A response team with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has reportedly been called to assist with a measles outbreak in Ohio.

According to CBS News, the outbreaks have occurred at several childcare facilities in the Columbus area.

A spokesperson for Columbus Public Health told CNN that more than a dozen cases are currently under investigation.

“We asked the CDC for assistance and they will be sending two epidemiologists at the end of the month to assist with our local investigation,” Kelli Newman, a spokesperson for Columbus Public Health, told CNN.

Measles is a highly contagious disease.

"It is so contagious that if one person has it, up to 90% of the people close to him or her will also become infected if they are not protected," the CDC states.

The disease is preventable. The CDC recommends that children get their first dose of the vaccine between 12 and 15 months old. The second dose is given between 4 and 6 years old.

All the cases being investigated in Ohio involve unvaccinated children, Newman told CNN.

Measles starts with a fever and causes a cough, runny nose and red eyes before tiny rashes break out. The CDC notes it can lead to serious complications and even death.

A salmonella outbreak that was linked to Gold Medal flour is over, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday. However, consumers should still make sure they don't have any recalled bags of flour at home.In late April, General Mills recalled certain 2-, 5- and 10-pound bags of Gold Medal Bleached and Unbleached All-Purpose Flour with use-by dates of March 27 and 28, 2024. The CDC says data showed that some Gold Medal flour was contaminated with Salmonella infantis bacteria that was responsible for at least 14 infections in 13 states. Nearly all of the patients interviewed reported eating raw dough or batter, and all of those who recalled the flour brand identified Gold Medal.A U.S. Food and Drug Administration investigation identified a single production facility for the flour that the sick people used, and an inspection of the General Mills facility in Kansas City, Missouri, turned up a sample with the outbreak strain of the bacteria."Although this outbreak investigation has ended, CDC advises you to throw away or return any bags of recalled flour and to wash any containers used to store recalled flour with warm water and soap," the CDC says.Salmonella infection typically causes diarrhea, fever and stomach cramps six hours to six days after consuming the bacteria. Most people recover without treatment in four to seven days, and because they aren't tested for salmonella, the true number of infections in the outbreak is most likely higher than what was reported, the CDC says. Some people – kids under 5, adults over 65 and those with weakened immune systems – may have more severe illness that requires medical treatment or hospitalization.Most flour is raw and hasn't been treated to kill germs that cause food poisoning, according to the CDC. Salmonella bacteria dies when it is cooked or baked, but people can get sick when eating or tasting foods that include raw flour. Raw dough used for crafts and play clay also pose a risk.The CDC advises baking or cooking any foods made with any brand of raw flour before eating. Thoroughly wash hands, bowls, utensils and surfaces after using raw flour. If making play dough at home, use heat-treated flour.

Researchers are on the cusp of rolling out a new vaccine to combat the respiratory syncytial virus amid an increase in cases in recent months.RSV has become the second leading cause of hospitalization, and tens of thousands of people a year die from it. Children under 2 and adults older than 60 are most at risk for serious disease, and a vaccine has been elusive -- until now."It will be a huge, huge breakthrough for us to have an RSV vaccine available," said Dr. James Campbell, professor of pediatrics and the University of Maryland School of Medicine.RELATED: Sinai pediatrician describes ICU availability amid increase in RSV casesModerna released preliminary results of their vaccine for RSV that shows it's more than 80% effective at preventing serious disease in people older than 60. The company is preparing to submit the vaccine to the Food and Drug Administration for approval, which follows submissions from Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline late last year."The Pfizer vaccine, they also relayed results on giving that same vaccine to pregnant women, and then what happens is the antibodies the woman makes, gets passed through the placenta into the baby, and they showed very good protection in the first three months of life," Campbell said.Clinical trials are underway on a vaccine for babies and young children, who are among the high-risk groups for developing complications and dying from RSV.RELATED: Maryland hospitals concerned over surge of children with RSVThese would be the first RSV vaccines approved, which would be a feat because researchers have been working on them since the 1960s. Moderna's version uses the mRNA technology made famous by its COVID-19 vaccine."The reason why they could move so quickly on the COVID vaccine was because they had already been studying this RSV vaccine that we're just learning about now, and they used that same technology, and a lot of the tricks they found from that, in order to develop the COVID vaccine," Campbell said.RSV video playlist below:Campbell cautioned the results in the RSV vaccine study are preliminary and are not yet peer-reviewed, so while promising, he's waiting for the full details."That doesn't take away that this is really exciting news, but I think everyone should be waiting to see what the final, all the data show for this vaccine and the other RSV vaccines," Campbell said.Campbell said researchers are hopeful that some of these vaccines will be approved in time for RSV season in the fall.LINK: Maryland Department of Health website for RSV

