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Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Highest number of West Nile cases in a day reported in these California counties
West Nile virus activity is on the rise in some northern California counties, according to the Sacramento-Yolo Mosquito and Vector Control District. Sacramento-Yolo counties Three dead birds and 13 mosquito samples tested positive for the virus on Aug. 13, 'the highest number of positive results reported in a single day this year,' the agency said in a news release. While the birds and mosquito samples were found in different areas, most of the day's activity was in the town of Davis 'and other rural areas in Yolo County,' officials said in the release. Routine monitoring helped the district detect the 'increase in virus activity and overall mosquito populations due to the very warm temperatures of recent days,' officials said. Hot weather speeds up the mosquito lifecycle and can increase the risk of the virus to residents. As of Aug. 13, 29 mosquito samples and 17 dead birds have tested positive for the virus in Sacramento County, officials said. Sixteen mosquito samples have tested positive in Yolo County. The virus first cropped up in the capital region in June, when mosquitoes collected near Gibson Ranch in Elverta tested positive for it, the Sacramento Bee previously reported. 'Mosquito and West Nile virus season is definitely underway, and it's important for residents to be vigilant in preventing mosquitoes from breeding in their backyards,' District Manager Gary Goodman said in a statement. 'Mosquito control is a collaborative effort, and we encourage everyone to do their part.' Residents had to ramp up mitigation efforts in 2024 after record-breaking storms drenched California in 2023 — and West Nile cases rose 980% in a one-year period, the Sacramento Bee previously reported. Two people died and 54 people contracted the virus in Sacramento County in 2023, the Bee reported. Placer-El Dorado counties Nearby areas are also facing the surge. One week after the virus was confirmed in Sacramento mosquitoes, the Placer Mosquito and Vector Control District confirmed its first positive case from mosquito samples collected from a rural area in the western part of the county, the Sacramento Bee previously reported. Like the first positive sample in Sacramento, the Placer County mosquito sample also came from an agricultural area, one west of the city of Roseville near Phillip Road. 'With the ongoing warm temperatures this season, we anticipate we will see more West Nile virus activity after this initial detection,' District Manager Joel Buettner previously said in a statement. 'We urge residents to take protective measures, including wearing an EPA-registered repellent, to prevent mosquito bites. Our team is actively conducting surveillance and treatments to help reduce the risk of mosquito-borne disease transmission to our community.' The virus has not been detected in El Dorado County this year. In 2023, a bird sample tested positive in early August, then a person contracted it about two weeks later, the Sacramento Bee reported. A person infected with the virus died in November 2023, and the virus killed seven people across the four-county region of Sacramento, El Dorado, Placer and Yolo in 2023 — making it the deadliest year for the disease in the past decade prior, the Bee reported. First human West Nile virus infection confirmed in Northern California How does West Nile virus spread? What are the symptoms? West Nile virus is a mosquito-borne illness that can affect people, horses and birds. Mosquitoes become infected after feeding on birds that carry the virus, then spread it. A vaccine is available for horses, but there's no vaccine — or cure — for people. Human cases are typically mild, but about 1 in 150 can lead to serious illness or death. Most people who are infected don't experience symptoms, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 1 in 5 people infected with West Nile will have symptoms 'like fever, headache, body aches,' including joint pains, as well as nausea and vomiting, or rash days after they're bitten by an infected mosquito, according to the California Department of Health. In severe cases, people might experience encephalitis or meningitis, which can be deadly. One bite is all it takes for the virus to spread, so effective prevention is the best way to protect yourself. How to stay safe Here are ways to stay safe, according to the Placer Mosquito and Vector Control District: Use insect repellent with EPA-registered ingredients like DEET, Picaridin, IR3535 or Oil of Lemon Eucalyptus. Cover your skin with long sleeves and pants. Get rid of standing water on your property. Avoid going outdoors at dawn and dusk when mosquitoes are most active. The mosquito and vector control districts have also ramped up surveillance and treatments targeting both larvae and adults, including ground fogging in areas where positive mosquitoes and birds were found, officials said. 'While it has been a relatively mild season for WNV so far, we are in the middle of summer and conditions can change quickly,' Goodman, the Mosquito and Vector Control district manager in Sacramento, said in a statement. 'We expect to see continued activity over the next few weeks. Protecting yourself is key—always apply an effective mosquito repellent when spending time outdoors.' What do you want to know about life in Sacramento? Ask our service journalism team your top-of-mind questions in the module below or email servicejournalists@ Solve the daily Crossword
CBS News
2 hours ago
- CBS News
Hundreds die in Pakistan after flash floods, landslides
Flooding in northwest Pakistan has killed more than 220 people over the last 48 hours, officials said Saturday, as rescuers pulled 63 more bodies overnight from homes flattened by flash floods and landslides. Pakistan has received higher-than-normal monsoon rainfall this year, triggering floods and mudslides that have killed more than 540 people since June 26, according to the National Disaster Management Authority. One resident told AFP that the flash floods felt like "the end of the world" as the ground shook with the force of the water. "I heard a loud noise as if the mountain was sliding. I rushed outside and saw the entire area shaking, like it was the end of the world," said Azizullah. "The ground was trembling due to the force of the water, and it felt like death was staring me in the face." Hundreds of rescue workers are still searching for survivors in Buner, one of several places in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province where torrential rains and cloudbursts caused massive flooding on Friday, said Mohammad Suhail, a spokesman for the emergency services. Dozens of homes were swept away. First responders have been trying to recover bodies from the worst-hit villages of Pir