Health

Could Meta ending fact-checking lead to rise in health misinformation?

Marko Geber/Getty Images

(NEW YORK) — Meta — the company that operates Facebook, Instagram, Threads and WhatsApp –announced on Tuesday it was ending third-party fact-checking.

Some social media policy experts and public health experts are worried that the end of fact-checking could lead to the spread of medical and science misinformation and disinformation. This is especially worrisome as the U.S. is in the throes of respiratory virus season and is fighting the spread of bird flu.

“There’s going to be a rise in all kinds of disinformation, misinformation, from health to hate speech and everything in between,” Megan Squire, deputy director for data analytics and open-source intelligence at the Southern Poverty Law Center, told ABC News. “[Health] is supposed to be a nonpartisan issue, and … we do see people trying to leverage health [misinformation], in particular, toward a political end, and that’s a real shame.”

“I’m hopeful, but I’m also concerned that this new structure that all the Meta properties are embarking on, it’s just not going to end well,” she added.

The social network giant said it was following the footsteps of X, replacing the program with user-added community notes.

In a press release of the announcement, Joel Kaplan, chief global affairs officer for Meta, said that the choices about what was being fact-checked showed “biases and perspectives.”

How fact-checking, community notes work

Meta started fact-checking in December 2016. Meta’s fact-checking works by Meta staff identifying hoaxes or by using technology that detects posts likely to contain misinformation. The fact-checkers then conduct their own reporting to review and rate the accuracy of posts.

If a piece of content is identified as false, it receives a warning label and the content’s distribution is reduced so fewer people see it.

Fact-checkers put in place following Donald Trump’s 2016 election win were found to be “too politically biased” and have destroyed “more trust than they’ve created,” Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a video posted by the company.

By comparison, community notes work by a user adding context to a post that may be misleading. It is then upvoted or downvoted by other users.

Zeve Sanderson, executive director of NYU Center for Social Media Politics, said after the 2016 election, there was immense pressure for social medial platforms, including Meta, to commit resources to combatting misinformation.

Following the election, most posts being fact-checked were to combat political misinformation, according to Sanderson. During the COVID-19 pandemic, this was expanded to combat medical misinformation, he said.

Sanderson said there were a lot of claims going unchecked online because Meta has not had enough fact-checkers to check every post. Additionally, he said some people didn’t trust fact-checkers.

“There were groups of people online who didn’t trust fact checkers, who saw them as biased, often in a liberal direction,” he told ABC News. “This crowd-sourced content moderation program … it’s going to do different things well and different things poorly. We just don’t know how this is actually going to work in practice.”

Meta referred ABC News back to its Tuesday announcement in response to a request for comment on plans for its community notes or potential spread of misinformation.

Spread of misinformation during COVID-19

During the COVID-19 pandemic, millions were exposed to a deluge of information including news, research, public health guidance and fact sheets, which the World Health Organization referred to as an “infodemic.”

People were also exposed to misinformation and disinformation about what treatments work against COVID-19, how much of a risk the virus poses to children and whether COVID-19 vaccines are effective.

A 2023 KFF survey found that most Americans were not sure if health information they had encountered was true or false.

A report from the U.S. Surgeon General in 2021 found that misinformation led to people rejecting masking and social distancing, using unproven treatment and rejecting COVID-19 vaccines.

Experts told ABC News that members of the general public often do not have enough health literacy to determine if they should trust or not trust information they encounter online or on social media.

Squire said sometimes government agencies do not put out information in an “interesting” format, which may lead people to click on “entertaining” content from misinformation and disinformation peddlers.

“Some of these YouTube videos about health misinformation are a lot more entertaining. Their message just travels faster,” she said. “When you’re presenting scientific information — I know this firsthand as a former college professor — that’s a struggle. You have to be pretty talented at it and, a lot of times, where the expertise lies is not necessarily where the most expedient, fun videos are and stuff.”

How to combat health misinformation

Meta’s change comes as the U.S. faces an increase in bird flu cases and continues treating patients falling ill with respiratory illnesses.

As of Jan. 8, there have been 66 human cases of bird flu reported in the U.S., according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

It’s also flu season. As of the week ending Dec. 28, 2024, there have been at least 5.3 million illnesses, 63,000 hospitalizations and 2,700 deaths from flu so far this season, according to CDC estimates.

Meanwhile, health care professionals have been encouraging Americans to get their flu shot and other vaccines — including COVID and RSV — to protect themselves against serious disease.

Experts are worried that with the change from fact-checking to community notes that misinformation could spread about the effectiveness of vaccines or how serious an illness is.

