Experts sound alarm as health conditions worsen across vulnerable region: 'Soon we will be seeing it as a public health emergency'
Scientists are warning of an upswing in heat-related and vector-borne illnesses in one Indian state due to rising global temperatures.
Increased humidity and soaring temperatures in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu are causing a surge in a disease carried by mites, along with a host of other health concerns, the Federal reported.
Heavy rains over the past few years have contributed to an upswing in cases of scrub typhus, the publication said, pointing to a recent study that found that for every 1% increase in mean relative humidity there was a 7.6% surge in scrub typhus cases. Meanwhile, an increase of one millimeter of rainfall contributed to 0.5-0.7% of monthly cases.
The publication also reported that the state recorded 26,740 cases of dengue in 2024 and 13 deaths — this was the highest number of cases in the last six years. Meanwhile, cases of a mosquito-borne illness called chikungunya rose from 153 in 2021 to 603 in 2024, and leptospirosis, a waterborne illness, is experiencing a gradual increase as well. Plus, extreme temperatures have led to a rise in heat stress and heat-related illnesses, along with mental health concerns.
"As the summer unfolds and the climate worsens, hospitals and healthcare providers across India must prepare for a climate-induced health crisis," Dr. Ilankumaran Kaliamoorthy, chief executive officer and senior consultant of liver anaesthesia and intensive care at Rela Hospital, told The Federal. "Without appropriate actions, these climate changes will continue to worsen, and soon we will be seeing it as a public health emergency instead of just an environmental issue."
Scrub typhus is a potentially life-threatening bacterial infection with no preventative vaccination available. Meanwhile, 21,000 dengue deaths are reported annually across the globe, according to the CDC. However, the agency reports that even milder cases of this mosquito-borne disease cause symptoms like severe headache, pain behind the eyes, muscle and joint pains, nausea, and vomiting.
Tamil Nadu isn't the only place experiencing a surge in vector-borne illnesses like dengue and scrub typhus. For instance, warmer temperatures and a variation in the length of dry seasons appear to be influencing the prevalence of dengue fever in the Philippines, according to one study.
Many vectors, such as mosquitoes, benefit from warmer temperatures and more humid conditions, which helps them to establish themselves in new geographical locations and lengthen their breeding seasons. For example, one study found that several mosquito species populations are set to expand their ranges in North and South America in the coming years, thanks to warmer temperatures.
The Cleveland Clinic says the best way for people to prevent typhus is by taking action to prevent getting bitten by disease-carrying mites. This includes wearing insect repellent and long sleeves, keeping rodents away from work, home, and play areas, and showering or bathing in warm water regularly.
Similarly, the CDC recommends insect repellent and long sleeves as two actions to help prevent mosquito-borne diseases like dengue.
Do you worry about the quality of the air inside your home?
Yes — often
Yes — but only sometimes
Only when it's bad outside
No — I never do
Click your choice to see results and speak your mind.
Meanwhile, some local communities are taking action to remove the culprits of these diseases. For example, officials in one Florida county are using X-rays to kill invasive mosquitoes there, and one Manila neighborhood has enacted a controversial "bounty" program that pays residents to collect mosquitoes.
