CDC Layoffs Quash Plans To Help Curb Measles Spread in Texas Schools
The CDC's National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) was mostly eliminated earlier this month. They help assess hospitals' air systems in the case of outbreaks and would have expanded to do the same in schools. Plus: Measles has spread to Montana.
CBS News:
CDC Scraps Plan To Help Texas Schools Curb Measles Over Layoffs, Employee Says
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has scrapped a plan to offer help curbing measles in Texas schools after some staff working on the agency's response to this year's record outbreak of the virus were warned they could face layoffs, an agency employee said. CDC officials had initially weighed expanding a service they had been offering to hospitals in Texas — onsite assessments to root out how errors in ventilation and air filtration could be enabling spread of the virus – to other kinds of facilities like schools as well. (Tin, 4/17)
More on the spread of measles —
KRTV:
Measles Confirmed In Montana For The First Time Since 1990
The Montana Department of Public Health & Human Services (DPHHS) said in a news release on Thursday, April 17, 2025, that measles cases have been confirmed in Montana for the first time since 1990. The Gallatin City-County Health Department said the five confirmed cases of measles are people who live in Gallatin County; all are currently isolated at home.
All five individuals are unvaccinated, or their vaccine status is not yet known, according to GCCHD. (4/17)
Honolulu Star-Advertiser:
Hawaii’s 2nd Measles Case Confirmed In Household Member
The Hawaii Department of Health today confirmed a second case of measles in an adult household member of the first case, which was in a child under the age of 5. This second case was considered a presumptive case after the adult began exhibiting symptoms. The child confirmed to have measles on April 7 has since fully recovered. Both recently returned from international travel. (Wu, 4/17)
The New York Times:
Measles Outbreaks In Canada And Mexico Bring Grim Prognosis
As the United States struggles to contain a resurgence of measles that has swept through swaths of the Southwest, neighboring countries are responding to their own outbreaks. Canada has reported more than 730 cases this year, making this one of the worst measles outbreaks in the country since it declared the virus “eliminated” in 1998. Mexico has seen at least 360 measles cases and one death, most of them in the northern state of Chihuahua, according to Mexican health authorities. (Rosenbluth, 4/17)
On covid and bird flu —
CIDRAP:
Studies Across 14 Nations Show 25% To 30% Rate Of Long COVID
A new study in BMJ Global Health across 13 middle- and high-income countries reveals that 25% of patients reported symptoms of long COVID after symptomatic COVID-19, and long COVID is significantly more prevalent in participants from less wealthy nations and in patients of Arab or North African ethnicity. A second study published in BMC Public Health showed that, among 3,693 COVID-19 patients in China, 30.2% reported at least one persistent long-COVID symptom, and 10.7% noted symptoms affecting daily life. (Soucheray, 4/17)
KFF Health News:
Covid Worsened Shortages Of Doctors And Nurses. Five Years On, Rural Hospitals Still Struggle
Even by rural hospital standards, Keokuk County Hospital and Clinics in southeastern Iowa is small. The 14-bed hospital, in Sigourney, doesn’t do surgeries or deliver babies. The small 24-hour emergency room is overseen by two full-time doctors. CEO Matt Ives wants to hire a third doctor, but he said finding physicians for a rural area has been challenging since the covid-19 pandemic. He said several physicians at his hospital have retired since the start of the pandemic, and others have decided to stop practicing certain types of care, particularly emergency care. (Krebs, 4/18)
CIDRAP:
Mexico's Fatal H5N1 Case Involved D1.1 Genotype, Which Has Been Tied To Serious Illness
In updates on H5N1 avian flu today, the World Health Organization (WHO) shared new details about Mexico's recent fatal case, the country's first H5N1 infection, along with an updated risk assessment from the WHO and two global animal health groups. In an outbreak notice, the WHO said the child from Durango state didn't have any underlying health conditions and became ill on March 7 with fever, malaise, and vomiting. (Schnirring, 4/17)
On E. coli —
NBC News:
A Deadly E. Coli Outbreak Hit 15 States, But The FDA Chose Not To Make The Details Public
An E. coli outbreak linked to romaine lettuce ripped across 15 states in November, sickening dozens of people, including a 9-year-old boy in Indiana who nearly died of kidney failure and a 57-year-old Missouri woman who fell ill after attending a funeral lunch. One person died. But chances are you haven’t heard about it. The Food and Drug Administration indicated in February that it had closed the investigation without publicly detailing what had happened — or which companies were responsible for growing and processing the contaminated lettuce. (Khimm, 4/17)