“I am concerned about the sheer amount of inaccurate information that’s out there,” Dr. Brian Southwell, a distinguished Fellow at nonprofit research institute RTI International and an adjunct faculty member at Duke University, told ABC News. “That’s something that you know ought to bother all of us as we’re trying to make good decisions. But there’s a lot that could be done, even beyond, you know, the realm of social media to try to improve the information environments that are available for people.”

Southwell said one thing that public health experts and federal health agencies can do is to get an idea of the questions that users are going to have about medical topics — such as bird flu and seasonal flu — and be ready with information to answer those questions online.

To combat being exposed to information, the experts recommended paying attention to where the information is coming from, whether it’s a respected source or someone you are unfamiliar with.

“There are various skills that are important, things like lateral reading, where rather than just evaluating the claim, you do research about the source of that claim and what you can find out about them to understand what some of their incentives or track record might be,” Sanderson said.

“This is obviously something that, sadly, social media platforms are not designed in order to incentivize this sort of behavior, so the responsibility is thrust on users to sort of look out for themselves,” he added.

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Health

As 1st bird flu death reported in US, what could happen with virus in 2025?

Human Bird Flu Cases in the U.S. as of January 6, 2025. Image by ABC News. Data via CDC.

(NEW YORK) — In the nearly nine months since the first human case of bird flu was detected in the United States, the virus has continued to spread.

The outbreak infected hundreds of herds and millions of birds before it spread to humans. As of Jan. 6, there have been 66 human cases of bird flu reported in 10 states, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Almost all confirmed cases involve direct contact with infected cattle or infected livestock.

On Tuesday, the first death of a human bird flu patient was reported in Louisiana. The patient was over the age of 65 and had underlying medical conditions, according to health officials.

The CDC says there is currently no evidence of human-to-human transmission and the risk to the general public is low.

However, public health experts say they are worried the virus could mutate and become more transmissible, amplifying the need to ramp up testing and to stockpile vaccines.

Dr. Tony Moody, a professor of pediatrics and infectious diseases specialist at Duke University, said the fact that cases have yet to pass from human to human is “both reassuring, but not completely reassuring.”

He told ABC News, “What we’re concerned about is that, eventually, we might get a variation of this strain that could pass from person to person. That’s really what we’re going to need to see, I think, to get substantial human cases and the potential for a new pandemic strain.”

He added, “So, in terms of peering into the crystal ball for 2025…I think the concern is whether or not we’re going to see something change that will turn it into a pandemic strain that could then really be a problem,” he added.

Fears of mutation or a combination virus

One fear experts have is that the virus will continue to mutate in a way that will cause more human-to-human transmissibility. The experts say that every new human case of bird flu allows the virus an opportunity to mutate.

Recent CDC data found mutations in samples of bird flu collected from the Louisiana patient. What’s more, the mutations were not found in poultry samples collected on the patient’s property, suggesting the changes appeared after the patient became infected.

Moody said that because the virus has not yet mutated in a way to spread more easily between humans, he’s not sure if or when it will happen.

“Given the number of cows that have been infected, the number of birds that have been infected and the fact that the virus essentially mutates every time it replicates, I’m kind of surprised that the mutations that they’re talking about haven’t happened yet,” he said. “So, I actually think there’s a bigger barrier to it becoming a real problem.”

Dr. Peter Hotez, co-director of the Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development and dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, said he believes there is a more likely scenario of the virus becoming more transmissible: an individual getting infected with bird flu and seasonal influenza at the same time.

He said this could lead to the virus “reassorting” to produce a hybrid, or recombinant, virus that could then transmit more easily from person to person.

“Everyone’s focusing on the potential for mutation; that is a serious concern for some,” he told ABC News. “The greater probability is that there could be a reassortment, what could ignite the pandemic or an epidemic.”

The experts say there is no evidence the virus is currently heading towards an epidemic or pandemic, but there has already been one case of severe disease.

Different genotypes, or genetic makeup of the virus, means there could more severe cases.

“What we’ve seen with [bird flu] in the United States is that the particular genotype that’s associated with dairy cows has primarily caused more mild disease in people,” Dr. Meghan Davis, an associate professor of environmental health and engineering at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, told ABC News.

“What we’ve seen with the case in Louisiana … is caused by a different genotype, one that has been circulating in the wild birds, and these are much more severe cases,” she continued. “This highlights the ability of avian influenzas to cause a wide variety of disease … and I think it is possible that we’re going to see that moving forward.”

Making testing more available

The U.S. has begun ramping up testing with the U.S. Department of Agriculture issuing a federal order for raw milk samples nationwide to be collected and tested and the Food and Drug Administration announcing it is collecting samples of aged raw cow’s milk cheese to be tested.