Join our free newsletter for weekly updates on the latest innovations improving our lives and shaping our future, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Fast Company
2 hours ago
- Fast Company
Salmonella outbreak: Recalled eggs sold at Walmart, Safeway, and elsewhere sicken people in 7 states
A significant recall of 1.7 million dozen eggs is underway. The eggs were believed to be the source of a salmonella outbreak that has sickened dozens of people across seven states and so far led to 21 people being hospitalized. They were distributed to several major retailers, including Walmart and Safeway. Here's what you need to know about the recall and outbreak. Shell eggs recalled due to salmonella fears On June 6, the August Egg Company of Hilmar, California, issued a voluntary recall of 1.7 million dozen eggs produced at its facilities. The company initiated the recall after it discovered that the eggs are feared to have been contaminated with salmonella, a potentially deadly bacterium. On the same day, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published August Egg Company's recall notice on its website, while the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced an investigation into a multistate outbreak of salmonella linked to eggs. Dozens sickened and hospitalized across 7 states The CDC's investigation has found that eggs produced by August Egg Company are linked to dozens of cases of people becoming ill after consuming them. The agency's latest data shows that there are so far 79 cases linked to the August Egg Company's recalled products. Of those cases, 21 have resulted in hospitalizations. Thankfully, no deaths have been reported so far. The cases are spread across seven states: Arizona, California, Kentucky, Nebraska, New Jersey, Nevada, and Washington. Of those states, California has the most number of cases, at 63, followed by Washington and Nevada, with four cases each. Arizona has had three cases, Nebraska and New Jersey two cases, and Kentucky has one. However, many people who become sick with salmonella see their symptoms resolve without contacting a health professional, so the actual number of cases could be higher. When and where were the eggs distributed? According to the notice posted on the FDA's website, the recalled eggs were distributed between February and May. The retail locations that received the eggs include: Walmart Save Mart FoodMaxx Lucky Smart & Final Safeway Raleys Food 4 Less Ralphs The eggs were distributed between February 3 and May 15, 2025, to Save Mart, FoodMaxx, Lucky, Smart & Final, Safeway, Raleys, Food 4 Less, and Ralphs locations in California and Nevada. Those eggs had sell-by dates ranging from March 4 to June 4, 2025. The eggs were also distributed between February 3 through May 6, 2025, to Walmart stores in California, Washington, Nevada, Arizona, Wyoming, New Mexico, Nebraska, Indiana, and Illinois. Those eggs had sell-by dates ranging from March 4 to June 19, 2025. What eggs are included in the recall? Over two dozen egg products packaged under multiple brands are included in the recall. The recall notice states that the eggs were packaged in fiber or plastic cartons and have a plant code number P-6562 or CA5330 with the Julian Dates between 32 to 126. Photographs of the cartons can be found here. The item names of the egg products included in the recall, along with their plant number and carton UPC are: Item Name Plant Number Carton UPC Clover Organic Large Brown 12 eggs P-6562 or CA-5330 070852010427 First Street Cage Free Large Brown Loose 1 case=150 eggs P-6562 or CA-5330 041512039638 Nulaid Medium Brown Cage Free 12 eggs P-6562 or CA-5330 071230021042 Nulaid Jumbo Brown Cage Free 12 eggs P-6562 or CA-5330 071230021011 O Organics Cage Free Large Brown 6 eggs P-6562 or CA-5330 079893401522 O Organics Large Brown 12 eggs P-6562 or CA-5330 079893401508 O Organics Large Brown 18 eggs P-6562 or CA-5330 079893401546 Marketside Organic Large Cage Free Brown 12 eggs P-6562 or CA-5330 681131122771 Marketside Organic Large Cage Free Brown 18 eggs P-6562 or CA-5330 681131122801 Marketside Large Cage Free Brown 12 eggs P-6562 or CA-5330 681131122764 Marketside Large Cage Free Brown 18 eggs P-6562 or CA-5330 681131122795 Raley's Large Cage Free Brown 12 eggs P-6562 or CA-5330 046567033310 Raley's Large Cage Free Brown 18 eggs P-6562 or CA-5330 046567040325 Raley's Organic Large Cage Free Brown 12 eggs P-6562 or CA-5330 046567028798 Raley's Organic Large Cage Free Brown 18 eggs P-6562 or CA-5330 046567040295 Simple Truth Medium Brown Cage Free 18 eggs P-6562 or CA-5330 011110099327 Simple Truth Large Brown Cage Free 18 eggs P-6562 or CA-5330 011110873743 Sun Harvest Organic Cage Free Large Brown 12 eggs P-6562 or CA-5330 041512131950 Sun Harvest Organic Cage Free Large Brown 18 eggs P-6562 or CA-5330 041512145162 Sunnyside Large Brown Cage Free 12 eggs P-6562 or CA-5330 717544211747 Sunnyside Large Brown Cage Free 18 eggs P-6562 or CA-5330 717544211754 Sunnyside Organic Cage Free Large Brown 12 eggs P-6562 or CA-5330 717544201441 Sunnyside Organic Cage Free Large Brown 18 eggs P-6562 or CA-5330 717544211761 Loose Small Brown Cage Free-1 box= 6 flats (1 flat= 30 eggs) P-6562 or CA-5330 NA Loose Medium Brown Cage Free -1 box= 6 flats (1 flat= 30 eggs) P-6562 or CA-5330 NA Loose Medium Brown Organic -1 box= 6 flats (1 flat= 30 eggs) P-6562 or CA-5330 NA Loose Large Brown Organic-1 box= 6 flats (1 flat= 30 eggs) P-6562 or CA-5330 NA Loose Jumbo Brown Cage Free -1 box=5 flats(1 flat=20 eggs) P-6562 or CA-5330 NA Loose Jumbo Brown Organic -1 box=5 flats(1 flat=20 eggs) P-6562 or CA-5330 NA What is Salmonella? Salmonella is a potentially deadly bacterium that is usually contracted after eating contaminated foods. The CDC says that typical symptoms of a salmonella infection include diarrhea, fever, and stomach cramps, which typically present between six hours and six days after exposure to the bacteria. Typical salmonella infections last between four and seven days, and most people recover without treatment. However, salmonella infections can also cause severe illness in individuals, especially those who are younger than five, older than 65, or have weakened immune systems. What should I do if I have the recalled eggs? According to the CDC, if you have the recalled eggs in your possession, you should not consume them. Instead, you should throw the eggs out or return them to their place of purchase for a refund. You should also sanitize all surfaces that may have come into contact with the eggs.
