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Migratory birds raise bird flu concerns in Pennsylvania

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With waterfowl migrating through Pennsylvania, federal and state agencies are advising people about the potential spread of the avian flu.

The United States Department of Agriculture has confirmed highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) has been found in Delaware, Indiana and Kentucky in February. So far the disease in poultry and waterfowl hasn’t been found this year in Pennsylvania.

However, birds are migrating from surrounding states through Pennsylvania, and agencies are being cautious.

Migration underway:There are thousands of snow geese migrating through Pennsylvania; here’s where to see them

The virus can infect poultry such as chickens, turkeys, pheasants, quail, domestic ducks, gees, and guinea fowl, and is carried by waterfowl such as ducks, geese and shorebirds.

No human cases have been found in the United States, but agencies are advising people to be cautious around birds. 

Visit a hatchery:Like fishing? Hatcheries are now releasing trout into streams, lakes across Pennsylvania

Travis Lau, communications director of the Pennsylvania Game Commission, responding to questions about the disease through email, said, “Avian flu can be transmitted to people, so there are health considerations for people, especially if they might have direct contact with potentially infected birds.”

He said they have reached out to bird-banders, falconers, wildlife rehabilitators and others expected to come into direct contact with wild birds, which serves to better protect those folks. 

“We’ve also identified places, such as Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area, where there’s increased risk of people picking up infected wild bird feces on their boots, due to higher densities of people and birds. We’ve placed out signs and distributed educational materials there.”

Volunteers step up:Here’s how local volunteers raise about 1 million trout each year in Pennsylvania

The concern is keeping birds that may be sick and passing through from infecting local birds and commercial poultry operations.

“This particular strain of avian flu so far doesn’t appear to have high affinity for crossing over into humans. The potential for it to be transmitted to poultry exists, but the risk of that is extremely reduced if facilities employ appropriate biosecurity measures. We have been working with USDA on disease surveillance among wild birds. Impacts on wild birds are possible.”

Protecting chickens from bird flu

Shannon Powers, press secretary for the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, said they are trying to get the word out to everyone who raises chickens, including those with small, backyard chicken coops.

Poultry is a $7.1 billion industry in Pennsylvania, ranging from large commercial operations to those who are hobby farmers.

“Know the signs of the disease and where to report it,” she said in a telephone interview.

Some of the signs of a bird with the disease are sudden death, lack of energy or appetite, decreased egg production or soft-shelled or misshapen eggs; nasal discharge, coughing, sneezing, lack of coordination and diarrhea.

More:Does your yard need a new look? The Howard Nursery is selling extra trees, wildlife boxes

The Department of Agriculture’s advice to those raising poultry includes:

• Restrict access to your property and poultry or post a biosecurity sign.

• Wear clean clothes, scrub boots/shoes with disinfectant and wash hands thoroughly.

• If you, your employees or family have been on other farms, or other places where there is livestock and/or poultry, clean and disinfect your vehicle tires and equipment before returning home.

• Do not share equipment, tools, or other supplies with your neighbors of other livestock or poultry owners.

Invasive species:Pennsylvania decided to ban three invasive plants

• Report sick birds. Don’t wait. Report serious or unusual animal health problems to your veterinarian, local extension office, or State or Federal Animal Health officials.

Pennsylvanians can contact the Pennsylvania Bureau of Animal Health and Diagnostics by phone at 717-772-2852 or email [email protected] to report unusual finding and concerns.

“People love the birds, and we want to protect them,” Powers said about working with the public to keep everyone safe.

Brian Whipkey is the outdoors columnist for USA TODAY Network sites in Pennsylvania. Contact him at [email protected] and sign up for our weekly Go Outdoors PA newsletter email on your website’s homepage under your login name. Follow him on social media @whipkeyoutdoors.

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Dangerous Levels of Lead Were Found in the Water of About Half the Schools Tested in Montana

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About half of Montana schools that had tested their water by mid-February under a new state rule had high levels of lead, according to state data. But the full picture isn’t clear because less than half of the state’s school buildings had provided water samples six weeks after the deadline.

For many schools with high lead levels, finding the money to fix the problem will be a challenge. The options aren’t great. They can compete for a dwindling pool of state money, seek federal aid passed last year, or add the repairs to their long lists of capital improvement projects and pay for the work themselves.

“We prioritized emergency needs and then will follow up with the next-most-serious thing,” said Brian Patrick, Great Falls Public Schools’ director of business services and operations. “Obviously, this is something we want to get addressed right away. We want safe water for our kids.”

Lead, a toxic metal long known to cause lasting organ and nervous system damage, can make its way into drinking water through pipes and fixtures. Children are especially vulnerable to lead poisoning, which can slow development and cause learning, speech, and behavioral problems. Although federal rules require that community water sources be tested for lead, schools have largely been free from that oversight and can decline to be tested.