As COVID-19 cases surge in China, infectious disease experts say the threat of a new variant is possible. The sooner the CDC knows about new variants, the faster it can respond. That is why the Biden Administration is ramping up a CDC Traveler Genomic Surveillance program that asks travelers from international flights to voluntarily do a nasal swab.

Dr. Cindy Friedman, with CDC Travelers' Health Branch, says the program currently targets approximately 500 flights per week from more than 30 countries.

"The program started back in September of 2021 with three airports at JFK, Newark and San Francisco," Dr. Friedman said. "Then, omicron came in November of 2021 and we added Atlanta. And then, the end of China's zero-COVID policy led to the expansion recently to a Seattle and LAX Los Angeles Airport."

Dr. Friedman says there are two parts to the program that are complementary to each other. One is getting nasal swabs from travelers who volunteer. The other is anonymously testing wastewater. When they get a positive result for COVID, the biological sample is sent to a lab to analyze what variant it is.

We've known for a while that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, can be found in wastewater. It serves as an early detection system to know what's circulating in a specific region or in other places across the globe.

Dr. Friedman says it's helpful when a new variant is detected because action can be taken immediately.

"It could be anything from, you know, we recommend wearing a mask because there is a new variant," Dr. Friedman said. "Or our lab will check the efficacy of the vaccine against a new variant, or the treatments, the antiviral drugs. I mean, it's really important to know that the medicines that you're recommending work against the newest version of the virus."

Dr. Friedman says the program successfully discovered the BA.2 and BA.3 subvariants during the early days of omicron. She says airports will likely be the first to know if a new variant comes along.

Ginkgo Bioworks is a partner of the program that does genomic sequencing along with XpresCheck.

"The idea of having airports as places to monitor for dangerous pathogens, this is like the dream of biosecurity infrastructure," Ginkgo Bioworks General Manager Matthew McKnight said. "And I think the realization that a lot of people have come to is that it isn't science fiction, it is entirely doable."

McKnight says he expects this technology to become a permanent part of national security.

"Certainly the vision like radar is that you should be looking for more and more different things, including in the future unexpected pathogens or as we move into a new and scary world, you know, thinking about being able to monitor for genetic engineering or any sort of biothreats that might be emerging in the national security space," McKnight said.

Dr. Friedman would like to thank international travelers who take a few minutes of their time to provide a nasal swab and she wants to reassure everyone the program is anonymous.

 

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is urging health care providers and consumers to stop using EzriCare Artificial Tears as it conducts an investigation into at least 55 infections in 12 states that have led to instances of permanent vision loss, hospitalization and one death.Most people with infections reported using at least one of more than 10 brands of artificial tears, and the majority of these patients reported using EzriCare's product, the agency says. These eye drops are preservative-free, meaning they don't have ingredients to prevent bacterial growth.The CDC says it received reports of infections of the cornea, intraocular fluids, respiratory tract and urinary tract, as well as sepsis.Testing of open EzriCare bottles identified Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria that are resistant to a broad array of antibiotics: cefepime, ceftazidime, piperacillin-tazobactam, aztreonam, carbapenems, ceftazidime-avibactam, ceftolozane-tazobactam, fluoroquinolones, polymyxins, amikacin, gentamicin and tobramycin. However, bacterial isolates that were tested against cefiderocol were susceptible to it.The bacteria in the open bottles could have come from contamination either during use or during the manufacturing process, the CDC says. Testing of unopened bottles is ongoing.New Jersey-based EzriCare says in a statement that after learning about the investigation Jan. 20, it "immediately took action to stop any further distribution or sale of EzriCare Artificial Tears. To the greatest extent possible, we have been contacting customers to advise them against continued use of the product."The eye drops are made in India, and "we understand that the same product is also marketed under other brand names," the company says. The manufacturer, Global Pharma Healthcare PVT Limited, is working with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on a recall, EzriCare says.The CDC urges health care providers to immediately stop using EzriCare Artificial Tears. They should advise their patients who use this product to watch for signs of infection and ask about product use in patients who have eye infections.The CDC also advises consumers to stop using these EzriCare eye drops and to ask for alternative products if their health care provider recommended EzriCare.Pseudomonas bacteria are common in the environment, such as in soil and water. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is usually spread in health care settings, the CDC says, and is increasingly difficult to treat because of antibiotic resistance. It caused more than 32,000 infections in hospitalized patients and about 2,700 deaths in the U.S. in 2017.

