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Tag: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

  • U.S. to require negative COVID tests for travelers from China

    U.S. to require negative COVID tests for travelers from China

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    Travelers from China will need to test negative for COVID-19 before boarding flights to the U.S. starting next week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Wednesday. The testing requirement will apply to travelers from mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau, and covers all passengers regardless of their nationality or vaccination status, the CDC said. 

    The move comes amid a renewed wave of infections in China since it relaxed its “zero COVID” policy in early December. The Chinese government has also begun to ease travel restrictions that were imposed years ago, early in the COVID-19 pandemic.

    “CDC is announcing this step to slow the spread of COVID-19 in the United States during the surge in COVID-19 cases in the [People’s Republic of China] given the lack of adequate and transparent epidemiological and viral genomic sequence data being reported from the PRC,” the CDC said in a statement.

    Beginning Jan. 5, airlines will be required to collect proof of a negative COVID-19 test from all passengers ages 2 and older before they can board flights out of China into the U.S.  Both lab-based PCR tests as well as antigen self-tests will be accepted, as long as they are overseen by a health care provider.

    Travelers on connecting flights will also be required to provide proof of a negative test. 

    People traveling to the U.S. through South Korea’s Incheon International Airport, Canada’s Toronto Pearson International Airport, and Canada’s Vancouver International Airport will be required to test negative if they have been in China over the last 10 days.

    “These three transit hubs cover the overwhelming majority of passengers with travel originating in the PRC and the Special Administrative Regions. We will continue to monitor travel patterns, adjust our approach as needed, and keep Americans informed in a timely manner,” the CDC said.

    Federal health authorities have not required negative COVID-19 tests from any international visitors since the requirement was scrapped in June. The U.S. continues to require that all foreign travelers prove they are fully vaccinated with the primary series of a COVID-19 vaccine.

    Officials said Wednesday that they were waiting until next week to impose the measure to allow for airlines to implement the revived requirements.

    “It does take some effort by the airlines to update their data systems to put this all in place. And so we have to make this announcement today, but it will take time to implement the program,” a federal health official told reporters at a briefing.

    Officials first acknowledged Tuesday that they were weighing the move, citing similar measures put in place by countries like Japan. They also cited China’s own rules for arriving international travelers, which continue to require Americans and other foreign visitors to test negative.

    “We’ve always believed that for all countries, COVID response measures need to be science-based and proportionate without affecting normal people-to-people exchange,” China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin told reporters Wednesday ahead of the U.S. announcement.

    Concern over COVID variants

    In addition to the new requirement, the CDC said it is moving to expand its current variant surveillance efforts to two new international airports in Los Angeles and Seattle.

    The agency has already been tracking variants over the past few months spotted in voluntary tests collected from arriving international travelers.

    A total of some 290 weekly flights from China and nearby countries will be covered by the program once expanded, the CDC said. 

    “We have very limited information in public databases about variants that are circulating in China presently. In the past few months, only about a hundred sequences have been uploaded,” said the federal health official. 

    They cited the threat the virus could pose as it infects a vast swath of “immunologically naive” people in China.

    All of the current variants circulating in China are descendants of Omicron, Chinese state media have reported, quoting their country’s health officials, with BA.5.2 and BF.7 dominating infections in the country. 

    “What we’re concerned about is a new variant that may emerge actually in China, with so many people in China being infected in a short period of time, there is a chance or probability that a new variant will emerge,” said the official.

    Scientists have voiced frustration over sparse variant sequencing released from China amid the country’s current wave of infections, aside from a handful of travelers. 

    All of the current variants circulating in China are descendants of Omicron, Chinese state media have reported, quoting their country’s health officials, with BA.5.2 and BF.7 dominating infections in the country. 

    First spotted earlier this year, these two strains have made up a fraction of circulating virus in the U.S. to date. Instead, the CDC’s estimates rank the BQ.1, BQ.1.1, and XBB strains as far outpacing them around the country.

    Infections linked to XBB has surged across the Northeast in recent weeks, climbing to more than half of new infections across the region. Ahead of Christmas, federal data shows hospitalizations reaching some of the highest rates since last February in the Northeast.

    Scientists believe a descendant dubbed XBB.1.5 is behind the renewed surge, with immune evasive mutations that appear to bind well to human cells. 

    Alexander Tin

    CBS News reporter covering public health and the pandemic.

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  • U.S. weighs new COVID restrictions on travelers from China

    U.S. weighs new COVID restrictions on travelers from China

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    The Biden administration is weighing the possibility of imposing new requirements on arriving travelers from China, officials say, citing “mounting concerns” about the country’s ongoing COVID-19 surge and “the lack of transparent data” from Chinese officials.

    The move comes as the Chinese government has begun to ease travel restrictions that were imposed years ago early during the COVID-19 pandemic, despite a renewed wave of cases since it relaxed its “zero COVID” policy.

    Starting this weekend, Japan says it plans to begin requiring a negative COVID-19 test for visitors from China. Malaysia has also “announced new tracking and surveillance measures,” U.S. officials said.

    “The U.S. is following the science and advice of public health experts, consulting with partners, and considering taking similar steps we can take to protect the American people,” the officials said in a statement.

    Bloomberg first reported that U.S. officials were weighing new restrictions.

    Federal health authorities have not required negative COVID-19 tests from any international visitors since the requirement was scrapped in June. The U.S. continues to require that foreign travelers prove they are fully vaccinated with the primary series of a COVID-19 vaccine.

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention does conduct voluntary tests collected at a handful of major airports to try to monitor for COVID variants among arriving international travelers. 

    Spokespeople for the CDC and Department of Health and Human Services declined to comment on the possibility of new measures.

    In response to Japan’s decision to impose the new restrictions, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson called Tuesday for a “science-based response approach and joint effort” for safe travel. 

    “We’ve always believed that for all countries, COVID response measures need to be science-based and proportionate without affecting normal people-to-people exchange,” China’s Wang Wenbin told reporters.

    Concern over COVID variants

    Scientists have voiced frustration over sparse variant sequencing released from China amid the country’s current wave of infections, aside from a handful of travelers. 

    In their statement, Biden officials echoed those concerns over the lack of “viral genomic sequence data” from China, saying they are in talks with other countries over steps to “identify any potential variants of concern.”

    “Without this data, it is becoming increasingly difficult for public health officials to ensure that they will be able to identify any potential new variants and take prompt measures to reduce the spread,” they said.

    All of the current variants circulating in China are descendants of Omicron, Chinese state media have reported, quoting their country’s health officials, with BA.5.2 and BF.7 dominating infections in the country. 

    First spotted earlier this year, these two strains have made up a fraction of circulating virus in the U.S. to date. Instead, the CDC’s estimates rank the BQ.1, BQ.1.1, and XBB strains as far outpacing them around the country.

    Infections linked to XBB has surged across the Northeast in recent weeks, climbing to more than half of new infections across the region. Ahead of Christmas, federal data shows hospitalizations reaching some of the highest rates since last February.

    Scientists suspect a descendant dubbed XBB.1.5 is behind the renewed surge, with mutations that could offer a growth rate “head and shoulders” above all other strains. 

