Minnesota reports Twin Cities adult is state’s first monkeypox case
MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota has reported a presumptive case of monkeypox, an infectious disease that has raised concerns because it has emerged globally over the past year and has been found in 26 U.S. states.
The infection announced Monday involves a Twin Cities adult who is receiving outpatient treatment for an infection that likely occurred during overseas travel. The state's public health laboratory identified the infection, which is now being confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Close contacts of the infected individual are being identified and will be alerted to their risks of infection, according to the Minnesota Department of Health. The risk to the broader public remains low, because monkeypox doesn't spread as easily as other infectious agents. Transmission often involves prolonged face-to-face exposure or contact with infectious sores or bodily fluids, or with contaminated clothing or other items.
The CDC has identified more than 200 monkeypox cases in 26 states. Common symptoms include fever, headaches, muscle aches, swollen lymph nodes, and a rash that can look like pimples or blisters. Some people in the current outbreak have only reported rashes and no other symptoms.
Antiviral treatments and vaccines are available but are used on a case-by-case basis. The CDC only recommends monkeypox vaccine in advance of exposure to health care workers and researchers who work with the virus.
People with monkeypox are considered infectious until their rashes have healed. Typical illnesses last two to four weeks. Rare cases can cause pneumonia or be fatal.
—Star Tribune
Miya’s Law, named for slain Orlando college student, signed by DeSantis
ORLANDO, Fla. — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed Miya’s Law, a bill named in honor of slain Orlando college student Miya Marcano that seeks to make apartments safer by requiring background checks on employees, at a private ceremony Monday, according to a news release.
Marcano, a 19-year-old Valencia College student, was killed by a maintenance worker who used a master key to access her apartment at Arden Villas, authorities said. Her body was found bound with duct tape Oct. 2 near the dilapidated Tymber Skan apartments following a massive weeklong search.
Miya’s Law also requires landlords to maintain a key log of who has access to apartments and provide tenants 24 hours notice, instead of 12 hours, before entering their units for repairs, said state Sen. Linda Stewart, the bill’s co-sponsor.
—Orlando Sentinel
Pedestrian killed after being struck by 3 hit-and-run drivers in California
LOS ANGELES — A pedestrian was struck by three hit-and-run drivers and pronounced dead Monday morning in Fullerton, authorities said.
The Fullerton Police Department was first notified of the fatal crash at around 1:30 a.m. The incident occurred at the intersection of Harbor Boulevard and Southgate Avenue.
Police said they arrived on the scene and found a pedestrian lying on the street with his belongings. He had serious, life-threatening injuries. The 38-year-old victim was transported to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead, according to police.
Police said the man was pushing a shopping cart through the crosswalk on the northern part of the intersection, westbound across Harbor Boulevard, against a red light. Reports indicate the victim was first struck by a white Dodge Charger, which was passing the intersection and traveling on a green light south on Harbor Boulevard. The driver did not stop.
Seconds later, a black Jeep Wrangler, also traveling south, struck the man and also did not stop, police said.
About two minutes later, the third car, a white, two-door Honda Civic traveling in the same direction, hit the pedestrian a third time and also failed to stop, according to police.
The identity of the victim has not yet been released. Police have also not provided any suspect information.
—Los Angeles Times
NATO plans major boost to high-alert forces with eye on Russia
NATO is planning to boost the size of its high-readiness force to 300,000 — effectively a sevenfold increase — in what the military alliance says amounts to one of the biggest changes to its defense planning in decades.
Leaders from the alliance’s 30 members will gather in Madrid this week, where they’ll sign off on a major overhaul of NATO’s long-term defense plans to better deter threats from Russia in the wake of its in invasion of Ukraine.
Under its so-called new force model, NATO will pre-position more equipment, boost air defenses and earmark specific forces to defend specific allies and maintain those forces at a certain level of readiness. While countries like Germany have already announced some details of its plans in Lithuania, the U.S. and U.K. are due to unveil their proposals at the summit.
Under NATO’s current response force, it maintains around 40,000 troops at less than 15 days readiness, along with a large pool of reserves. The new force model will effectively transform the response force with new elements, such as the pre-assigned forces, to provide over 300,000 troops at high readiness when the transition is completed in 2023, a NATO official said.
—Bloomberg News
———