The rule in Montana, created by the state Department of Public Health and Human Services in 2020, requires schools to check at least every three years for lead in the water of any sink or fountain used for drinking or food prep. Schools’ initial deadline to get that done was Dec. 31, 2021. According to the rule, any faucet whose water has a lead concentration of 5 parts per billion or higher must be fixed or routinely flushed. Fixtures that test higher than 15 ppb must immediately be shut off.

“There is no safe level of lead,” said health department spokesperson Jon Ebelt. “And that is why schools, DPHHS, and [the Department of Environmental Quality] are taking actions to remove sources of lead in children’s environment.”

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that school water fountains not have water lead concentrations higher than 1 ppb, according to a 2016 policy paper.

State officials have said 589 school buildings need to meet Montana’s new rule. Of the 222 schools that had turned in samples by Feb. 18, 110 had at least one water fixture with lead levels higher than 15 ppb, according to a KHN analysis of state data. Almost a third of all fixtures tested so far across the state had dangerous levels of lead in their water, according to state data.

The highest test result so far came from Skyview High School in Billings, where a sink in a theater control room tested at 7,800 ppb — federal environmental regulators classify lead concentrations over 5,000 ppb as hazardous waste. That sink and any other that had levels higher than 15 ppb were blocked off from use, said Scott Reiter, director of facilities at Billings Public Schools.  

Montana’s rule mandates that schools’ results be publicly posted but doesn’t require schools to tell parents when students have been exposed. For many Montana schools, this is the first time they’ve tested for lead.

In some cases, schools with a long list of high lead numbers must wait for solutions, with some sinks and fountains blocked from use. At Billings West High School, more than 40 fixtures tested in the red — higher than 15 ppb — out of 139 samples taken. As of mid-February, repair work hadn’t begun at Billings West as district officials prioritized projects that keep access to drinking water for students and employees in other schools, whether that’s applying filters or replacing fixtures.

“We’re just taking it one school at a time,” said Billings Public Schools Superintendent Greg Upham. “In some cases, it will fall to our general funding facilities budget, which is unfortunate, but, you know, on the safety side of it, that’s what we need to do.”

Greg Montgomery, who manages DEQ’s new monitoring program, said he’s still reaching out to schools that haven’t finished sending in water samples. “This rule rolled out right as covid hit,” Montgomery said. “And schools have also had a lot of turnover. I’ll get calls from new facility people saying they just heard about the program and how do they get started.”

Although DEQ helps oversee the program, the rule’s enforcement falls to DPHHS. Ebelt said the deadline was set before the pandemic and covid slowed that work for many schools.

He said a total of 308 schools had submitted an inventory of their buildings’ plumbing fixtures and more samples had been coming in. As of Feb. 28, 293 schools had provided samples. Not all results have been posted.

“We plan to be flexible with the deadline and will continue to work with schools,” Ebelt said.

Classroom and bathroom sinks were more likely than any other type of fixture to have high levels of lead. Of all the drinking fountains tested, 20% tested high enough to need flushing or get turned off, according to state environmental officials. Schools don’t have a deadline to make repairs, though some have taken anything whose water tested over 5 ppb out of service.

Nationwide, no one has tracked how many lead pipes deliver water to homes, schools, and businesses, let alone tested every faucet for traces of the neurotoxin. At least seven states — California, Illinois, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, and Virginia — require school districts to test for lead and report elevated levels to parents, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Last year, Washington state mandated that schools test drinking water for lead if the buildings went up or pipes went in before 2016. And in 2020, Virginia lawmakers instructed school boards to submit plans to test for lead and to make fixes if needed.

Patrick, with Great Falls Public Schools, said that in some cases, the district brought in water bottle fill stations with filters to replace old hallway drinking fountains. The district already had plans to use part of the proceeds from a bond issuance to replace the internal piping at Lewis and Clark Elementary School, where 23 fixtures had lead levels of 5 ppb or higher.

He said that the district had considered testing in the past but that the estimated cost was too high. With the new rule, the state covers the cost of lab tests and supplies for taking samples.

However, if repairs are needed, many schools may be left to foot the bill themselves. The state set aside $40,000 to help schools fix problems, but that money is first come, first served. As of Feb. 18, about $15,000 remained.

Patrick said that as schools calculate total repair costs, they’re submitting that information to state officials. He hopes that more than $40,000 will be set aside for repair projects the next time schools submit samples. For now, the gap in funding may mean delaying other projects. “It just means a project that we’re going to do, like re-asphalting part of a playground or something like that, gets postponed for another year,” he said.

The bipartisan infrastructure bill that Congress passed late last year included $55 billion to expand access to clean drinking water. But the money hasn’t been disbursed to states yet, it’s not limited to school repairs, and how much of that funding will land in Montana isn’t clear yet.

Montgomery, of DEQ, said that if schools don’t have the money to make fixes, some may qualify for rural development grants or low-interest loans.