Forbes
4 hours ago
- Forbes
Egg Recall As Salmonella Outbreak Leaves 79 Sick, 21 Hospitalized
On June 6, the August Egg Company of Hilmar, CA, initiated a voluntary recall of around 1.7 million ... More of its eggs, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. (Photo: Getty) This news shouldn't leave you egg-static in any way, In fact, you may want to move on it, and check your eggs as soon as possible. On June 6, the August Egg Company of Hilmar, CA, initiated a voluntary recall of around 1.7 million of its eggs, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. And there's one shell of a reason for the egg recall: a Salmonella outbreak that's been linked to, you guessed it, eggs. So far, the outbreak has already left 79 people sick and 21 hospitalized across seven different states, based on a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report. The recall encompasses the following brands of brown organic or brown cage-free eggs from the August Egg Company: As you can see the loose eggs don't have associated UPCs. To determine whether your eggs are affected by the recall, check your package, meaning the fiber or plastic cartons in which the eggs were packaged. Be on the lookout for a plant code number of either P-6562 or CA5330 along with Julian Dates between 32 to 126. Such eggs went on to be sold at retail locations like Save Mart, FoodMaxx, Lucky, Smart & Final, Safeway, Raleys, Food 4 Less Ralphs from February 3, 2025, through May 15, 2025. The also went to Walmart locations in California, Washington, Nevada, Arizona, Wyoming, New Mexico, Nebraska, Indiana and Illinois from February 3, 2025, through May 6, 2025. Sell by dates can range from March 4, 2025, to June 19, 2025. Any of the aforementioned lots of eggs could have none, some or lots of Salmonella bacteria in them. The CDC report didn't include that many details about when this outbreak was first suspected, how the investigation proceeded or how specifically the contamination may have occurred. The first two cases of outbreak were reported on February 24. California has had by far the most reported cases with 63. Washington and Nevada are currently tied for second with four apiece, followed by Arizona with three. Nebraska and New Jersey each have had a pair of reported cases, and Kentucky has had one. This is a Salmonella here we go again situation. There is currently another Salmonella outbreak that's been linked to cucumbers. That outbreak has already left 45 people sick and 16 hospitalized across 18 states. That's prompted a recall of Whole fresh cucumbers that were grown by Bedner Growers Inc. and distributed by Fresh Start Produce Sales Inc. from April 29 through May 19. So you should be checking your cucumbers as well. That's because you don't want Salmonellosis, which is an infection caused by Salmonella going down your pie hole, as I have written previously in Forbes. If someone were to ask, 'Would you want some Salmonella with your eggs,' your answer should be, 'I would not like them here or there, I would not like them anywhere." Once enough Salmonella gets into your gastrointestinal tract, it can typically lead to diarrhea, fever, and stomach cramps after about six hours to six days. This can make you say 'bloody diarrhea' for two reasons. One is that it can be a lot worse diarrhea than you've ever since. And two, the diarrhea can have actual blood in it which can be super disconcerting. The good news is that most people will recover after four to seven days of holy bleep without requiring any treatment. The bad news, though, is that some go on to suffer even worse illness necessitating hospitalization. Salmonellosis can become life-threatening, especially if you have a weaker immune systems such as when you are a child younger than 5 years of age, adult older than 64 years of age or someone with chronic medical conditions or taking immunosuppressive medications. All of this should egg you on to check your eggs. If you do have eggs any encompassed by the egg recall, return or discard them immediately. And make sure that you thoroughly clean and disinfect anything that may have touched the eggs whether its other food, your kitchen counter, your utensils or your life-sized Justin Bieber doll. This will save you a lot of trouble in the end, so to speak.