However, for 2025, Hotez said he believes testing needs to be made more readily available to physicians, especially during flu season.

He said there are likely cases of bird flu going undiagnosed, and testing made more available in health care settings would catch those flying under the radar.

“I think one of the problems that we have, especially as we move into influenza season, there’s the risk that, if you’re a physician, if they want to do influenza testing, they’re only really testing for the usual seasonal influenza, they’re not testing for [bird flu],” he said. “Otherwise, we’re never going to fully know the actual extent of the problem.”

Stockpiling bird flu vaccines

In early July, the U.S. government awarded Moderna $176 million to develop and test a bird flu vaccine using mRNA technology, which is the same technology used for the COVID vaccine.

In October, federal health officials announced they were providing $72 million to vaccine manufacturers to help ensure currently available bird flu vaccines are ready to use, if needed.

There are currently no recommendations for anyone in the U.S. to be vaccinated against bird flu, but experts say that could change if the virus becomes more transmissible.

Moody said clinical trials for new vaccines are being conducted and there are already bird flu vaccines in a stockpile maintained by the U.S. government that have previously been licensed by the FDA.

However, these three vaccines were formulated to protect against older strains of bird flu so there are questions about their protectiveness.

“One of the difficulties in making a stockpile is you’re trying to predict the future. Picking which influenza is going to be a problem is always the difficult bit,” Moody said. “So, I think that those vaccines that are in the stockpile, based on the data that I’ve seen, have a pretty good chance of being helpful. Whether or not they’ll be the answer that’s a that’s a tougher question to address.”

He said the U.S. is in a better position currently to address bird flu if it becomes an epidemic or pandemic than the country was to address COVID in 2020.

“We know how to do this. We know how to make these vaccines. We know how to get everything rolled out, and so I think we are in a better position today,” Moody said.

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Health

1st bird flu death in the US reported in Louisiana

Photo By BSIP/UIG Via Getty Images

(LOUISIANA) — The first person has died of bird flu in the United States, the Louisiana Department of Health confirmed on Monday.

The patient, who was exposed to non-commercial backyard flock and wild birds, was over age 65 and had underlying medical conditions, officials said.

Last month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the patient was experiencing the first case of severe bird flu in the U.S.

At the time, a spokesperson from the Louisiana Department of Health told ABC News the patient was experiencing severe respiratory illness related to bird flu infection and was in critical condition. The patient remains the only human case of bird flu confirmed in Louisiana.

The U.S. has seen an increase in human cases of bird flu, or avian influenza, since April, when the first human case was reported.

As of Jan. 3, there have been 66 human cases of bird flu reported in the U.S., according to CDC data.

Signs and symptoms of infection in humans often include sore throat, cough, fever, runny or stuffy nose, headache, muscle or body aches, fatigue and shortness of breath, the CDC says. Less common symptoms include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and seizures.

Infections can range from no symptoms or mild illness, such as flu-like symptoms, to more severe illness, such as pneumonia that could require hospitalizations, the CDC says.

Almost all confirmed cases have had direct contact with infected cattle or infected livestock. Aside from the case confirmed in the Louisiana patient, cases have been mild, and patients had all recovered after receiving antiviral medication, according to the CDC and state health officials.

One previous case in Missouri was hospitalized, but health officials pointed to other health conditions aside from bird flu infection involved in the patient’s admission to the hospital.

The Louisiana Department of Health and the CDC say there is no evidence of person-to-person transmission and the risk to the general public is low.

However, those who work with birds, poultry or cows — or have recreational exposure to them — are at higher risk.

The CDC recommends staying away from sick or dead wild birds, poultry and other animals and, if contact is unavoidable, using personal protective equipment.

The agency also suggests not touching surfaces or materials contaminated with saliva, mucous or animal feces from wild or domestic birds and animals confirmed or suspected to have bird flu as well as not consuming raw milk or raw milk products.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture issued a new federal order last month that raw milk samples nationwide will be collected and shared with the department in order to test for bird flu.

A few weeks later, the Food and Drug Administration announced that federal health officials had begun collecting samples of aged raw cow’s milk cheese across the U.S. to test for bird flu.

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Health

What you need to know about HMPV as China sees rise in cases

Roger Harris/Getty Images

(CHINA) — Chinese health officials are reportedly monitoring an increase in cases of human metapneumovirus (HMPV).

There is currently no evidence that the outbreak is out of the ordinary or that a new respiratory virus or illness has emerged in China.

A spokesperson for the World Health Organization (WHO) said data from China indicates “there has been a recent rise in acute respiratory infections” but that “the overall scale and intensity of respiratory infectious diseases in China this year are lower than last year.”