In Troy, 27 of the 58 water fixtures tested at the elementary school came back above the state’s allowed limit of less than 5 ppb, with five in the red. The rural school district now faces the cost of repairing those water sources after incurring the hidden cost of the staff time it takes to inventory and sample every water source — no small expense for a small district with limited cash and workers.

“We’re just going to chip away at it with the general funds that we do have, and there may be some areas that we just shut down different water sources too,” said Jacob Francom, superintendent of Troy Public Schools. “Fixtures are very expensive — and testing regularly, I mean, it starts to add up.”

KHN data editor Holly Hacker contributed to this article.

Katheryn Houghton:
[email protected],
@K_Hought

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The role of outdoor and indoor air quality in the spread of SARS-CoV-2: Overview and recommendations by the research group on COVID-19 and particulate matter (RESCOP commission)

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This article was originally published here

Environ Res. 2022 Feb 26:113038. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2022.113038. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

There are important questions surrounding the potential contribution of outdoor and indoor air quality in the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and perpetuation of COVID-19 epidemic waves. Environmental health may be a critical component of COVID-19 prevention. The public health community and health agencies should consider the evolving evidence in their recommendations and statements, and work to issue relational occupational guidelines. Evidence coming from the current epidemiological and experimental research is expected to add knowledge about virus diffusion, COVID-19 severity in most polluted areas, inter-personal distance requirements and need for wearing face masks in indoor or outdoor environments. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for maintaining particulate matter concentrations at low levels for multiple health-related reasons, which may also include the spread of SARS-CoV-2. Indoor environments represent even a more crucial challenge to cope with, as it is easier for the SARS-COV2 to spread, remain vital and infect other subjects in closed spaces in the presence of already infected asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic people. The potential merits of preventive measures, such as CO2 monitoring associated with natural or controlled mechanical ventilation and air purification, for schools, indoor public places (restaurants, offices, hotels, museums, theatres/cinemas etc.) and transportations need to be carefully considered. Hospital settings and nursing/retirement homes as well as emergency rooms, infectious diseases divisions and ambulances represent higher risk indoor environments and may require additional monitoring and specific decontamination strategies based on mechanical ventilation or air purification.

PMID:35231456 | DOI:10.1016/j.envres.2022.113038

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How State and Local Leaders Can Prepare for Future COVID-19 Surges

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With national data suggesting that the omicron variant is subsiding throughout the United States—and polls showing a new level of COVID-19 fatigue—public conversation has turned to “learning to live with Covid” and reaching a “new normal.” How the nation defines these terms and selects the data used to make decisions has implications for policymakers as they dial back public health measures while maintaining readiness to prevent future surges.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) most recent seven-day moving average as of February 27 shows new cases fell by 38 percent, deaths fell by 13 percent, and new COVID-19 hospitalizations fell by 31 percent. New CDC guidelines released at the end of February labeled 70 percent of local U.S. areas as having “low” or “medium” community risk, in contrast to the previous classification—based on new case incidence alone—that placed 95 percent of the country in the “high” category for community spread. However, more than 60,000 new infections still occurred each day, and there were almost 12,000 deaths over the course of the week. According to experts, the country needs to be prepared for continued COVID-19 cases, like with other respiratory viral illnesses, but take actions to reduce health and economic complications. COVID-19 may be moving toward an endemic stage (see text box below), but it still poses great risks and is unpredictable, warranting a gradual transition in policies.

CDC 7-day moving average as of February 27 reveals COVID-19 spread is waning

38%

Decrease in new COVID-19 cases

CDC

13%

Decrease in COVID-19 deaths

CDC

31%

Decrease in COVID-19 hospitalizations

CDC

As states and local governments relax public health measures, it is imperative that they maintain readiness for future surges and closely monitor the public health system’s capacity to provide protective equipment, tests, treatment, and hospital care. Monitoring the extent of transmission, the severity of disease, and levels of protection—particularly in concert—can reveal the level of threat and degree of readiness.

Epidemic, pandemic, or endemic?

Understanding these three terms can be helpful for policymakers as they determine mitigation measures.

An outbreak is called an epidemic when there is a sudden increase in cases. When it spreads across several countries and affects many people, it is called a pandemic.

An infection is endemic when the overall rates are neither rising nor falling.

When an infection becomes endemic, it does not mean that it is less widespread, nor less serious. Malaria, for instance, an endemic disease, killed more than 600,000 people globally in 2020. Tuberculosis, another endemic disease, caused 10 million illnesses and 1.5 million deaths in 2020.

A path forward

As COVID-19 cases wane, policymakers are seeking clear guidelines and metrics for decision-making. Decisions about how and when to relax public health measures require examining scientific evidence, setting goals and benchmarks, and weighing trade-offs. For instance, given the extensive impact of COVID-19 on the economy and on the mental health of America’s youth, keeping businesses and schools open should be a priority, but doing so also requires keeping the virus in control.

