Mass culling is expensive, but alternatives, like vaccinating chickens or luring wild birds away from domestic flocks, would also impose logistical and environmental costs. And they may be more expensive, anyway.
State lawmakers have introduced bills to limit SNAP benefits, change vaccine policies and ban fluoride in public water.
“The removal of critical health information from governmental public health sites is chilling and puts the health of the public at risk,” said Richard Besser, a former acting director of the CDC.
State and local public health departments rely on federal funding to operate. With those dollars at risk amid the Trump administration’s federal funding freezes, they’re bracing for the future.
Last year, legislators approved funding to fill a coverage gap. The law, however, was overridden by a ballot measure involving pay increases for doctors.
Last month, the EPA issued a rule to step up monitoring and limit worker exposure to ethylene oxide, a cancer-causing molecule. But in his first term, Trump rolled back dozens of environmental rules, making residents of Louisiana’s “Cancer Alley” nervous.
Health officials are calling the outbreak of the highly contagious disease “unprecedented,” but the numbers remain small, with 67 active infections centered in the Kansas City suburbs.
Enjoying momentum thanks to Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination as federal health secretary, vaccine skeptics are pushing state-level bills to block mandates and give parents and workers greater latitude to opt out.
The city’s police department has put a focus on officer mental health and well-being. That’s a big cultural change because officers often feel they need to hide their struggles.
The 2023-24 school year saw the highest percentage of kindergarteners exempted from vaccinations, with increases in 40 states and Washington, D.C. In some localities, the so-called health freedom message has led to nonmedical exemption rates as high as 50 percent.
Stimulants such as cocaine and methamphetamine now often come laced with deadly amounts of fentanyl. The current wave is driving up mortality among Black and Hispanic Americans particularly.
The state’s 988 service has a $7 million shortfall and the nation’s fifth highest rate of abandoned calls. The suicide rate in Texas has risen dramatically during this century.
After years of cuts, the agency’s budget has doubled since 2020. But its new director will face challenges due to policy differences with the incoming Trump administration.
Thomasville Regional Medical Center opened its doors at the start of the pandemic. It didn’t survive, but unlike most shuttered rural hospitals, it’s practically brand new.
Farmers must destroy their flocks when bird flu is detected. With payments already exceeding $1 billion, the government will now require biosecurity audits.
For the first time in a decade, the state is seeing a sustained decline, mirroring national trends. After nine months of decreases, drug deaths in the state are down 17 percent this year.
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