Tick-borne disease has been on the rise in the U.S., with the number of cases growing 25% from 2011 to 2019. Among them is babesiosis, which has become significantly more prevalent in the Northeast in recent years.Seven states were already considered to have endemic transmission of babesiosis, with a consistent presence of the disease: Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin. A new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention added three others to that list — Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont — where case rates have grown the fastest and now match or surpass other states.Video above: New Hampshire is one of the states where tick-borne illness is on the riseIn those 10 states, reported cases of babesiosis have increased in all but two: Minnesota and Wisconsin, where case rates were about 30% lower in 2019 than they were in 2011. Overall, more than 16,000 cases of babesiosis have been reported to the CDC between 2011 and 2019, according to the report.Symptoms of the disease include fever, muscle and joint pain and headache. Illness can range from mild to severe, and it can be fatal in rare cases. Infections can also be asymptomatic, so patients may not always know to be tested.Video below: How to prevent tick bites and when to go see your doctor if you get oneThe CDC cautions that the increasing prevalence of babesiosis could pose risks to the blood supply. The disease is transmissible through blood transfusion, and infections acquired this way have shown to have significantly worse outcomes and higher risk of death than those acquired through a tick bite, the report says. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration currently recommends blood donation screening for babesiosis in 14 states and Washington, D.C., in and around areas where transmission is endemic."Persons spending time outdoors in states with endemic babesiosis should practice tick bite prevention, including wearing long pants, avoiding underbrush and long grass, and using tick repellents," according to the CDC.

CNN —

A rare strain of bacteria found in recalled eye drops has been linked to dozens of infections, as well as cases of vision loss and surgical removal of eyes. This week, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported two additional deaths — a total of three — have been linked to the bacterial infection.

Video above: An infectious disease doctor discusses the drug-resistant bacteria found in eye drops.

Global Pharma Healthcare recalled its Artificial Tears Lubricant Eye Drops that were distributed by EzriCare and Delsam Pharma last month, and the agency has been warning people not to use the drops.

As of March 21, the CDC has identified 68 people in 16 states with infections of a rare strain of drug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa never before reported in the United States. Most of the patients reported using artificial tears, the CDC said, and EzriCare Artificial Tears was the brand most commonly reported.

Reported adverse events include infections of the cornea, bloodstream, respiratory tract and urinary tract. There are eight reports of lost vision and four reports of surgically removed eyeballs.

On Wednesday, two case reports published in JAMA Ophthalmology offered more details about how these problems developed

One of the new case reports described a 72-year-old woman who lost vision in her left eye after using EzriCare artificial tears for dry eyes for about a week.

"She started noticing some blurry vision in her left eye for a few days," said Dr. Ahmed Omar, an ophthalmologist at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, who treated the woman. "It was initially painless, but according to the patient and her husband, one morning she woke up and she had a yellow discharge on her pillow. And that's when she started noticing that the appearance of her eye had changed."

The woman went to the emergency room, where doctors discovered a large ulcer on her left cornea, nearly involving the entire eye. She was admitted to the hospital for three weeks, requiring IV antibiotics, antibiotic eye drops, and multiple surgical interventions.

The woman's case was complicated by a serous choroidal detachment, an abnormal accumulation of fluid, which ultimately led to vision loss in the left eye.

Another case involved a 72-year-old man who developed multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa keratitis, an infection of the cornea.