    Alexander Tin

    CBS News reporter covering public health and the pandemic.

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  • Health agencies renaming

    Health agencies renaming

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    The Biden administration plans to officially switch how it refers to the disease once dubbed “monkeypox” to use the new name “mpox” instead, adopting a long-awaited renaming recommendation announced earlier on Monday by the World Health Organization.

    As cases in the current outbreak swelled earlier this year, the WHO began the process of renaming the disease and its virus variants. Multiple advocates and countries had raised concerns over racist and stigmatizing use of the older name, which was first given to the disease after a 1958 outbreak among Danish laboratory monkeys.

    It is actually wild rodents — not monkeys — that have been mostly spotted harboring the virus in the wild, and are suspected to be the culprit behind many “spillover” infections of humans from animals. Imported pet prairie dogs were blamed for the last significant U.S. outbreak in 2003.

    The Department of Health and Human Services praised the WHO’s decision to switch to the name mpox.

    “We welcome the change by the World Health Organization. We must do all we can to break down barriers to public health, and reducing stigma associated with disease is one critical step in our work to end mpox,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra in a statement.

    Often a years-long process, the WHO says it accelerated this name change to next year’s edition of the International Classification of Diseases over the past few months. Recommendations were vetted at a meeting late last month.

    “Considerations for the recommendations included rationale, scientific appropriateness, extent of current usage, pronounceability, usability in different languages, absence of geographical or zoological references, and the ease of retrieval of historical scientific information,” the WHO said in a statement.

    Mpox will be the new “preferred term,” though the WHO said both names will be used over the next year as the old name “monkeypox” is phased out.

    Similar to how the name COVID-19 technically only refers to the disease that is caused by the virus SARS-CoV-2, rather than the virus itself, the new mpox disease name leaves unchanged the name of the pathogen that causes it: monkeypox virus. Any change to that moniker would fall to another body called the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses.

    The WHO and U.S. change comes as some federal health officials had already taken to calling the disease informally as “mpox” over recent weeks in meetings and presentations, even as their slide decks and websites continued to list the then-official “monkeypox” name.

    Other alternative names like “MPX” or “MPV” had been adopted by some state and local health departments, though the latter could also be confused with a respiratory disease known as metapneumovirus. CDC publications had adopted the abbreviation “MPXV” to refer to the virus behind the disease. 

    A change to local mpox outbreaks

    The name change comes as the pace of the current outbreak around the country has fallen sharply over the last few months. The U.S. is now averaging less than 15 new reported infections per day. 

    Since the outbreak began in May, nearly 30,000 Americans have been reported infected by the virus and 14 have died. Around 81,000 cases have been tallied globally.

    An analysis published by the CDC earlier this month predicted the U.S. would see further slowing of infections in most parts of the country. However, the agency cited a handful of factors — including a stalled second dose vaccination campaign — that raise concerns of a resurgence in the future. 

    At a meeting to the CDC’s outside advisers on emergency response and preparedness earlier this month, officials said they were shifting to a targeted effort to try to extinguish the outbreak. 

    Only a handful of counties are still reporting more than 15 cases per week. However, authorities acknowledge the virus could continue to pose a threat for the foreseeable future.

    “We will need to ensconce mpox into the public health framework, and the natural space for a lot of that will be the STI programs in the public health departments, clinics, and then HIV clinics,” said Dr. Jonathan Mermin, the CDC’s monkeypox response incident manager. 

    “That’s the space where the longer term effort with the population who appears in the current outbreak is at highest risk will be most effective,” added Mermin, who is also the director of the National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention within the agency. 

    Alexander Tin

    CBS News reporter covering public health and the pandemic.

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  • As STDs proliferate, companies rush to market at-home test kits. But are they reliable?

    As STDs proliferate, companies rush to market at-home test kits. But are they reliable?

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    Among the more remarkable legacies of the COVID-19 pandemic is how quickly federal regulators, the health care industry, and consumers moved to make at-home testing a reliable tool for managing a public health crisis.

    But that fast-track focus is missing from another, less publicized epidemic: an explosion in sexually transmitted diseases that can cause chronic pain and infertility among infected adults and disable or kill infected newborns. The disparity has amplified calls from researchers, public health advocates, and health care companies urging the federal government to greenlight at-home testing kits that could vastly multiply the number of Americans testing for STDs.

    Online shoppers can already choose from more than a dozen self-testing kits, typically ranging in price from $69 to $500, depending on the brand and the variety of infections they can detect.

    But, except for HIV tests, the Food and Drug Administration hasn’t approved STD test kits for use outside a medical setting. That leaves consumers unsure about their reliability even as at-home use grows dramatically.    

    STD test kits
    Unlike rapid antigen tests for COVID, the home STD kits on the market require patients to collect their own samples, and then mail them to a lab for analysis. The issue for regulators is whether kits can be reliably adapted for in-home use.

    Eric Harkleroad/KHN


    The STD epidemic is “out of control,” said Dr. Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security. “We know we are missing diagnoses. We know that contact tracing is happening late or not at all. If we’re really serious about tackling the STD crisis, we have to get more people diagnosed.”

    Preliminary data for 2021 showed nearly 2.5 million reported cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Reported cases of syphilis and gonorrhea have been climbing for about a decade. In its most recent prevalence estimate, the agency said that on any given day, 1 in 5 Americans are infected with any of eight common STDs.

    The push to make at-home testing for STDs as easy and commonplace as at-home COVID and pregnancy testing is coming from several sectors. Public health officials say their overextended staffers can’t handle the staggering need for testing and surveillance. Diagnostic and pharmaceutical companies see a business opportunity in the unmet demand.

    The medical science underpinning STD testing is not particularly new or mysterious. Depending on the test, it may involve collecting a urine sample, pricking a finger for blood, or swabbing the mouth, genitals, or anus for discharge or cell samples. Medical centers and community health clinics have performed such testing for decades.

    The issue for regulators is whether sampling kits can be reliably adapted for in-home use. Unlike rapid antigen tests for COVID, which produce results in 15 to 20 minutes, the home STD kits on the market require patients to collect their own samples, and then package and mail them to a lab for analysis.

    In the past three years, as the pandemic prompted clinics that provide low-cost care to drastically curtail in-person services, a number of public health departments — among them state agencies in Alabama, Alaska, and Maryland — have started mailing free STD test kits to residents. Universities and nonprofits are also spearheading at-home testing efforts.

    And dozens of commercial enterprises are jumping into or ramping up direct-to-consumer sales. Everly Health, a digital health company that sells a variety of lab tests online, reported sales for its suite of STD kits grew 120% in the first half of this year compared with the first half of 2021.

    CVS Health began selling its own bundled STD kit in October, priced at $99.99. Unlike most home kits, CVS’s version is available in stores.

    Hologic, Abbott, and Molecular Testing Labs are among the companies urgently developing tests. And Cue Health, which sells antigen tests for COVID, is poised to launch a clinical trial for a rapid home test for chlamydia and gonorrhea that would set a new bar, providing results in about 20 minutes.

    Alberto Gutierrez, who formerly led the FDA office that oversees diagnostic tests, said agency officials have been concerned about the reliability of home tests for years. The FDA wants companies to prove that home collection kits are as accurate as those used in clinics, and that samples don’t degrade during shipping.

