Several Low Scores Show Even U.S. Lacks Preparedness To Face Pandemic That Could Wipe Out Humanity, Report States

The Washington Post: Countries’ Preparedness For A Pandemic Ranked In New Report
After an Ebola epidemic devastated West Africa in 2014, many countries took steps to boost their preparedness. But even as the risk of such outbreaks increases, no country — the United States included — is fully prepared to respond to a deliberate or accidental threat with the potential to wipe out humanity, according to a report assessing the efforts of 195 countries. The report, released Thursday, is the first comprehensive assessment of global health capabilities, giving countries an overall score based on several measures. (Sun, 10/24)

The New York Times: Scientists Were Hunting For The Next Ebola. Now The U.S. Has Cut Off Their Funding.
In a move that worries many public health experts, the federal government is quietly shutting down a surveillance program for dangerous animal viruses that someday may infect humans. The United Nations Environment Program estimates that a new animal disease that can also infect humans is discovered every four months. Ending the program, experts fear, will leave the world more vulnerable to lethal pathogens like Ebola and MERS that emerge from unexpected places, such as bat-filled trees, gorilla carcasses and camel barns. (McNeil, 10/25)

The Associated Press: Fewer US Children In Foster Care; First Drop Since 2012
The number of children in the U.S. foster care system has dropped for the first time since 2012, stemming a surge that was linked to substance abuse by parents, according to new federal data released on Thursday. The annual report from the Department of Health and Human Services counted 437,283 children in foster care as of Sept. 30, 2018, down from about 441,000 a year earlier. (10/24)

The Washington Post: Man With ‘Auto-Brewery Syndrome’ Acted Drunk Because His Stomach Made Alcohol
Police and doctors didn’t believe the 46-year-old man when he swore that he hadn’t had alcohol before he was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving. His blood alcohol level was 0.2, more than twice the legal limit for operating a car. He refused a breathalyzer test, was hospitalized and later released. But the facts remained in contention. Then researchers discovered the unusual truth: Fungi in the man’s digestive system were turning carbohydrates into alcohol — a rarely diagnosed condition known as “auto-brewery syndrome.” (Iati, 10/24)

Stat: A Serial Entrepreneur Wants His Portable MRI To Transform Medicine
In a nondescript building in this seaside town sits a prototype that could change the way that doctors use magnetic resonance imaging. Usually an MRI machine requires a giant, powerful magnet and must be encased in its own copper-shielded room. It is why the behemoths cost hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars. But this device, from a startup called Hyperfine, is about the size of a luggage cart. It could be wheeled from one bed to another. (Herper, 10/25)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Autism Community, Long Marginalized, Becoming Agent Of Social Change
The Next Step clinic will screen kids as young as 2 for signs they were born with autism. That would mean they came into the world as part of a neurological minority — an estimated one in 59 whose behavior often doesn't conform to the social norms of the neurological majority. Few populations have been as misdiagnosed. (Schmid, 10/24)

The Associated Press: Police Face Dilemma Over When To Take Suicidal Officer’s Gun
A law enforcement think tank wants police departments dealing with a suicide crisis in their ranks to rethink how they make one of their toughest decisions: when to take guns away from troubled officers. The recommendation to review gun-removal policies is contained in a new report by the Washington-based Police Executive Research Forum released in anticipation of a gathering of police chiefs this weekend in Chicago. (Hays, 10/24)

Boston Globe: Understanding Dementia From The Inside Out
Trying to perform a simple task with multiple radio noises in your ears, blurred vision, painful spikes in your shoes, and blinding strobe lights would be a similar experience to having dementia. It’s hard to imagine, which is why HouseWorks, a Newton-based provider of home and hospital care for seniors, is using virtual reality to give those who care for dementia patients a better sense of what it’s like to have the disease. (Goddard, 10/24)

CBS News: Polyamorous Relationships Not Just "One Big Orgy": Fighting Stigma Of Consensual Non-Monogamy
"One big orgy." That's the stereotype about the lifestyle of consensual non-monogamy — an arrangement where committed partners openly agree to have sexual relationships with other people. But people who have practiced non-monogamy for years say it's not all wild sex — or even all that wild. It takes a lot of work, and it carries a lot of stigma. There can be serious consequences for the family life and even careers of those involved. "Many people are trying to create families in different kinds of ways. And a lot of people see that as dangerous," Diana Adams, a Brooklyn-based lawyer who represents polyamorous families, says in the CBSN Originals documentary, "Non-monogamy." (Kegu and Silverstein, 10/24)

The New York Times: Fiber And Yogurt Tied To Lower Lung Cancer Risk
Eating yogurt and fiber may lower the risk for lung cancer. Fiber is the main source of prebiotics, the nondigestible foods that promote the growth of probiotics, and yogurt is a probiotic food. Scientists suspect that a healthy microbiome may explain the link. The study, in JAMA Oncology, pooled data from 10 studies of diet and lung cancer incidence involving more than 1.4 million adults. Over an average follow-up of eight years, they found 18,882 cases of lung cancer. (Bakalar, 10/24)