The man went to the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute in Miami after a day of severe pain and decreased vision in his right eye. He had no previous eye problems but said he had used EzriCare artificial tears for eye dryness.

"When we examined his right eye, there was a severe corneal infection," said Dr. Marissa Shoji, a resident physician at the institute, who treated the patient. "He could only see shadows and was not able to see letters due to the extent of the ulcer."

The man was started on strong antibiotics, Dr. Naomi Gutkind, a resident physician who also treated him, said.

"We typically expect some degree of improvement these medications, but when we saw him two day later, he was getting far worse," she said. "So that's when we inquired about specifically the EzriCare tears, because we knew they were associated with resistant infection that may not respond to those really strong antibiotics."

Cultures from the man's cornea and EzriCare bottle grew the same strain of multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas.

The man's vision at his two months follow-up appointment was 20/400, meaning he can see at 20 feet what healthy people can see at 400 feet.

"At some point, he was in danger of having permanent vision loss," said Dr. Guillermo Amescua, an ophthalmologist at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute. "He now has what is called corneal blindness because he's 20/400 and has a corneal scar, but with corneal transplantation, he might have a better prognosis."

Shoji says this case highlights the short-term and long-term effects of Pseudomonas keratitis. In the short term, people may have terrible pain, decreased vision and a risk of a hole in the eye that could spread infection.

"In the long term, even after the infection is cleared, there's a risk of needing a surgery such as a corneal transplant or other different types of surgeries to address scarring that may also significantly limit the vision," she said.

What to know about infections

EzriCare said in a statement that after learning about the CDC's investigation of Pseudomonas infections on Jan. 20, it "immediately took action to stop any further distribution or sale of EzriCare Artificial Tears. To the greatest extent possible, we have been contacting customers to advise them against continued use of the product."

The physicians involved in the new studies hope that by highlighting these cases, they can spare others from similar problems.

Shoji advises against using EzriCare or Delsam eye drops while the investigation is ongoing.

"If you have any eye symptoms, things like eye pain, eye redness, decreased vision, please see an ophthalmologist for evaluation," she said. "And when you come, please bring anything that could potentially be causing this infection, especially eye drops, contact lenses or contact lens cases."

The CDC says symptoms can include yellow, green or clear discharge from the eye; eye pain or discomfort; redness of the eye or eyelid; feeling like something is in the eye; increased light sensitivity; and blurry vision.

Doctors urge everyone to use caution with eye drops.

"I think a lot of times, people don't think of eye drops or even things like contact lenses as medical devices. I think they think of them more as kind of just an over-the-counter product like a skin lotion or something like that," said Dr. Christina Prescott, a NYU ophthalmologist who wrote a commentary published alongiside the case reports on the potential rare dangers of presumably benign artificial tears.

Prescott says people should keep eye drops sterile. That means avoiding touching the tip of the bottle with their hands, skin or eye; not sharing the bottle with someone else; and not using expired products.

People should also use caution with preservative-free eye drops because contamination can lead to serious infection.

"Anything you're putting in your eye, if it's contaminated, is going to have a high risk of infection just because your eyes are so vulnerable," she said.

Federal officials say more than 200 patients could be at risk of fungal meningitis after having surgical procedures at clinics in a Mexico border city.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday it is collaborating with the Mexican Ministry of Health and U.S. state and local health departments to respond to the outbreak among patients who traveled to Matamoros, across the border from Brownsville, Texas.

Video above: What is meningitis?

Officials have identified and closed two clinics linked to the outbreak, River Side Surgical Center and Clinica K-3.

The Mexican Ministry of Health sent the CDC a list of 221 U.S. patients who might be at risk for meningitis based on their recorded surgical procedures at either clinic from January to May 13. Three additional patients not on the list have also been identified, bringing the total of people in the United States known to have potential exposure to 224, the CDC said.

The CDC is working with more than two dozen state and local health departments to contact people with potential exposure and urge them to go to their nearest medical facility for testing. Meningitis testing includes an MRI and a lumbar puncture, also called a spinal tap.

Last week, the CDC issued a warning to U.S. residents to cancel surgeries in Matamoros, saying five people from Texas who had procedures there developed suspected cases of fungal meningitis. One of them died. A second person with a suspected case has also died, the CDC said Wednesday.