    “The agency doesn’t believe these tests are legally marketed at this point,” said Gutierrez, a partner at NDA Partners, a consulting firm that advises companies seeking to bring health care products to market.

    “CVS should not be selling that test,” he added.

    In response to KHN questions, the FDA said it considers home collection kits, which can include swabs, lancets, transport tubes, and chemicals to stabilize the samples, to be devices that require agency review. The FDA “generally does not comment” on whether it plans to take action on any specific case, the statement said.

    CVS spokesperson Mary Gattuso said the pharmacy chain is following the law. “We are committed to ensuring the products we offer are safe, work as intended, comply with regulations, and satisfy customers,” Gattuso said.

    Everly Health and other companies described their kits as laboratory-developed tests, akin to the diagnostics some hospitals create for in-house use. And they contend their tests can be legally marketed because their labs have been certified by a different agency, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

    “The instruments and assays used by the laboratories we use are comparable to — and often the same as — those used by the labs a doctor’s office uses,” said Dr. Liz Kwo, chief medical officer at Everly Health. “Our at-home sample collection methods, like dried blood spots and saliva, have been widely used for decades.”

    Home collection kits appeal to Uxmal Caldera, 27, of Miami Beach, Florida, who prefers to test in the privacy of his home. Caldera, who doesn’t have a car, said home testing saves him the time and expense of getting to a clinic.

    Caldera has been testing himself for HIV and other STDs every three months for more than a year, part of routine monitoring for people taking PrEP, a regimen of daily pills to prevent HIV infection.

    “Doing it by yourself is not hard at all,” said Caldera, who is uninsured but receives the tests free through a community foundation. “The instructions are really clear. I get the results in maybe four days. For sure, I would recommend it to other people.”

    Dr. Leandro Mena, director of the CDC’s Division of STD Prevention, said he would like to see at-home STD testing become as routine as home pregnancy tests. An estimated 16 million to 20 million tests for gonorrhea and chlamydia are performed in the U.S. each year, Mena said. Widespread use of at-home STD testing, he said, could double or triple that number.

    He noted that doctors have years of experience using home collection kits.

    The Johns Hopkins Center for Point-of-Care Technologies Research for Sexually Transmitted Diseases has distributed roughly 23,000 at-home STD kits since 2004, said Charlotte Gaydos, a principal investigator with the center. The FDA generally allows such use if it’s part of research overseen by medical professionals. The center’s tests are now used by the Alaska health department, as well as Native American tribes in Arizona and Oklahoma.

    Gaydos has published dozens of studies establishing that home collection kits for diseases such as chlamydia and gonorrhea are accurate and easy to use.

    “There’s a huge amount of data showing that home testing works,” said Gaydos.

    But Gaydos noted that her studies have been limited to small sample sizes. She said she doesn’t have the millions of dollars in funding it would take to run the sort of comprehensive trial the FDA typically requires for approval.

    Jenny Mahn, director of clinical and sexual health at the National Coalition of STD Directors, said many public health labs are reluctant to handle home kits. “The public health labs won’t touch it without FDA’s blessing,” Mahn said.

    Public health clinics often provide STD testing at little to no cost, while health insurance typically covers in-person testing at a private practice. But most consumers pay out-of-pocket for direct-to-consumer kits. Commercial pricing puts them out of reach for many people, particularly teens and young adults, who account for nearly half of STDs.

    Adalja, at Johns Hopkins, said the FDA has a history of moving slowly on home testing. The agency spent seven years evaluating the first home HIV test it approved, which hit the market in 2012.

    “Home testing is the way of the future,” said Laura Lindberg, a professor of public health at Rutgers University. “The pandemic opened the door to testing and treatment at home without traveling to a health care provider, and we aren’t going to be able to put the genie back in the bottle.”

    KHN (Kaiser Health News) is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues. Together with Policy Analysis and Polling, KHN is one of the three major operating programs at KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation). KFF is an endowed nonprofit organization providing information on health issues to the nation.

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  • Federal judge blocks Title 42 rule that allowed expulsion of migrants at US-Mexico border, restoring access for some asylum seekers | CNN Politics

    Federal judge blocks Title 42 rule that allowed expulsion of migrants at US-Mexico border, restoring access for some asylum seekers | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    A federal judge on Tuesday blocked Title 42 – a controversial rule that’s allowed US authorities to expel more than 1 million migrants who crossed the US-Mexico border.

    Tuesday’s court order leaves the Biden administration without one of the key tools it had deployed to address the thousands of migrants arriving at the border on a daily basis and could restore access to asylum for arriving migrants.

    In turn, the Biden administration requested a stay on the ruling for five weeks, according to a court filing.

    While the rule was drafted by the Trump administration during the Covid-19 pandemic, the Biden administration has relied heavily on it to manage the increase of migrants at the border.

    District Judge Emmet Sullivan in Washington, DC, found the Title 42 order to be “arbitrary and capricious in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act.”

    Prior to Title 42, all migrants arrested at the border were processed under immigration law. Thousands of migrants sent back to Mexico have been waiting along the border in shelters. Officials have previously raised concerns about what the end of Title 42 may portend, given limited resources and a high number of people trying to enter the country.

    Sullivan’s ruling also comes on the heels of the resignation of US Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Chris Magnus, who had been asked to resign by Mayorkas last week. CBP Deputy Commissioner Troy Miller is now serving as the acting commissioner.

    CNN has reached out to the White House, Justice Department and Department of Homeland Security for comment.

    Sullivan faulted the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which issued the public health order, for “its decision to ignore the harm that could be caused” by issuing the policy. He said the CDC also failed to consider alternative approaches, such as letting migrants self-quarantine in homes of US-based friends, family, or shelters. The agency, he said, should have reexamined its approach when vaccines and tests became widely available.

    “With regard to whether defendants could have ‘ramped up vaccinations, outdoor processing, and all other available public health measures,’… the court finds the CDC failed to articulate a satisfactory explanation for why such measures were not feasible,” Sullivan wrote.

    The judge also concluded that the policy did not rationally serve its purpose, given that Covid-19 was already widespread throughout the United States when the policy was rolled out.

    “Title 42 was never about public health, and this ruling finally ends the charade of using Title 42 to bar desperate asylum seekers from even getting a hearing,” American Civil Liberties Union attorney Lee Gelernt, who argued the case, said in a statement.

    The injunction request came from the ACLU, along with other immigrant advocacy groups, involves all demographics, including single adults and families. Unaccompanied children were already exempt from the order.

    The ACLU does not oppose the Biden administration’s request for a stay of Tuesday’s ruling through December 21, the administration noted in their filing.

    The public health authority was invoked at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic and has been criticized by immigrant advocates, attorneys and health experts who argue it has no health basis and puts migrants in harm’s way.

    Sullivan had previously blocked the Biden administration from expelling migrant families with children apprehended at the US-Mexico border.

    Earlier this year, in anticipation of lifting Title 42 and under pressure from lawmakers, the Department of Homeland Security released a 20-page plan to manage a potential increase of migrants at the border. A separate federal judge struck down the administration’s intent to end Title 42 at the time.