Baba and Malik Pura, where most of the fatalities were, said Kashif Qayyum, a deputy commissioner in Buner. Local police officer Imtiaz Khan, who narrowly escaped the deluges, said floodwaters carrying hundreds of boulders struck and flattened homes within minutes. "A stream near Pir Baba village in Buner swelled without warning. At first, we thought it was a normal flash flood, but when tons of rocks came crashing down with the water, 60 to 70 houses were swept away in moments," Khan told The Associated Press, adding that many bodies were left mutilated. "Our police station was washed away, too, and if we hadn't climbed to higher ground, we would not have survived." Rescuers said they saw large swathes of Pir Baba village destroyed, wrecked homes, and giant rocks filling the streets as the water started to recede. "It was not just the floodwater, it was a flood of boulders as well, which we saw for the first time in our lives," said Sultan Syed, 45, who suffered a broken arm. Mohammad Khan, 53, said the floods "came so fast that many could not leave their homes." Most victims died before reaching the hospital, said Mohammad Tariq, a doctor in Buner. "Many among the dead were children and men, while women were away in the hills collecting firewood and grazing cattle," he said. Mourners attended mass funerals on Saturday, while authorities supplied tents and food items to flood-affected people in Buner. Local cleric Mufti Fazal said he led funeral prayers at multiple locations since Friday morning. "Before yesterday's floods, the area was bustling with life. Now, there is grief and sorrow everywhere." Schoolteacher Suleman Khan lost 25 members of his extended family, saying he and his brother survived only because they were away from home when the floods hit his village, Qadar Nagar. According to the provincial disaster management authority, at least 351 people have died in rain-related incidents this week across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the northern region of Gilgit-Baltistan. Nearly 300 kilometers (about 186 miles) away in Indian-controlled Kashmir, rescuers scoured the remote village of Chositi in the district of Kishtwar on Saturday, looking for dozens of missing people after it was hit by flash floods two days ago, killing 60 and injuring some 150, about 50 in critical condition. Thursday's floods struck during an annual Hindu pilgrimage in the area. Authorities have rescued over 300 people, while some 4,000 pilgrims have been evacuated to safety. Such cloudbursts are increasingly common in India's Himalayan regions and Pakistan's northern areas, and experts have said climate change is a contributing factor. Pakistani officials said rescuers since Thursday have evacuated more than 3,500 tourists trapped in flood-hit areas across the country. Many travelers have ignored government warnings about avoiding vulnerable regions in the north and northwest. Pakistan witnessed its worst-ever monsoon season in 2022. It killed more than 1,700 people and caused an estimated $40 billion in damage.
CNET
3 hours ago
- CNET
Generative AI Gave MIT Scientists a New Tool to Fight Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria
Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are dangerous because they already "know" what most antibiotics look like. Scientists at MIT have found a way to create something new: using generative AI to design two antibiotic compounds from scratch that can kill drug-resistant gonorrhea and MRSA in lab dishes and mice. Antibiotic resistance is one of the world's biggest public health threats yet new antibiotics have been scarce for decades. Traditional drug discovery methods rely on screening known chemical libraries -- a slow process with a limited pool of existing molecules to test. In contrast, MIT's AI system generated more than 36 million theoretical compounds, many with chemical structures never seen before, and zeroed in on two standouts. Both are unlike any antibiotic currently in use, offering a glimpse at how AI can move beyond speeding up research to imagine medicines that might have been impossible to find otherwise. "We wanted to get rid of anything that would look like an existing antibiotic, to help address the antimicrobial resistance crisis in a fundamentally different way," said Aarti Krishnan, MIT postdoc and one of the study's lead authors. "By venturing into underexplored areas of chemical space, our goal was to uncover novel mechanisms of action." Read also: Do You Really Learn When You Use AI? What MIT Researchers Found How the science was pulled off The MIT team bypassed the limitations of screening existing chemical libraries by asking AI to invent molecules from scratch, generating more than 36 million theoretical compounds, which were then narrowed down to a few to be tested against drug-resistant superbugs. This involved two AI-driven strategies: Fragment-based design: The AI began with a chemical fragment (labeled F1) that showed promise against gonorrhea. It produced millions of derivatives, ultimately refining a shortlist of about 1,000 candidates. Of the 80 chosen by researchers, NG1 emerged as a standout compound that successfully treated drug-resistant gonorrhea in cell cultures and a mouse. Unconstrained generation: The team let the AI roam freely, designing molecules on its own, aiming at MRSA. This produced more than 29 million candidates, which were filtered down to 90 compounds for synthesis. Twenty-two were produced, six performed well in lab tests and one in particular, DN1, proved able to eliminate MRSA skin infections in mice. NG1 and DN1 are structurally distinct from any currently known antibiotics and appear to destroy bacteria by disrupting their cell membranes. NG1 specifically targets LptA, a previously untapped bacterial protein involved in constructing the outer cell membrane. What's next for antibiotic research Phare Bio, a nonprofit in the Antibiotics-AI Project, is refining NG1 and DN1 to improve their drug properties, while researchers expand the AI platform to target other tough pathogens like Mycobacterium tuberculosis (the causative agent of tuberculosis) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (a group of bacteria that often causes infections in health-care settings). The study, first published in the journal Cell, signals a hopeful turn in the global struggle against superbugs. However, these findings are early-stage. Initial tests and lab results are encouraging, but human safety and efficacy must be established through rigorous lab refinement and clinical trials, a process that could span several years. This effort builds on MIT's previous breakthroughs in AI-guided antibiotic development, including halicin, discovered in 2020 via deep learning, and abaucin, discovered in 2023 via a machine-learning algorithm. Read more: AI Essentials: 29 Ways to Make Gen AI Work for You, According to Our Experts