Cases of HMPV have been steadily increasing in the U.S. since November 2024 with 1.94% of weekly tests positive for HMPV as of Dec. 28, 2024, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). By comparison, 18.71% of weekly tests were positive for flu and 7.10% were positive for COVID during the same week, the data shows.

Public health experts told ABC News that HMPV is well-known to health care professionals and commonly circulates during respiratory virus season.

“This is that winter respiratory virus season, indeed,” Dr. William Schaffner, a professor of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, told ABC News. “So, all of these respiratory viruses — influenza, COVID, RSV, human metapneumovirus — they all increase this time of the year, in part because we get so close to each other.”

“We spend time indoors and, of course, all of this holiday traveling, family get-together, and parties have been opportunities for us to get close together and for the virus to be transmitted,” he continued.

Here’s what you need to know about HMPV, including what it is, how it spreads and how to treat it.

What is HMPV?

HMPV is a virus that can cause upper and lower respiratory disease, according to the CDC.

It was discovered in 2001 and is in the Pneumoviridae family along with respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, the CDC said.

Over the years, there has been a better understanding and awareness of HMPV, which has led to broader testing, according to the federal health agency.

“Human metapneumovirus is another one of those respiratory viruses that we’re now appreciating more because we have the diagnostic capability to actually diagnose it more readily in hospitals, emergency rooms and even in physicians’ offices,” Schaffner said. “Now we have diagnostic panels that can tell you whether you have influenza or COVID or RSV or human metapneumovirus.”

What are the symptoms?

HMPV has an incubation period of three to six days, according to the CDC.

Symptoms include cough, nasal congestion, fever and shortness of breath, the federal health agency said.

“It’s oftentimes indistinguishable from the other respiratory viruses, because we don’t usually check for it unless somebody is really ill,” Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, a professor of medicine and an infectious diseases specialist at the University of California, San Francisco, told ABC News.

Young children and adults aged 65 and older are among those at the highest risk of HMPV progressing to bronchitis or pneumonia.

How does it spread?

HMPV can spread through secretions from coughing and sneezing, close personal contact and touching objects that have the virus and then touching the eyes, nose or mouth, according to the CDC.

In the U.S., like other respiratory viruses, HMPV cases typically rise in the winter and decrease in the spring.

Chin-Hong said most people are exposed to HMPV by the time they’re five years old. People can get reinfected, but symptoms are typically milder.

Those who are immunocompromised or are older may experience more severe symptoms if they are reinfected.

Is there treatment for HMPV?

There are no antivirals to treat HMPV, so treatment consists of providing supportive care to patients with moderate or severe symptoms, the experts said.

“If you’re wheezing, we’ll give bronchodilators,” Chin-Hong said, referencing a medication that relaxes and opens the airways and helps clear mucus from the lungs. “If you’re dehydrated, we give fluid; we reduce the fever.”

Chin-Hong said that because people may develop co-infections, including bacterial infections, antibiotics may need to be given.

How do I prevent HMPV?

There is no vaccine to prevent HMPV, so prevention includes following basic hygiene including washing hands with soap and water, covering the nose and mouth when coughing and sneezing and staying home when sick.

“People who are in this high-risk group for any of these viruses — particularly older people, people who are frail, people who are immune-compromised — if they go indoors where there are a lot of people, [they should] put their mask back on and also consider social distancing,” Schaffner said.

Chin-Hong and Schaffner added that it’s important for people to receive vaccines for other respiratory illnesses including COVID-19, flu and RSV.

Getting vaccinated against other respiratory viruses can reduce the risk of co-infection and may help health care professionals rule out certain illnesses much sooner.

“Sure, you can get serious disease from HMPV itself, but if you get HMPV plus pneumococcus or HMPV plus influenza or RSV, it could be much worse,” Chim-Hong said. “During respiratory virus season, you want to minimize the probability of co-infection.”

ABC News’ Youri Benadjaoud contributed to this report

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Health

Surgeon general warns of link between alcohol consumption and cancer risk

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(NEW YORK) — The U.S. Surgeon General issued an advisory on Friday warning of a link between alcohol consumption and cancer risk.

Alcohol consumption is the third leading preventable cause of cancer in the United States, after tobacco and obesity, according to the Surgeon General’s advisory.

For some cancers, including breast, mouth, and throat cancers, the risk of developing cancer may increase with one or fewer drinks per day, the advisory states.

Despite a growing body of evidence, fewer than half of Americans recognize alcohol consumption as a risk factor for cancer, according to the advisory.

A person’s risk of developing cancer due to alcohol consumption is also determined by other factors, including biological, economic, environmental and social, the advisory says.

