Health
"As Bird Flu Affects More People And Animals, CDC Urges Faster Testing"
"The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued an advisory Thursday urging health-care workers treating patients hospitalized with the flu to perform an additional test for bird flu within 24 hours of admission."
What Will a Second Trump Term Mean for Environmental Justice?
An incoming Trump administration hostile to the very idea of environmental justice likely means the rollback of numerous policies and regulations designed to protect disadvantaged communities, cuts to an important “whole-of-government” initiative and downsizing of key federal environmental justice offices. The latest EJ TransitionWatch examines what’s at stake. And for more, see our Topics on the Beat page on environmental justice.
"Members Of Congress Question Oz’s Credentials For CMS Post"
"On Tuesday, top Democrats, including Sens. Elizabeth Warren (Massachusetts), Dick Durbin (Illinois) and Ben Cardin (Maryland), sent Mehmet Oz a letter asking whether he was qualified for the job Trump has said he’ll nominate him for — running two of the federal government’s largest health-care programs as director of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services."
"Trump’s CDC Pick Wouldn’t Let Go Of False Theory Vaccines Cause Autism"
"Dave Weldon’s long record of promoting the disproven link between vaccines and autism raises concerns among some public health experts about his ability to run the CDC."
Trump’s Public Health Agency Picks, Looking Peaked?
Public health is an environmental story (think links between infectious disease and climate change, for example). So Trump administration nominees to head leading U.S. public health agencies — including vaccine skeptics, COVID-19 contrarians and physicians with little public health experience — are a story for environmental journalists to watch closely. The latest EJ TransitionWatch helps with a rundown of five top picks. Plus, the latest health headlines from EJ Today.
Just One Mutation Can Make H5N1 Bird Flu A Threat To Humans: Researchers
"California researchers say the world may be just one genetic tweak away from human-to-human transmission of the H5N1 bird flu virus — a worrisome mutation that could open the door to widespread human infections and possibly even a pandemic, according to some experts."
"Trump Pick For US Health Agency Proposed ‘Herd Immunity’ During Covid"
"Choosing Jay Bhattacharya to lead NIH signals return to controversial and scientifically questionable health policies"
EPA Science Integrity Threatened by House Republicans
The closest thing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has to a press policy is actually its scientific integrity policy. But as WatchDog Opinion writer Joseph Davis writes in the latest EJ TransitionWatch, the EPA’s scientific integrity policy is under direct attack by a powerful congressman. What’s behind the attack? And could the EPA’s science be under assault next?
Who Has Trump Picked For Cabinet? Bessent, Chavez-DeRemer Join Nominees
"Donald Trump is closing out the week with another batch of Cabinet nominations Friday."