Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Salmonella Alert: Dry Pet Food Recalled After Infants Are Sickened
The Hill: Pet Foods Recalled After Infants Sickened By Salmonella
Some pet foods have been recalled after infants were sickened with Salmonella. “The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, in collaboration with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and state partners, is investigating seven human cases of Salmonella Kiambu infection potentially associated with pet food made by Mid America Pet Food,” the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said in a release Thursday. (Suter, 11/10)
CIDRAP: CDC Warns About Salmonella Outbreak Linked To Recalled Dry Pet Food
The CDC said illness onsets ranged from January 14 to August 19. One patient was hospitalized, and no deaths were reported. Six patients are children younger than 1 year. A sample of the dog food collected and tested by the South Carolina State Department of Agriculture yielded the outbreak strain, and genetic sequencing shows that the strain is closely related to the one that infected people. (Schnirring, 11/10)
In news on a tuberculosis outbreak —
USA Today: Tuberculosis In Omaha: Westview YMCA Had Active Case. 500 Kids Exposed
Officials in Nebraska are testing more than 500 children and staff at an Omaha area YMCA drop-in daycare center for possible exposure to tuberculosis after a case at the site prompted a public health emergency. On Thursday, Douglas County Health Director Lindsay Huse declared an emergency citing the risk of the infectious disease spreading at the Westview YMCA, in the Omaha suburbs. Exposures would have happened between May and late October. The incubation period for tuberculosis is from two and 10 weeks. (Cuevas, 11/11)
The Washington Post: More Than 500 Children Exposed, Tested For Tuberculosis In Nebraska
Tuberculosis testing for hundreds of children in Omaha began Saturday, after a large group of infants, toddlers and children was potentially exposed to infection through a drop-in day-care program. More than 500 children need to be tested within the next week, local health officials said, and younger ones will be given preventive drugs. It’s an unusually large tuberculosis exposure of children, who are more vulnerable to the disease and can become very sick quickly. (McDaniel, 11/11)
On loneliness and mental health —
The Hill: New York Appoints Famed Sex Therapist Dr. Ruth As State’s Loneliness Ambassador
The famed media personality and sex therapist Dr. Ruth Westheimer will serve as New York’s loneliness ambassador, a first-of-its-kind role intended to assist an underserved mental health need, Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) announced Friday. Westheimer, known for her once-prominent radio and television shows as simply “Dr. Ruth,” pitched Hochul on the job last year. (Robertson, 11/10)
Fox News: Bipartisan Lawmakers Eye Solutions For Rural Mental Health Crisis
"Farming can be a lonely endeavor, and it can also be a stressful industry when the economy takes a turn for the worst, tornadoes and derechos devastate farmland, and animal diseases infect flocks and livestock — all of which impact the well-being of our producers," Rep. Randy Feenstra, R-Iowa, explained to Fox News Digital. Feenstra's bill, the Farmers First Act, is meant to "expand behavioral health resources in our rural communities and connect our farmers with medical professionals who can provide the care that our producers deserve," he said. (Elkind, 11/12)
The New York Times: Can’t Think, Can’t Remember: More Americans Say They’re In A Cognitive Fog
There are more Americans who say they have serious cognitive problems — with remembering, concentrating or making decisions — than at any time in the last 15 years, data from the Census Bureau shows. The increase started with the pandemic: The number of working-age adults reporting “serious difficulty” thinking has climbed by an estimated one million people. (Paris, 11/13)
On developments relating to illegal, recreational and psychedelic drugs —
The Hill: Gallup Finds Most Think US Losing Ground In Drug Fight; Sharp Political Split
A majority of those polled in a survey released Friday say the U.S. is losing ground on illegal drugs. The Gallup survey found that 52 percent of Americans said the country has lost ground in the fight against drugs, which Gallup said was a first since it began polling on the subject in 1972. A record-low 24 percent said the nation has made progress in the fight, while 23 percent said things had stood still. (Suter, 11/10)
Boston Globe: Can Magic Mushrooms Help Dying Patients?
Sixty years after Harvard fired Timothy Leary over his experiments with psychedelic drugs, a hospital affiliated with the university has reopened the door on such research by testing whether hallucinogenic mushrooms can help dying patients face death. (Saltzman, 11/10)
Bloomberg: Kratom Sold At Kava Bars Offers A Buzz But Comes With Warnings
When Krista Marquick discovered kratom, it filled a hole in her life that quitting alcohol had left — kratom is often served at specialized bars, so it provided a way to socialize with friends and unwind after work without, she thought, the risk of addiction. Within a few months, Marquick found herself with a brand new addiction that left her feeling, as she put it, “out of control.” On bad days, she spent $80 on kratom. (Xie and John Milton, 11/10)
Also —
KFF Health News: Who Will Care For Older Adults? We’ve Plenty Of Know-How But Too Few Specialists
Thirty-five years ago, Jerry Gurwitz was among the first physicians in the United States to be credentialed as a geriatrician — a doctor who specializes in the care of older adults. “I understood the demographic imperative and the issues facing older patients,” Gurwitz, 67 and chief of geriatric medicine at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, told me. “I felt this field presented tremendous opportunities.” (Graham, 11/10)