“Alcohol is a well-established, preventable cause of cancer responsible for about 100,000 cases of cancer and 20,000 cancer deaths annually in the United States – greater than the 13,500 alcohol-associated traffic crash fatalities per year in the U.S. – yet the majority of Americans are unaware of this risk,” U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy said in a statement. “This Advisory lays out steps we can all take to increase awareness of alcohol’s cancer risk and minimize harm.”

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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Health

What to know about the Mediterranean diet, ranked best diet for 8th year in a row

(istetiana/Getty Images)

(NEW YORK) — The Mediterranean diet — which emphasizes fruits, vegetables, lean proteins and whole grains — has once again topped U.S. News and World Report’s annual ranking of best diets.

The publication on Friday named the diet the best overall diet for the eighth year in a row.

The Mediterranean diet scored a 4.8 out of 5 based on an evaluation of several factors, including nutritional completeness, health risks and benefits, long-term sustainability and evidence-based effectiveness, according to U.S. News and World Report.

The diet also scored the top spot in 11 additional categories in the publication’s annual rankings, including easiest-to-follow, gut health, weight loss and mental health.

The DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension), which focuses on whole foods and low sodium, was ranked second on the Best Diets list, followed by the Flexitarian, MIND and Mayo diets. All of the top five diets embrace a plant-forward philosophy, minimizing the intake of red meats, processed foods, inflammatory fats, high-sugar foods and sugar-sweetened beverages, rather than enforcing strict rules or banning entire food groups.

If you’re looking to start the Mediterranean diet, here is what you need to know.

What is the Mediterranean diet?

The Mediterranean diet is not one way of eating but a broad term used to describe the eating habits popularized in the countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea including Italy, Greece, Morocco, Spain and Lebanon.

The way of eating focuses on the quality of foods consumed rather than focusing on a single nutrient or food group, according to U.S. News and World Report.

Nutrition experts say there’s no one diet that will work for everyone. Certain diets may be more beneficial depending on your circumstances, and some may be harmful depending on your health conditions. Anyone considering changes to their diet should consult with their doctor.

What types of foods are eaten on the Mediterranean diet?

Overall, the diet is mostly plant-based and focuses on healthy fats.

Healthy fats emphasized in the Mediterranean diet include extra virgin olive oil, avocados, nuts, salmon and sardines, according to the American Heart Association.

All types of vegetables and fruits are encouraged on the diet, as are non-meat sources of protein like beans and other legumes.

Fish is encouraged at least twice weekly and other animal proteins like poultry, eggs, cheese and yogurt are encouraged in smaller portions. Red meat consumption is should be limited to a few times a month.

The main source of hydration should be water.

Are any foods prohibited?

No, the Mediterranean diet does not totally eliminate any foods or food groups.

However, it is recommended to limit foods such as butter, processed foods like frozen meals and candy, and refined grains and oils. Fruits are encouraged for dessert over sugary sweets.

U.S. News and World Report describes the diet as leaving “little room for the saturated fat, added sugars and sodium that inundate the standard American diet.”

What are the health benefits?

According to U.S. News and World Report, “People who eat a Mediterranean-style diet have longer lifespans, report a higher quality of life and are less likely to suffer from chronic diseases such as cancer and heart disease.”

In a study of over 60,000 people, those who followed the Mediterranean diet more closely had a lower risk of dementia, regardless of genetic risk.

The American Heart Association says the Mediterranean diet can “play a big role” in preventing heart disease and stroke and reducing risk factors like diabetes, high cholesterol and high blood pressure. Consuming virgin olive oil, in particular, may help the body “remove excess cholesterol from arteries and keep blood vessels open,” according to the AHA.

Citing research, the Mayo Clinic touts the Mediterranean diet as a way to help maintain a healthy weight, improve brain health, increase longevity, support a healthy gut and lower the risk of certain cancers.

Dr. Brent Gawey, a member of the ABC News Medical Unit, contributed to this report.

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Health

Dry January: What is it and how beneficial can giving up alcohol be?

Makoto Honda/500px/Getty Images

(NEW YORK) —  If you’re feeling hungover from New Year’s Eve champagne or had one too many boozy eggnogs over the holidays, let January be a fresh start.

Taking the challenge of going dry in January, or Dry January, i.e. having no alcohol for the entire month, is one resolution that might actually make you healthier.

The Dry January campaign was started in 2013 by Alcohol Change U.K., a charity focused on reducing alcohol harm. For the past several years, the initiative has proved popular in the United States and other countries too.

What are the health benefits of Dry January?

While research on how quitting alcohol for a month affects your body is still limited, several studies have shown psychological and health benefits.

