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A southern Indiana hospital where an employee recently tested positive for tuberculosis has notified hundreds of patients that they may have been exposed to the bacteria that causes the illness. Clark County Health Officer Dr. Eric Yazel said Clark Memorial Health had a “significant exposure” and has notified about 500 patients by letter that they were potentially exposed to TB at the hospital. (8/23)

Health officials in Alabama and New York are warning the public about confirmed cases of a rare, deadly mosquito-borne virus that's been found in people, animals and insects. The dangerous mosquito-borne Eastern equine encephalitis virus, also known as Triple E, was detected in two people in Alabama, including one person who died as result of contracting the disease, according to the state's Department of Public Health. (Neysa Alund, 8/23)

Sacramento County reported its first West Nile virus death of the year on Wednesday. The individual was in their 70s and had an underlying chronic disease, according to Sacramento County Public Health. There are 16 other cases of confirmed or suspected West Nile virus in the county. As of August 22, there were 26 human cases in California, two of them fatal. San Bernardino County also announced its first West Nile virus death of the year on Wednesday, also an individual with “underlying health problems.” (Fan Munce, 8/23)

In July, a report showed Central Florida accounted for 81 percent of leprosy cases in Florida and almost one-fifth of nationally reported cases in 2022, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Most cases were attributed to Brevard County, with Volusia County just behind it, according to the Florida Department of Health. When WMFE's original report came out in early August, there were 15 cases reported so far this year. (Pedersen, 8/23)

The state wants a federal appeals court to put on hold an injunction that requires changes aimed at keeping children with complex medical conditions out of nursing homes, arguing that part of the injunction is “nothing less than a court-ordered takeover of Florida’s Medicaid program.” (Saunders, 8/23)

Even as low-income families across most of the country are receiving federal food aid for this summer, thousands of Missouri families are still waiting for last summer’s benefits. Missouri still needs to issue food benefits to around 177,000 children for a federal program that were designed to help cover costs from last summer, Mallory McGowin, spokesperson for the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, said in an email to The Independent this week. (Bates, 8/24)

More than 100 chaplains signed a letter urging local Texas school boards to vote against putting chaplains in public schools, calling efforts to enlist religious counselors in public classrooms “harmful” to students and families. ... The chaplains who signed the letter, released Tuesday, bemoaned the lack of standards for potential school chaplains aside from background checks, contrasting it with the extensive training required for health-care and military chaplains. (Jenkins, 8/23)

Mental health providers say they hope the opening of four new urgent crisis centers can be the start of a new system of caring for children’s mental health needs. Providers say they hope the centers can offer a quicker, holistic approach as walk-in clinics for kids in crisis with acute mental health needs. (Monk, 8/23)

No questions. No judgment. And no police or other government involvement. Today, there are nearly 40 gun shops in Wisconsin participating in the suicide prevention education effort, known as the “Gun Shop Project.” Many of those stores also offer to take in guns temporarily, an effort known as the “Safe Storage Initiative.” The programs are part of a grassroots movement to address gun suicides that started in New Hampshire and has spread to more than 20 states. (Diedrich, 8/23)