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Everything you need to know about the rare fungal infection that’s infected nearly 100 people in Michigan

April 13, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Nearly 100 cases of a rare, fungal infection have been linked to a Michigan paper mill.

Public Health Delta & Menominee Counties (PHDM) said 19 cases of blastomycosis have been confirmed while another 74 are suspected.

The department was notified about the first cases on Feb. 28 among workers with Escanaba Billerud Paper Mill on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

“The health and safety of our Escanaba employees is our first priority,” Brian Peterson, vice president of operation at the mill, said in a statement. “Although the source of the infection has not been established, we continue to take this matter very seriously and are following recommendations from health and government officials.”

Public Health Officer Michael Snyder told ABC News the health department sees a few cases of the infection every year but rarely an outbreak of this magnitude.

Here’s what you need to know about blastomycosis and how it can be treated:

What is blastomycosis?

Blastomycosis is a fungal infection caused by a group of fungi known as Blastomyces.

“These are fungi that live in the environment as a mold and they make spores,” Dr. Teresa O’Meara, an assistant professor of microbiology and immunology at the University of Michigan, told ABC News. “And what happens is that when people inhale too many of those spores, they can sort of set up and evade some of these innate immune responses and cause pneumonia and spread throughout the body.”

The fungi are found in the environment, mainly in moist soil and in decomposing organic material such as wood and leaves, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Most cases of the infection occur in the United States and Canada but are very rare, with the annual incidence being about one to two cases per 100,000 people, the CDC said.

In the U.S., O’Meara said blastomycosis is most common in eastern parts of the Midwest — including states like Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin — the Great Lakes region and Southwest.

“On average over the past five years, only 26 cases have been reported for the entire state of Michigan annually,” PHDM said in a release. “However, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan is a known risk area for blastomycosis infection.”

The infection is not transmitted from person to person or from animals to people and can only be contracted by breathing in the microscopic spores, often after activity that disrupts the soil or the decomposing material.

What are the symptoms?

Symptoms can be wide-ranging, O’Meara said. Some patients are asymptomatic while others develop symptoms including coughing, fever, chest pain, muscles aches and fatigue.

Because symptoms resemble other types of infections, it can be hard to diagnose the illness in a person, O’Meara said.

“And so diagnosis is pretty hard, even in places where it’s endemic, just because it’s so rare,” she said.

O’Meara added that evidence suggests symptoms can appear anywhere from three weeks to three months after inhaling spores.

According to the CDC, the infection can spread from the lungs to other areas of the body, including the joints, bones, brain and spinal cord among those who are immunocompromised.

Which treatments are available?

Those are infected with blastomycosis needed to be treated with a prescription antifungal medication.

Those with mild to moderate cases can take a medication known as itraconazole, which stops the growth of fungi.

Patients with severe infections are usually given amphotericin B, an intravenous medication. Because it can have a wide range of side effects, it’s only given to critically ill patients or those who are immunocompromised.

Treatment can range from six months to a year and can depend on how severe a person’s infection is as well as the strength of their immune system.

“One of the really important problems I would like to highlight just for people to know is that we often think about antibiotic resistance as being a real problem,” O’Meara said. “But there’s actually dozens of classes of antibiotics and antifungals. There’s only three classes of antifungals available.”

She continued, “And so this is going to be a big problem going forward just because there are more and more fungal infections that are on the rise and we need to develop new antifungal treatments.”

Is blastomycosis deadly?

It is very rare for blastomycosis to result in death. According to the CDC, there have been 1,216 blastomycosis-related deaths between 1990 and 2010.

What’s more, the age-adjusted mortality rate is 0.21 per 1 million person-years, the federal health agency said.

How can I protect myself?

Because there is no vaccine and it is endemic in some environments, it may be hard to protect yourself against the fungus.

If you work in areas where the fungi is prevalent or you might disturb soil, O’Meara said you can consider wearing protective equipment.

If you think you’ve been exposed, get tested and — if positive — start antifungal treatment if needed.

