Results tagged “departmentofpublichealth”

• Boston votes on Tuesday. Today, the Boston Herald provides two potential campaign issues for voters. Michael Flaherty blames Mayor Thomas M. Menino for the lack of Verizon FiOS service in Boston while Menino blames Verizon. Flaherty blames Mayor Menino for a lack of available financing needed to complete work at the unfinished Filene’s site at Downtown Crossing.

• A Delta Air Lines shuttle flight from Boston to La Guardia Airport in New York collided with a bird on Tuesday. The plane left Logan Airport at 4:30 p.m. and struck the bird at 6 p.m. as it was on final approach to the airport. Pictures[WCVB]

• Massachusetts is holding an H1N1 virus summit in Worcester. The Department of Public Health announced H1N1 vaccines will be available within two weeks. [WCVB]

The Massachusetts Department of Health offers the following information about the recent swine flu outbreak:

The Department of Public Health has issued a total tuna recall due to a possible listeria contamination in locally distributed bulk tuna. Throw out any readymade tuna salad bought between July 26 and August 10. Home Made Brand Foods of Newburyport has voluntarily pulled 5,000 pounds (that's a lot of tuna!) of “Ready-to-Eat Tuna Salad," which is so not ready to eat. Sampling discovered that Listeria monocytogenes might have contaminated the meat. The suspect salad expires August 19th and may have been sold in Stop and Shop (which has already removed the product from shelves) as well as other grocery stores and delis. (Oh, Stop and Shop... what are we going to do with you?) If you feel ill after eating tuna, seek medical attention. No one is reported to have suffered any adverse effects from the tuna thus far.

The public may not be quite as freaked out by West Nile Virus as it once was, but the disease is definitely still around. WNV was detected in mosquitoes in Worcester on June 27, marking the first time the virus has been found here in 2008. There were six cases of West Nile Virus in humans in Massachusetts in 2007. People over 50 are more likely to be seriously affected by the disease, which is usually transmitted by bites from infected mosquitoes.