    The CDC said at the time it’s no longer necessary given current public health conditions and the increased availability of vaccines and treatments for Covid-19.

    But in May, a federal judge in Louisiana blocked the Biden administration from ending Title 42.

    Since that court order, the administration has continued to use Title 42 and most recently, expanding it to include Venezuelan migrants who have arrived at the US southern border in large numbers.

    In October, there were more than 204,000 arrests along the US southern border and over 78,400 expulsions under Title 42, according to CBP data.

    This story has been updated with additional details.

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  • FACT FOCUS: States, not CDC, set school vaccine requirements

    FACT FOCUS: States, not CDC, set school vaccine requirements

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    A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory committee on Thursday voted that the agency should update its recommended immunization schedules to add the COVID-19 vaccine, including to the schedule for children.

    But in the lead-up to the vote by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, false claims spread widely that it would mean the vaccine would be required to attend school.

    In reality, the CDC doesn’t have the authority to set school immunization requirements, and the vote doesn’t mandate the vaccine for schoolchildren. That’s a decision left to the states.

    Here are the facts.

    CLAIM: If the CDC adds the COVID-19 vaccine to the immunization schedule for children, the shots will be mandatory to attend school.

    THE FACTS: The false claim gained momentum after it was shared by Fox News host Tucker Carlson this week.

    “The CDC is about to add the Covid vaccine to the childhood immunization schedule, which would make the vax mandatory for kids to attend school,” Carlson tweeted on Tuesday night. The tweet included a segment from his show in which he began by making the same claim.

    Another popular tweet similarly claimed the CDC committee’s vote would make the vaccine “mandatory for school registration.”

    But the public health agency doesn’t determine school vaccine requirements.

    “States have the authority to enact state laws requiring vaccination, not the CDC,” said Wendy Mariner, a professor emerita of health law, ethics and human rights at Boston University. “ACIP has no authority to make law.”

    CDC spokesperson Kate Grusich told The Associated Press in an email that the agency “only makes recommendations for use of vaccines, while school-entry vaccination requirements are determined by state or local jurisdictions.”

    Grusich explained that the action was meant to streamline clinical guidance for healthcare providers by adding COVID-19 vaccines to a single list of all currently licensed, authorized and routinely recommended vaccines.

    “It’s important to note that there are no changes in COVID-19 vaccine policy,” she said.

    The immunization practices advisory committee is a body of experts that makes recommendations to the CDC about vaccines. Its recommendation to update the schedules, which included other revisions, still needs to be formally adopted by the agency and the amended schedules wouldn’t take effect until 2023, Grusich said.

    Fox News referred the AP to a follow-up segment by Carlson on Wednesday night, in which he revisited the topic and claimed the CDC was “lying.” Carlson claimed that “more than a dozen states follow the CDC’s immunization schedule to set vaccination requirements — not suggestions, requirements — for children to be educated.”

    “For example, the Virginia Department of Health states that ‘vaccines must be administered in accordance with the CDC’s schedule,’” he stated. He cited Massachusetts as another example.

    But those states do not list every vaccine from the schedule in their school requirements.

    Virginia, for example, does not require the annual flu vaccine in order to attend school — even though the vaccine appears on the CDC’s schedule. Nor does Massachusetts.

    A Virginia Department of Health spokesperson, Maria Reppas, said in an email that there “is no direct, immediate impact on COVID-19 vaccine being added to the Immunization Schedule on school required vaccines in Virginia.” Reppas said changes to the school requirements would need legislative or regulatory action.

    Dr. William Schaffner, a vaccine policy expert and professor of infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, said he was not aware of any states that automatically require all vaccines on the schedule for school.

    “Those are recommendations that go to pediatricians and family doctors as they care for children,” Schaffner said. “They’re just recommendations, there are no automatic mandates that follow.”

    There has also been reluctance by many states to require the human papillomavirus, or HPV, vaccine, even though it appears on the childhood schedule, Schaffner said.

    States can use legislation to require specific vaccines or can authorize a state agency or local health entity to require specific vaccines for certain age groups, Mariner said. She added that some states include private schools when establishing requirements, though in other cases, private schools may also voluntarily require vaccinations.

    ___

    This is part of AP’s effort to address widely shared misinformation, including work with outside companies and organizations to add factual context to misleading content that is circulating online. Learn more about fact-checking at AP.

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  • CDC director tests positive for Covid-19 | CNN

    CDC director tests positive for Covid-19 | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, tested positive for Covid-19 on Friday.

    Walensky is experiencing mild symptoms and is up to date on her Covid-19 vaccines, according to a statement released by the agency. Walensky received an updated Covid-19 booster in September.

    “Consistent with CDC guidelines, she is isolating at home and will participate in her planned meetings virtually,” the agency said. “CDC senior staff and close contacts have been informed of her positive test and are taking appropriate action to monitor their health.”

    Covid-19 cases have been falling as the United States moves into fall. However, experts say cases may begin to climb as they have during the past two pandemic winters – especially as several new coronavirus variants begin to gain traction.

    The CDC recommends that people who have recently recovered from a Covid-19 infection wait to get boosted at least until the illness has passed and a person is no longer contagious. The CDC says a person “may consider delaying your vaccine by 3 months from when your symptoms started.”

    Getting infected can act like a booster, and studies have shown that people have a relatively low risk of getting sick again for about three months after they recover.

    People may not want to wait as long as three months if Covid-19 levels are high in the community or they have a reduced immune function, CNN has reported.

    The CDC signed off on the updated booster shots from Pfizer and Moderna on September 1.

    Pfizer/BioNTech’s updated vaccine is a 30-microgram dose authorized for people 12 and older. Moderna’s updated vaccine is a 50-microgram dose authorized for people 18 and older.

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  • Experts: Lake Mead brain-eating amoeba death among few in US

    Experts: Lake Mead brain-eating amoeba death among few in US

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    LAS VEGAS — The death of a Las Vegas-area teenager from a rare brain-eating amoeba that investigators think he was exposed to in warm waters at Lake Mead should prompt caution, not panic, among people at freshwater lakes, rivers and springs, experts said Friday.

    “It gets people’s attention because of the name,” former public health epidemiologist Brian Labus said of the naturally occurring organism officially called Naegleria fowleri but almost always dubbed the brain-eating amoeba. “But it is a very, very rare disease.”

    The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has tallied just 154 cases of infection and death from the amoeba in the U.S. since 1962, said Labus, who teaches at the School of Public Health at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Almost half those cases were in Texas and Florida. Only one was reported in Nevada before this week.

    “I wouldn’t say there’s an alarm to sound for this,” Labus said. “People need to be smart about it when they’re in places where this rare amoeba actually lives.” The organism is found in waters ranging from 77 degrees Fahrenheit (25 Celsius) to 115 degrees (46 C), he said.

    The Southern Nevada Health District did not identify the teen who died, but said he may have been exposed to the microscopic organism during the weekend of Sept. 30 in the Kingman Wash area on the Arizona side of the Colorado River reservoir behind Hoover Dam. The district publicized the case on Wednesday, following confirmation of the cause from the CDC.