For Black women, most pregnancy-related deaths happen weeks or months after childbirth

April 13, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Shalon Irving knew her newborn daughter Soleil for less than one month.

Three weeks after giving birth to Soleil, now 6, Shalon Irving, who is Black, died from complications of high blood pressure on Jan. 28, 2017 .

“My daughter had wanted a child more than anything on this earth,” Wanda Irving, Shalon Irving’s mother and Soleil’s grandmother, said in an interview with ABC News. “Soleil came to me and said, ‘Nonna, I want to die because I want to go where my mommy is. That’s the only way I’m going to get there.'”

Shalon Irving is part of a growing group of individuals, particularly Black women, dying from pregnancy-related complications several weeks or months after childbirth.

After her daughter’s death, Wanda Irving founded Dr. Shalon’s Maternal Action Project, an organization devoted to connecting Black women to resources and information about maternal mortality.

Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows Black women die during and just after pregnancy at a rate 2.6 times that of white women.

A recent CDC report found the majority of maternal mortality cases — about 53% — occur after the first week of childbirth. Maternal deaths occur up to a year after delivery.

The causes vary based on race, with Hispanic and white women more likely to die from mental health conditions and Black women more likely to die from cardiac conditions, like the high blood pressure complications that killed Shalon Irving.

While every case is unique, CDC researchers estimated more than 80% of those deaths are preventable. Dr. Kamilah Dixon , a board-certified OB-GYN and maternal mortality expert at Ohio State University, said more awareness is needed.

“We still have to make sure that we are vigilant [even after childbirth],” Dixon told ABC News. “A lot of people think, ‘OK, we did it. All the risk is gone, and we don’t have to worry anymore.'”

One of the risks long after delivery is death from mental health conditions, which is the leading cause of maternal mortality overall, the CDC report found.

That includes deaths from suicide and accidental drug overdose. Blood loss is the second leading cause of pregnancy-related deaths.

The ongoing opioid addiction crisis in the U.S. contributes to the high rate of deaths from mental health conditions, said Dixon.

She said access to overdose-reversing drugs like Narcan is important to combat these deaths. Access to doulas and midwives could serve as mental and emotional support for individuals during pregnancy and after pregnancy.

Attention to cardiac health is key for Black women, who have the highest overall maternal mortality rates overall and are most at risk from heart conditions.

While the data doesn’t explain why pregnant Black women are more likely to die from cardiac conditions, CDC data from 2019 found Black Americans were 30% more likely to die from heart disease than their white counterparts.

Structural racism also plays a role in the stark inequities in maternal mortality, according to Dixon, who said differences between the types of conditions and issues affecting different demographic groups make it difficult to tackle the issue in a consistent way.

“I think it’s important to … understand what’s happening in particular communities so we can really target that,” she said, noting that different groups might need different types of interventions.

Still, big-picture policy changes can also play a role in driving change.

Congress passed a law in 2021 expanding Medicaid coverage for pregnant people from about two months to up to one year after childbirth, which will make resources more accessible to pregnant individuals.

“People need to know this is a problem we have here in the U.S.,” Dixon said. “I’ve had many patients in my office who’ve told me that they’ve chosen not to get pregnant because they don’t want to die.”

While pregnancy-related deaths are rare, individuals who want to become pregnant should be aware of the risks, according to David Goodman, Ph.D., a maternal mortality expert at the CDC.

“Be informed. Make sure that you are working with providers that you trust and have a relationship with,” Goodman told ABC News. “Don’t be afraid to walk away and find another provider as much as you are able.”

Home births are also on the rise, but Dixon and Goodman stressed that childbirths performed outside the hospital are riskier.

They said home births are unlikely to be a safe alternative for many pregnant people, who should consult their medical provider to discuss the options that might be safest for them.

In the meantime, families affected by pregnancy-related deaths, like Shalon Irving’s family, are taking their own steps to combat the problem.

Through the organization named for her late daughter, Wanda Irving helped create Believe Her , an app that provides maternal health resources for Black women and gives them a space to share their experiences.

Wanda Irving underscored that policy work is important, but she said lawmakers need to address structural racism to combat maternal mortality.