Meningitis is the swelling of the protective covering of the brain and spinal cord and should be treated urgently. Symptoms include fever, headache, a stiff neck, nausea, vomiting, confusion and sensitivity to light. Cases of meningitis can be caused by viruses, bacteria, trauma or fungi.

Patients in the Texas cases started showing symptoms three days to six weeks after surgery in Matamoros.

People leaving the U.S. for prescription drugs, dental procedures, surgeries and other medical treatment — also known as medical tourism — is common, experts say. Mexico, Canada, India and Thailand are all popular destinations.

While the CDC has eased its mask-wearing requirements, there are still more than 470 counties across the country where masks are recommended, due to high COVID-19 case numbers.

That’s according to the latest data from the CDC.

Experts tell CNN that many places that have high COVID-19 levels have low vaccination rates, limited access to health resources or may still be dealing with the contagious omicron variant.

Some of those counties never had mask mandates in place or lifted mask mandates early in the pandemic.

The CDC recommends people wear masks indoors if they live in counties with high levels of COVID-19.

Severity levels are determined by the number of new COVID-19 hospital admissions and inpatient beds occupied.

About 7% of the population in the U.S. lives in an area with high COVID-19 numbers, which is a decrease from last week.

Grace Thomas is fully vaccinated against COVID-19 but still not ready to take off her mask, especially around the kids at the home day care she runs in Chicago.

But whether the children continue to wear masks remains to be seen after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that healthy people in most areas of the country can safely stop wearing masks as cases continue to fall.

Thomas, 62, plans to ask parents to have their children wear masks to prevent the day care from being a potential source of transmission, but "you can’t make them wear masks if they don’t want to," she said.

Many Americans, including parents of school children, have been clamoring for an end to masking while others remain wary that the pandemic could throw a new curveball. Now, states, cities and school districts are assessing Friday's guidance to determine whether it’s safe to stop mask-wearing — long after others threw out such mandates and many Americans ignored them.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said that the statewide school mask mandate will be lifted Monday in response the the new guidance, although Chicago Public Schools officials said they will continue to require masks "to maintain health and safety measures."

Los Angeles on Friday began allowing people who are vaccinated to remove their masks indoors, and Washington, D.C., had already said it would end its mask mandate on Monday. Washington state and Oregon plan to lift indoor mask mandates in late March.

But the issue still remains politically fraught: Florida’s governor on Thursday announced new recommendations called "Buck the CDC" that discourage mask wearing — even though the CDC says the state still has wide areas at high levels of concern.

Christine Bruhn, 79, a retired food science professor at the University of California at Davis, said she’ll only take off her mask if she thinks it’s safe, usually around vaccinated friends. When she’s around a large group of strangers, "I’m wearing a mask," Bruhn said.

"I have been vaccinated and boosted but I don’t want to get sick," said Bruhn, who also said she'll continue crossing the street to keep her distance from people without masks if she sees any of them walking toward her.

American Medical Association President Gerald E. Harmon said Friday that he would continue to wear a mask in indoor public settings and urged "all Americans to consider doing the same" because millions are susceptible to severe illness or too young to be vaccinated.

Still, many people appear to be done with masking.

Steve Kelly, a manager of Kilroy’s Bar & Grill in downtown Indianapolis, said it seems that neither employees nor customers think much about COVID since Indiana lifted a mask mandate for restaurants.

"It doesn’t seem like anybody is wearing masks," he said of his customers, though a few employees still do. And he said people rarely get upset anymore.

"My daughter is 13 and she wears a mask. It’s her choice," he said. "Nobody bothers her about it and she wouldn’t care if they did."

In central Illinois' Effingham County, mask-wearing — and the animosity between those who do and don't — has plummeted, said David Campbell, vice chairman of the county board. He said about the only places he sees people wearing masks are hospitals and doctors’ offices.

"Eighty-five to ninety percent of the people you see on the street, in stores, restaurants, aren’t wearing them," said Campbell, 61. "You used to hear people say, ‘Why aren’t you wearing masks?’ but you don’t anymore."

Under the new guidance, the CDC says people can stop wearing masks if they live in counties where the coronavirus poses a low or medium threat to hospitals — accounting for more than 70% of the U.S. population.