Policymakers face the challenge of protecting public health amid public weariness of the pandemic. A Yahoo News/YouGov survey from January found that 46 percent of respondents thought Americans should “learn to live with” the pandemic “and get back to normal,” while 43 percent thought, “We need to do more to vaccinate, wear masks and test.” In fact, precautions may be precisely what enables the resumption of previous activities. Any “new normal” should include precautions to protect communities, avoid new surges, and enable continuation, or safe resumption, of activities. For instance, masking that prevents disease and absenteeism could allow schools to resume activities that students have missed, such as field trips and assemblies.

While there are steps that individuals can take to protect themselves regardless of local policy, public policy should prioritize the needs of high-risk populations and disabled people.

Indicators for relaxing restrictions must be sensitive to community conditions given the potential for spread and the recognition that there are particularly vulnerable populations who may not be able to protect themselves, including people who are immunocompromised, disabled people, older adults, and children who are too young to be vaccinated. While there are steps that individuals can take to protect themselves regardless of local policy, public policy should prioritize the needs of high-risk populations and disabled people without requiring them to bear the brunt of protective measures. As a public health pandemic, the worldwide spread of COVID-19 has demonstrated that, as the World Health Organization says, “No one is safe from COVID-19 until everyone is safe.”

As the United States enters a new stage of the pandemic, policymakers should clearly communicate which guideposts they are using for scaling up or reducing COVID-19 precautions. While policymakers, scientists, and public health experts may disagree about the optimal timing for rolling back COVID-19 pandemic restrictions—and as case rates and positivity rates, two factors closely tracked early in the pandemic, become complicated by unreported at-home testing—policymakers should consider a variety of factors to understand the current situation, predict the future, and make sound decisions. The CDC recently unveiled a new “community levels” classification designed to guide decisions about community prevention strategies and individual behaviors. The guidance relies on a combination of three metrics: new COVID-19 hospital admissions, share of staffed inpatient beds occupied by COVID-19 patients, and whether the new case rate is above or below 200 per 100,000 people in the past seven days. While these indicators are informative for making policy decisions and assessing risk, this column urges state and local leaders to also pay close attention to other early indicators of surges in COVID-19 spread and the local public health system’s capacity to respond to crises.

Indicators for consideration

Metrics related to COVID-19 prevalence and severity, precautions and protections, and treatment provide a guide for policymakers to prepare for new variants or surges, as well as suggest where to dedicate resources now. Some indicators are straightforward, while others may be challenging to measure. Indicators should emphasize community conditions and center the needs of disabled people and the most vulnerable to reduce harm during transitions. Policymakers should also consider these indicators in conjunction with each other: For instance, high vaccination and testing rates might justify relaxing mask requirements earlier. Decision-makers must consider a variety of indicators, as critical factors keep changing and data may be delayed.

COVID-19 prevalence and severity

The CDC has been using new case incidence as its chief metric for community transmission but recently updated its guidance for recommended prevention behaviors such as masking in indoor public settings. Transmission data, while important, provide only one piece of the puzzle and can be challenging to interpret, given that at-home test results often are not reported and thus not included in case rates. Case rates also do not provide information on disease severity, which varies depending on virus strain and vaccination status. Trends are important in addition to rates; even with positive trends, policymakers may seek continued stable trends over time before making decisions.

Wastewater surveillance provides another mechanism to measure case rates, detecting the coronavirus in people with and without symptoms. Wastewater surveillance has several benefits: It can track trends in infections over time and can be an early indicator of increasing or decreasing incidence, and it captures the entire population served by the municipal wastewater system, regardless of symptoms or testing practices. For example, the drop in the viral load in wastewater helped reveal when omicron had peaked in Boston and New York City in January and provided a warning that it was rising in other cities. The CDC’s National Wastewater Surveillance System is supporting 37 states in developing wastewater surveillance systems. Sustained federal financial investments in health departments would support state and local capacity to develop and maintain these systems, which can be used to identify other community health concerns, such as foodborne infections and influenza.

Policymakers should also track trends in hospitalizations as an indicator of COVID-19 prevalence and severity. A comparison between the delta and omicron variants illustrates the value of hospital data. The omicron variant is less likely than the delta variant to cause severe illness, but it also spreads more easily, even among the vaccinated population, which led to the January spike in hospitalizations; more people contracted the virus, increasing the chance for hospitalizations. Despite decreased severity, the omicron variant led to high patient loads and critical staffing shortages, which have ramifications for patients needing care for both COVID-19 and other conditions.

Another indicator for tracking transmission trends is absentee rates at schools and businesses. By dialing up precautions such as masking in response to growing absences, communities and school districts may be able to avert future situations such as those experienced during the omicron surge, in which businesses did not have sufficient healthy employees to stay open and schools did not have enough healthy staff to operate in person. These trends also are important to track the prevalence of COVID-19 cases that may appear mild but become the more severe, disabling condition of long COVID.