    The district and the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, which oversees the lake and the Colorado River, noted the amoeba only infects people by entering the nose and migrating to the brain. It is almost always fatal.

    “It cannot infect people if swallowed, and is not spread from person to person,” news releases from the two agencies said. Both advised people to avoid jumping or diving into bodies of warm water, especially during summer, and to keep the head above water in hot springs or other “untreated geothermal waters” that pool in pocket canyons in the vast recreation area.

    “It is 97% fatal but 99% preventable,” said Dennis Kyle, professor of infectious diseases and cellular biology and director of the Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases at the University of Georgia. “You can protect yourself by not jumping into water that gets up your nose, or use nose plugs.”

    The amoeba causes primary amebic meningoencephalitis, a brain infection with symptoms resembling meningitis or encephalitis that initially include headache, fever, nausea or vomiting — then progress to stiff neck, seizures and coma that can lead to death.

    Symptoms can start one to 12 days after exposure, and death usually occurs within about five days.

    There is no known effective treatment, and Kyle said a diagnosis almost always comes too late.

    Kyle, who has studied the organism for decades, said data did not immediately suggest that waters warmed by climate change affected the amoeba. He said he knew of fewer than four cases nationwide.

    A survey of news reports found cases in Northern California, Nebraska and Iowa. A CDC map showed most cases during the last 60 years in Southern U.S. states, led by 39 cases in Texas and 37 in Florida.

    “I think this year is sort of an average year for cases,” Kyle said. “But this was a very warm summer. The key point is that warmer weather tends to generate more amoeba in the environment.”

    Not many labs regularly identify the organism, Kyle noted. He said that AdventHealth Central Florida recently joined the CDC with programs able to identify it.

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  • Covid-19 vaccines will be on the 2023 vaccine schedule, but that doesn’t mean they’re required in schools | CNN

    Covid-19 vaccines will be on the 2023 vaccine schedule, but that doesn’t mean they’re required in schools | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Covid-19 vaccines will be part of recommended immunization schedules in 2023 for both children and adults, after a unanimous vote by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s independent Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.

    That doesn’t make the vaccines mandatory for anyone, a point that was emphasized in a discussion before Thursday’s vote. The board members addressed concerns from the public that adding Covid-19 vaccinations to the schedule would force schools to require the shots.

    “We recognize that there is concern around this, but moving Covid-19 to the recommended immunization schedule does not impact what vaccines are required for school entrance, if any,” said Dr. Nirav Shah, a committee member and director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

    “Indeed, there are vaccines that are on the schedule right now that are not required for school attendance in many jurisdictions, such as seasonal influenza. Local control matters, and we honor that. The decision around school entrance for vaccines rests where it did before, which is with the state level, the county level and at the municipal level, if it exists at all. They are the arbiters of what vaccines are required, if any, for school entry. This discussion does not change that.”

    In fact, Covid-19 vaccines are explicitly banned from being included in school mandates in at least 20 states. Only California and the District of Columbia have announced that Covid-19 shots will be among mandated vaccinations for students, but those mandates were not implemented for this school year.

    It’s been nearly a year since eligibility for the Covid-19 vaccine was expanded to include everyone in the US 5 and older, but coverage among children still lags behind that of adults. Even as these vaccines and the related mandates have become highly politicized over the course of the pandemic, experts say vaccine hesitancy among parents isn’t new.

    Although the Covid-19 shot will not become mandatory for school, all 50 states do have laws requiring specific vaccines for students – most of which include shots for measles, mumps and rubella (MMR), diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (DTaP) and varicella.

    Uptake for these vaccines, mandated by schools long before Covid-19, fell during the pandemic.

    In the 2020-21 school year, vaccination coverage for kindergarteners fell to less than 94% – dropping below the overall target of 95% that was set as an objective by the US Department of Health and Human Services in the Healthy People project for the first time in six years.

    A CNN analysis of the latest CDC data suggests that students in states with stricter school vaccine requirements are more likely to have their shots.

    All school immunization laws grant exemptions to children for specific medical reasons. But 44 states and Washington, DC, also grant religious exemptions, and 15 states allow philosophical or moral exemptions for children, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

    According to the CNN analysis, states that were stricter with exemptions were much more likely to still meet the 95% coverage target. In the 2020-21 school year, an average of about 96% of kindergarten students had their MMR vaccine in states that allowed only medical exemptions, compared with 92% of students in states that also allowed philosophical or moral exemptions.

    The full effect of the pandemic on children’s routine vaccination rates isn’t clear: It will be another few months before the CDC shares national data for compliance rates for mandatory vaccinations in the 2021-22 school year, and schools are in the midst of outreach and programming to ensure that as many students as possible will continue through the 2022-23 school year up to date on their vaccines.

    Correcting the drop in vaccination coverage in students will probably depend more on better access to care, information and outreach – and school vaccine mandates can help.

    With many people who are hesitant, it’s “because of something they’ve heard or something they’ve read,” said Dr. Jesse Hackell, a pediatrician who co-authored a clinical report about countering vaccine hesitancy in 2016. “Most people [who are hesitant] have a very free-floating worry about vaccines. It’s not specific in most cases.”

    A small share of parents – about 2% or 3% – are adamantly opposed to vaccines, and that rate has stayed mostly consistent over the years, said Hackell, who is also chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Practice and Ambulatory Medicine.

    Overall vaccination coverage fell among kindergarteners in the 2020-21 school year, but the share of students who had an exemption also declined from 2.5% to 2.1%, according to CDC data. The rate has changed by less than 1 percentage point over the past 10 years.

    About 3% of kindergarteners in the US – about 120,000 students – were considered to be out of compliance with mandatory vaccines in the 2020-21 school year.

    “Mandates may not do anything to those people who would pull their kids out of public school,” Hackell said. “But the vast majority of parents are not opposed. They’re hesitant, or they’re uncertain. And when there’s pressure to do it for another reason, such as getting your kid into school, they come around.”

    Responsibility for enforcing vaccine mandates falls to the education system, and practices vary by state. Some students are ultimately turned away because they aren’t up to date, but most states offer provisional enrollment periods that allow kids to stay in school if they are in progress with at least one shot in a series or evidence of an upcoming appointment.

    According to the CDC, “school officials may prefer to keep students in school where they have access to education, safe supervision, nutrition, and social services while working with parents or guardians to get children vaccinated.”

    And many states do their best to help students stay up to date on their immunizations, with vaccination drives and direct followup with parents.

    “I think that the drop in the past year or two is partly pandemic-related,” Hackell said. “What we’re seeing, I think, is a little bit of a disparity between kids who have a medical home and have a private [doctor] versus kids who get their immunizations from a public source” like a school clinic.

    Mississippi is an impressive example of finding ways to keep child vaccination rates high, Hackell says. Public schools are the only option for many in the state, where poverty rates are higher than anywhere else in the US.

    Despite the large public need and additional resource struggles that the pandemic brought, 99% of kindergarteners in Mississippi met required vaccination coverage in the 2020-21 school year – better than any other state, according to the CDC.

