The home of Asheville FM, WSFM-LP 103.3
by Mark West
This week’s Civic Roundup covers the City Council’s final decision on the troubled development of the former Matthew’s Motors property at 319 Biltmore Avenue, the city’s proposed moratorium on micro-apartments, and more.
ATLANTA, GA – May 15, 2023 – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) sent out an alert on May 15th about a recent cluster of cases of mpox (formerly called monkeypox) in the Chicago area. The number of cases of mpox in the United States has declined since peaking last summer. However, there are still cases worldwide including in the U.S. From April 17 to May 5, 12 confirmed cases and one probable case of mpox were reported to the Chicago Department of Public Health. Every affected person was male. None were hospitalized. 9 of the 13 people (about 70%) had a full series of mpox vaccinations. The summer season may lead to more mpox outbreaks as people get-together for festivals and other events.
Mpox is a communicable disease that spread across the world last summer to areas that rarely had been affected. There has been more than 30 thousand people infected in the United States. The World Health Organization had declared the disease a global public health emergency. The virus is related to the virus that causes smallpox. However, the source of the disease is unknown. The virus can reside in African rodents and non-human primates and can infect people. The first human infection was identified in the 1970’s. Up until the recent 2022 outbreak, mpox has been endemic in central Africa (a more severe strain) and western Africa (a milder strain that is rarely fatal). Cases outside of Africa were related to human travel or through the export of animals. The recent worldwide outbreak, in countries that have not historically reported the disease, is from the milder West African strain.
Monkeypox symptoms are similar to smallpox symptoms but milder. They can include: fever, headache, severe pain, muscle aches, swollen lymph nodes, exhaustion, and chills followed by a rash. The rash, from a few lesions to thousands, can appear like pimples or fluid-filled blisters before scabbing over. The illness can last from 2 to 4 weeks until the scabs fall off.
The disease can spread from contact with an infected person or infected animal. An infected person can spread it from the beginning of their symptoms until the rash has completely healed. The virus is primarily spread through direct skin-to-skin contact with the rash, scabs or bodily fluids. It can also spread by prolonged breathing of respiratory droplets or by having contact with items, like clothing or bedsheets, that has previously touched the rash or infected bodily fluids. Most of the monkeypox cases outside of Africa during the recent outbreak have been spread through contact among men who have had sex with men. However, women and children can develop monkeypox with direct contact with an infected person. The time from exposure to the first symptoms can range from 3 to 17 days.
People can prevent getting monkeypox by avoiding close, skin-to-skin contact with infected persons and by not touching items that have been contaminated by an infected individual. Standard detergents and household cleaners are effective at decontaminating bedsheets, clothing and surfaces. Frequent hand sanitation can also reduce the risk of transmission. Infected persons need to isolate at home away from others including pets. All skin rashes need to be covered. The outbreak had declined because of changes in sexual behavior, vaccination, and acquired immunity.
A person should get evaluated by a health care provider for a close contact to someone with monkeypox, for symptoms or physical signs even if previously vaccinated or infected with mpox. Tests can be performed by having a health care professional swab a skin lesion (a rash or sore). Samples must be sent to only those labs able to perform the analysis such as a public health lab and select commercial labs.
The vaccines are effective to reduce the risk for infection and transmission of the virus and in reducing the severity of disease and hospitalization. The CDC recommends that a person get the vaccine within 14 days of exposure. Vaccination within 4 days from exposure may prevent the onset of the disease; administration between day 4 and 14 after exposure may reduce the symptoms.
The vaccine is for people at a high risk for exposure to mpox. Those at-risk include gay, bisexual, transgender, and nonbinary people and men who have sex with men. At-risk people may qualify for the vaccine with:
The vaccine is also for people at a high risk of being exposed, for example, laboratory, healthcare and public health workers (who may handle specimens or are exposed to infected patients).
Last September, the Buncombe County Department of Health & Human Services (BC HHS) partnered with 103.3 AshevilleFM and The Getaway River Bar to have a mpox vaccination clinic at the bar’s Riverside Drive location in Asheville. This was one of the first public health services by the newly created BC HHS Mobile Team to bring vaccinations to underserved rural communities and populations. The mobile team was created with federal COVID-19 funds to purchase a mobile van and hire a team of nurses and emergency medical technicians.
Listen to the full report below:
Contact: Dr. Dick Needleman, Health reporter, 103.3 AshevilleFM, [email protected]
ASHEVILLE, NC – June 28, 2023 – The COVID-19 metrics are on the CDC’s COVID Dashboard. Weekly data indicate:
Wastewater monitoring can be used to provide early warning for COVID outbreaks. The Buncombe & Henderson counties wastewater data for the week ending on June 14th is on the North Carolina COVID Dashboard.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services wants everyone to know that:
The Department of Health and Human Services recommends:
More and more Americans have developed some immunity to COVID-19 from immunizations and previous infection. New variants continue to infect people with the most at-risk groups more susceptible to severe illness.
Listen to the full report below:
Contact: Dr. Dick Needleman, Health reporter, 103.3 AshevilleFM, [email protected]
by Mark West
Buncombe County Commissioners approved a new budget of over 430 million dollars at their meeting of June 20, 2023, the commissioner, and raised charges at the county’s solid waste facilities in hope of encouraging users to better sort their waste for recycling.