COVID-19 precautions and protections

Of all the strategies available to support pandemic recovery, vaccination is most effective. According to CDC data, in December 2021, unvaccinated people ages 5 and older were 14 times more likely to die from COVID-19 than fully vaccinated people. What’s more, on average, boosted Americans are 97 times less likely to die of COVID-19 than those who have not been vaccinated. Vaccines are safe and effective and can reduce the spread of disease, protecting both individuals and communities. School districts could consider vaccination rates of staff and students in deciding whether it is safe to ease mask requirements. Ensuring older adults are up to date on their vaccinations, including boosters, is critical, and these rates could also be used as a metric for determining when to ease mask requirements in settings such as long-term care facilities, given this group is most at risk. Compared with 18- to 29-year-olds, the rate of death is 65 times higher for 65- to 74-year-olds, and risk increases substantially for those 75 and older. Currently, 66 percent of adults age 65 or older have received a booster shot, with the highest rates in Vermont, Minnesota, and Wisconsin.

According to CDC data, in December 2021, unvaccinated people ages 5 and older were 14 times more likely to die from COVID-19 than fully vaccinated people.

Ensuring sufficient availability and accessibility of free COVID-19 supplies, including high-quality masks and rapid at-home tests, is critical for individuals and communities to avoid infection, regardless of income, location, or individual or community vaccination status. The American Rescue Plan provided states with funding for critical COVID-19 public health activities, including vaccine distribution, testing, contact tracing, and surveillance. Gov. Tim Walz (D) in Minnesota and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) in Michigan, for example, have provided free KN95 masks to residents, forming partnerships with schools and child care centers, community groups including area agencies on aging, local public health departments, and health clinics to ensure distribution of high-quality masks reaches higher-risk people and higher-risk settings. Wisconsin formed a collaboration that allows state residents, with or without symptoms, to test for COVID-19 using saliva samples collected in their own homes, at no cost. California issued a plan to prepare for future surges by stockpiling masks, maintaining capacity to provide vaccine doses and coronavirus tests, tracking trends, and supporting vulnerable communities.

Finally, quality ventilation and filtration systems improve air circulation inside buildings and reduce the spread of COVID-19, which is particularly important as schools roll back mask requirements. The Elementary and Secondary Schools Emergency Relief Fund, the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund, and the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund can be used to support measures that improve school indoor air quality. Although long-standing school infrastructure improvements, including ventilation improvement, are still needed, the quality of these systems can be one of a variety of indicators of readiness to ease off COVID-19 precautions.

COVID-19 treatment

New drugs can help prevent COVID-19 in people with weakened immune systems, and monoclonal antibody treatment such as bebtelovimab can keep high-risk patients with COVID-19 from needing to be hospitalized. The Biden administration is purchasing 600,000 courses of bebtelovimab, given intravenously to keep high-risk patients with COVID-19 from getting so sick they need to be hospitalized. Policymakers need to make sure that these therapeutics are available and that consumers know if they are eligible and how to get them; this requires communication mechanisms that reach the most marginalized groups, who may not have access to a computer or the internet. As supply ramps up, policymakers also should prioritize the most vulnerable. New York City, for example, is providing free, same-day, at-home oral antiviral pills for those who test positive and are at higher risk for severe illness. New Yorkers can contact their doctors or call 212-COVID19 to request a delivery.

Policymakers should monitor hospital and ICU capacity as an indicator of COVID-19 spread and severity and use limited capacity as a warning sign.

Hospitals have been strained throughout the pandemic, with intensive care units (ICUs) in many cities stretched beyond capacity due to COVID-19 surges and scheduled procedures. Policymakers should monitor hospital and ICU capacity as an indicator of COVID-19 spread and severity and use limited capacity as a warning sign for when health care systems may need to take measures—such as canceling elective procedures—to prevent the system from becoming overwhelmed and for other community action. For example, one new tool created by NPR uses analyses from the University of Minnesota’s COVID-19 Hospitalization Tracking Project to provide information on local hospital strain, through a ratio of COVID-19 hospitalizations to total beds. According to experts, the ratio is concerning when it rises above 10 percent, while “high stress” and “extreme stress” ratios are indicated at 30 percent and 60 percent, respectively. Similarly, a dashboard that shows critical levels of transmission and hospital capacity could be used to trigger temporary steps to limit the spread, such as reducing indoor dining capacity, to keep hospitals from being overrun. With federal investments, states could create and manage such tools to provide assurance of sufficient surge capacity to avoid overwhelming health care providers, which is critical at this stage of the pandemic to avoid burnout, ensure care for non-COVID-19 health issues, and safeguard patient safety.

COVID-19 safety and readiness indicators

Policymakers should look to a mix of indicators as they adjust COVID-19 precautions.