“Our whole system — everything — our foundation of America is built on racism, on the backs of Black and brown people. We need to recognize that, accept that and change it,” she said.

She added, “If we don’t start holding doctors accountable for the way that Black women are treated in the medical system, nothing is going to change.”

Aisha Bowen, M.D., is a resident physician in family medicine from Grant Family Medicine and a member of the ABC News Medical Unit.

Michal Ruprecht is a medical student at Wayne State University School of Medicine and a member of the ABC News Medical Unit.

American couple held for ransom in Haiti released nearly a month later

April 13, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — After being held for ransom for nearly a month in Haiti, a Florida couple was released Thursday after negotiations with their kidnappers, the Haitian National Police and the couple’s family told ABC News.

Jean-Dickens Toussaint and Abigail Toussaint, who were visiting relatives in Haiti, were kidnapped on March 18 while traveling on a bus from Port-au-Prince, according to their family members.

“They stopped the bus at a stop and they asked for the Americans on the bus and their escorts to come off the bus and then they took them,” Christie Desormes, the couple’s niece, told ABC Affiliate WPLG last month.

The family initially learned about the ransom demands after the friend escorting the Toussaints contacted his relatives, Desormes said.

The family paid the kidnappers’ $6,000 demand but they then raised the price to $200,000 per person, according to Desormes.

The exact details of the conditions of the couple’s release weren’t immediately revealed. There was no immediate comment from the U.S. embassy.

The Touissants, both 33, have a 2-year-old son, but he wasn’t with them during the trip, according to relatives.

The State Department advises Americans not to travel to Haiti “due to kidnapping, crime, and civil unrest.”

ABC News’ Meredith Deliso and Desiree Adib contributed to this report.

Linkin Park reacts to ’Hybrid Theory’ reference on ’Beef’

April 13, 2023 by WDNY Radio

Linkin Park‘s Hybrid Theory gets a shout-out in the new Netflix series Beef.

The show stars Steven Yeun and Ali Wong as two people embroiled in a road-rage incident. At one point, Yeun’s character, Danny, buys a plant from the store of Wong’s character, Amy, which he likens to “bringing Linkin Park a copy of Hybrid Theory or something.”

The LP Twitter account shared a screenshot of the scene, writing, “It’s the thought that counts, @steveyeun.”

While Hybrid Theory got the mention, Linkin Park’s been more focused on its follow-up, Meteora, these days. Last week, the band put out a reissue of the 2003 record in honor of its 20th anniversary. The expanded package includes a number of unreleased recordings from the Meteora era, such as the single “Lost,” featuring lead vocals by the late Chester Bennington.

Husband sentenced to life in prison in wife’s 13-year cold case murder

April 13, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — A Minnesota judge sentenced a man to life in prison without parole Thursday for the death of his first wife, 13 years after police said he shot her over their financial troubles and lied to investigators that it happened during a home invasion.

Several of Heidi Firkus’ friends and family gave emotional victim statements before the judge sentenced her husband Nick Firkus, 40, for his crimes. For years, Nick Firkus maintained he was innocent and that a mysterious home intruder was involved in her death. However, investigators found there was nothing to back up his alibi and found evidence that he lied to his wife about their debts.

“Every homicide is a tragedy. This one is particularly egregious. He hid behind his status for too many years,” Elizabeth Lamin, the assistant district attorney for Ramsey County, Minnesota, said.

On April 25, 2010, Heidi Firkus called 911 saying there was a break-in and stopped talking after a gunshot went off, according to the audio from the call. Police found her dead and her husband wounded in the leg from a gunshot.

“20/20” will take a deep look into Heidi Firkus’s murder and the 13-year-long investigation in an episode airing this Friday at 9 p.m. ET and streaming the next day on Hulu.

Nick Firkus told investigators that he fought over a shotgun with the intruder and that it went off, hitting both him and his wife.

Firkus also told officers that the couple was facing serious financial problems and were set to be evicted, but that he kept those issues secret from her, his family and their friends.

