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H5N1 avian influenza, or bird flu, continues to rip across the U.S. In just the last few months, it’s infected at least three people—all dairy workers—while spreading among chickens and cows in dozens of farms across several states.Government officials and farmers have been responding to H5N1 since Feb. 2022 when the virus was first detected in U.S. poultry farms. When it spread to dairy farms in recent weeks, the U.S. Departments of Agriculture (USDA) and Health and Human Services (HHS) immediately surged their response efforts—ensuring the safety of our commercial milk supply, educating health care providers, scaling up testing, and ordering the production of millions of vials of H5N1 vaccine—with coordination support from the White House Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response and ...

New York — America’s perennial hot dog swallowing champion won’t compete in this year’s Independence Day competition due to a contract dispute, organizers said Tuesday.Joey “Jaws” Chestnut, 40, has been competing since 2005 and hasn’t lost since 2015. At last year’s Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July hot dog eating contest he downed 62 franks and buns in 10 minutes.But Major League Eating event organizer George Shea says Chestnut is moving away from the contest due to a contract dispute.“We love him, the fans love him,” Shea said, adding that “He made the choice.”Shea says Chestnut struck a deal with a competing brand — a red line for the Nathan's-sponsored event — but did not elaborate. He said the dispute came down to exclusivity, not money.“It would be like Michael Jordan saying to Nike, ‘I...

Some people may want to put their summer vacation plans to the Las Vegas area on hold, after health officials reported that Southern Nevada is experiencing the highest level of mosquito activity in known history, with more than 3,000 mosquitoes testing positive for West Nile virus.Southern Nevada Health District said in a press release Monday that as of June 6, 91 pools, comprising 3,081 mosquitoes from 16 ZIP codes, have tested positive for the virus. Two pools, comprising 46 mosquitoes from two ZIP codes, have also tested positive for the virus that causes St. Louis encephalitis.The health district’s Mosquito Surveillance Program has received an increased number of complaints from residents about mosquito activity, according to the press release. Health officials attributed the rise in r...

Washington — Most Black Americans say they’ve experienced racial discrimination regularly or from time to time, which colors how they view U.S. institutions like policing, the political system and the media, according to a study on conspiracy theories.The study released Monday by the Pew Research Center examined the intersection of race and conspiratorial beliefs. It's the second installment in the research group's series on how Black Americans see success and failure.The study defines racial conspiracy theories as ideas that Black Americans might have about “the actions of U.S. institutions" that aren't necessarily the stated goals of the institution. The study stresses that these are claims that Black Americans may have because of America's documented history of racist policies largely i...