    “They’ve done a tremendous job at that,” Hackell said, and it demonstrates the power of mandates. Mississippi is strict with exemptions – one of just six states allowing medical reasons only – and just 0.1% of kindergarteners were exempt in the 2020-21 school year.

    Hackell says he would be most concerned if he sees a sustained drop in vaccination rates for highly transmissible diseases, especially measles and polio. And he’s worried about pockets of low vaccination rates in certain communities.

    Schools are public spaces with a level of control, and 95% vaccination coverage is a goal with intent.

    “We know it’s never going to be 100% because there are some people who cannot medically be vaccinated. But if you have 95%, that means in any given school classroom of 30 kids, there might be one unvaccinated kid. And so if that child brings a case of something into the class, there’s nobody else to give it to,” he said. “It stops there with one case.”

    And when it comes to adding Covid-19 vaccines to the CDC’s recommended immunization schedule, the focus is still on public health – not on adding another requirement.

    “I’ve had parents who come in my office, and I say, ‘What are you here for?’ And they say, ‘Well, we’re here for vaccines so that our kids can go to school.’ And I’ve said, ‘OK, I understand that, but really I’m not vaccinating so you can go to school, I’m vaccinating because I want to prevent serious disease and death in your kids,’ ” Dr. Matthew Daley, an ACIP member and senior investigator with the Institute for Health Research at Kaiser Permanente Colorado, said at Thursday’s advisory meeting.

    “And the fact that there’s a school immunization requirement helps because it brought you into the office, but that’s not my goal. My goal is to prevent serious disease.”

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  • Tucker Carlson Incorrectly Claims CDC Mandating Kids Get Covid-19 Vaccine For School

    Tucker Carlson Incorrectly Claims CDC Mandating Kids Get Covid-19 Vaccine For School

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    Before you make a claim about what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is going to do, maybe, just maybe, you should look at what the CDC can and can’t actually do. On October 18, FOX News host Tucker Carlson claimed on a tweet that “The CDC is about to add the Covid vaccine to the childhood immunization schedule, which would make the vax mandatory for kids to attend school.” Yet, the CDC clearly states on its website that “State laws establish vaccination requirements for school children.” And the CDC, by the way, ain’t one of the 50 states in the U.S.

    On the tweet, Carlson included a video of himself from his FOX News show named after himself “Tucker Carlson Tonight” essentially making the same claim:

    As you can see in the video, Carlson began the segment with, “So here’s an amazing story that’s been effectively buried.” Whoa. Buried? By whom and for what reason? And buried in what? In cheese? Carlson did not really specify any of these but went on to say, “This week the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices is expected to add the Covid-19 vax to the list of required childhood vaccines. If this happens, your children will not be able to attend school without taking the Covid shot.” The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) is indeed meeting on October 18 and 19 in a virtual meeting that can be viewed on a webcast. The agenda does include a discussion about “Covid-19 vaccines in children.” The ACIP develops recommendations on the use vaccines that in turn are forwarded to CDC’s Director and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for approval. Once approved, these recommendations will be published in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). The ACIP consists of public health, medical, and scientific experts external to the CDC.

    While Carlson may be a number of things, he is neither a medical, public health, or scientific expert nor a lawyer. A number of real medical doctors, scientists, and other relevant experts pointed out the clear problems with Carlson’s statement. For example, Peter Hotez, MD, PhD, Dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine, wrote, “Actually, the CDC clearly says that ‘state laws establish vaccination requirements’ and Fox News knows this. Guessing just another antivaccine dog whistle for their ratings,” in the following tweet:

    In his tweet, Hotez thanked @doritmi, who is Dorit Reiss, LLB, PhD, a Professor of Law at the University Of California (UC) Hastings School of Law and expert in these law-ish kind of things, for alerting him to Carlson’s claim.

    Later in his tweet thread, Hotez offered something that Carlson didn’t include in his tweet, verifiable official sources supporting what he was saying: links to CDC websites. Once of these websites clearly indicates that, “State laws establish vaccination requirements for school children. These laws often apply not only to children attending public schools but also to those attending private schools and day care facilities.”

    So does that make what Carlson tweeted a “swing and a mis,” as in misinformation? Well, Tara C. Smith, PhD, a Professor of Epidemiology at the Kent State University College of Public Health, used the word “misinformation” in the following tweet about Carlson’s tweet:

    So with a number of real experts out there who have had many research publications on vaccines and infectious diseases, whom did Carlson bring on as a guest? Well, he gave some air time to Martin Makary, M.D., M.P.H., a Professor of Surgery at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and whose stated areas of expertise on the Johns Hopkins website are things like abdominal Surgery, advanced laparoscopy, bile duct surgery, pancreatic surgery, and various other pancreas and gall bladder related procedures.

    So did this air time turn out to be hot air time? Well, in the video, Makary made some pretty strong statements without providing much evidence to support them. For example, he asserted that “the CDC’s committee that’s voting, I mean, that it is essentially a kangaroo court, you have to be an official ‘card-carrying vaccine fanatic’ to be on that committee. If you are not then they are basically not going to accept that some vaccines are important and others lack the evidence to support broad distribution.”

    Wow. Presumably by “kangaroo court,” Makary didn’t mean a court of actual kangaroos, which would be weird and fascinating at the same time. Dictionary.com defines a “kangaroo court” as a “self-appointed or mob-operated tribunal that disregards or parodies existing principles of law or human rights, especially one in a frontier area or among criminals in prison.” Hmm, isn’t calling the ACIP a “kangaroo court” jumping like a kangaroo to conclusions about the ACIP without providing real supporting evidence? Makary also mentioned a German study without clearly describing the study, pointing out its strengths and limitations, or providing enough information so that viewers could find the study themselves.

    There certainly have been plenty of problems with the Covid-19 response from the CDC, the Biden Administration, and the Trump Administration. Throughout the pandemic, communications and policies have often been very inconsistent. For example, the CDC relaxed their face mask recommendations in the Spring of 2021 and then again in the Spring of 2022 despite scientific studies showing the value of face masks in preventing transmission of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and other countries like Japan maintaining greater face mask use. In both cases, Covid-19 surges in the U.S. soon followed. Plus, in a number of situations, the Biden and Trump Administrations could have done more to push Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna to publicly release more of their Covid-19 vaccine data earlier.

    But suggesting that the CDC will be somehow making the Covid-19 vaccine mandatory for all kids to attend school around the U.S. and calling the ACIP a “kangaroo court” would be leaping way too far in a way that may court even more problems for our society. It could leave the very wrong impression that the CDC is somehow a dictatorial organization when the opposite may have been the case during the pandemic. Public health experts and scientists have raised concerns that the CDC has continued to bend to political pressure and prematurely relax Covid-19 precautions. mandating alling the

    If Carlson is really interested in seeing real science drive pubic health decision making then why not have a panel of real relevant scientists on his show. Such a panel could then provide real scientific facts that discount what Carlson has asserted. They could even say things like, “by the way, did you actually look at the CDC web site that says what the CDC can and can’t do. It’s on something called the Internet.”

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    Bruce Y. Lee, Senior Contributor

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  • Some officials now say monkeypox elimination unlikely in US

    Some officials now say monkeypox elimination unlikely in US

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    NEW YORK — Some U.S. health officials are conceding that monkeypox is probably not going away anytime soon.

