Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
NY Resident's Death Is 10th Fatality In Boar's Head Listeria Outbreak
The Washington Post: 10th Listeria Death Tied To Boar’s Head Liverwurst In Nationwide Outbreak
A New York resident has died amid a nationwide listeria outbreak tied to Boar’s Head deli meat, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Wednesday, bringing the death toll to 10 in the largest outbreak of the foodborne illness since 2011. The agency also reported two new hospitalizations associated with the outbreak. In total, 59 people have been hospitalized in 19 states since late May. (Roubein and Heim, 9/25)
Bloomberg: Los Angeles’ Dengue Cluster Grows To Four Cases In Two Weeks
Los Angeles County public health authorities are dealing with a fourth case of dengue reported in just over two weeks, as evidence mounts that the mosquito-borne infection is circulating in the area for the first time. None of the four patients recently traveled to areas where dengue regularly occurs, suggesting the virus is spreading locally via infected mosquitoes, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health said in a statement. The infection disclosed Wednesday isn’t related to a cluster of three cases announced earlier this month, officials said. (Fay Cortez, 9/25)
CIDRAP: Review Finds Serious Gaps In Steps To Control Avian Flu In Mammals
Global strategies to control mammal-to-mammal avian flu transmission aren't working and pose an ongoing threat to people, especially as the viruses become entrenched in Europe and the Americas, according a team of virologists led by the United Kingdom's Pirbright Institute. Their bird's-eye view of the current H5N1 avian influenza panzootic in mammals appeared yesterday in Nature. Also, the team laid out different evolutionary pathways that could turn the influenza panzootic into a human pandemic virus. (Schnirring, 9/25)
KFF Health News: Nursing Aides Plagued By PTSD After ‘Nightmare’ Covid Conditions, With Little Help
One evening in May, nursing assistant Debra Ragoonanan’s vision blurred during her shift at a state-run Massachusetts veterans home. As her head spun, she said, she called her husband. He picked her up and drove her to the emergency room, where she was diagnosed with a brain aneurysm. It was the latest in a drumbeat of health issues that she traces to the first months of 2020, when dozens of veterans died at the Soldiers’ Home in Holyoke, in one of the country’s deadliest covid-19 outbreaks at a long-term nursing facility. (Maxmen, 9/26)
Also —
The Hill: Trump's Former CDC Chief Endorses RFK Jr. To Lead Chronic Disease Commission
The Trump administration’s former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) endorsed Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as the “right man for the job” to lead a commission on chronic childhood disease. In an op-ed published Tuesday in Newsweek, Robert Redfield said he believes in Kennedy’s “Make America Healthy Again” agenda. (Weixel, 9/25)
The Washington Post: NFL Stadiums Will Soon Double As Disaster Shelters, Federal Officials Say
As Hurricane Katrina ravaged Louisiana in 2005, more than 20,000 people sought a makeshift shelter in the Superdome, the home stadium of the New Orleans Saints. Nearly two decades later, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the National Football League are partnering to turn football stadiums across the country into emergency shelters, temporary hospitals and other venues needed during disasters, according to details shared with The Washington Post. The initiative, which comes as Florida braces for a major hurricane, and floodwaters from Hurricane Francine soak Louisiana, aims to better prepare communities for catastrophic events. (Joselow and Sacks, 9/25)