E&E News
4 hours ago
- E&E News
Inside Trump's purge of federal heat experts
Top heat experts are no longer at their government posts at the start of what promises to be a brutally hot summer, raising questions about the nation's ability to cope with extreme temperatures. The entire staff at the climate office within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was laid off. And across other agencies, heat specialists have accepted deferred resignation offers by the Department of Government Efficiency, called the 'fork in the road.' Some were fired because their work involved racial equity issues. Still others, after being ordered to cut communication with the public about the health risks of heat, decided they could help more people if they retired early. The purge of federal staffers comes as intensifying heat waves leave cities and states searching for expertise and money to help people who can't escape the suffocating dangers of high temperatures, which account for the deadliest weather catastrophes in the United States. The firings, layoffs and voluntary departures under President Donald Trump are colliding with persistent shortcomings in federal policies that largely prevent the government from responding to extreme heat as it does for other events. Advertisement Heat is not identified as a disaster in the U.S., so federal funding is limited, although agencies have recently begun to cooperate on efforts to warn the public about its dangers. Now, as temperatures climb sharply across regions of the country, key offices that once employed heat experts are empty. The departures and funding cuts will leave the government unable to respond as quickly or effectively to heat waves, said Juli Trtanj, who was executive director of the multiagency task force known as the National Integrated Heat Health Information System, or NIHHIS, until May, when she retired from NOAA. She co-chaired the task force with experts from the CDC, the Department of Health and Human Services, and FEMA. All of them are gone. 'What has been lost is the ability to actually help people understand what heat means for them and what to do about it,' Trtanj told POLITICO's E&E News. 'There is so much institutional knowledge that has just walked out the door.' People sit outside a New York City cooling center for the elderly during a heat wave last year. | Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images NOAA did not respond to requests for comment. A spokesperson for HHS, Vianca Rodríguez Feliciano, said the department is 'fully committed to addressing the urgent public health challenges of extreme heat by protecting vulnerable populations and mitigating health risks.' 'The Department remains focused on delivering timely, science-based interventions to safeguard communities nationwide,' she said in a statement, without providing details. Shortly after she responded to E&E News' inquiry, a key federal heat planning document was taken offline last week. 'Big health impacts' Although heat is the biggest weather-related killer in the nation, the government has been slow to respond to high temperatures. That began to change in 2015 — at the outset of the hottest decade ever recorded by humans. NIHHIS was founded at the close of the Obama administration to consolidate the expertise of heat specialists from 20 agencies. Its structure and mission is modeled after efforts to address drought. As former President Joe Biden emphasized a whole-of-government approach to climate change, NIHHIS worked to develop online tools like HeatRisk and the Heat Health Tracker — both of which explain how temperature forecasts can affect human health. Those tools are valuable for local emergency planners as they decide when to open cooling centers. Health care workers also use them to prepare for surges in heat-related illnesses. 'We had generated a lot of internal knowledge about each agency's capabilities and how CDC could use NOAA data on heat waves to track hospitalizations and predict where there were going to be big health impacts,' said Jenny Keroack, a former HHS employee who was part of NIHHIS. She now works at the nonprofit Healthcare Without Harm. Last spring, NIHHIS established two 'centers for excellence' dedicated to researching heat, each funded through multimillion-dollar NOAA grants. One of them, the Center for Collaborative Heat Monitoring based in North Carolina, was supposed to help communities map heat islands. The other, the Center for Resilient Communities, would have been based in California and Arizona to help localities identify ways to respond to extreme heat. NIHHIS' expertise was so sought-after that federal workers including Trtanj started helping the United Nations' World Health Organization set up a similar system globally. Both centers were short-circuited by Trump's policies. In July, a separate heat working group convened by the Biden administration published the first-ever National Heat Strategy, which pushed for 'solidifying' NIHHIS over the next six years to help develop more solutions to keep people safe. The document was taken off government websites last week but remains accessible through the Internet Archive. NIHHIS spent the fall preparing for this summer through 'table-top exercises,' to establish what each agency's role should be during heat waves. It was the first time that kind of coordination had occurred. 