Over one dozen staff members at the magazine New Scientist teamed up with researchers at the Institute for Liver and Digestive Health at the University College London Medical School in 2013 to investigate the benefits of Dry January.

The staff members, who all considered themselves “normal” drinkers, underwent baseline testing with blood samples, liver ultrasound scans and questionnaires. For the next five weeks, 10 of them stopped drinking and four drank their normal amounts.

The people who stopped drinking had lower levels of liver fat (which can be a precursor to liver damage), improved blood sugars and lower cholesterol than they did at the beginning of the month. They also reported improved sleep and concentration. In contrast, the four people who kept drinking saw no benefit.

Another study out of the U.K. had nearly 100 participants abstain from drinking alcohol for a month and another nearly 50 participants continue drinking alcohol as normal.

They found that moderate-heavy drinkers who took a break from alcohol had improved insulin resistance, weight, blood pressure, and cancer-related growth factors.

The researchers do warn, however, that the study does not show that a short-term ‘detox’ period is all that is required to ‘refresh’ the liver or achieve other health gains. Abstaining from alcohol for a month is only one part of addressing negative effects from longer-term alcohol consumption.

People who drink excessive amounts of alcohol are at higher risk of death and many medical conditions.

Excessive alcohol use is the third-leading cause of preventable death in the United States, according to the U.S. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

People who drink unhealthy amounts of alcohol are more likely to have high blood pressure, heart disease, liver disease, nerve damage, infections including pneumonia and even certain cancers like breast cancer.

Drinking excessive amounts of alcohol may also have a negative impact on mental health, including memory loss, depression and anxiety, according to the American Psychological Association.

Who should try Dry January?

Dr. Fulton Crews, director of the Center for Alcohol Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said attempting to stop drinking for Dry January is a good opportunity for people to see if they have an actual addiction to alcohol.

“Many people are in denial about their drinking and hazardous drinking, and if they try to stop and are not able to, it really points out to them their weakness,” Crews told ABC News. “If they can’t stop for a month, they would realize that they have a problem.

“Either that or they do it, and they realize it’s not that hard for them,” said Crews, who described Dry January as a “good idea.”

Experts say Dry January may be especially helpful to those who consistently drink over the recommended amount of two drinks per day for men and one drink per day for women.

Excessive drinking includes binge drinking, defined as consuming five or more drinks for men in a single occasion and four or more drinks for women, and heavy drinking, defined as consuming 15 or more drinks per week for men or eight drinks or more for women). A standard drink is 12 ounces of a regular beer, 8 ounces of a malt liquor, 5 ounces of a glass of wine, and 1.5 ounces of a spirit, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

For those individuals who drink alcohol within the recommended limits, Crews said he is “not sure there would be any observable benefits.”

“I don’t see any clear potential for a moderate drinking person to stop drinking,” he said.

If you do choose to participate in Dry January, Crews shared his advice for sticking to the program.

“Try to avoid temptation by maybe putting all the alcohol out of the house,” he said.

Does Dry January prompt bigger change for some?

Staying dry for January may also help jump-start people to give up alcohol for longer.

Although most people who participate in Dry January return to drinking, up to 8% stay dry six months later, according to Public Health England and the British Medical Journal.

And those who go back to drinking drink less. A 2015 study conducted in the U.K. and published in the journal Health Psychology found that people who participated in Dry January drank less often, had fewer drinks when they did drink and were drunk less often six months after Dry January was completed.

Dry January participants were also better able to refuse alcoholic drinks. These benefits were even seen in people who did not complete the whole month of Dry January.

It might seem daunting to stop drinking alcohol for a whole month. But a 2020 Alcohol and Alcoholism study found that nearly 70% of people completed the Dry January Challenge in 2019.

If you are concerned about yourself or a loved one, call the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMSA) confidential, free, 24-hour-a-day, 365-day-a-year helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357). For information and resources about alcohol-related problems and health, visit the website of the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) HERE.

Editor’s note: This piece was originally published on Jan. 3, 2018.

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Health

FDA begins testing aged raw cow’s milk cheese samples nationwide for bird flu

Al Drago/CQ Roll Call

(NEW YORK) — Federal health officials have begun collecting samples of aged raw cow’s milk cheese across the U.S. to test for bird flu, the Food and Drug Administration announced.

Sample collection started at the end of this month and is expected to be completed by the end of March 2025, the FDA said Monday. If needed, the agency said it will extend the collection period.

It comes after the U.S. Department of Agriculture issued a federal order earlier this month that raw milk samples nationwide would be collected and shared with the agency to be tested for bird flu.

The FDA said it plans to collect 300 samples of raw cow’s milk cheese that has been aged for at least 60 days from warehouses and distribution centers across the country.