No suspects were named and no one was arrested for years.

However, investigators were still looking into Nick Firkus’ role in his wife’s death, especially since there were discrepancies in his story. There were no signs of a break-in in the house and only Nick Firkus’ DNA was found on the shotgun.

He was arrested in May 2021 and charged with first and second degree murder. Prosecutors said that Nick Firkus killed his wife to hide from the shame of their financial troubles.

A jury convicted Nick Firkus on both charges on Feb. 10 after deliberating for 10 hours.

Peter Erickson, Heidi Firkus’ brother, blasted Nick Firkus during his impact statement.

“The realization that everything Nick was telling us. To have audacity obviously inconsistent to Heidi’s character [it’s] insulting,” he said.

Linda Erickson, the victim’s mother, got emotional during her statement thinking about the years of life lost.

“Because of the unthinkable actions of one person, she was robbed and those who loved her were robbed of participating in that adventure with her,” Linda Erickson said.

Nick Firkus’ attorneys contended their client’s story was the truth and that his wife’s death was caused by the break-in.

Nick Firkus again reiterated his claims that he didn’t murder his wife before the judge sentenced him.

“I will maintain my innocence until my dying last breath,” he said.

Virginia lawmakers honor teacher shot by 6-year-old student

April 13, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(NEWPORT NEWS, Va.) — Virginia lawmakers on Wednesday passed a resolution recognizing Abby Zwerner, 25, for what they characterized as courageous actions, saying she earned the state’s “admiration for her courage and dedication to the safety of her students.” The honor follows after the teacher was allegedly shot by a 6-year-old student back in January.

Zwerner attended the honor ceremony and was accompanied by family members.

“Thank you for all that you do for our children, and the lives that you no doubt saved,” Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears told Zwerner. Previously, Newport News Police Chief Steve Drew called Zwerner a “hero” who “saved lives.”

Deja Taylor, the mother of a 6-year-old student in Virginia who allegedly shot a first-grade teacher in January, turned herself into law enforcement Thursday. She faces a maximum of six years in prison for charges related to child neglect and allowing her child to access a firearm.

She posted a $5,000 bond, the Newport News Sheriff’s office told ABC News.

Police said the boy’s mother legally purchased the gun. Her attorney, James Ellenson, has said the gun was secured on a top shelf in her closet and had a trigger lock.

In April Zwerner’s attorneys announced a $40 million lawsuit against the Newport News Public School system formally alleging school administrators ignored multiple warnings about the boy leading up to the shooting. In the lawsuit, they allege that Taylor’s son had a “history of random violence, with which all defendants were familiar.” His parents, according to the lawsuit “did not agree for him to be placed in special education classrooms” which dealt with children with behavioral issues.

Zwerner specifically accuses Assistant Principal Ebony Parker, who has since resigned, of failing to act despite being told repeatedly that the student had a gun at school.

Ellenson said Taylor has no prior criminal record. In January she told ABC News in a statement that her family “has always been committed to responsible gun ownership and keeping firearms out of the reach of children.”

“The firearm our son accessed was secured” she said, adding her family will regret their “absence on this day for the rest of our lives.” The gun used during the incident was legally purchased and owned by Taylor, they said.

In early January, authorities say Taylor’s 6-year-old son fired one round of a 9mm Taurus Armas pistol at teacher Zwerner in her classroom at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News. The bullet passed through Zwerner’s hand and into her chest, according to police. Despite being wounded, police said Zwerner ushered her students out of the classroom to safety and was the last person to leave the room. No students were physically injured during the incident.

The boy has been hospitalized since the shooting and is “receiving the treatment he needs.”

Following the shooting, the Newport News School Board announced it would hire two security officers and install 90 weapons detection systems throughout the division.

Biden announces plan to expand health care coverage for DACA recipients

April 13, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — The Biden administration is proposing a rule that, if finalized, would open eligibility for Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act’s health insurance exchanges to recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program.

