a shigella outbreak among the animals. (Miami Herald)
• COVID is still high across the country and “very high” in a number of states, according to wastewater analysis. (CDC)
• Hawaii’s Dept. of Health launched a survey to find more cases of norovirus after an outbreak among hikers. (Star Advertiser)
• Extreme heat is linked to pregnancy complications, including stillbirths and miscarriages - and the risk is growing from things like longer mosquito seasons. (CBS)
• Rhode Island announced its first case of EEE since 2019. (WPRI)
• California reported a rare case of locally acquired dengue for the second year in a row, just the third ever in the state. (LA Times)
• An infant died this week from the ongoing whooping cough outbreak in Alaska, with over 230 cases so far this year, the highest in nine years. (Alaska’s News Source)
• H5N1 was confirmed in 3 more California dairy herds, for a total of six in the state. (CIDRAP)
• The cause of a Missouri resident’s H5 bird flu case is still a mystery. (STAT)
• U.S. employers can expect a 5.8% increase in health insurance costs in 2025. (Reuters)
• The FDA approved Apple airpods as hearing aids, available soon in a software update. (Washington Post)
• Mpox infections in pregnant women are spreading to their unborn children, the WHO says. (Bloomberg)

Mental Health & Substance Use News:

• Suicide rates were lowest in the counties with the highest health insurance coverage, internet access, and income. (MMWR)
• Jon Bon Jovi and a production assistant helped talk a woman down from the ledge of a bridge in Nashville this week. (AP)
• 41% of parents say that most days they’re “too stressed to function,” a new Surgeon General’s report shows. (USA Today)

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

Best Questions:

How do norovirus outbreaks happen on hiking trails?

At least 37 people got sick on a popular Hawaii hiking trail last week, and while 4 people were lab-confirmed to have norovirus, the original source remains unknown. Noro spreads easily through contaminated food, water, or surfaces, like the communal composting toilets that are on this particular Hawaiian trail. Hand sanitizer doesn’t work to kill norovirus, and access to soap and water for hand washing on the trail is limited. It only takes a tiny amount of the virus to make others sick, and since it’s highly contagious, just one person’s illness can cause an outbreak among a group that is hiking together or using shared bathroom facilities, despite good ventilation in the great outdoors.

Source: NYT

Do at-home COVID tests still work?

At-home COVID tests still work but have to be used at the right time. Nothing about the actual virus has changed, but because our immune responses are getting quicker, our symptoms are starting sooner. This is a good thing in terms of not getting severely sick, but it means that we might have symptoms for three or four days before actually having enough viral particles in our nose to test positive on an at-home test. If you have symptoms but test negative in the first few days of your illness, try waiting a day and taking another test on day three or four; if your test does show that dreaded second line, you definitely have COVID. While false negatives are common, especially in the first few days of symptoms, positive tests are much more accurate, so if you’re sick and you test positive, you can be very sure that the results are legit. One more thing to consider: if your tests are expired, they may work and may not. There’s some evidence that they work well far beyond their expiration dates, but if you don’t see a control line or the line is distorted, you may want to try another that’s still within its shelf life.

Source: TIME

Best Read:

The US is entering a riskier season for spread of H5N1 bird flu. Here’s why experts are worried - CNN

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