Samples will be tested with a PCR test, which looks for genetic material from the virus, and will be completed within one week of collection, according to the FDA. Samples that indicate the presence of the virus will undergo viability testing.

Viability testing will be done by injecting part of the virus into an embryonated egg and analyzing if it grows or multiplies.

Raw milk cheese is made with unpasteurized milk. In the U.S., cheese can be made from raw milk but must be aged a minimum of 60 days to lessen the risk of any pathogens that may be present, per the FDA.

Samples that test positive for viable virus will be “evaluated on a case-by-case basis,” the FDA said, and the agency may issue actions “such as a recall, follow-up inspection or other possible responses to protect public health.”

The FDA has previously warned of the dangers of drinking raw milk, which does not undergo pasteurization — a process that kills viruses and bacteria. The agency currently considers unpasteurized soft and hard cheeses, as well as other products made from unpasteurized milk, a “high-risk choice.”

Past studies from federal health officials have shown that pasteurization effectively kills the bird flu virus. Nearly all, or 99%, of the commercial milk supply produced on dairy farms in the U.S. follows a national pasteurization program.

Pasteurization has been a practice in the U.S. for more than 100 years and kills harmful bacteria and viruses by heating milk to a specific temperature over time, the FDA notes.

The U.S. has been facing an outbreak of bird flu, or avian influenza, since April, when the first human case was reported.

As of Tuesday, 66 human cases have been confirmed in seven states, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. California has the highest number of cases with 36.

Almost all confirmed cases have had direct contact with infected cattle or infected livestock. Most bird flu cases in the U.S. have been mild, and patients have typically recovered after receiving antiviral medication.

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Health

Jimmy Carter leaves behind a global public health work legacy

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(NEW YORK) — As world leaders mourn the death of former President Jimmy Carter and remark on his political and policy legacy, doctors are remembering his efforts to prevent disease, and his legacy in furthering global public health.

The 39th president spent five decades working to eradicate a parasitic disease, helped organize a major-drug donation program, and made advancements addressing the mental health crisis in the U.S.

Dr. Julie Jacobson, currently a managing partner of the nonprofit Bridges to Development, helped to provide funding for the Carter Center’s work in the Americas, Nigeria and Ethiopia while she worked for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for over a decade.

“He was hugely influential, I think particularly for the diseases that most of the world doesn’t appreciate even exist,” Jacobson told ABC News of Jimmy Carter’s work. “He was a true champion for the neglected tropical diseases, which are some of the most common infections of people who live with the least resources. And he found these diseases and then really wanted to do something about them, and used his voice, his influence, his passion, to continue to push forward where others were really not interested.”

Near-eradication of Guinea worm disease

Following his loss to Ronald Reagan in the 1980 presidential election, Carter founded the Carter Center in 1982, a non-profit organization that “seeks to prevent and resolve conflicts, enhance freedom and democracy, and improve health,” according to the Center’s website.

Among the organization’s many efforts, the Carter Center helped spearhead a successful international campaign with the goal of eradicating dracunculiasis, also known as Guinea worm disease, a parasitic infection caused by consuming contaminated drinking water.

Water from ponds or other stagnant bodies of water can contain tiny crustaceans commonly known as water fleas, which in turn can be infected with Guinea worm larvae, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

About one year after infecting a human host, the Guinea worm creates a blister on the skin and emerges from it, which can cause burning pain, fever and swelling, according to the CDC and the World Health Organization.

“Nobody else wanted to take it on,” Jimmy Carter told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos during a 2015 interview on “Good Morning America”. “So, I decided to take it on.”

In 1986, Guinea worm disease afflicted 3.5 million people every year in 21 African and Asian countries. Disease incidence has since been reduced by 99.99%, to just 14 “provisional” human cases in 2023, according to the Carter Center.

Jacobson said that success is even more remarkable because there are no vaccines available to prevent Guinea worm disease and no drugs to treat it. Tracking Guinea worm disease, according to Jacobson, involves following possible cases for a year to determine if they are infected, checking to see if infected humans have any infected water sources near them, and monitoring the community as a whole.

“To think that you could eradicate a disease without any tools is really still just a crazy idea, but he did it with perseverance and working with people in the grassroots within communities and putting together teams of people to go and work with people in those communities and empower the communities,” Jacobson said.

The Carter Center says if efforts are successful, Guinea worm disease could become the second human disease in history to be completely eradicated, after smallpox, and the first to be done without the use of a vaccine or medicine.

Carter told ABC News during the 2015 interview that eradicating the disease entirely was his goal: “I think this is going to be a great achievement for, not for me, but for the people that have been afflicted and for the entire world to see diseases like this eradicated.”