On Thursday, the White House announced the Department of Health and Human Services is planning to put forward a rule that expands the definition of “lawful presence” to include DACA recipients, also known as “Dreamers.” The administration intends to implement the policy change by the end of the month, according to the White House.

“Health care should be a right, not a privilege, and my administration’s worked hard to expand health care. And today, more Americans have health insurance than ever,” President Joe Biden said in a pre-recorded video announcing the decision. “Today’s announcement is about giving DACA recipients the same opportunity.”

Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra applauded the decision, noting about a third of current DACA recipients do not have health insurance.

Some recipients have had access to coverage through work, military service, and programs some states have expanded to them.

Advocates say undocumented immigrants and DACA recipients deserve to be rewarded for their help keeping the economy afloat during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“These were people who were providing health care, or providing other types of care, helping keep small businesses open and ensuring that people had food to eat. At the same time, many of these same individuals who were part of our frontline workforce during the pandemic, they themselves were left behind unable to access many of the assistance programs that the rest of us were able to access,” said Sergio Gonzales, Executive Director of the Immigration Hub. “Not only was this just completely unfair and unjust, but it also makes no sense. When we have healthier people and we have people who are able to access health care that moves the entire country forward. That ensures that we have healthier communities at large.”

Paloma Bouhid, a DACA recipient, says she lost health care coverage when she was laid off from her tourism and hospitality job during the pandemic and was “terrified” of contracting COVID. She recently started her own company organizing homes, businesses and other spaces for clients and had to get private insurance for some medical tests she had to undergo.

“It’s so expensive and it’s such a big part of my financials, being a small business owner, that I’m still very paranoid about getting sick or being in an accident. It’s just absolute paranoia,” Bouhid said. “This comes as a huge relief to know that if something does happen I am covered and I can take care of myself and prioritize my health and know that’s going to be okay.

While immigrant advocates largely praised the president’s announcement, some conservatives slammed his plan to expand health care for DACA recipients.

“Rewarding illegal immigration will bring more illegal immigration. This is an insult to American citizenship,” Republican Sen. Tom Cotton tweeted.

There are approximately 580,000 current recipients of the program, and nearly 800,000 young migrants have benefited from DACA, according to data collected by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services shows. The program was launched by the Obama-Biden administration in 2012, which allowed some immigrants who were brought to the country as children to legally work and stay in the country for renewable periods of up to two years if they meet several strict requirements. DACA does not provide a pathway to citizenship.

Multiple legal challenges have threatened the fate of DACA since its inception, with a current lawsuit working its way through district court in Texas. In 2021, U.S. District Court Judge Andrew Hanen ruled that the program was unlawful. A federal appeals court later upheld his decision but allowed protections for current recipients to remain in place pending the lower court’s review of the Biden administration’s efforts to codify the program into administrative law. While recipients are still allowed to apply to renew their status every two years through DACA, new applicants have been barred for nearly two years.

Book ban battle threatens Texas library system’s fate

April 13, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(LLANO COUNTY, Texas) — A Texas county’s library system is being threatened amid an ongoing battle over banned books.

On Thursday, the Llano County Commissioners Court will discuss whether to “continue or cease operations” of the library system after previously removed books discussing race, health, gender and sexuality were returned to shelves under a court order.

The debate seemingly began in July 2021, when a community group began pushing for the removal of children’s books that they deemed “inappropriate,” according to court documents.

These books included two children series, dubbed the “Butt and Fart books” in the court order. The books “depict bodily functions in a humorous manner in cartoon format, because [critics] believed these books were obscene and promoted ‘grooming’ behavior.”

As months went on, the removal of books continued, targeting books that discussed race, discrimination, gender, sexuality or sexual health, court documents show.

In December 2021, the Llano County Commissioners Court, an elected governing body of the county, voted to close the library for three days to check the shelves for “inappropriate” books, however “inappropriate” was not defined, court documents show.

The Commissioners Court also voted to suspend access to the library’s online resources and dissolve the existing library advisory board, according to court documents.

Instead, a new advisory board was created and members of the community group that advocated for the book removals were appointed to it, according to the court order.

