Boil order issued for tap water in 200 postcodes
Coliform bacteria, often found in the digestive systems of humans and animals, can indicate the presence of harmful bacteria and cause gastrointestinal issues.
Residents were advised to boil water before consumption or use bottled water provided by Yorkshire Water.
After further testing and monitoring, Yorkshire Water lifted the boil water notice, confirming that the water met their usual high standards.
The company apologised for the inconvenience and thanked residents for their patience.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
4 hours ago
- BBC News
One in 10 pregnant women in Guernsey smoking at time of delivery
More than 10% of pregnant women in Guernsey said they were smoking at the time of delivery, new data says. Guernsey's Quitline and Public Health said last year, when 10.4% admitted smoking while pregnant, engagement with the smoking cessation service was "low, with women frequently declining appointments or not attending accepted appointments".The services added that further work was under way "to explore how we can improve the engagement of expectant women with services to help them quit smoking".Meanwhile, the UK reported a record low of 6.1% in the same year. The bailiwick levels were also up by 2.7% from the year bosses said pregnant women who were identified as smoking at the time of booking a maternity appointment or subsequent antenatal appointments were referred to the Quitline service on an opt-out appointments are then offered weekly for at least 12 weeks."The Quitline nurses understand that stopping smoking can feel daunting. However, it is absolutely achievable... with the friendly professional support and, where appropriate, free Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT)," the service is also the option to Health warned: "Smoking during pregnancy is harmful to both the mother and baby, and remains a significant risk factor for serious health complications."The risks of smoking in pregnancy include a greater risk of miscarriage, pre-term delivery, a low birthweight baby, stillbirth or sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)".
The Guardian
7 hours ago
- The Guardian
‘Distracting the public': group of health professionals call for RFK Jr to be removed
A grassroots organization of health professionals has released a report outlining major health challenges in the US and calling for the removal of Robert F Kennedy Jr from the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The report from Defend Public Health, a new organization of about 3,000 health professionals and allies, is an attempt to get ahead of misinformation and lack of information from health officials. In an effort to keep making progress in public health, Defend Public Health's report was slated to coincide with that of the anticipated second US report to 'make America healthy again' (Maha). The first Maha report was released in May, and a second report was expected this week – but amid turmoil at the health agencies, it has reportedly been delayed for several weeks. 'The Maha report is essentially a distraction from the real causes of poor health,' said Elizabeth Jacobs, professor emerita at the University of Arizona and a founding member of Defend Public Health. 'This administration does not want to address things like poverty and education and access to healthcare. Instead, they're distracting the public with information on solutions to problems that don't actually exist. When the foundation of your policy is not evidence-based, it will collapse.' The Defend Public Health report diverges from the previous Maha focus on issues such as processed foods and environmental chemicals, but it covers familiar ground in public health. The group highlights the importance of food safety, security and access to food, including through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Snap), and improved opportunities for physical activity. They seek to ensure equitable access to vaccines; expand access to healthcare, including comprehensive sexual and reproductive healthcare access; and build strategies for clean air. The report also recommends fully funding scientific research and public health systems; combatting scientific misinformation, including from the US government; and strengthening pandemic preparedness. They call for reductions in gun violence, now the number one cause of death for children. And their last recommendation is to remove Robert F Kennedy Jr, secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), from office, calling his removal 'the single most important step toward improving the health of Americans'. The recommendations are exactly what the US needs to address to become healthier, said Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association (APHA). If you 'look at the things that actually kill people, from the 10 leading causes of death, that is indeed the right list'. The US spends twice as much on healthcare as the next industrialized country, despite having poorer health outcomes, Benjamin pointed out. 'The fracturing of our healthcare system undermines the accessibility of healthcare,' Benjamin said before noting that the US also spends less than other countries on the social determinants of health and social supports, and invests less in primary care and prevention. Such gaps are getting worse under the second Trump administration, with huge cuts to Medicaid, affordable housing and nutrition programs like Snap. 'If they're serious about making America healthy again, I would suggest that we first begin by feeding children,' Jacobs said. 