Mass drug distribution for river blindness

The Carter Center also works to fight other preventable diseases, including the parasitic infections schistosomiasis and lymphatic filariasis – more commonly known as snail fever and elephantiasis, respectively – as well as trachoma, which is one of the world’s leading causes of preventable blindness. It’s also working with the governments of Haiti and the Dominican Republic to eliminate lymphatic filariasis and malaria from the island of Hispaniola, which both countries share and which is “the last reservoir in the Caribbean for both diseases,” according to the Carter Center.

Carter and his organization also played a part in organizing a major drug-donation program to help eliminate onchocerciasis, also known as river blindness, which is transmitted to human through repeated bites of infected blackflies, according to the CDC.

Pharmaceutical company Merck & Co. had been implementing field studies in Africa which showed that the drug ivermectin was effective at treating river blindness in humans. The Carter Center partnered with Merck to mass-distribute ivermectin, brand name Mectizan, “as much as needed for as long as needed” in Africa and Latin America. To date, the Carter Center has assisted in distributing more than 500 million treatments of Mectizan, according to Merck.

In 1995, Carter negotiated a two-month cease-fire in Sudan to allow health care workers there to more safely help eradicate Guinea worm disease, prevent river blindness, and vaccinate children against polio.

“When we have known solutions, it is ethical to make sure they’re available to the people who need it most,” Dr. Usha Ramakrishnan, chair of the Department of Global Health at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health, told ABC News. “And that’s where we were with river blindness. There was a treatment, but improving access to medications, making it affordable, reaching the people they need was very much along the lines of the work [the Carter Center] was doing.”

Addressing mental health

Carter was also committed to tackling mental health issues. During his presidency, he created the Presidential Commission on Mental Health, which recommended a national plan to care for people with chronic mental illness.

Although it was never adopted as policy by the Reagan administration, the plan’s recommended strategies were adopted by some mental health advocacy groups to “make gains in the 1980s,” according to one study.

Carter also signed into law the Mental Health Systems Act of 1980, which provided funding to community mental health centers.

After his presidency, Carter and former first lady Rosalynn Carter continued working to improve access to mental health.

Ramakrishnan said the Carters’ work helped to reduce some of the stigma associated with mental health.

“There continues to be a lot of stigma, but they truly got it out [in] the conversation and mainstreaming mental health as an important aspect of health and well-being,” Ramakrishnan said. “There’s still a lot of challenges, and there are many capable people that they have mentored and trained who are carrying that mantle forward.”

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Health

Respiratory virus activity is ‘high’ as cases increase in US: CDC

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(NEW YORK) — Respiratory illness activity – a measure of how often conditions like the common cold, flu, COVID-19, and respiratory syncytial virus are diagnosed – is currently “high” in the United States, according to an update from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Currently, New Hampshire is listed as having “very high” respiratory virus activity, and 11 states – Arizona, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin – are listed as having “high” activity, CDC data shows.

Meanwhile, 29 states are listed as having “moderate” activity, and the remaining states are listed as having “low” activity.

Particularly, COVID-19, seasonal flu and RSV activity are increasing across the country with a rising number of people visiting emergency departments and the number of tests coming back positive for one of the three conditions, the CDC said.

The CDC estimates that there have been at least 3.1 million illnesses, 37,000 hospitalizations and 1,500 deaths from flu so far this season; these figures are based on the latest date for which data is available, which is the week ending Dec. 21.

Five pediatric deaths were reported during the week of Dec. 21, bringing the total number to nine so far during the 2024-25 season.

The CDC says levels of the COVID-19 virus being detected in wastewater are increasing, as are the number of emergency department visits and laboratory test positivity rates.

“Based on CDC modeled estimates of epidemic growth, we predict COVID-19 illness will continue to increase in the coming weeks as it usually does in the winter,” the CDC said in a statement.

For RSV, the CDC said emergency department visits and hospitalizations are increasing among children and hospitalizations are increasing among older adults in some areas.

Flu and COVID-19 vaccines are available for both children and adults, and RSV vaccines are available for certain groups of adults. However, vaccination coverage remains low, meaning “many children and adults lack protection from respiratory virus infections provided by vaccines,” according to the CDC.

As of Dec. 21, only 41.9% of adults were vaccinated against the flu and 21.4% were vaccinated with the updated 2024-25 COVID-19 vaccine. Additionally, just 43.7% of adults ages 75 and older have received the RSV vaccine, according to CDC data.

Nearly half of all children are vaccinated against the flu at 42.5%, but just 10.3% have received the updated COVID-19 vaccine.

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