COVID-19 prevalence and severity:

  • Test positivity rates
  • Case rates, according to case reporting and wastewater surveillance
  • Local hospitalization rates, including ICU bed utilization
  • Death rates among those who are up to date on vaccinations
  • Absentee rates in schools or in the workforce

Availability of COVID-19 precautions and protections:

  • Vaccination rates among full population and subsets
  • Rates of booster doses among older adults
  • Sufficient affordable supply of COVID-19 tests in the community
  • Sufficient affordable supply of quality masks (KN95, N95)
  • Quality of ventilation and filtration systems

Capacity for COVID-19 treatment:

  • Availability of therapeutics such as monoclonal antibody treatment and antiviral medication
  • Assurance of sufficient surge capacity for health care providers

Conclusion

As the omicron variant wanes, the United States will continue adapting and moving away from a heightened state of emergency. However, policymakers should commit to funding robust public health surveillance systems; be prepared and equipped to resume precautions if new surges materialize; and ensure availability of tools to protect communities, with particular priority given to the most vulnerable. Keeping an eye on indicators that reflect COVID-19 prevalence and severity, appropriate COVID-19 precautions and protections, and treatment is crucial to preventing future waves of illness and economic disruption.

The author would like to thank Emily Gee, Jerry Parshall, Marquisha Johns, and Mia Ives-Rublee for their input.

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Prince Rupert Water Quality Advisory lifted

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A water quality advisory which had been in place for users of the Prince Rupert water system has now been lifted.

Initially issued on February 10th, the advisory had been put in place due to elevated turbidity levels brought on by heavy rainfall.

Water users who continue to notice a milky quality or sediment in their water are advised to run cold water through their taps until the water runs clear.

Residents are advised not to do this for appliances, such as laundry machines, dishwashers, and fridges.

Long term improvements to the water system are expected this spring, when the City will bring their new dam online.

That will allow them to return to their primary water source at Woodworth Lake.

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ABC15 pushes for answers following claims of mold inside ASU dorms

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TEMPE, AZ — ABC15 is pushing for answers following our report about claims of mold and student health issues inside Arizona State University dorms.

We showed you the lab test results, pictures, and provided expert analysis in a special report Monday night.

Tuesday, we asked ASU and public health officials for a response.

We reached out to the university and asked to speak to President Dr. Michael Crow about these claims and are still waiting to hear back.

ABC15 also talked to public health officials, including one who referred us back to ASU rather than answering our questions.

For months we’ve been looking into complaints from ASU students and parents about health problems, they say, are caused by mold inside ASU’s dorms.

ASU tells ABC15 it takes concerns about mold seriously and immediately takes action.

Though parents we spoke to say the university is not doing enough.

“I said, this is crazy. What is ASU doing about this? And to be honest, they are not doing much,” the mom of an ASU student living in the dorms told ABC15.

In this case, ASU tells us it did not find evidence of active mold growth even though a test commissioned by the parents and reviewed by a third-party expert says otherwise.

“You’ll see that there’s an asterisk next to a few of the quantities. The two high and the one rare. What they’re saying in plain English is there’s evidence of actual growth, that this just isn’t normal settling of background fungal structures,” said Michael Schrantz, an indoor environmental professional and owner of Environmental Analytics.

Though the parents we mentioned earlier say that’s not their only frustration. They also filed a complaint with the Arizona Department of Health Services.

ABC15 wanted to find out who is responsible for oversight in cases like this. So, we followed up with AZDHS.

The department initially referred us to Maricopa County, who eventually sent us to the Maricopa County Environmental Services Department.

We wanted to know: what are the standards for maintaining safe indoor air quality and who is responsible for holding property owners accountable?

Maricopa County Environmental Services told us in January:

“No governmental entity has jurisdiction for non-workplace (residential) situations.”

ABC15 called them again on Tuesday, for clarification on our question.

We didn’t get a return phone call, but did get a response to our email, referring us back to an ASU spokesperson.

ABC15 also reached out to the City of Tempe, to see if they had anyone who investigates complaints about conditions at ASU.

They responded letting us know their “Code Enforcement does not perform interior inspections on ASU property.”

With more parents coming forward after our initial investigation aired Monday, and few answers from public officials, we also emailed and called the Arizona Board of Regents.

The Arizona Board of Regents is the governing body of Arizona’s public university system.

They have yet to respond.

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COVID mask mandates might be largely gone but here are 5 reasons to keep wearing yours

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Mask mandates in most indoor settings have been dropped in New South Wales, Victoria and the ACT, with Queensland to follow later this week.

Without a mandate, mask use tends to drop, so we can expect only a minority of people to be masked in public indoor spaces.

With thousands of cases a day and just over half (57%) of Australians having received a third COVID vaccine dose and children still under-vaccinated, we may see a surge in infections.

While masks are a small inconvenience, they remain vital in preventing SARS-CoV-2, because the virus spreads through the air we breathe.


