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A Pfizer-led effort to develop the first new Lyme disease vaccine in more than two decades passed a key milestone last week, putting the drug on a timeline to potentially hit the market in 2026 if trial results are favorable. (Bettelheim, 7/23)

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) today reported that another worker culling poultry a second large layer farm tested positive for H5N1 avian influenza in preliminary tests, just days after it reported another case at the first farm, raising the total number to seven. Also, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed initial positive results for H5N1 in two of Colorado's recent cases, detailed genetic sequencing findings from a sample from a sick Colorado poultry culler, and reported preliminary results from a seroprevalence study in Michigan farm workers. (Schnirring, 7/22)

Sewage sampling has turned up circulating variant type 2 poliovirus (cVDPV2) in two sites in the Gaza Strip, though no related paralysis cases have been detected, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) said in a July 19 statement. (Schnirring, 7/22)

A number of military families stationed overseas are scrambling to find other arrangements for transporting their dogs back to the United States because of new regulations taking effect Aug. 1 — in the middle of the military’s heavy moving season. The issue stems from new requirements from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that take effect Aug. 1, aimed at preventing the introduction of dog rabies into the United States. While dog rabies was eliminated in the United States in 2007, there are over 100 countries where dog rabies isn’t controlled, according to the CDC. (Jowers, 7/22)

Parts of Venice Beach and Dockweiler State Beach are closed after 15,000 gallons of sewage leaked into the ocean near Marina del Rey over the weekend, the Los Angeles County Public Health Department said. Beachgoers are being advised to stay out of the water one mile north and one mile south of Ballona Creek until tests there over 48 hours show the water quality meets health standards. The first test was scheduled for Monday, according to the health department. (Deng, 7/22)

According to a release from the environmental health division of the county’s Health Services Agency, the California Department of Public Health has warned consumers not to eat recreationally harvested mussels, clams or whole scallops gathered from Santa Cruz and Monterey counties. State experts have discovered dangerous levels of paralytic shellfish poisoning, or PSP, toxins in mussels within the pair of coastal counties that can cause illness or death, according to the release. (Hattis, 7/22)

What type of pollution is so tiny it can be invisible to the naked eye? Hint: Humans ingest it through the air we breathe, the food we eat and the water we drink. The answer: microplastics. (Atwater, 7/23)