'There wasn't yet a good plan of what happens in a heat wave — the weather service issues a heat warning, and then what? Does that trigger something at OSHA or FEMA?' Trtanj said, referring to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. 'It was finally building, we were finally making plans and deploying experts and money to communities to help build resilience during the end of the Biden administration,' said one former federal worker involved in NIHHIS who was granted anonymity to speak about internal planning. People cool off in misters during a heat wave in Las Vegas last year. | John Locher/AP As the Biden administration was coming to a close, NIHHIS members had started talking about under what circumstances the government would issue a public health emergency for extreme heat, Keroack said. The work was being noticed in Congress. Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) introduced legislation in January that would ensure NIHHIS couldn't be dismantled without congressional approval. It would also authorize $5 million annually to the program for data collection. A House version of the bill has been introduced by Rep. Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.). 'Unable to actually function' Days after Trump's election, a co-chair of the group, John Balbus, was put on administrative leave when HHS shuttered its Office of Climate Change and Health Equity. Balbus led the HHS climate office. FEMA's representative to NIHHIS took the deferred resignation offer, the fork, shortly afterward, according to people familiar with his decision. Then, on April Fool's Day, HHS sent reduction-in-force notices to the CDC's entire Division of Environmental Health Science and Practice. The layoffs included the agency's climate office, and the employee who had been a co-chair of NIHHIS. Heat experts from the Small Business Administration, CDC's National Institute of Occupational Health and the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program have also been laid off under Trump. 'My calendar used to be triple booked, and all of a sudden I had days with literally no meetings because there was no one left to meet with,' Trtanj said. 'We were unable to actually function in anything other than putting a forecast out.' NIHHIS workers had watched the 2024 presidential election closely. Trtanj said the group was aware of the changes that Project 2025 had proposed for NOAA, including cutting the climate office where Trtanj was working. Before Trump was inaugurated, the team tried to pivot away from climate change, focusing instead on areas Trump had emphasized during the campaign, like heat's impact on agriculture and small businesses. 'We knew there would be changes, but the way it happened was a huge surprise,' Trtanj said. 'It's not that we didn't have a seat at the table, we didn't even know where the table was to make the case for this program and how heat work was important outside of climate work.' Motorists drive past a sign in Los Angeles warning of extreme heat. | Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images She took early retirement in April in part because of her colleagues' exodus. But there was another reason: She was told she couldn't attend the launch of the World Health Organization's OneHealth program modeled off NIHHIS in Geneva. The event is happening this month. 'I did not see that I would be able to be effective in saving lives working for the federal government, so I decided to leave and see what I could do from the outside,' Trtanj told POLITICO's E&E News in a video call from Switzerland. Trtanj's last day at NOAA was April 30. Five days later, the agency canceled its grants for the NIHHIS Centers of Excellence for heat. 'They are cutting programs that are not really easy for state or local governments to replicate, and that can have drastic consequences and cause peoples' lives,' said Ladd Keith, who directs the Heat Resilience Institute at the University of Arizona and was a co-lead for one of the heat centers before the grant was terminated. He was told the funding for his center had been cut one day before they were supposed to announce that 15 communities across the country had been selected to receive help from the center for coping with heat this summer. 'It's heart-breaking that we can't assist them with the resources we wanted to this summer,' Keith said. Keroack, the former HHS official, said the one-two punch of funding cuts and firings will leave U.S. residents more vulnerable when heat waves strike in the coming weeks. 'Most agencies and offices that work on heat response, they are less equipped now than they were a year ago, and it scares me to think about what that means this summer,' she said. Former NOAA climate scientist Tom DiLiberto said the personnel purge at NIHHIS could reverberate beyond Trump's presidency. 'These cuts, they're inevitably going to be felt — not necessarily let's say this season, but next season and the next and a decade from now,' he said. 'Because we know the efforts to drive change and build resilience can't happen overnight. It takes consistent investment to help build that resilience so that we can eventually save people and help people survive some of these extreme heat events.' Chelsea Harvey contributed reporting. Reach the author on signal at Awitt.40