The agency still advises people, including schoolchildren, to wear masks where the risk of COVID-19 is high, in about 37% of U.S. counties, where about 28% of Americans live. And those with COVID-19 symptoms or who test positive should wear masks, the agency said.

The recommendations do not change the requirement to wear masks on public transportation and in airports, train stations and bus stations, but the guidelines for other indoor spaces aren’t binding, meaning cities and institutions may set their own rules.

Two of the nation’s largest teachers unions weighed in, with American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten calling the guidance "long-needed new metrics for a safe off-ramp from universal masking." She said many students and teachers have struggled with COVID-19 restrictions.

But National Education Association President Becky Pringle urged school districts to "act cautiously" and seek input from local educators before making any decisions to end mask-wearing.

Chicago high school teacher Sharon Holmes said she'll continue to wear a mask while teaching and outside the classroom.

"My partner and my daughter both have asthma," said the 53-year-old Holmes. "I just don’t feel safe yet, personally."

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Webber reported from Fenton, Michigan.

A new study is showing how mask mandates affect COVID-19 case numbers during the pandemic.

Doctors from the University of Pennsylvania and Children’s Hospital of Pennsylvania looked at case numbers in counties weeks after mask mandates were implemented.

The study spanned between March and October of 2020, during the time cases were peaking across the country.

Researchers found that, on average, daily cases declined by 23% four weeks after mask mandates were implemented, in comparison to counties that did not have mask mandates.

Case numbers improved as time went on.

Daily cases decreased by 33% six weeks after mask mandates were implemented, compared to unmasked counties.

The study goes on to show that mask mandates were more effective in urban counties.

The study comes as the CDC prepares to issue new guidance on masks.

The director of the CDC has suggested that the health agency could soon issue a new mask guidance during a news briefing Wednesday.

The change could be announced as soon as next week, as White House officials asked Walensky to provide an update by March 1, before the president’s State of the Union Address.

Dr. Rochelle Walensky suggested the mask recommendations would be based on a community’s hospitalization rates.

She added that this would allow people to take a break from wearing masks when COVID-19 case numbers improve.

However, this would not be a permanent change.

If a community’s case numbers spike up, masks will have to go back on.

Walensky said Wednesday that people should still continue to wear masks in certain situations, including when people are symptomatic or are within ten days of positive diagnosis.

The agency is still working out the details of when masks are and are not necessary.

The change in guidance will come as a number of states announce their own modifications to COVID-19 safety measures.

Last week, ten states announce they were lifting mask mandates in indoor spaces and/or schools.

Dr. Anthony Fauci has expressed support in allowing states to make these changes as cases decrease.

“At the local level, there is a strong feeling of need to get back to normality,” said Fauci on MSNBC.

The nation's leading health officials said Wednesday that the U.S. is moving closer to the point that COVID-19 is no longer a "constant crisis" as more cities, businesses and sports venues began lifting pandemic restrictions around the country.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said during a White House briefing that the government is contemplating a change to its mask guidance in the coming weeks. Noting recent declines in COVID-19 cases, hospital admissions and deaths, she acknowledged "people are so eager" for health officials to ease masking rules and other measures designed to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

"We all share the same goal – to get to a point where COVID-19 is no longer disrupting our daily lives, a time when it won't be a constant crisis – rather something we can prevent, protect against, and treat," Walensky said.

With the omicron variant waning and Americans eager to move beyond the virus, government and business leaders have been out ahead of the CDC in ending virus measures in the last week, including ordering workers back to offices, eliminating mask mandates and no longer requiring proof of vaccine to get into restaurants, bars and sports and entertainment arenas.

The efforts have been gaining more steam each day.

Philadelphia officials on Wednesday said the city's vaccine mandate for restaurants was immediately lifted, though indoor mask mandates remain in place for now. At Disney World, vaccinated guests will no longer have to wear masks at the Florida theme park starting Thursday. Professional sports teams including the Utah Jazz and Washington Wizards and Capitols have stopped requiring proof of vaccine for fans.