'When, for example, RFK Jr is talking about food dyes, I don't think that that is anywhere near as important as the fact that 13 million children in the United States do not know where their next meal is coming from.' Scientific misinformation is an 'existential threat' to Americans, and the US government is a 'major source' of misinformation and disinformation now, Jacobs said. The first Maha report 'contains misinformation and uses references that don't even exist', she noted. The Defend Public Health report has a tongue-in-cheek note that it was 'created by real human experts relying on real rigorous data'. Jacobs recommended working with social media companies, 'one of the biggest amplifiers of misinformation', to address the spread of harmful information. Educating children on how to evaluate the quality and accuracy of information is also important, she said. But one of the biggest purveyors of health misinformation is Kennedy himself. 'Everything that he is doing is horrifying,' Jacobs said. 'There is a saying in public health, 'saving lives a million at a time', and he is doing the opposite of that.' Sign up to This Week in Trumpland A deep dive into the policies, controversies and oddities surrounding the Trump administration after newsletter promotion She called him a 'genuine threat' who was 'devastating' public health. 'He has no knowledge, training or experience in any type of science. He's never done an experiment, he's never written a paper, he's never gotten a grant to study anything. He has no understanding of the underlying causes of poor health in the United States,' Jacobs said. Defend Public Health launched in November, after Trump's re-election because, as Jacobs said, 'it was very clear to us that public health specifically was going to be under attack. 'We knew that it was going to be a tough fight. I don't think that any of us knew how bad this was going to get, how quickly. But we are doing everything in our power to support our fellow researchers, public health workers, anybody that we can, and also continue to get accurate information out to the public,' Jacobs said. The group joins other established health organizations as well as other newcomers like the Vaccine Integrity Project to serve as reliable sources of information. There's a long history of groups like these providing outside perspectives on official recommendations, Benjamin said. But the federal government is uniquely positioned to speak to the health of all Americans. 'Pediatricians certainly have the nation's trust around vaccines for kids, but there's a big debate about at what point does a kid become an adolescent, become an adult? At what point do they go into the adult health system?' he said. That creates confusion around which advice a patient should follow. The same may be true of a patient who becomes pregnant, or someone who may fall under the purview of multiple health organizations. It's not always easy to know who belongs in which group. 'We have to be careful that each of these private sector organizations align our recommendations, so that we don't further confuse the public,' Benjamin said. Yet, Benjamin continued, 'as the federal government withdraws in its responsibility to protect the public, groups like ours will become more influential in filling that void until we can get the federal government again to step up into that place as a trusted adviser.' Benjamin and Jacobs – and other experts in these groups – hope that the federal government will once again become a source of reliable information. 'We really wanted to start building a framework so that we're ready when we have the opportunity to start putting some of our policy recommendations in place,' Jacobs said. 'There is just rampant chaos right now around public health and science related to this administration, and we have got to stand firm and keep bringing the conversation back to the actual causes of poor health among Americans. I can't control what the government is going to decide to do. What we can do is continue to provide accurate information to the public.'
Sky News
7 hours ago
- Sky News
Pictures of 'zombie-rabbits' with twisting black horns go viral - so are they real?
Photos of rabbits in Colorado with black, horn-like growths around their faces have gone viral, with some describing the animals as "Frankenstein-", "zombie-" and "demon-rabbits". Warning: This article contains images of infected rabbits, which some readers may find disturbing. Residents in Fort Collins near Denver recently began posting pictures of the cottontail bunnies, causing a stir online. "This is how the zombie virus starts," posted one Instagram user on a post showing the rabbits. "We've got freaking zombie rabbits now?!" posted another on YouTube. So what's going on? Firstly, the pictures are real - despite some wishing they weren't. "One time I need this to be AI," wrote one Instagram user on a post showing the horned bunnies. The rabbits are suffering from a relatively harmless disease called Shope Papilloma Virus, according to Colorado Parks and Wildlife. Although the wildlife agency is getting calls from people spotting the infected rabbits in Fort Collins, they're not an unusual sight, according to spokesperson Kara Van Hoose. The disease is mainly found in America's Midwest, according to the University of Missouri, and is more noticeable in the summer, when the fleas and ticks that spread the virus are most active. The virus can also spread through rabbit-to-rabbit contact but not to other species like humans or dogs and cats, according to Ms Van Hoose. People are being warned not to touch the infected rabbits, however. Do the growths hurt the rabbits? The horn-like growths, or papillomas, are harmless to the bunnies, unless they grow on sensitive areas like the eyes or mouth or interfere with eating. Once the rabbits' immune systems have fought the virus, the growths will disappear. Although infected wild rabbits usually don't need treatment, it can be dangerous to pet rabbits, so officials recommend getting pet bunnies treated by a vet. The mythical jackalope It's not a new illness, and is even thought to have inspired the centuries-old myth of the "jackalope", a rabbit with antelope antlers. Although hunters had long known about the disease, it was first scientifically reported in 1931 by Richard E Shope - hence the name. Since then, the rabbits' warts and horns have contributed to life-saving scientific understanding, including how viruses can be linked to cancer, like the HPV virus to cervical cancer.