Read more:
The pressure is on for Australia to accept the coronavirus really can spread in the air we breathe

Some people will continue to wear masks to stay safe and achieve a more normal life through the pandemic. Here are five reasons to keep wearing yours.

1. Masks reduce your chance of getting COVID

Many studies have shown masks protect against COVID. While N95 respirators offer the greatest protection, even cloth masks are beneficial. N95s respirators lower the odds of testing positive to COVID by 83%, compared with 66% for surgical masks and 56% for cloth masks.

The protection when everyone wears a mask is much greater, because it reduces the likelihood of well people inhaling the virus and prevents infected people from exhaling the virus into the air. If everyone wears a mask, the viral load in the air is much lower.

When we lose the protection of universal masking, it’s a good idea to wear a high protection N95 or P2 respirator.


Read more:
How to get the most out of your N95 mask or other respirator

2. You might not know you have COVID

Transmission of the virus without symptoms is a major driver of spread, and we cannot know who around us is infected.

Infected people may be asymptomatic or may not know they’re infected. This is especially so for Omicron.

Overall, about one in four infections are asymnptomatic. But even people with symptomatic infection are contagious before the symptoms start.

You might not know you’re infectious.
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3. Wearing a mask protects others, including those at risk of severe COVID

Wearing a mask protects others, including those at greatest risk of severe COVID: people with disability, chronic illnesses and suppressed immune systems.

COVID disproportionately affects migrants and people from lower socioeconomic groups who are more likely to work in customer-service roles. If you wear a mask, you’re protecting workers, commuters and others you interact with.

Rates of vaccination also lag among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, leaving them more vulnerable to COVID in the absence of masks.


Read more:
Australia is failing marginalised people, and it shows in COVID death rates

Masks also protect children who are vulnerable to COVID, with only half of five to 11 year olds partially vaccinated and under-fives not yet eligible for vaccination.

Children who wear masks can also protect their peers. In the United States, the risk of outbreaks was nearly four times higher in schools without mask mandates compared to those with mandates.

Omicron is not the flu or a cold, and has accounted for 17% more deaths than Delta in the United States. While Omicron generally causes less severe disease than Delta, it has claimed more lives because of vastly higher case numbers.

There is also growing evidence SARS-COV-2 persists in the body after infection, which may result in long-term heart, lung and brain damage.

4. Masks protect your colleagues

Many workplaces are insisting on people returning to face-to-face work, some without providing safe indoor air – and now without mask mandates.

The risk of COVID transmission is greatest when indoors for prolonged periods without adequate airflow. So sitting in an office for eight hours without a mask is a risk, especially if safe indoor air has not been addressed.

Man in a mask sits at his work desk, next to his female colleagues.

Wearing a mask reduces your risk of contracting COVID from co-workers.
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At the same time as dropping many workplace mask mandates, NSW has moved to remove automatic workers’ compensation for people who catch COVID at work.

This is a double disadvantage for workers returning to workplaces with fewer protections and facing greater obstacles to workers’ compensation should they get infected.

5. Others might follow your lead

Being one of the few people wearing a mask when others aren’t, such as in a supermarket, is a daunting prospect for those of us who wish to continue masking. There are reports of masked people being abused and bullied.

However a NSW survey showed the majority of people in that state wanted mask mandates to remain. The more we normalise masks and the more we see them, the better protected the community will be.

As much as we wish it so, the pandemic is not over and new variants will likely emerge.

A layered, multi-pronged strategy which includes vaccines, masks, ventilation, testing and tracing is the best way to protect health, the economy and a resumption of normal activities.


Read more:
How does Omicron compare with Delta? Here’s what we know about infectiousness, symptoms, severity and vaccine protection

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Originally Appeared Here

Delaware Agriculture Department issues bird flu warnings

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DOVER – The Delaware Department of Agriculture has been warning poultry owners since January to take extra precautions to protect their birds considering detections of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in wild birds in the Atlantic Flyway. But after a case of avian influenza was announced last week in a commercial poultry farm in New Castle County, DDA is reminding owners that biosecurity is the best way to protect bird health.

The Atlantic Flyway is a major north-south flyway for migratory birds in North America. The route generally starts in Greenland, then follows the Atlantic coast of Canada, then south down the Atlantic Coast to the tropical areas of South America and the Caribbean.

Biosecurity refers to everything that people can do to protect their flock to stop anything that causes disease away from the birds, property and people.

Avian influenza is an airborne respiratory virus that spreads easily among chickens through nasal and eye secretions, as well as manure. The virus can be spread in various ways from flock to flock, including by wild birds, through contact with infected poultry, by equipment, and on the clothing and shoes of caretakers.