Health Commissioner Cheryl Bettigole said Philadelphia's average daily case count had dropped to 189 cases per day in the city of more than 1.5 million people. Bettigole said the plunge in infections has been steeper in Philadelphia than elsewhere in the state or the country, making it easier to lift the vaccine mandate for restaurants and other businesses announced in mid-December and that just fully went into effect this month.

"Our goal has always been to the least restrictive as possible while ensuring safety," she said.

Tracking COVID-19:

In Provincetown, Massachusetts, a seaside town that became a COVID hot spot with an early outbreak of the delta variant last summer, officials on Tuesday lifted a mask mandate and vaccine requirement for indoor spaces like restaurants and bars. Town Manager Alex Morse said the community of about 3,000 recorded zero active cases last week among Provincetown residents — something that hasn't happened since the surge following last year's July 4 celebrations.

"We are learning to live with, and mitigate, the impact of the virus on our community," Morse said.

COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations have fallen sharply in the U.S., with the seven-day rolling average for daily new cases dropping from about 453,000 two weeks ago to about 136,000 as of Tuesday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Hospitalizations are at levels similar to September, when the U.S. was emerging from the delta variant surge. Almost 65% of Americans are fully vaccinated.

"As a result of all this progress and the tools we now have, we are moving to a time where COVID isn't a crisis but is something we can protect against and treat," said Jeff Zients, the White House coronavirus response coordinator.

Walensky said the CDC "will soon put guidance in place that is relevant and encourages prevention measures when they are most needed to protect public health and our hospitals." She suggested any changes will take into account measures of community transmission, as well as hospitalization rates or other gauges of whether infected people are becoming severely ill. They also would consider available bed space in hospitals.

Video above: Top US doctor on future of masks, mental health

Several states with indoor mask mandates announced last week they would be lifted in coming weeks, also citing promising numbers.

Two music festivals that draw thousands of people to the California desert town of Indio in April and May, Coachella and Stagecoach, also said this week there will be no vaccination, masking or testing mandates in accordance with local guidelines. Coachella also noted that could change along with COVID conditions.

In Philadelphia, Bettigole said the vaccine mandate helped spur "a very large" increase in pediatric vaccinations, pushing the city way ahead of the national average for first doses among kids ages 5 to 11. More than 53% of Philadelphia residents in that age group have received a first dose, compared to closer to 30% nationally, she said.

Not all businesses plan to immediately change course. Philadelphia Irish sports bar and restaurant O'Neals will keep asking to see customers' vaccination cards for now, said managing partner Greg "Spoonie" Rand, even though the city is lifting its vaccine mandate.

"Guests are more compliant and employees are more happy for us to continue doing vaccine cards inside," he said. He thinks vaccinated people will be wary of coming in if the pub stops checking cards.

Walensky said the CDC wants to "give people a break from things like mask-wearing" when circumstances improve, though be able to mask up again if things worsen. She also said there will be instances where people should continue to wear masks even if prevention measures ease. Examples include when individuals have symptoms of COVID-19 or are within 10 days after being diagnosed with it.

___

Associated Press reporters Mike Stobbe and Tali Arbel in New York, Claudia Lauer in Philadelphia and Todd Richmond in Madison, Wisconsin, contributed.

U.S. poultry producers are increasing safety measures with flocks as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention monitor a "highly pathogenic" strain of bird flu which has already been detected in a turkey flock in Indiana, the U.S. Department of Agriculture warned on Wednesday.

As Reuters reported, disease experts are warning the public that wild birds are likely the cause of the bird flu spread which is said to be a highly lethal form of avian flu spreading across the country.

On Feb. 9 the CDC released a statement that said while the health agency believes the risk to the public is low, the statement said, "Outbreaks in domestic poultry, in addition to infections in wild birds, may result in increased exposures in some groups of people, particularly poultry workers, for example."

The USDA said in a statement, "Avian influenza does not present an immediate public health concern. No human cases of these avian influenza viruses have been detected in the United States. As a reminder, the proper handling and cooking of poultry and eggs to an internal temperature of 165 ˚F kills bacteria and viruses."

On Monday Feb. 7, an Indiana farmer discovered around 100 dead turkeys on his farm and saw surviving turkeys appearing to be sick, according to the Indy Star, which reported that almost 30,000 turkeys had to be killed to contain the spread of the virus.

