852: Lassa Fever Response, Suicide Rates See Decline

JANSON SILVERS: 

This is the award-winning Public Health Review Morning Edition for Thursday, February 27, 2025. I'm Janson Silvers. Now, today's news from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.

ROBERT KRUSE: 

So, this was an incredibly complex public health response that required quick action, coordination across multiple agencies, and a strong focus on preventing secondary transmission.

SILVERS: 

ASTHO member, Dr. Robert Kruse is the state medical director of the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services. He's describing his team's response to a recent case of Lassa fever.

KRUSE: 

This case in Iowa involved a traveler who returned from Liberia, developed symptoms about a week after coming home. Kind of that first week of October, initially, he sought care at local hospitals and was transferred between multiple healthcare facilities and EMS services as his condition worsened.

SILVERS: 

As soon as the case was confirmed, Kruse's team got to work.

KRUSE: 

So, at that point, our response kind of went into full gear. We rapidly initiated our contact tracing, started risk assessments and monitoring, you know, exposed individuals, or primarily healthcare workers.

SILVERS: 

Kruse says isolation plans of any kind must be done very thoughtfully, as there are unique circumstances that may or may not be easily anticipated, one of those presented itself when this case happened during election season.

KRUSE: 

Plan for any kind of ethical or logistical challenges, whether it's through isolation, quarantine and movement restrictions, certainly comes with some considerations there. So, our preparedness plan should really account for those unique situations, allowing for individuals who may be quarantined to vote in this case.

SILVERS: 

As we well know, public health departments around the country deal with multiple crises every single day. According to the CDC, the country is currently experiencing the highest levels of flu in the last 15 years. Here's Kruse on what his department is doing in Iowa.

KRUSE: 

We're closely monitoring the flu activity across the state, as well as, kind of with our federal partners, working with hospitals and public health partners to ensure health care systems are prepared, you know, and reinforcing school and workplace policies that help prevent the spread. And so really, by taking these steps, we can work together to protect our communities and reduce the impact of this flu season.

SILVERS: 

You can learn more about Lassa fever, Iowa's response and the current state of flu around the country, all by clicking the link in the show notes.

New Mexico's latest state suicide rate saw some significant decreases among women and indigenous peoples from 2022 to 2023. Here's Clarie Miller with the New Mexico Department of Health, with more on how their efforts contributed to the decrease.

CLARIE MILLER: 

We did a tremendous job in marketing and saturating our indigenous communities with 988 information. Now in addition to that, we also had life crisis teams that were active for response in several counties in New Mexico.

SILVERS: 

Although certain numbers improved, the suicide rate for men did not change.

MILLER: 

If a man's having a heart attack, we actively are involved. We're supporting them. We need to do the same thing when it comes to mental health, and we just need to reduce the stigma.

SILVERS: 

Clarie adds that there is still much to be done for mental health. 

MILLER: 

You know, the suicide crisis is the one public health crisis that, no matter what we've thrown at it over decades, we truly haven't seen large reductions. So, these numbers are promising, but it just means that we need to do more.

SILVERS: 

A press release about New Mexico's suicide prevention efforts is online now. You can use the link in the show notes to learn more.

Also, an ASTHO report can help your state learn about resiliency planning. ASTHO and the Environmental Council of the States teamed up to create a resource on best practices for state and territorial health and environmental agency resiliency planning. Use the link in the show notes to read it today.

Finally, this morning, some good news. The deadline to apply for ASTHO's Leadership Institute has been extended. Applications now close on [CORRECTION: March 10], but don't wait. Apply today to be part of a premier professional development, cohort-based program. The link is in the show notes.

That'll do it for today. We're back tomorrow morning with more ASTHO news and information. I'm Janson Silvers. You're listening to the award-winning Public Health Review Morning Edition. Have a great day.