Health officials are watching three outbreaks at once this summer. A stomach bug is spreading through food. A lung sickness hit parts of New York City. And measles cases are close to a new record.
This matters for South Texas too. A food outbreak can reach RGV store shelves fast. Measles already hit Texas hard this year. El Tejano is tracking all three so you know what is going on. You will also learn steps to keep your family safe.
The first outbreak comes from a tiny bug called cyclospora. It gets into food. Most often it hides in fresh fruit and veggies. It causes bad diarrhea and stomach pain. The pain can last for weeks. Michigan health officials say 1,562 people are sick in this outbreak. Of those, 44 people had to go to the hospital.
The second outbreak is Legionnaires disease. It is a serious lung sickness. It comes from germs that grow in water systems, like cooling units on top of buildings. New York City health officials found a new group of cases. It hit two areas on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. So far, 46 people got sick. 22 of them went to the hospital. City health workers say this is not from bad building pipes. They say tap water is still safe. You can still drink it, shower, cook, and run your AC like normal.
This is not the first Legionnaires trouble in New York City this summer. El Tejano first told you about an earlier outbreak in the city. That one grew past 70 cases. Five people died. Read that story here: https://www.eltejanorgv.com/5th-person-dies-as-nyc-legionnaires-outbreak-tops-70-cases/
The third outbreak is measles. The CDC counted 2,231 measles cases across the country this year. That is only 58 cases short of last year's full count of 2,289. Virginia got hit hard. It has 177 cases total. 22 of those are new, just from one week. Health officials say most sick people were not vaccinated. Out of every 100 sick people, 93 had no shot or nobody knows if they did. No one has died from measles in the US this year. Last year, three people died.
El Tejano has told you about measles close to home before. A Texas outbreak killed two people earlier this year. Read that story here: https://www.eltejanorgv.com/two-people-died-in-a-texas-measles-outbreak-here-is-what-rgv-families-need-to-know/
Three outbreaks at once is rare. But each one spreads a different way. Cyclospora rides on food. Often that food traveled far before it hit a store shelf. Legionnaires grows in water systems. It does not pass from person to person. Measles spreads through the air between people. It is one of the most catching sicknesses there is. All three share one thing. Simple steps can lower the risk. Wash your produce. Keep water systems clean. Get your shots.
For South Texas families, watch for food recalls. Make sure your measles shots are up to date before school starts. Measles shots are easy to find at clinics across the Valley.
Right now, all three outbreaks are still active. Michigan is still counting new cyclospora cases. New York City workers are testing water systems on the Upper East Side. They want to find where the germs came from. The CDC is still watching measles numbers climb. El Tejano will keep following all three as new numbers come in.