    The disease’s spread is slowing but the virus is so widespread that elimination is unlikely, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. That conclusion was in a recent CDC report, and echoed Friday by Marc Lipsitch, director of science in the agency’s disease-forecasting center.

    Lipsitch hesitated to say monkeypox is permanently here to stay, but he said it stands to be a continuing threat for the next few years.

    “It’s in many geographic locations within the country” as well as in other countries, Lipsitch told The Associated Press. “There’s no clear path in our mind to complete elimination domestically.”

    The virus has mainly spread among gay and bisexual men, though health officials continue to stress that anyone can be infected. It’s important that people at risk take steps to prevent spread and that vaccination efforts continue, Lipsitch said.

    The CDC report contained some good news: The U.S. outbreak seems to have peaked in early August. The average number of daily cases being reported — fewer than 150 — is about a third what it was reported in the middle of the summer, and officials expect the decline will continue for at least the next several weeks.

    Lipsitch attributed the good news to increasing vaccinations, cautious behavior by people at risk and infection-derived immunity in the highest risk populations.

    Dr. Tom Inglesby, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, agreed that it’s unlikely that spread of monkeypox will stop in the U.S. anytime soon, but he said it’s still possible in the long term.

    If domestic transmission were stopped, infections may still continue if people catch the virus while traveling internationally, he said. But the declining cases makes it seem like “we’ve turned a real corner.”

    “The efforts underway are succeeding, and should be continued, if not intensified,” he said.

    With case numbers going down, this is a good time for local health departments to take a new stab at doing intensive contact tracing to try to stop chains of transmission, he said.

    Monkeypox is endemic in parts of Africa, where people have been infected through bites from rodents or small animals, but it wasn’t considered a disease that spreads easily among people until May, when infections emerged in Europe and the U.S.

    There have been more than 67,000 cases reported in countries that have not historically seen monkeypox. The U.S. has the most infections of any country — more than 25,600. One U.S. death has been attributed to monkeypox.

    More than 97% of U.S. cases are men. The vast majority have been men who reported recent sexual contact with other men.

    Though cases have been declining, the proportion of new cases that have information about recent sexual contact is also down, officials said. That’s causing a growing blind spot about how the virus may be spreading, Lipsitch noted.

    ———

    The Associated Press Health & Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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  • After a devastating hurricane, here’s how to get help, stay safe and protect your sanity in the weeks ahead | CNN

    After a devastating hurricane, here’s how to get help, stay safe and protect your sanity in the weeks ahead | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Hurricane victims returning to damaged houses face a torrent of challenges – if they’re lucky enough to have a home standing at all.

    Flooding. Mold damage. Insurance headaches. Deadly hidden hazards.

    The onslaught of mental anguish and post-hurricane dangers can seem overwhelming. Here’s how victims can stay safe, get help and take the first steps toward recovery:

    Just because the hurricane is over doesn’t mean it’s safe to drive.

    Residents should “return home only when local officials say it is safe to do so,” the Federal Emergency Management Agency says.

    If you see a flooded road, officials stress a life-saving but often ignored mantra: “Turn around, don’t drown.”

    Every year, more deaths occur due to flooding than from any other thunderstorm-related hazard, the National Weather Service says.

    “Don’t drive in flooded areas – cars or other vehicles won’t protect you from floodwaters,” the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says. “They can be swept away or may stall in moving water.”

    If it’s too dangerous to go home, search for open shelters in your area on the American Red Cross or Salvation Army websites.

    You can also download the FEMA Mobile App to find open shelters, text SHELTER (or REFUGIO in Spanish), and your zip code to 4FEMA (or 43362).

    When it’s safe to go home, try to arrive during daytime hours so you don’t need any lights, the CDC says. You might not have power in the area.

    Once you get there, “Walk carefully around the outside of your home to check for loose power lines, gas leaks, and structural damage,” the National Weather Service says.

    If your home is flooded, “wait to re-enter your home until professionals tell you it is safe, with no structural, electrical or other hazards,” the CDC says.

    If the home is damaged, “leave immediately if you hear shifting or unusual noises,” the CDC says. “Strange noises could mean the building (is) about to fall.”

    If you must use lighting, carry a battery-powered flashlight – not candles or gas-powered lanterns.

    “Turn on your flashlight before entering a vacated building,” the National Weather Service says. “The battery could produce a spark that could ignite leaking gas, if present.”

    Flooded homes require additional precautions to prevent electrocution.

    “If you have standing water in your home and can turn off the main power from a dry location, then go ahead and turn off the power,” the CDC says.

    “If you must enter standing water to access the main power switch, then call an electrician to turn it off. NEVER turn power on or off yourself or use an electric tool or appliance while standing in water.”

    In general, “Do not wade in flood water, which can contain dangerous pathogens that cause illnesses, debris, chemicals, waste and wildlife,” the FEMA website Ready.gov says. “Underground or downed power lines can also electrically charge the water.”

    If it’s safe to go inside, don’t start cleaning right away.

    First, “contact your insurance company and take pictures of the home and your belongings,” the CDC says.

    Those seeking federal assistance can call 1-800-621-FEMA (1-800-621-3362 or TTY 1-800-462-7585) or apply at DisasterAssistance.gov.

    Residents who have flood insurance from FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program can start their claim at FloodSmart.gov.

    “If your home has been flooded and has been closed up for several days, assume your home has mold,” the CDC says.

    “You need to completely dry everything, clean up the mold, and make sure you don’t still have a moisture problem.”

    The CDC has a list of ways to eliminate and prevent mold growth, with or without electricity.

    Mold can be cleaned by using a mixture of 1 cup of bleach with 1 gallon of water. Don’t use the bleach solution in an enclosed space – make sure doors or windows are open, the CDC says.

    But anyone with a lung condition such as asthma or who is immunocompromised “should not enter buildings with indoor water leaks or mold growth that can be seen or smelled, even if they do not have an allergy to mold,” the FEMA website Ready.gov says.

    “Children should not take part in disaster cleanup work.”

    Any remaining floodwater can contain sewage and other hazards that can be difficult to see.

    “Floodwater can contain dangerous bacteria from overflowing sewage and agricultural and industrial waste,” the CDC says.

    “While skin contact with floodwater doesn’t pose a serious health risk by itself, eating or drinking anything contaminated with floodwater can cause diseases.”

    With widespread power outages expected, it’s critical to not overexert yourself when there’s no air conditioning.

    “If exertion in the heat makes your heart pound and leaves you gasping for breath, STOP all activity,” the CDC warns. “Get into a cool area or into the shade, and rest, especially if you become lightheaded, confused, weak, or faint.”

    With intense heat, it’s also important to drink plenty of fluids “regardless of how active you are,” the CDC says. “Don’t wait until you’re thirsty to drink.”

    Generators can be immensely helpful for storm victims without power. They can also be deadly when used incorrectly.

    “Carbon monoxide poisoning is one of the leading causes of death after storms in areas dealing with power outages,” the National Weather Service says.

    “Never use a portable generator inside your home or garage,” even if the doors and windows are open.