In April 2022, several Llano County residents sued county officials and the library over the book bans, calling the efforts to restrict books “censorship.”

“Book banning offends basic First Amendment principles and strikes at the core of our democracy,” read the lawsuit.

On March 31, a federal judge ordered the previously banned books to be put back on the shelves and allowed to be checked out and looked up in the library’s catalog. Now, the county Commissioners Court partially behind the move to remove books will decide the fate of the library system.

A representative for the Commissioners Court’s public information office declined ABC News’ request for comment regarding the reasoning behind the Thursday special meeting on the library’s potential closure, citing the pending litigation.

Book bans have been seen across the country in record-breaking numbers: Roughly 1,269 demands were made to censor library books and resources in 2022, according to the American Library Association. The organization says it is the highest number of attempted book bans since it began collecting data over 20 years ago.

The vast majority of book banning attempts were made against literature written by or about members of the LGBTQIA+ community and people of color, according to the ALA.

Leila Green Little, one of the residents involved in the lawsuit to bring back the books, called herself a “third generation patron of the Llano County Library System.”

Little said when she decided Llano County was where she wanted to raise her kids, she got them Llano County Library cards.

“My grandmother used to come to this library, my mother used to come to this library system, and they’ve both now passed so I feel a real connection to them when it comes to the library system,” she told ABC News. “My public library is where I have cried, where I have laughed, where. I’ve watched my children grow and learn, where I’ve studied.”

Little is also a member of the Llano County Library System Foundation, which offers support to the libraries through advocacy and grants, according to the foundation’s website.

She called the attempt to close the library system a “tantrum” by the local government.

“Libraries are extremely important to me,” she said. “I got involved in this preliminary injunction because I love my public library system and I must ensure that it serves the public.”

Little’s counsel, Emily Munoz, called the removal of books “censorship.”

“There’s nobody in Llano county that benefits from shutting the library,” said Munoz. “People are gonna lose their jobs. People are going to lose places where they meet. They’re going to lose the opportunity to read books, the opportunity to read books for free, a place to take their children.”

Former DNI John Ratcliffe is latest Trump adviser to appear before Jan. 6 grand jury: Sources

April 13, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — Former President Donald Trump’s one-time director of national intelligence, John Ratcliffe, appeared before a federal grand jury investigating Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 election, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.

Ratcliff is the latest former top Trump adviser to appear before a grand jury in Washington, D.C., following a judge’s ruling last month that a number of top aides must appear.

Former top aide Stephen Miller was at the court earlier this week, and former Department of Homeland Security official Ken Cuccinelli was spotted there last week. Sources confirm they were appearing before the grand jury.

Both men have previously appeared before the grand jury, but Trump had challenged their grand jury subpoenas by attempting to assert executive privilege.

A judge last month ordered former chief of staff Mark Meadows and other former top Trump aides to testify or provide additional grand jury testimony to the grand jury probing attempts to overturn the election, ABC News was first to report.

Also included in the judge’s order were aides Dan Scavino, Robert O’Brien, Nick Luna and John McEntee. It was not immediately clear whether dates had been set for them to appear.

Nikki Sixx suggests Mötley Crüe’s working on new music

April 13, 2023 by WDNY Radio

There has been a lot of bad Mötley Crüe news out there lately thanks to Mick Mars‘ recent lawsuit, but this may make some fans happy. Bassist Nikki Sixx confirmed on Twitter that the rockers are actually working on some new music.

Sixx posted a photo of him, Tommy Lee and guitarist John 5 in the studio with the message, “another killer songwriting day.” He clarified the music they were working on was indeed for the Crüe.

“We are writing. The creative process of songwriting has always been the heartbeat of our band,” he tweeted. “We’re gonna go in the big studio next week and record a few off the floor and see where it goes. We don’t have a definitive plan at this point. Just letting the songs guide us.”

The news is interesting, considering in response to Mars’ recent lawsuit Mötley’s manager, Allen Kovac, seemed to suggest that the only thing left for the band was touring. Mars has always insisted he didn’t quit Mötley Crüe, he just retired from the road.

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