The CDC published new information Friday about the performance of COVID-19 booster shots.

In a new study, researchers found that after receiving a third dose of the vaccine, protection wanes over time.

When the omicron variant was dominant, effectiveness decreased as soon as four months after the third dose.

However, protection from serious illness was still high after the third dose.

In the study, effectiveness was higher among people who had received the booster shot, than among people who only received two doses of the vaccine.

Researchers also noted that effectiveness after a booster was higher when delta was the dominant strain.

Health experts expect protection from the vaccines to wane.

Previous evidence had already suggested that vaccines offered less protection against the omicron variant in comparison to earlier versions of the virus.

The CDC still recommends people to remain up to date with COVID-19 vaccinations to protect themselves against the virus.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced Friday that it has issued emergency use authorization (EUA) for Eli Lilly's new monoclonal antibody treatment.

Clinical trials have shown the treatment to be effective against the COVID-19 omicron variant.

“Today’s action makes available another monoclonal antibody that shows activity against omicron, at a time when we are seeking to further increase supply,” said Patrizia Cavazzoni, M.D., director of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. “This authorization is an important step in meeting the need for more tools to treat patients as new variants of the virus continue to emerge.” 

According to the Center's for Disease Control, omicron is the dominant variant in the U.S.

The EUA covers treatment for patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 who are at high risk of hospitalization or death.

It can be used on children as young as 12 if they weigh at least 88 pounds, the FDA says.

Prior to the authorization, the U.S. agreed to purchase 600,000 doses. They are to be delivered no later than March 31, Eli Lilly said.

Almost anywhere with a sewer connection can help the Center For Disease Control's (CDC) system for tracking COVID-19 in wastewater.  

The CDC’s Network Wastewater Surveillance System (NWSS) includes labs to track COVID cases.

"As you can see here, there's all these tubes, and they just have 200 microliters of this clear liquid that has all the RNA and DNA from the wastewater sample," said Joaquin Bradley Silva, lab manager at UC Berkeley.

From the samples, scientists can tell how much of the coronavirus is in an area. The CDC’s NWSS project lead says they can identify it down to the zip code.

Now, they’re starting to share that information with the public on their online COVID tracker. More than 500 sites will begin submitting data in the coming weeks.

Alexandria Boehm, a professor of civil engineering at Stanford University, leads a team of researchers testing samples from wastewater processing plants across northern California.

She says the program will help move the U.S. from a pandemic to an endemic state.  

"It's really exciting that the public can see all the hard work we've been doing and maybe become more educated about how wastewater can provide a glimpse into the public health of their communities," Dr. Boehm said. 

Monitoring wastewater provides information on a population in a single sample. It also is less biased than individual case data, which may under-represent asymptomatic infections and cases in communities with lower testing rates. 

Some critics have voiced concern about the nuance of interpreting the data.  

The CDC’s project lead says their tracker’s main metric will be looking at the percentage change of concentration over a 15-day period. People can also see how many samples tested positive at a site over that same 15 days, but it won’t compare site to site. For example, users won't be able to look at California next to Washington D.C.

This is just the start for what CDC plans to use wastewater surveillance for. By the end of this year, they plan to track other health threats like influenza and E. coli.

This story was originally reported on Newsy.com.

As families look ahead to Spring Break, the CDC and the State Department are urging people to avoid traveling to Mexico due to “very high levels of COVID.”

Mexico moved to the “very high” risk level 4 this week after being considered level 3 for more than six months.

A record number of new COVID-19 cases were reported this month in the North American country.

The agency advises if you must travel to Mexico, you should make sure to be to date with your COVID-19 vaccines.

Even if you are fully vaccinated, you may still be at risk of being infected and spreading the virus.

Children under two years of age should wear a mask indoors.

The CDC assigns countries as level 4 when there are more than 500 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 cases in the past 28 days.

The CDC also assigned 11 other countries to the level 4 list.

They include:

• Anguilla
• Brazil
• Chile
• Ecuador
• French Guiana
• Kosovo
• Mexico
• Moldova
• Paraguay
• The Philippines
• Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
• Singapore

The level 4 list now has a total of 130 destinations.