    “Only use generators outside, more than 20 feet away from your home, doors, and windows,” the NWS says.

    Be extra cautious when using gas-powered appliances, as they can also lead to carbon monoxide poisoning. It’s also a good idea to have a battery-powered carbon monoxide detector, as carbon monoxide is invisible and odorless.

    Keep the refrigerator and freezer doors closed as much as possible until the power comes back. If it’s been less than four hours, food is still safe to eat. Otherwise, the food can be spoiled and cause serious illness.

    “When in doubt, throw it out,” the CDC says.

    Throw away any food that may have come into contact with floodwater or stormwater, perishable food that may have not been refrigerated properly and anything that does not look, smells or feels like it should.

    If your area is under a boil water advisory, take that guidance seriously. If it’s not possible to boil water, use bottled water.

    But never use contaminated water – either suspected or confirmed – to wash dishes, brush your teeth, wash and prepare food, wash your hands, make ice or make baby formula.

    Ideally, residents have ways to charge cell phones without the use of electricity – for example, with an external battery pack or battery-powered charger.

    Those who don’t might have to get creative – such as using your car and a car adapter to charge your phone.

    “Stress, anxiety, and other depression-like symptoms are common reactions after a disaster,” the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration says.

    When logistical nightmares collide with overwhelming emotions, don’t try to tough it out alone. That can actually impede your recovery, the CDC says.

    “Taking care of your emotional health during an emergency will help you think clearly and react to the urgent needs to protect yourself and your family,” the CDC says.

    “Coping with these feelings and getting help when you need it will help you, your family, and your community recover from a disaster.”

    Storm victims can contact SAMHSA’s Disaster Distress Helpline by calling or texting 1-800-985-5990.

    The helpline “is a 24/7, 365-day-a-year, national hotline dedicated to providing immediate crisis counseling for people who are experiencing emotional distress related to any natural or human-caused disaster,” SAMHSA’s website says.

    “Our staff members provide counseling and support before, during, and after disasters and refer people to local disaster-related resources for follow-up care and support.”

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  • Uganda is racing to contain a deadly Ebola outbreak

    Uganda is racing to contain a deadly Ebola outbreak

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    UGANDA-HEALTH-VIRUS
    A member of the Ugandan medical staff of the Ebola Treatment Unit stands inside the ward in Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) at Mubende Regional Referral Hospital in Uganda on September 24, 2022.

    BADRU KATUMBA/AFP/Getty


    Johannesburg, South Africa — Two weeks ago, a 24-year-old man in Uganda felt ill. He went to a private clinic several times between September 11 and 13 with a high fever, convulsions, blood in his vomit, pain and swelling everywhere, and bleeding in his eyes. 

    He returned several times with the same symptoms, to report they were not improving. Local health officials finally referred him to the Regional Referral Hospital on September 15 and isolated him as a suspected case of viral hemorrhagic fever. Blood samples were taken that day, and eight days after he first went to the local Madudu clinic, he died. That same day, a lab confirmed he had the Sudan ebolavirus.

    Health authorities sent a team to the village to investigate and found what World Health Organization officials have described as “a number” of community deaths attributed to an unknown illness. 

    Locals described a strange illness, with sudden deaths. According to the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, officials confirmed that some of those mysterious deaths were in people who had contact with the 24-year-old man. The deaths are now also classified as probable Sudan ebolavirus cases.

    As of Wednesday, authorities still were not sure whether the 24-year-old man was the first person infected, or if the “index case” was one of the other people who died in the area.  

    “I see it getting worse before it gets better,” Dr. Christopher Mabula, who runs operations for the French charity Doctors Without Borders in East Africa, told CBS News on Wednesday.

    UGANDA-HEALTH-VIRUS
    Members of the Doctors Without Borders NGO set up an Ebola treatment isolation unit at the Mubende Regional Referral Hospital in Uganda, September 24, 2022.

    BADRU KATUMBA/AFP/Getty


    He said the 24-year-old man had visited three different health facilities servicing three different bordering districts before he died, vastly increasing his possible human contacts. The man’s village is also located near an active gold mine, and such sites typically draw a large number of workers from other regions, even from outside the country, with high turnover.

    “Symptoms can take between two and 21 days to develop, and with Uganda’s excellent road infrastructure, newly infected people could travel in any direction for some time before becoming symptomatic,” noted the doctor.

    Mabula said that would make tracing all known contacts significantly more difficult than it has been during previous Ebola outbreaks in neighboring Congo, where poor infrastructure makes it easier to contain cases. 

    Ugandan Ministry of Health Officials said Tuesday that a total of 36 cases, including 18 confirmed and 18 more listed as probable, had been reported. There were 23 deaths within that number, five among confirmed cases and 18 among probable ones. Officials have confirmed to CBS News separately that five people are confirmed to have died of Ebola during the current outbreak in Uganda. They say there are 19 other confirmed cases.

    Uganda’s Medical Association said six of the confirmed cases were health care workers who have fallen critically ill after catching the virus while working with the known or probable cases. The head of the association said doctors and nurses were very concerned and at high risk of infection due to a lack of personal protective equipment.   

    Rosemary Byabashaija, the Mubende Resident District Commissioner who doubles as the head of the district’s Ebola taskforce, said authorities had tightened security at the hospital after rumors circulated that some patients suspected of having Ebola wanted to leave the isolation facility. 

    Dr. Jane Ruth Aceng, Uganda’s Minister of Health, said in a tweet on Wednesday morning that there were no confirmed cases of the virus in the capital Kampala, and she appealed for the public “to remain calm and vigilant.” 

    The WHO, Africa CDC and various NGOs have scrambled teams to the area to support Uganda’s Health Service. 

    President Yoweri Museveni addressed the nation Wednesday evening, ruling out lockdowns and other restrictions to movement as the country battles the outbreak. He sought to reassure his nation, stressing that the disease does not spread as easily as COVID-19, and can be controlled by avoiding contact, maintaining personal hygiene and seeking medical treatment as soon as symptoms are detected.  

    Sudan ebolavirus disease was first reported in Southern Sudan in June 1976. Seven outbreaks have been reported since: four in Uganda and three in neighboring Sudan. The deadliest outbreak in Uganda so far was in 2000, when more than 200 people died.   

    The virus is introduced into human populations through direct contact with infected animals. It spreads through bodily fluids including saliva and blood. Fruit bats, primates, forest antelope and porcupines have all been suspected carriers.

    The virus incubates in humans for between two and 21 days and can only be spread once the carrier develops symptoms.

    There are no licensed vaccines or therapies for the treatment or prevention of Sudan ebolavirus disease. According to the WHO, the ERVEBO vaccine, which has been used in recent responses to outbreaks of other Ebola strains, will not provide cross-protection for the Sudan virus.

    There are six candidate vaccines against Sudan ebolavirus in different stages of development, but none are near the final phases of broad clinical trials. The WHO has said its research teams are in contact with all of the vaccine developers, in what the organization calls a “collaborative effort” to see if any are suitable for further evaluation during the current outbreak.   

    Health officials tell CBS News that the WHO, Africa CDC and other agencies are “talking” about the possibility of running some trials on people who have been admitted to hospitals in the country. 

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