The vote to raise the county’s property tax rate to provide increased funding for local school districts was unanimous.
The general fund budget increases the property tax rate by 1 cent to 49.8 cents per $100 of taxable value, or about 2%. The owner of a home valued at $300,000 will pay about fifteen hundred dollars in taxes, roughly $30 more than last year.
Commissioners agreed to the tax hike after hearing complaints by teachers and staff for months during public comment about the difficulties of living on current salaries, but the raises in the new budget won’t meet the demands of those who’ve spoken before the commissioners.
According to a presentation by Budget Director John Hudson, the tax increase will raise an extra $5.1 million over the revenues estimated during the June 6 public hearing on County Manager Avril Pinder’s recommended budget.
Hear more, from Asheville FM’s news director Mark West, in this week’s Civic Roundup.
RALEIGH, NC – June 5, 2023 – On June 5th, Governor Roy Cooper announced the North Carolina S.A.F.E. (Secure All Firearms Effectively) initiative for the safe storage of firearms to save lives and reduce gun thefts. The initiative is in response to the rising number of gun-related fatalities of children and youth and firearm thefts in the state. Most gun thefts from cars were from unlocked cars. According to a statewide telephone survey in 2021, more than one-half of loaded firearms at home were stored unlocked. The Governor declared June 4-10 as being a Week of Action to raise awareness of the importance of safe gun storage. The program includes social media ads, advertising on buses, and teaching children about preventing gun violence.
Firearm violence is a public health problem in North Carolina.
Safe gun storage is an effective intervention to reduce firearm thefts and firearms deaths of children and youth. NC S.A.F.E. recommends that gun owners follow these recommendations:
The Governor’s gun safety initiative has brought a lot of attention for gun violence prevention to western North Carolina. At their June 6th meeting, the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners recognized this month as Gun Violence Prevention Month. On June 8th, the NC Department of Public Safety co-hosted a media event in partnership with the Buncombe County Department of Health & Human Services to promote the initiative and the Week of Action.
Governor Cooper said at a press conference earlier in the month, “For those who own guns, it’s our responsibility to keep them safe and out of the wrong hands. Safe storage is an essential part of responsible gun ownership, and this initiative will encourage North Carolinians to safely secure their firearms in their homes and vehicles.”
Listen to the full report below:
Contact: Dr. Dick Needleman, Health reporter, 103.3 AshevilleFM, [email protected]
ASHEVILLE, NC – May 31, 2023 – Summer is here, and so is the urge to cool off and play in the waters around Asheville. Be aware that Mountain True’s 2023 French Broad River’s water report indicated that more than one-half of the sites tested failed to meet the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) recreational standards for swimming where body contact with the water is frequent. However, the water meets the EPA’s standards for secondary recreation like tubing and kayaking. You can access an up-to-date French Broad River water quality report on the SwimGuide.org website, its smartphone app, or at https://frenchbroadwaterquality.com . Mountain True is a nonprofit organization based in Asheville that has a vision for healthy forests, clean waters and healthy communities in the Southern Blue Ridge region.
E. coli, a bacterium from feces, is a reliable indicator of the presence of bacteria and pathogens that are harmful to human health. Contact with or inadvertently swallowing contaminated water can cause gastrointestinal illness and skin, ear, respiratory, eye, neurologic, and wound infections. The most commonly reported symptoms are stomach cramps, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, and low-grade fever occurring within 4 days of exposure. Children and seniors are at a greater risk of being affected. Water samples are collected each week from the French Broad River by Mountain True’s volunteers and staff from Memorial Day to Labor Day. The samples are processed to determine the E. Coli levels. Currently, the tests show that the E. Coli levels are at almost 8 times the EPA recreational water standard.
In her 1955 book The French Broad, the American writer Wilma Dykeman described how many years of dumping untreated sewage and industrial waste into the waterway had created a dirty, smelly river that she described as “too thick to drink, too thin to plow.” After the Clean Water Act of 1972, the work of many nonprofit organizations and volunteers improved the river’s water quality.
The river has an unhealthy-appearing brown color, a clear sign of sediment and other pollutants running through the waterway. The French Broad River has elevated levels of harmful bacteria from sewer and septic system leaks, cattle accessing streams, and stormwater runoff from animal agricultural operations and fields. Booming construction and development, more frequent heavy rains due to climate change, and an aging stormwater system result in more runoff from urban areas, more sewer overflows, and increased waterway sediment.
The river has a strong economic presence around Asheville. It is estimated to bring in $3.8 billion annually according to a study by Western Carolina University economics professor Steve Ha and the French Broad River Partnership, a group of more than 50 organizations that want to improve the river’s health for environmental and economic benefits.
Hartwell Carson, Mountain True’s French Broad Riverkeeper, said, “We strongly encourage recreation. I go out all the time, swimming, boating – I just do it in an educated and informed way.”
Listen to the full report below:
Contact: Dr. Dick Needleman, Health reporter, 103.3 AshevilleFM, [email protected]