Wild birds typically do not show signs of illness, but they can shed the virus at high levels in their manure or droppings if infected. In fact, one gram of contaminated manure, enough to cover a dime, can infect one million birds. Therefore, Delaware poultry is at risk from exposure if they have access to areas where free-flying waterfowl and wild birds are present in the environment. Additionally, if a person steps in contaminated manure while out and about, they can bring the virus back to their domesticated birds, where the birds can eat it, causing infection.

What to do, especially when wild birds fly overhead, dropping fecal matter all over during their migration:

  • Keep your poultry away from wild ducks, geese and their environment, including ponds, lakes and swampy areas.
  • Restrict small flocks from sharing their habitat with wild waterfowl by maintaining outdoor enclosures with solid roofs and wire mesh or netted sides. Repair any holes or tears that would allow birds or rodents to enter.
  • Provide feed and water in an indoor or covered area. Change it daily and promptly clean up any spilled feed so as not to attract wildlife.
  • Wear designated farm shoes when working with your birds or use disposable shoe coverings each time you enter your flock area. If you have multiple chicken houses, have a dedicated set of footwear that you keep in each house. Use footbaths before entering a chicken house.
  • Wash your hands before and after working with your birds to reduce the chance of spreading infectious particles.
  • Clean and disinfect any equipment or bird housing/coops before bringing them onto your property. Avian influenza virus can survive in manure for several months, especially with high moisture and low temperatures.
  • Starlings, songbirds, vultures and other raptors can be carriers of avian influenza and not show signs of disease. Consider hanging a bird deterrent in the doorway of poultry houses while doors are open when working in the poultry house.
  • Wash your vehicles and trailers after visiting other poultry facilities and go through a car wash before you return home.
  • Keep visitors to a minimum. Only allow those people who have direct responsibility in taking care of your flock to come in contact with the birds. Keep track of everyone who comes onto your property at all times by using a logbook. If they had contact with other poultry, have pet birds, or had contact with wild birds (e.g., hunting), do not let them come in contact with your flock.

When adding birds to your flock, make sure to purchase them from a reputable source. The baby chicks purchased at local farm stores come from NPIP certified flocks tested and shown to be free from avian influenza. When they are two weeks old, these chicks will typically leave the store with their new owner, so they are considered low risk for having the disease. However, once they are about three weeks old, they are more susceptible to contracting the virus from their new environment. Make sure to keep new birds or returning show birds separated from established home flocks for 30 days.

No matter the size, all poultry farms should be monitoring flocks for any signs of increased mortality. Pay particular attention to see if any birds show signs of respiratory illness or distress, such as sneezing, gasping for air, coughing, and/or runny nose. Other signs of HPAI in poultry can include swelling around the eyes, neck, and head; purple discoloration of the wattles, combs, and legs; tremors, drooping wings, circling, twisting of the head and neck, or any combination; watery, green diarrhea; lack of energy, poor appetite; and a drop in egg production, or soft or thin-shelled, misshapen eggs.

Backyard flock owners who notice any of the signs of HPAI in their flock should contact the Delaware Poultry Health Hotline at 302-698-4507 or send an email to [email protected] with contact information, size of flock, location and concerns. Backyard flock owners will be contacted if a sample needs to be taken. Do not take dead or sick birds to a lab to be tested or move them off-site.

Commercial poultry producers should follow the procedures of contacting the company they grow for when they notice signs of disease.

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Originally Appeared Here

UPDATE: Another boil water advisory issued for parts of Estill County

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According to Estill County Water District #1, a boil water advisory was issued at 1 p.m. Monday

UPDATE (3/1/22 6:30 P.M.) – The Estill County Water District has issued another boil water advisory. Tuesday afternoon, the advisory was issued for the following areas: Dug Hill, Thomas Rd., Low Gap, Deer Run, Hensley Lane, Staton Rd, Woodland Estates, Little Rock Rd to Lilly Mountain Rd.

UPDATE (3/1/22 10:15 A.M.) – According to Estill County Water District #1, the boil water advisory has been lifted in the following areas:

– Starting at 2596 Richmond Rd. ending at 3445 Richmond Rd.

– All Clear Creek

– Rice Station up to 382 Rice Station

– Walnut Grove up to 170 Walnut Grove

ESTILL COUNTY, Ky. (WTVQ) – A boil water advisory has been issued for parts of Estill County.

According to Estill County Water District #1, a boil water advisory was issued at 1 p.m. Monday, Feb. 28 for the following areas:

– Starting at 2596 Richmond Rd. ending at 3445 Richmond Rd.

– All Clear Creek

– Rice Station up to 382 Rice Station

– Walnut Grove up to 170 Walnut Grove

During a boil water advisory, it is recommended customers boil any tap water for consumption for three minutes. That includes water used for drinking, cooking, or making ice. After boiling water, customers should let the water cool before consuming it.

When the boil water advisory is lifted, customers will be notified. Anyone with questions should call 606-723-3795. You can find more information about Estill County Water District #1 online HERE.

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Originally Appeared Here