Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Wet Season Pushes West Nile Virus Risk To Record Highs In Arizona
AP: West Nile Virus At High Levels In Arizona Due To Wet Monsoon
This year’s wet monsoon in Arizona is contributing to a record-high season for the West Nile virus, which is spread through mosquito bites, health officials said. Arizona had 123 cases and four deaths through late last week, the state Department of Health Services said Tuesday. Nearly all of the cases were reported in Maricopa County, where the virus has been detected in record numbers of mosquitos studied, the department said. (9/22)
New Orleans Times-Picayune: Public Health Expert Warns Of Vermin-Born Illnesses As Trash Pickup Continues To Lag
Health experts are sounding the alarm over vermin-borne illnesses stemming from the lack of trash pickup as residents remain tormented by the lack of this essential municipal service. Dr. Ronald Blanton, chair of Tulane University’s School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, says viruses, bacterial infections and other illnesses could soon emerge from this crisis if they have not already. Flies that are attracted to the growing heaps of uncollected trash, are just “an incredible problem in their ability to carry pathogens,” he said. “There’s also a huge risk for transmission of disease from mosquito breeding.” (Ravits, 9/21)
Houston Chronicle: Texas Has The Most Cases In Cross-Country Salmonella Outbreak. The CDC Still Doesn't Know The Source
The CDC is still searching for the source of a multi-state salmonella outbreak that is impacting Texas the most. Of the 127 confirmed infections of the outbreak strain Salmonella Oranienburg, 45 live in Texas, the CDC reported on Sept. 17. Although cases have been reported in 25 total states, no other state has reported more than 13 salmonella infections connected to the outbreak. Confirmed infections are still climbing, and the CDC is planning to provide a new update later this week, a department spokesperson said on Tuesday. (Shelton, 9/21)
In other news from California, New York, Wisconsin and Oklahoma —
The New York Times: California’s Wildfires Had An Invisible Impact: High Carbon Dioxide Emissions
This wildfire season so far in California has been extraordinary, producing thousands of fires — including one that, at nearly a million acres burned, is the largest single fire in state history — and spewing so much smoke that air quality has been affected thousands of miles away. Wildfires can have a global climate impact as well, because burning vegetation releases planet-warming carbon dioxide. And from June through August, California fires emitted twice as much CO2 as during the same period last year, and far more than any other summer in nearly two decades. (Fountain, 9/21)
San Francisco Chronicle: California Launching Program To Track Violent Deaths In LGBTQ Community
The evidence that LGBTQ people are more likely to die violent deaths is already glaring: Reported homicides of transgender women have surged, and almost half of young people in the community contemplated suicide last year. But the totality of those crises isn’t clear because no state currently tracks how many LGBTQ people die as a result of violent acts, including homicide, suicide and police use of deadly force. California, long a pioneer in LGBTQ rights, is on track to become the first state to do so. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a measure last week that will create a pilot program for medical examiners and coroners in six counties to report the gender identity and sexual orientation of people who die violent deaths. (Gardiner, 9/21)
AP: Rikers Island Should Close, Say 4 House Democrats From NY
Four members of Congress from New York demanded the release of inmates and closure of New York City’s troubled Rikers Island jail complex after another inmate was reported dead at the facility. Democratic Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Jerry Nadler, Jamaal Bowman and Nydia Velázquez called conditions at the jail “deplorable and nothing short of a humanitarian crisis,” in a letter Tuesday to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. (Price, 9/21)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Republican Lawmaker Seeks $100M In Funds For Mental Health In Schools
A Republican lawmaker is proposing legislation that would require Gov. Tony Evers to set aside at least $100 million in federal pandemic aid for school mental health programs. But it faces opposition from the Department of Public Instruction and Evers, who have pushed for significant funding increases in the past but say they should be made during the budget process using state funds instead of providing a one-time infusion of money that won't be available in the future. The funding proposed by Rep. Jon Plumer of Lodi would come from the billions in federal aid flowing to the state through the federal laws known as the CARES Act and American Rescue Plan Act. (Beck, 9/21)
Oklahoman: Mental Health Professionals On Calls Would Benefit Police, Study Shows
A bi-partisan study held Monday by Oklahoma's House Public Safety Committee affirmed that law enforcement would benefit from enhanced participation by mental health professionals on crisis calls. Rep. Randy Randleman, R-Eufaula, and Rep. Collin Walke, D-Oklahoma City, requested the study to establish the need for more mental health crisis units and help the police identify mental health crises more accurately, according to a news release from the Oklahoma State House of Representatives. The study comes after the Oklahoma City Police Department was recently given recommendations from an additional study that included implementing an alternative response model for mental health calls. (Williams, 9/22)
