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California Child Sickened by Raw Milk Tests Negative for Bird Flu
A California child who became seriously ill after drinking raw milk tested negative for bird flu, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control said. Health officials in Marin County warned against consuming raw milk products on Tuesday after the child experienced vomiting and high fever after drinking unpasteurized milk and required hospitalization in November.
“The child has recovered, and no other family members became sick, indicating no person-to person transmission,” Marin County Public Health said in a statement.
A different California child became the first confirmed child bird flu case last month, but the source of their infection remains ongoing.
No cases have been linked to raw milk, but health officials have stressed that those products could contain illness-causing bacteria not killed by the pasteurization.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture ordered all raw milk in the country to be tested for bird flu last week.
Texas Sues Chemical Giants Over Toxic ‘Forever Chemicals’
The state of Texas is suing two chemical giants for their decades-long failure to disclose the health impacts of widely used household products. The announcement came from the office of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Wednesday, and accuses DuPont and 3M of “misrepresentations and key omissions they made in advertising the safety of brand names such as Teflon, Stainmaster, and Scotchgard.”
3M and DuPont are two of the country’s largest manufacturers of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), a group of 15,000 synthetic compounds dubbed “forever chemicals” due to their resistance to breaking down in the environment or the human body.
Commonly used in nonstick cookware, waterproof materials, as well as in protective coatings for textiles and industrial equipment, PFAS have been found in human blood, water, air and soil across the globe, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, which notes that several studies have demonstrated links between forever chemicals and “harmful health effects” in humans.
Are You Eating PFAS? The Fight to Better Regulate Forever Chemicals in Food Manufacturing
Forever chemicals have been discovered in a growing number of places, including in food. Whether it’s from fish caught in water contaminated by per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) or dairy products from livestock exposed to the chemicals, humans can ingest the toxic substances from various sources. PFAS can also be found in food contact substances and packaging, such as fast food containers and wrappers, grease-resistant paper, microwave popcorn bags and pizza boxes.
Environmental groups are growing increasingly concerned by the presence of PFAS in food. To combat these nerves, federal regulators such as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration have been reviewing and updating how to test for PFAS in food and evaluating which forever chemicals should be banned from the industry.
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Study Warns That Cats Might Be Bird Flu Carriers
Picture this: a beloved cat, playful and healthy one day, falls mysteriously ill the next. Soon after, the shocking culprit is revealed — bird flu, a virus that most people associate with poultry and wild birds. Now, scientists are warning that domestic cats could potentially prompt a public health crisis.
According to a new study published Dec. 9 in the journal Emerging Microbes & Infections, domestic cats could become an unexpected player in the evolution and transmission of the H5N1 bird flu virus, potentially creating opportunities for it to become more dangerous. The virus, which began circulating in dairy cattle earlier this year, has killed many cats, mainly on farms where herds were infected. It has also sickened at least 60 people, most of whom had direct contact with infected dairy cows or poultry.
H5N1 does not currently spread easily among humans, but studies suggest just one or two key mutations could allow it to jump between people more readily. While there is no evidence that cats have transmitted H5N1 to humans, researchers caution that these pets may still present a risk. If a cat were infected with both H5N1 and a seasonal flu virus at the same time, the bird flu virus could potentially acquire the mutations needed to spread widely among humans.
U.S. Dietary Guidelines Should Emphasize Beans and Lentils as Protein, New Proposal Says
Eat more beans, peas and lentils as protein sources and decrease consumption of processed and red meat — those changes are among the recommendations detailed in a new report suggesting potential updates to U.S. dietary guidelines. The guidelines are changed on a five-year schedule, and the new set is expected to go into effect next year.
The report, released Tuesday, comes from an advisory committee to the Agriculture Department, made up of 20 professors in the public health and medical sectors.
The committee proposed that the updated guidelines, which would remain in effect into 2030, should emphasize plant-based proteins and encourage people to eat more whole grains and decrease their intake of sugary drinks, sodium and processed foods.
‘Forever Chemical’ Found in Mineral Water From Several European Countries
Mineral water from several European nations has been found for the first time to be contaminated with TFA, a type of PFAS “forever chemical” that is a reproductive toxicant accumulating at alarming levels across the globe. The finding is startling because mineral water should be pristine and insulated from manmade chemicals. The contamination is thought to stem from the heavy application of pesticides containing TFA, or compounds that turn into it in the environment, which are used throughout the world.
Pesticide Action Network Europe detected TFA in 10 out of 19 mineral waters, and at levels as much as 32 times above the threshold that should trigger regulatory action in the European Union. The findings underscore the need for “urgent action”, the paper’s authors wrote, and come as authorities there propose new limits for some TFA pesticide products.
“This has gone completely under the radar and it’s concerning because we’re drinking TFA,” said Angeliki Lysimachou, a co-author with Pesticide Action Network Europe. “It’s much more widespread than we thought.” She added that researchers do not blame mineral water producers because the issue is not their fault.
