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Baton Rouge – Above-normal levels of mercury have been found in the blood of some people who consume large amounts of fish from select waterways in north Louisiana. The findings are the result of a five-month study that included 77 participants (43 males and 34 females) from Morehouse, Ouachita and Union parishes.
Baton Rouge--- As Louisiana enters the fourth month of West Nile surveillance, the total count for dead birds infected with the virus stands at 97 birds, with 16 new birds testing positive this week.
Baton Rouge --- The summer season is a time for swimming, picnicking and playing outdoors. Unfortunately, the good times can quickly turn bad in the form of heatstroke, drowning accidents and mosquito bites. To help keep summer safe, the Department of Health and Hospitals is issuing a list of common summer health threats and steps people can take to lessen their risk of each one.
Baton Rouge – If you lost water pressure at your tap or if the water pressure was extremely low, Jimmy Guidry, MD, State Health Officer, recommends that homeowners disinfect their water by any one of the following methods prior to consumption (including drinking, cooking, brushing teeth or preparing food):
Baton Rouge --- Although no humans have tested positive for West Nile virus this year, the disease still is appearing in the state’s feathered population. Ten dead birds from eight parishes tested positive for the virus last week, raising the state’s testing and surveillance total to 81 dead birds from 42 parishes.
Baton Rouge --- After two weeks with no birds testing positive for West Nile virus, the Department of Health and Hospitals today announced that 19 new West Nile virus cases in dead birds have been detected. This brings the total to 71 for this year. Seven parishes that previously had no reports of infected dead birds also have been added to the list. Those seven parishes are Ascension, Bossier, Claiborne, Evangeline, LaSalle, St. Charles and St. John. The virus now has appeared in 41 of Louisiana’s 64 parishes.
Baton Rouge --- A deadly virus is spreading statewide. According to the Louisiana HIV/AIDS Program Office, new cases of HIV/AIDS were detected in 62 of the state’s 64 parishes in 2002. Thirty-two percent of these newly detected cases were females and 74 percent were African Americans.
Baton Rouge – Through the federal Health Resources and Services Administration, the Department of Health and Hospitals has awarded $1.6 million in funding to hospitals for the development of preparedness response plans to be implemented in the event of a bioterrorism event.
Baton Rouge --- Through its Office of Public Health, the Department of Health and Hospitals is reviewing 36 grant applications for funding for mosquito abatement programs. The opportunity for these grants was limited to parishes that do not currently have abatement districts or that did not begin one until after January 1, 2002.
Baton Rouge --- Two humans who exhibited possible symptoms of either West Nile virus or St. Louis Encephalitis both tested negative for the disease. The two individuals, one from Shreveport and one from Bossier Parish, submitted blood samples last month, which the Office of Public Health sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for extensive testing that revealed neither individual had either mosquito-borne illness.
Covington—The Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals’ Office of Public Health, Region 9, in conjunction with the LSU Lallie Kemp Medical Center and the St. Tammany and Washington Parish Offices of Emergency Preparedness (OEP) will be hosting a full-scale bioterrorism preparedness drill in Mandeville on Wednesday at various locations throughout the region.
Baton Rouge – The Louisiana Departments of Health and Hospitals, Environmental Quality and Wildlife and Fisheries today issued a series of fish consumption advisories for 10 bodies of water. In addition, the agencies have revised four other existing advisories that either expand the current geographical boundaries of the waterways or add cautions about consuming other fish.