The Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) is warning South Georgia residents to beware of the West Nile virus. Three mosquito pools, which are purposely designed areas of standing water to allow for uniform testing, tested positive for West Nile in Lowndes County. The district environmental health director, Chris Calhoun, said this is not uncommon, but people should still try to prevent mosquito bites.
After a mass shooting that claimed four lives at Apalachee High School, Barrow County school officials are laying out new safety measures mandated by a recently signed state law. District officials held a community meeting on July 29 to update families on safety procedures already in place, including weapons detection systems, and to preview new initiatives now underway.
The World Health Organization (WHO) calls on governments and partners to urgently accelerate efforts to eliminate viral hepatitis as a public health threat and reduce liver cancer deaths. Viral hepatitis – types A, B, C, D, and E – are major causes of acute liver infection. Among these, only hepatitis B, C, and D can lead to chronic infections that significantly increase the risk of cirrhosis, liver failure, or liver cancer. Yet most people with hepatitis don’t know they’re infected. Types B, C, and D affect over 300 million people globally and cause more than 1.3 million deaths each year, mainly from liver cirrhosis and cancer.
Researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have developed an artificial intelligence (AI) agent powered by a large language model (LLM) that creates more accurate and informative descriptions of biological processes and their functions in gene set analysis than current systems. The system, called GeneAgent, cross-checks its own initial predictions—also known as claims—for accuracy against information from established, expert-curated databases and returns a verification report detailing its successes and failures.
Tropicale Foods is recalling certain Helados Mexico and La Michoacana products with specific best-by dates, because these products contain undeclared milk. Though these products include “cream” in the product ingredient lists, the common name “milk” is not declared. People who have an allergy or severe sensitivity to milk run the risk of a serious or life-threatening allergic reaction if they consume these products.
W.W. Industrial Group, Inc. is recalling Parashore Pear Slices in juice, 15 oz, because they have the potential to be contaminated with elevated levels of lead and cadmium. Lead and cadmium are toxic substances present in our environment in small amounts, and everyone is exposed to some of these heavy metals from daily actions such as inhaling dust, eating food, or drinking water. In general, the small exposure to lead within the U.S. population does not pose a significant public health concern.
Identify, Isolate and Inform: It is important to continueto ask travel questions. The purpose of this notice is to remind healthcare providers about actions to take in Georgia when evaluating patients for possible serious communicable diseases!
Travel Clinical Assistant (TCA)
TheTravel Clinical Assistantprovides post-travel clinical information on travel-related diseases for 231 countries. Diseases with recent outbreaks occurring in the last two years are listed first.
Violent Actors and Cyber Criminals Threaten Emergency Services Sector
The Office of Intelligence and Analysis sent anassessmentof threats to the Emergency Services Sector— police, firefighters, and other first responders— from violent extremists, other physical threat actors, or malicious cyber actors.
