Â鶹ŮÓÅ

California agriculture officials confirmed Sunday that avian influenza, or bird flu, was detected in raw milk produced by a Fresno County facility that sells its products at dozens of Bay Area grocery stores. Traces of the infectious virus were found in a sample of raw milk sold by Raw Farm LLC of Fresno County that Santa Clara County public health workers bought at an unidentified retail outlet, the California Department of Public Health said in a statement Sunday afternoon. (Mishanec, 11/24)

A listeria outbreak linked to ready-to-eat meat and poultry products from a South Carolina food processor has caused 11 illnesses in four states, with nine hospitalizations, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). A woman who was pregnant with twins was also sickened. Both of the fetuses died, but listeria was found in a sample from only one. The CDC said seven listeria cases had been reported in California, two in Illinois, and one each in New York and New Jersey. Seven people said they shopped in person or online at markets where Yu Shang products were sold and two people said they ate Yu Shang ready-to-eat chicken. (Helmore, 11/23)

Massachusetts is mandating new public health performance standards to improve the patchwork of local services responsible for ensuring restaurants are clean, pools are safe, and disease outbreaks are tracked and reported. The legislation empowers the state Department of Public Health to set new quality controls for Massachusetts’ 351 local public health departments and requires DPH to provide resources to help local departments meet those goals, including training and funding. (Laughlin, 11/24)

According to new research from the University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center, rural residents are not significantly more likely to be worried about their medical bills than their urban counterparts, but they are more likely to have trouble paying them. (Carey, 11/23)

Heading into the holiday season, which experts and authorities say has long coincided with an uptick in stress, anxiety and depression, Santa Clara County has streamlined access to a program that responds to instances of serious emotional distress without police intervention. About a year after it was initially proposed, the county has established a direct phone line to its Trusted Response Urgent Support Team, or TRUST. By contacting 408-596-7290, callers will be relayed straight to the program, which provides over-the-phone counseling support, and has four community-staffed field teams to help South Bay residents in person. (Salonga, 11/24)

A 71-year-old Oakland County woman has been convicted for her role in a health care kickback scheme that costed Medicare over $1.4 million, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Mary Smettler-Bolton is convicted of one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and receive illegal health care kickbacks and one count of violating the federal Anti-Kickback Statute. (Lentz, 11/23)

Two St. Louis-area attorneys have filed suit against SSM Health on behalf of 30 people who claim a St. Louis County pediatrician sexually assaulted them. The suit, filed Thursday in St. Louis County Circuit Court by attorneys Kayla Onder and Ben Crump, alleges Dr. Craig Spiegel sexually abused people, including minors, while he worked on the premises of SSM Health DePaul Hospital. (Fentem, 11/22)